Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jisung was not in the need for a job, especially not a part-time job with a questionable wage. He was just feeling lost and needed to try something different, even if that meant working at a bar that sometimes turned into a nightclub. 

With the amount of money his family had, finding himself a part-time job was probably the last thing that he needed, however, he knew his parents would lose their minds if he didn’t get out of the house soon. After he finished college, he realized he didn’t have a solid plan for the future and that the business degree he had wasn't that helpful after all. 

He wanted to spend some time doing something useful instead of staying in his room all day and the only way he could do that was to find a job, so he ended up applying to all sorts of jobs he could find. Most of them rejected him, seeing he didn’t have that much working experience and Jisung was about to give up before a man named Seojoon offered him the job in his bar. 

Seojoon was a weird guy, but in a good way. Jisung didn’t really understand the way his brain worked, but he was kinda intrigued by it. The job interview itself was already weird, he didn’t even get the chance to properly introduce himself or talk about his strengths. Seojoon just started laughing at almost everything Jisung said, even though he wasn’t trying to be funny. He couldn’t blame him, knowing that the people around him often pointed out that one of Jisung’s best qualities was his personality, specifically how he always made people laugh. 

Not even two minutes had passed when Seojoon decided to give Jisung the offer to work at Honey - the bar Seojoon owned. “You know what Jisung, I don’t really know much about you, but you’re the first person who’s made my day less boring so far and I think my customers will love you,” the older man said. “How about you come here tomorrow at 9 am? I’ll introduce you to your coworkers and show you around.”

That being said, getting the job was pretty easy. What was not easy was trying to befriend his most obnoxious coworker. 

Jisung woke up the next day, getting ready for his first day of work. He went through his closet and decided to put on a pair of black jeans and a black t-shirt. Seojoon told him that there were no specific rules about the dress code, but he highly recommended wearing black clothes, or something that wasn’t too bright. 

He was grateful that the bar wasn’t that far away from his house, he liked that he could wake up 30 minutes before his shift and he could peacefully make it in time. As he parked his car outside of the bar, he wondered why he never actually visited Honey, considering how it was also a nightclub and he really liked partying. Then again, he remembered most of the parties that he went to were college parties which were located farther away. 

First thing he noticed as he stepped out of the car was Seojoon smoking a cigarette in front of the entrance. There was also someone else talking to him, a younger man. He looked closer to Jisung’s age than Seojoon. Seojoon’s face immediately lit up after spotting Jisung from afar. “Jisung!” he smiled and put out his cigarette, “you’re early.”

“I don’t like being late,” Jisung replied and stepped closer to the pair in front of him. Now that he got the chance, he looked closely at the man next to his boss while also trying not to make it too obvious that he was staring at him. The man was really pretty, he was definitely taller than Jisung. His hair was blonde and a bit longer. He smiled at Jisung and waved with his hand. 

Seojoon seemed to realize the boys didn’t know each other, so he spoke up. “This is Hyunjin,” he introduced the taller man who shook Jisung’s hand. “He’s one of your coworkers, my second favorite one,” Seojoon admitted. 

Jisung smiled at the blunt remark his boss made, liking how he said it without hesitation. He assumed he was also like that based on the way Hyunjin reacted, he seemed like he was used to it. “It’s nice to meet you,” Hyunjin said. “Jisung, right?”

Jisung nodded in confirmation. He followed the pair in front of him who started walking towards the entrance to show Jisung around. 

The inside of the bar was a lot bigger than Jisung expected it to be. When he visited it the day before for the job interview, he only saw the back of it where Seojoon’s office was. The place looked very modern and he wasn’t surprised why so many locals came here. Almost half of the main room was covered with a curtain, apparently because they only removed it during parties. Jisung still didn’t really understand the whole nightclub thing, but based on what Seojoon had told him, they only threw parties during the second half of the week. Everything seemed to be going well until he got introduced to the rest of his coworkers. 

Seojoon told everyone to stop what they were doing for a minute to come and meet Jisung. The first one that Jisung noticed was a girl named Ryujin, she was the only girl working at the bar during this shift. She seemed pretty friendly, but Jisung couldn’t know for sure based on their short interaction. The second person was Beomgyu. The only thing Jisung managed to learn about him was that Beomgyu was younger than him and then Seojoon was already pushing the younger boy away and introducing him to the last person. 

“This is my favorite employee, Minho,” Seojoon said proudly. 

Jisung looked at the man standing in front of him. The first thing Jisung noticed about him was his purple hair that really stood out and the second thing were the man’s eyes. He had always found people’s eyes to be one of the prettiest features, however, this man’s eyes were on a whole different level of pretty. They were dark, brown, and the shape was almost catlike. Jisung didn’t have much time to observe the purple haired boy’s features, but he had to admit to himself that he was extremely beautiful.

The boy in front of him didn’t seem phased at all though. He looked at Jisung and gave him a small smile, almost a fake one. “Hi,” was all that he said before he looked away. He definitely didn’t seem as friendly as Hyunjin or Ryujin or Beomgyu, but Jisung didn’t think much of it. It was 9 am after all and he completely understood that Minho wasn’t in the mood to befriend someone first thing in the morning. “How come he’s your favorite?” Jisung dared to ask Seojoon, his eyes never leaving Minho. 

“Well,” Seojoon answered, leaning his arm on Minho’s shoulder, “he’s been here the longest and everyone who comes here loves him immediately. You’ll get it sooner or later.”

As Seojoon said that, Jisung noticed Minho smiled at his words, it was a smile mixed with pride and shyness and something about it felt so familiar. 

Suddenly, Seojoon’s phone started ringing and Jisung was surprised by the sudden change of his boss’ behavior. He seemed a lot more tense the moment he saw the name of the person who was calling him, he looked worried. “Just a second, it’s Jieun,” he said before heading outside. 

“That’s his wife,” Hyunjin leaned closer to Jisung, “she’s pregnant and she’s gonna give birth soon. They’ve both been feeling under pressure lately and they’re constantly calling each other when they’re not together,” he explained to the shorter man. 

“Oh,” was all Jisung managed to reply with. 

Ryujin and Beomgyu returned to what they were doing before Jisung came, so he decided to stay with Hyunjin and Minho until Seojoon came back. Jisung noticed the purple haired boy still looked like someone had ruined his day and made him look so grumpy, so he decided to speak up again to try to make him look more alive. Before he could do that, Minho already started walking away, probably getting back to what he was previously doing. However, Seojoon’s voice made all three of them turn around. 

“Alright, I’m back,” Seojoon said, putting his phone back in his pocket. “I have to leave for like half an hour to check up on Jieun, I’ll be back soon,” he promised the boys as he grabbed his jacket from the counter. “Minho, please explain all the basics to Jisung.”

“What?” Minho replied, sounding almost offended. “Why can’t Hyunjin do it, I have to clean up something.” 

Jisung tried not to make any assumptions, still thinking Minho was just having a shitty morning. 

“Because Hyunjin has to finish working on the ads for next week’s event,” Seojoon gave him a stern look before leaving the boys once again. “Don’t be annoying Minho,” was the last thing that he said. 

Hyunjin was the last one to walk away, leaving Jisung alone with Minho. The first few seconds felt awkward since the boys didn’t know each other, but Jisung saw this as a great opportunity to befriend someone while also being taught how to work at a bar. 

“Have you ever done any catering?” Minho asked Jisung. The said boy shook his head. “Not really.”

He saw Minho rolling his eyes and sighing dramatically. “Of course you haven’t,” he murmured. Jisung decided to ignore what he just heard. At the end of the day he was aware that he didn’t have much work experience, which was a big disadvantage considering he was already 23. 

“Alright, come here,” Minho spoke up again and stepped in front of the shelves where all the drinks were. “The left side is with all the alcoholic beverages and the right side is with the nonalcoholic ones,” he pointed with his finger. “Every drink has its name and there’s a list of all the names on the wall so you don’t forget any of them.”

“The coffee machines are in the corner, but we don’t really use them a lot since no one ever comes here for a cup of coffee,” Minho explained and opened the cabinet in front of him. “Here’s where we keep all the ice, lemons and all sorts of stuff we usually put in people’s drinks.” He opened another cabinet, a smaller one that had a lot of random papers and documents in it. Minho grabbed a small notebook and handed it to Jisung. “Here are all the instructions on how to prepare certain drinks. I don’t really have the time or the energy to explain them all to you, so just skim this through.”

Jisung tried to focus on everything Minho was saying, but it was so hard to listen to him when the purple haired boy’s voice sounded so cold and it made Jisung feel almost unwelcomed. 

“Are you following?” Minho asked, seeming to notice Jisung wasn’t paying attention.

Jisung blinked, looking at Minho’s face. Something about his features felt so familiar again, but Jisung couldn’t tell what it was. “Yeah, I got it,” he replied. 

“Good, got any questions?” Minho asked. 

“Yeah, like a hundred,” Jisung snorted, obviously still being clueless about what his job was all about. However, the man in front of him didn’t seem to be entertained at all. Seriously, has this man ever been happy?

“Can I ask you something?” Jisung decided to be brave. Minho raised his eyebrows in confusion. “Considering I’ve just asked whether you had any questions and you replied with yes, then yes Jisung, you can ask me whatever you want.”

Jisung tried so hard not to roll his eyes, he hated when people didn’t match his energy. “Are you having a shitty day or something, I don’t really get why you’re so grumpy,” he spoke up. 

Minho’s face remained the same. “I’m just here to show you around. Don’t ask me stupid questions.” 

“Okay then.” Jisung replied. Usually he’d be a lot more defensive, but he decided to remain calm, knowing it was his first day at work and he didn’t want to be disliked by everyone so soon. 

The strange thing was that Jisung ended up having zero problems with his new job. Sure, he had a lot to learn, like how to talk to the customers and how to prepare all sorts of drinks. Working behind the bar made him realize how little drinks he knew about. Most times he just nodded at what people told him they wanted and only seconds later he’d start asking his coworkers to help me out. 

Speaking of coworkers, during his other shifts he got to meet two other people, Yuna and Jeongin. He got along well with pretty much everyone, he never had much problems when it came to getting along with people. 

One thing he liked was how much time Seojoon spent with them. He had his own office where he spent most of his time, but he also made sure to check up on everyone every time he had the chance too, sometimes it felt like he just wanted some company. 

A week had passed and Jisung got to experience what it was like working during the night too. It was a lot different than when he worked during the day. Honey was much louder and crowded during parties. It felt strange how one day he was serving beer to old men at 4 pm and then the next day the room was packed with hundreds of people and he didn’t even get a second to breathe, not to mention everything was so loud, from all the screaming people to the music the DJs were playing. 

Overall, he didn’t have many complaints. It was a new experience and he finally got out of the house, which was all he initially wanted. Everything about his new job was great. Except for Minho. 

He was hoping Minho would get better after Jisung came home from his first day at work. Sadly, Minho continued to act like a dick for no apparent reason. Jisung couldn’t understand it, he never did anything to the purple haired boy and he got along well with everyone else, so he didn’t get why he couldn’t be nice to Jisung too. 

He couldn’t figure him out, because the thing about Minho was that he was really cold and annoyed, he didn’t like to be around Jisung, but at the same time he kept on provoking him. 

Jisung had just gotten out of the shower, checking his phone to see the notifications that he had missed. He saw a bunch of new messages from the group chat Seojoon had added him in. It was nothing surprising since everyone was always texting in the group chat, talking about their shifts and what had to be done. However, when Jisung scrolled to the top his jaw immediately clenched. There was a picture that Minho sent, a picture of a lemon on the counter. 

minho

just got back to the bar after cleaning the storage room and someone forgot to throw away the lemons

not to mention theyre not cut the right way

this wasnt here an hour ago so it was someone whose shift ended at 5

Jisung scoffed, not knowing whether to laugh or punch the guy. Of course he was the one who forgot to throw something in the trash and of course Minho was the one who noticed it. It wasn’t even a big mistake, he knew no one would care about it, he just hated the way Minho had to call him out just to be annoying. Thankfully, the others seemed to be on Jisung’s side. 

hyunjin

???

just throw it away

seojoon

minho im not gonna interrogate my employees to find out who forgot to throw a lemon away

Jisung smiled to himself, feeling better about the situation. However, he was done being nice to Minho and trying to befriend him. If he wanted to make Jisung’s life a living hell, he could do the same for Minho. 

After the incident, it quickly became clear to everyone who worked at Honey that Jisung and Minho weren’t exactly fond of each other. To Jisung’s luck, he wasn’t at risk of getting fired, because everyone else found their feud either extremely entertaining or they just didn’t care about it. 

Jisung noticed Minho easily got annoyed when someone pointed out his mistakes, so he made sure to do that a lot. 

The first time it happened was when they worked during the same shift. It started at 8 am and as always, Jisung was already there earlier. There was never much work to do at such an early hour, so he just went to the storage room to replace the empty bottles with the new ones. As he was coming back with two boxes in his hands, he saw Minho coming in. He looked at the time and saw it was 8:04 am. 

“You’re late,” Jisung said with a grin on his face. 

Minho, who looked like he was out of breath, immediately stopped on the spot and Jisung finally understood what people meant with the phrase if looks could kill. Minho’s mouth opened as if he was about to say something back, but he couldn’t let out a single sound. “Leave me alone,” the purple haired man managed to murmur before getting to work. 

The second time it happened was just the day after that. It was like Seojoon was doing it on purpose, making them work together during their shifts. Minho was behind the cash register while Jisung was serving drinks to the customers. 

Someone had just come up to Minho to pay for their drinks when Jisung passed him by behind the counter. As he was looking down he couldn’t help but notice the undone shoelaces on Minho’s shoes. This time he didn’t even mean to be annoying about it, he just wanted to warn Minho. “You’re gonna trip if you don’t tighten up your laces.” 

Okay, maybe he wanted to annoy Minho, but it wasn’t his fault the purple haired boy got worked up so fast. Minho, who was just talking to someone, turned around and looked at Jisung. “I’m talking to someone,” he replied. 

“Okay and I’m just letting you know about how you’re going to trip over your own feet if you don’t do something about it,” Jisung bit back. 

Minho rolled his eyes and returned his gaze to the man who wanted to pay for his bill. “That’ll be 8,99.”

Jisung smiled to himself. “You got it wrong.”

Minho looked at him again. “What?”

“He only ordered one beer, it should be around four dollars.” Jisung replied, remembering the man’s order from before. 

“No, that’s what the man at the table next to him ordered,” Minho said defensively. 

“Actually,” the man in front of Minho said, “your friend’s right, I only ordered the beer,” he pointed at the empty beer bottle on his table.

Minho took a deep breath, looking frustrated. He apologized to the man and put on a smile, but Jisung could tell Minho was trying to stay calm. One thing he noticed was that Minho was good at what he was doing, it made sense why he was Seojoon’s favorite. Knowing that he was the reason why Minho’s perfectionist ass messed something up made Jisung feel proud. 

Despite everything, Jisung couldn’t say he hated Minho. He hardly ever hated anyone. He was just tired of trying to understand him and making fun of him was much easier than trying to act civil with him. 

A few days later he got the privilege of working with Minho again, but thankfully, Hyunjin was there too so there was less tension in the atmosphere. They were the last ones left and already closed the bar, they just had to clean everything up before going home. Hyunjin was in charge of the tables, Minho was mopping the floor and Jisung was doing the dishes. 

Jisung looked out the window and noticed there were two more glasses on one of the tables outside, so he went to get them. Minho was mopping the floor right at the entrance which gave Jisung an idea and he decided to be a little shit and step on the area where the floor was already wet. 

“Dude, what the fuck?” Minho raised his voice as Jisung got back to the dishwasher. 

“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” Jisung replied, not even sparing a glance to Minho. It was quiet for a second before the purple haired boy spoke up again. 

“Yeah, right,” he muttered under his breath. “What is your problem with me?”

Jisung looked at him this time and almost laughed. “Are you being serious right now?”

“I’m not the one who just walked all over the area that’s already been cleaned, so yes Jisung, I’m being serious,” Minho said with venom in his voice. 

Jisung rubbed his eyes in frustration. “You’ve been making my life a living hell ever since I’ve started working here and now you are the one asking me what’s my problem with you? How about I ask you what’s your problem with me?”

“Um, guys,” Hyunjin interrupted them quietly, but Jisung and Minho didn’t react to his voice at all. 

“My problem is that you’re fucking insufferable!” Minho yelled. 

“Oh, you wanna see insufferable?” Jisung challenged him. Minho only furrowed his eyebrows in confusion in return. 

Jisung knew what he was about to do was childish, but he couldn’t find himself to care about it. He started walking towards Minho and walked all over the wet area again, this time making sure the dirt from his shoes hit the floor. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Minho shouted. “Would you stop?!”

“How about you-”

“Can you guys calm down already?” Hyunjin spoke up again, this time making sure both of the boys heard him. “What are you, five?”

“I need a fucking cigarrete.” Minho murmured before storming outside. 

Jisung sighed, feeling tired of the entire situation. He saw Hyunjin walking towards him and already gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry, I know he’s your best friend.”

“It’s cool,” Hyunjin reassured him. “I usually find you funny, but sometimes I genuinely don’t understand why you two can’t get along.”

“I don’t know, he’s been acting like a dick to me ever since my first day here, I just eventually started treating him the same,” Jisung explained himself. “I’m sorry for this, I feel like this is something a child would do.”

Hyunjin snorted at his words. “Yeah, that’s exactly what it felt like when I was watching you, it was like seeing two kindergarteners fighting.” 

“Listen,” Hyunjin added, “I know Minho can be moody sometimes, but just try to at least ignore him. He’s kinda been going through something lately. I know this doesn’t excuse his behavior, I’m just asking you to not provoke him every time you have the chance to.”

Jisung could see that Hyunjin was a good friend, the look in his eyes was sincere and he could tell that he just wanted the best for him and Minho. He nodded at the taller boy in response. “Alright, fine.”

Just the next day, an opportunity to act like a decent human being towards Minho showed up. Seojoon had just posted the weekly schedule and everyone was gathered around the table, looking at the paper with the schedule on it. 

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.” Minho whispered to himself. “Hey Seojoon!”

“Yeah?” his boss replied from afar. 

“I have to be somewhere on Wednesday at 3 pm, could I work in the morning shift instead?” Minho asked pleadingly. 

“Just find someone to replace you,” Seojoon replied before disappearing to his office. 

Minho sighed and looked at Ryujin who was right next to him. “Do you wanna switch shifts with me?” 

Ryujin tsked in response. “Sorry, I have an exam on Wednesday.”

Minho whined and Jisung tried his best not to laugh at him. The purple haired boy then turned to Jeongin. “What about you, Jeongin?”

The younger boy shook his head apologetically. “I start at 8 am the next day, I’m gonna be dead if I come back home at night and then leave again in the morning.”

Jisung looked at the schedule and noticed he was the only one Minho had left to pick, everyone else was already scheduled for the same shift as him. Minho seemed to notice the same thing just a few seconds later. He looked at Jisung and their eyes met for a moment before Minho looked away. “Fucking hell.” Minho groaned desperately and if Jisung hadn’t disliked the man so much he’d probably feel bad for him. 

“Are you not gonna ask me if I wanna switch shifts with you?” Jisung dared to ask, remembering Hyunjin asked him to be a bit nicer to Minho. 

Minho looked at him again and this time his face was a lot more serious now. “I don't need your help.”

Jisung shouldn’t have been surprised and he wasn’t, he just found Minho ridiculous. “I’m just trying to be nice.”

“Fuck you,” Minho replied with no hesitation. 

“Minho, come on,” Hyunjin put his hand on Minho’s shoulder. “Are your plans for Wednesday important?”

“Yes!” Minho raised his voice. 

“Then don’t be stubborn and accept Jisung’s help.” Hyunjin replied. 

Minho looked at Jisung except that this time he looked less tense. “Could you really?” he asked and his eyes were immediately glued to the floor. Jisung could tell he was feeling embarrassed. 

“Yeah, why not.” Jisung shrugged. 

“Thanks,” Minho said quietly before walking away. 

From that moment on, Jisung assumed whatever he and Minho had going on was going to cool down for a bit. He knew it was too late for them to become friends, but he hoped they could just act like acquaintances who weren’t exactly fond of each other, however they could work together without trying to kill each other. What he didn’t expect was for them to skip a bunch of steps along the way. 

It was Thursday night aka one of the days where Jisung worked during the night shift and had to stay there until the party was over. He managed to get enough hours of sleep in the afternoon so he was sure he could survive this. 

The place was packed with people and Jisung and Beomgyu were trying their best to keep up, serving everyone their drinks. Hyunjin and Minho were on the opposite side of the room, doing the exact same. 

He hated to admit it, but as much as he disliked Minho, that man was probably one of the prettiest people Jisung had ever seen in his life. Seojoon told everyone to get ready whenever there was a party at Honey, but Minho was always the one who stood out the most. It was ridiculous, cause everyone was wearing the same color, black, and yet, Minho looked the best out of them all. That night he was wearing a black pair of leather pants and a silky shirt that left Minho’s collarbones on full display. His makeup was also done pretty well, because of course that man had to be great at doing makeup too. 

Jisung understood why Seojoon said all the customers loved Minho the most, not only were his visuals out of the world, but the way he talked to people was alluring as well. Jisung scoffed as he was looking at the purple haired boy. If only people knew about what an ass he could be. 

A few moments later Jisung noticed Ryujin switched places with Minho and the purple haired boy disappeared outside, probably for a quick cigarette. That’s when Jisung realized he was staring for too long and decided to focus on his work instead.

He internally cheered to himself once one of the performers got on stage and all the people moved away from the bar to listen to the music. He felt like he could finally breathe after an hour of constant stress. 

He heard Beomgyu sighing next to him and they both looked at each and laughed, knowing that they felt the same. 

“We should do something fun,” Beomgyu suggested. 

“Like what?” Jisung asked curiously. “I’m not sure how much fun we’re able to have during a busy night.”

“I know, but I need to entertain myself somehow or else I won’t make it til 5 am.” Beomgyu whined in response.

Jisung pouted his lips while trying to think. Suddenly, he smirked as he came up with an idea. “How about we try to get as many phone numbers from the people here as possible and the one who gets the least of them has to stay here and clean up after the party and the winner goes home.”

Beomgyu smiled while listening to Jisung. “Hey Hyunjin!” he yelled across the room. 

“Huh?” Hyunjin looked at him in confusion. 

“We’re playing a game, the person who manages to get the least phone numbers from strangers loses and has to clean up!”

Hyunjin smiled in amusement and replied to Beomgyu by giving him a thumbs up. The older boy already turned towards Ryujin and started telling her the plan too. 

Jisung smiled to himself before someone came up to him and asked for another tequila shot. Jisung turned around to get the bottle of tequila and noticed it was already empty. “Fuck,” he murmured. “Hold on a second, I’ll go get the new bottle,” he said apologetically and rushed downstairs to the storage room. 

He was walking down the hall until he suddenly stopped after hearing muffled voices coming from another room. He usually wouldn’t care about it, however, only the staff was allowed to be downstairs and as far as he could remember, almost everyone was serving drinks at the time. Curiosity got the best of him and he peeked to the side, trying to see who else was there. 

He saw Minho leaning against the wall, but there was also a man next to him. Jisung tried to take a look at him, but he couldn’t recognize him, he was sure he was a total stranger. He didn’t mean to assume, but the man was looking at Minho with hungry eyes and the way they were standing so close to each other made Jisung think they were a couple. 

He didn’t really understand why Minho couldn’t at least wait until he was done with his shift to get back to his boyfriend, but he also didn’t have the energy to yell at him in front of someone that he didn’t know. He was about to ignore them and turn around, until he saw the man trying to put his hands on Minho’s waist and the purple haired boy flinching away. 

“Don’t do that,” he could hear Minho say. 

“Right, sorry.” the man next to him replied. “Maybe we could hang out after the party.”

“I don’t think so, I’m busy right now,” Minho replied coldly. 

The man seemed persistent though and Jisung felt bad for watching the whole thing. “That’s why I said after the party,” the man said and put his hand around Minho’s waist. The purple haired boy flinched again and this time he looked angrier. 

As much as Jisung disliked Minho, he knew this wasn’t right and no one deserved to be treated like that, so he took a step forward and decided to help him out. 

“You shouldn’t be here,” Jisung said, making the pair look at him with wide eyes. Now that he was closer to Minho he could see that the boy was upset, however, he looked relieved as well after seeing Jisung. 

“Relax,” the man next to Minho said, “we were just talking.”

Minho rolled his eyes, getting more annoyed with each second. 

“I don’t care, this room is for the staff only. Leave, now.” Jisung said with a stern voice. 

The man scoffed and looked at Minho like he was expecting him to defend him. After the purple haired boy remained quiet he scoffed again and headed back upstairs. 

It was quiet for a few seconds before Minho spared Jisung a glance. “Thanks,” he said quietly. 

“It’s nothing,” Jisung shrugged, “was that your boyfriend?” 

He almost felt bad for asking that considering his relationship with Minho, but his little laugh made his worries go away. 

“Fuck no,” Minho snorted, “I don’t even know him, I was gonna go outside for a smoke, but then he just came up to me and started flirting with me. I usually don’t mind it, but he was saying some weird stuff and he asked if I wanted to go somewhere more private and well I don’t know how much of this you just saw, but-” he stopped talking and he looked like as if he had just realized he and Jisung weren’t close and he wasn’t sure why he was ranting to Jisung. “Anyways, I don’t know him.”

Jisung nodded in response. He hated how awkward this was, he was not used to them not raising their voices at each other at every given chance. He didn't know what to do next so he just said the first thing that came to his mind.

“You’re missing out on our game.”

Minho looked at him with wide eyes. “What?”

Jisung scratched the back of his head, feeling uncomfortable. “Beomgyu suggested we should try to get as many phone numbers from the people at the party as possible and the loser has to stay here and clean up while the others go home.”

“Oh.” Minho replied and suddenly a small smile appeared on his face. Jisung didn’t want to admit it, but he liked that Minho wasn’t giving him a cold stare like he usually did. “Can’t wait to see you lose,” he added and walked past Jisung, leaving the brunette boy all alone.

Jisung sighed, not understanding what his problem was, but he didn’t really have time to think about this for the millionth time, especially not now when he still had someone waiting for a tequila shot.

After his encounter with Minho he hoped that the rest of the night was gonna go well, but the purple haired boy wouldn’t let him breathe. Once he found out about the game Jisung and Beomgyu came up with, he did his best to make sure he was going to win. That meant he also tried to get people away from his coworkers, his main target being Jisung. Every time Jisung started talking to someone Minho was already there next to him in the next second and interrupted them. It was driving Jisung insane, he knew it was because of the game, but the rules were to collect as many phone numbers as possible and not to annoy Jisung at any given chance. 

Still, Jisung was very competitive and he was looking forward to walking out of Honey once the clock hit 4 am. He decided to do what he was best at - returning Minho the favor. Minho was good at talking to people and Jisung noticed how easy this game was for him, but he couldn’t let him win. He started interrupting Minho back to the point where he felt like he was spending more time interacting with Minho than with the other people at the club. 

It was around 3:30 in the morning when the place started clearing up, almost everyone had already left, including the performers who were scheduled for the event. Jisung was just smirking to himself as another girl gave him her phone number before leaving the club. He leaned against the wall, noticing there was no one close to the bar at the moment. 

“There’s no way you got seven of them,” Jisung heard a familiar voice coming from his left. He saw Minho looking at Hyunjin in disbelief while the taller boy only grinned in response. 

“It’s true, look,” Hyunjin replied to Minho and showed him his phone. Minho looked closer and stared at the phone screen for a few seconds. 

“Fuck this,” he murmured and walked away. 

In that moment Jisung realized that he should probably stop worrying about the game, figuring Minho did worse than Hyunjin. He didn’t really care about it anymore, knowing that he did better than Hyunjin which also meant Minho did worse than the both of them. 

Now that the place was almost empty, the room felt colder, especially because of the front door that was opened the entire night. Jisung decided to go to the changing room where he felt one of his jackets. 

As he grabbed his jacket from the hanger, he heard footsteps coming closer and in the next moment, Minho was standing in front of him. 

“How many numbers did you get?” Minho asked, sounding impatient. 

Jisung snorted. “I’m not telling you, you’ll see later.”

“Dude, just answer me,” Minho insisted and if Jisung hadn’t disliked him he’d probably find the pout on his face cute. 

“No, I wanna see your face later when you lose,” Jisung smiled at him. 

Minho rolled his eyes in response. “I’m doing better than you, thank you very much.”

“Is that why you’re asking me about it thirty minutes before the time’s up?” Jisung teased. 

Minho scoffed at him and Jisung loved seeing him like that. “Besides,” he added, “I’m pretty sure I won, I got more numbers than Hyunjin.”

Minho’s eyes widened and Jisung’s smile grew bigger. “No, you didn’t,” the purple haired boy said quietly. “I’ve been pushing everyone away from you for the past three hours, there’s no way.”

Jisung wanted to wait until the game ended, but something about him and Minho being alone and the man being a sore loser made him want to reveal his result already. He grabbed his phone and opened the notes app where he wrote down all the names of the people that he had talked to and their phone numbers. He gave Minho his phone, letting him count all the names. 

Minho took his phone and started counting quietly to himself. His eyes widened again. “Nine?!” he exclaimed, looking at Jisung in disbelief. “How the fuck did you get more numbers than all of us?!”

Jisung shrugged nonchalantly, knowing it was gonna make Minho angry. “People love me.”

“Yeah, right,” Minho replied and gave Jisung his phone back. “I get that Hyunjin and Ryujin got more numbers than I did, but how the hell did you and Beomgyu do better than me too?” he wondered. 

Jisung laughed out loud, even though it wasn’t that funny, he just wanted to make Minho feel bad. “So you really lost.”

Minho lightly punched his shoulder. “I haven’t lost yet, there’s still 30 minutes left.”

“Yeah, like that’s gonna save you,” Jisung replied. “How many did you get?”

“Like I’m telling you.” Minho said with furrowed brows. 

“Well, you can either tell me now or later, but it won’t make a difference either way, knowing that you’ve already lost.” Jisung grinned. 

“Stop laughing, this is all your fault!” Minho raised his voice. “You kept interrupting me whenever I was talking to someone!”

“You were literally doing the same thing!” Jisung raised his voice as well, taking a step closer to Minho. “It’s not my fault you focused on me instead of talking to the others!”

Minho looked furious, like a child who had just lost while playing monopoly. “Why are you so fucking obnoxious all the time?!” he yelled. 

“I am not having this conversation with you again,” Jisung replied, keeping his voice calm. “I already told you you were the one who started picking on me the very first day,” he reminded him. 

“Because you’re so-” Minho replied, but stopped mid sentence. 

“I’m what?” Jisung asked, taking another step closer to Minho. 

Minho took a deep breath before saying the next words. “I hate you,” he said. 

Jisung wasn’t hurt by his words, not when he already knew how the man felt about him. Besides, the feeling was mutual. He gave him a smile in return. “I don’t care, at least I’ll be able to sleep in less than an hour while you’re gonna be stuck here, cleaning up after everyone.”

Minho was fuming and Jisung could see that he had nothing left to say. 

“What?” he added, deciding to tease Minho even more. “Cat got your tongue?”

“Leave me alone,” Minho murmured, his eyes meeting Jisung’s. Only then Jisung realized how close Minho’s face was to his. Too close. His dark brown eyes were staring right through Jisung’s soul and he swore he could count every eyelash on Minho’s eyes if he had enough time. 

“Okay,” Jisung murmured back, still looking at Minho. He wasn’t sure why none of them had stepped back yet, it was almost like they made this a competition too, trying to see who would be the first one to back down. 

He didn’t know why, but his eyes moved to Minho’s lips. As soon as he realized that he shouldn’t have been looking at them, his gaze returned to Minho’s eyes. However, Minho was the one staring at Jisung’s lips now. It was only for a second, but it felt like an eternity. 

He wasn’t sure how and why it happened, but as soon as their eyes met each other again, they both leaned in and suddenly their lips were touching. 

Oh. 

That was definitely not how Jisung expected for this to go. Both of them leaned in for the kiss, but Minho was much more eager, pulling Jisung closer by his collar. He couldn’t think at all, he didn’t have enough time to wonder what the hell was going on, because the taste of Minho’s lips was absolutely addicting. 

Jisung had never kissed anyone like that. Usually the people that he had kissed were also the kind of people that he liked and was attracted to. This was different, the kiss was rushed and filled with anger, but there was something about it that Jisung couldn’t get enough of. 

Minho’s lips were so soft. He loved the way their lips moved in sync despite how messy the kiss was. Minho’s hands that were previously on the collar of his shirt quickly found their way to Jisung’s neck. Jisung kept his hands on Minho’s waist, loving the way he was able to keep Minho grounded. 

Jisung deepened the kiss, practically shoving his tongue down Minho’s throat and that’s when he heard the prettiest sound in the world. Minho whimpered, he fucking whimpered and Jisung loved how whiny he sounded. 

Minho seemed to realize it too and that’s when he pulled away for the first time. Jisung noticed how flushed Minho’s face was, wondering if he looked like that too. 

“I’m,” Minho stuttered, his mouth wide open, but nothing was coming out of it. Jisung couldn’t blame him, because he was just as speechless. “S-Sorry, I don’t… I’m so sorry.”

He didn’t know what had gotten into him, but he wanted to hear more of those pretty sounds Minho was letting out, he needed more. He shook his head in response and gently cupped Minho’s face. “Is this okay?”

Minho looked surprised at first, not understanding what was going on. However, he quickly melted in Jisung’s hands and in the next seconds their lips were connected again. This time, Jisung was feeling bolder, so he took a few steps forward, leading Minho with him without them pulling apart from each other. Suddenly, Minho’s back hit the wall. Jisung loved the feeling of being in control, he loved that he basically caged Minho in and he loved that the purple haired boy was loving it just as much. 

If someone had told Jisung an hour ago that this was what he was going to be doing, he most probably wouldn’t have believed them. He was still extremely confused about the entire situation, not really sure how they got to this part and why none of them seemed to be complaining about it. 

Their kisses kept getting messier, Jisung kept licking into Minho’s mouth, loving how the purple haired boy melted against him. Every now and then they’d both pull back just to take a few deep breaths and then they’d connect their lips again, like they were unable to stop kissing each other. 

Jisung wanted to try something out. He rolled his hips a little, just to see the other man’s reaction and oh, the needy moan that came out of Minho’s mouth did not make Jisung regret a single thing. Jisung continued pushing his hips forward and Minho immediately started doing the same until they were basically grinding on each other. 

Jisung grabbed Minho’s hips, making him still for a second. He pulled away from their kiss again and looked at the man in front of him before hesitantly asking. “Do you wanna…”

“Take this elsewhere?” Minho finished the question for him. Jisung nodded in response, hoping he wasn’t overstepping. 

“Please,” Minho replied and Jisung couldn’t stop himself from kissing him again. 

“Where should we go?” Jisung asked. “My house is kinda far away, unless you don’t mind driving for ten minut-”

“My apartment is upstairs.” Minho interrupted him. 

Jisung took a step back, confused. “Upstairs?”

Minho sighed in response. “I don’t have the time to explain, do you wanna go fuck or not?”

Jisung almost laughed at the boy’s sudden bluntness, but he couldn’t blame him. He hadn’t felt this horny in forever. 

“Lead the way.”

Completely forgetting their shift wasn’t even over yet, the boys headed upstairs where Minho’s apartment was. Jisung couldn’t help, but wonder how he never noticed that there were actual people living right above his workplace. As he was standing in the hall next to Minho who was unlocking the door, he noticed there were three more apartments on the same floor. 

He quickly stopped thinking about it and focused on Minho who already pushed him inside and started kissing him eagerly again. 

“Someone’s needy,” Jisung murmured against his lips. 

“Shut the fuck up.”

That was the last mean thing that came out of Minho’s mouth that night. Jisung couldn’t believe how someone who kept trying to make his life a living hell was now a whining mess, all pliant under Jisung’s touch. 

He couldn’t get enough of the man under him, he loved being able to finally shut him up, he loved being the reason why he was making all those pretty noises and he loved that when Minho came, it was Jisung’s name that came out of his mouth. 

It might’ve been because it was already late, but Jisung found himself feeling very sleepy and he couldn’t stop himself from falling asleep. Minho didn’t seem that opposed to it either, considering that when Jisung woke up a few hours later he was still in his bed and not outside on the street. 

He woke up to the sound of meowing. Loud meowing. He opened his eyes and saw a furry creature staring at him. “What the hell?” he murmured, trying to process where he was. 

“Soonie!” he heard a familiar voice, “get off the bed, come on,”

Jisung looked to the right and saw Minho sitting on the bed talking to the furry creature that turned out to be a cat. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up,” Minho said, looking apologetic. 

“It’s okay,” Jisung replied and yawned right afterwards. Seconds later he realized the situation he was in. He was in Minho’s bed. Minho was next to him, shirtless, and Jisung wasn’t much better as he was only wearing his boxers. “Um,” he said, not really knowing how to start this conversation. 

“Yeah,” Minho said, biting his lip. “Can we pretend like last night didn’t happen?” he asked and Jisung only stared at him with wide eyes, not really knowing what to think of it. “I just think we can both agree that we did something stupid and I’d prefer if we didn’t tell anyone about it.”

Jisung nodded, not really having an opinion about the whole situation. “Yeah, sure, if that’s what you want.”

“Thank you,” Minho replied. “I woke up to like a hundred missed calls and text messages from Hyunjin asking where we went.”

“Oh, shit,” Jisung’s eyes widened and he laughed. Minho joined him and something about it was so comforting. 

“I know,” Minho giggled, “he and Beomgyu cleaned up the entire place, apparently Ryujin disappeared too.”

Jisung laughed in response, trying to stop himself. “I feel bad for laughing.”

“Eh,” Minho shrugged, “It’s Hyunjin, don’t worry about it.”

None of them said anything afterwards and Jisung could start feeling the tension between them again. This was so… new. 

“Listen, I have to go somewhere, but feel free to stay here if you’re still tired, just make sure to lock the door after you leave,” Minho said before he started getting ready. 

“Okay.” 

Minho’s words lost their meaning around two days later. The boys mutually agreed to never speak of what happened between them and they promised each other they wouldn’t let it happen again.

Nonetheless, they found themselves making out with each other just two days later after another fight that they’ve had. Jisung wasn’t sure what they were fighting about, Minho was yelling at him about something, probably about him still not knowing how to cut the lemons the right way. Jisung didn’t care to remember what it was, he just needed to shut Minho up and the only way he could do that was by kissing him.

Their dynamic remained the same and for some reason it made the entire experience better. Apparently they both liked bickering about something and then solving the problem by kissing. They were always at work when it happened, so they couldn’t afford to have sex again, they did find other options though. From quick makeout sessions, to handjobs, blowjobs or fingering, they found a way to fool around during the limited time that they had. 

It was so strange to Jisung, the way he still disliked Minho, but he also loved whatever they had going on. Finally he understood what people meant when they said hate sex was hot. It was a good way to relieve stress too. 

It was Wednesday night and the only people left at Honey were Jisung, Minho and Seojoon. Jisung and Minho were there because they had to clean up the place before they left and Seojoon was just there, because he wanted someone to talk to. He was going through some papers, but Jisung was pretty sure he had them on the table just to act like he was busy and not in need of some company. 

While mopping the floor, Jisung realized that this was probably the first time he was in the same room as Minho without them fighting or bickering. They were just doing their job, occasionally responding to Seojoon’s questions. 

Ever since he started working here, Jisung noticed that Minho was particularly close to Seojoon. He wondered if that had something to do with the fact that Minho was living right above the club. He wanted to know what Minho was even doing in that tiny apartment with his cat, he wanted to know what made Minho want to work here. He knew that Ryujin, Yuna, Jeongin and Beomgyu worked here because they were just broke college students who needed some money and he knew that Hyunjin was here because he was saving up the money for a trip to Europe. He didn’t know what brought Minho here though. He never asked, because they obviously weren’t on good terms. He wasn’t sure what they were. Definitely not friends, even acquaintances sounded weird, but enemies sounded too dramatic. Just coworkers who disliked each other and occasionally got each other off maybe. He smiled to himself, realizing how funny he was that he barely knew anything about Minho, but he was also the only one who got to see him all naked under him. 

Jisung stopped thinking about Minho after a loud high pitched scream made him wake up from his thoughts. 

“Oh my God,” Seojoon said, looking at his phone with wide eyes. “Jieun’s water broke, she’s already in the hospital.”

Jisung dropped the mop he was holding and Minho ran towards Seojoon and hugged him tightly. “Congratulations!” the purple haired boy said. 

“No, don’t congratulate me yet, I have to get to the hospital first,” Seojoon replied and already started looking for his car keys. “I need to go, oh my God.”

“You sure you can make it there on your own?” Jisung asked, willing to help. 

“Yeah, don’t worry,” Seojoon replied, his face flushed, “Just… go home, the place is already clean enough, I’ll text you how it goes,” he rushed towards the exit door. “Holy fuck, I’m gonna be a dad,” he said in disbelief.

Jisung and Minho watched him in awe as he left and smiled, feeling genuinely happy for him. 

“Well, you heard what he said,” Jisung said, already putting the mop away. “We can go home.”

Minho did not respond though, looking at Jisung with a hesitant look in his eyes. Jisung furrowed his brows, wondering what was going inside of his mind. 

“Do you have any plans for today?” Minho blurted out, standing still. 

“No?” Jisung replied, not sure where this was going. 

“Oh,” Minho said, taking a deep breath. “Do you wanna go upstairs?” he suggested. 

This was the first time Minho had offered for them to fool around while none of them were angry at each other. It felt weird, usually Jisung kissed Minho for a reason, to shut him up. Now, they didn’t have a reason to kiss, let alone have sex. In fact, they haven’t fought at all the entire day. 

Jisung put those thoughts aside though and accepted Minho’s offer, already getting a weird feeling in his stomach. 

When they got to Minho’s apartment, Jisung didn’t hesitate to pull Minho closer to him, he needed to taste those lips now . Usually, their kisses were angry, rushed and heated, they were almost aggressive. But not this time. Sure, they were sloppy and messy, but they were also filled with so much want. Jisung could tell that they both needed this. This was the first time they had time, they didn’t have to rush anything or worry that someone was going to see them. 

Minho was the first one who got on the bed, already taking his shirt off. 

Jisung groaned, not understanding how someone could have a body like Minho did. He followed the purple haired boy and took his own shirt off too. He hovered over Minho and started taking his jeans off. “You really have to wear the tightest pants possible,” he said as he struggled to take them off. 

Minho smiled in response and helped Jisung out. The brunette boy reached towards the night table where Minho kept his bottle of lube. He already warmed up some of it between his fingers while waiting for Minho to take his underwear off. 

He inserted the first finger inside of Minho and instantly got reminded of how much he had missed this, how badly he wanted to have Minho like this again. He couldn’t get over all the noises that Minho was letting out. 

As he added a second finger, he couldn’t help but notice how beautiful Minho was. He wasn’t scared of getting caught for staring at his face, Minho’s eyes were closed and he couldn’t notice Jisung. His hair was messy and somehow he still looked perfect. His cheeks were red and so were his lips as he kept biting them. Jisung wondered if it was strange that he kept thinking about how beautiful someone that he disliked was. 

Minutes after, when Jisung stretched Minho enough with three fingers and he already started looking for a condom, Minho stopped him for a second. 

“Wait,” he said, breathless, “can I get on top?” 

Jisung’s mouth opened. “Y-Yeah,” he replied, “fuck, okay.”

Soon after, Minho was in Jisung’s lap, their chests touching. They continued to kiss messily as Minho lined himself up with Jisung’s dick. Minho kept trying to kiss Jisung, but eventually their lips were merely brushing over each other since none of them managed to stay quiet. 

Minho was great on top of Jisung, the way he was rolling his hips made Jisung wonder if the boy used to be a dancer. His stamina was great too and dear God, his thighs were sinful, Jisung couldn’t keep his hands off of them. 

They didn’t say anything for a while, they just kept panting into each other’s mouth, trying to keep a steady rhythm. Eventually Minho got tired and Jisung helped him by thrusting into him. He loved the way Minho was clinging onto him. He hid his head in the crook of Jisung’s neck, leaving soft kisses all over Jisung. His hands were wrapped around Jisung’s back tightly. 

Jisung could tell the purple haired boy was getting tired, so he maneuvered them to their previous position, never pulling out. 

“Close,” Minho broke the silence between them, “I’m close,”

“Me too,” Jisung reassured him, not sure how long he was gonna be able to last. 

Minho let out a high pitched moan as he came and it was like music to Jisung’s ears. He came just a few moments later. 

He quickly pulled out and moved to the side, not wanting to crush the man under him. They stayed quiet for a few minutes, trying to catch their breaths. It wasn’t even 9 pm yet, but Jisung felt himself getting sleepy just like the last time. 

He didn’t realize he fell asleep until he woke up a few hours later when Minho started shaking his shoulder to wake him up. 

“Hmm?” Jisung groaned, slowly opening his eyes. “Ah, fuck, what time is it?”

“It’s almost midnight,” Minho replied. “We both fell asleep,” he laughed. “I woke up like half an hour ago and I was all sticky so I took a quick shower.”

That’s when Jisung realized he fell asleep while they were both still dirty. He looked at Minho apologetically, feeling sorry he didn’t give him a proper aftercare. “Sorry, I should’ve helped you out with that.”

Minho shook his head. “It’s fine, we were both tired. Anyways, I thought you’d want me to wake you up, I don’t think you really want to spend the night here with me.”

“Right,” Jisung replied, noticing how calm Minho looked. “Thanks.”

“You can take a shower too if you want to.” Minho offered and Jisung was about to thank him again, but the sound of both of their phones chiming made them look at each other. 

“Do you think that’s-”

“Seojoon.”

Minho had already unlocked his phone and checked his notifications. The smile that appeared on Minho’s face told Jisung everything. He liked seeing Minho smile, but that was a thought for another day. 

“It’s a girl,” he announced, smiling proudly. “They named her Chaewon.”

“Oh, that’s so cute,” Jisung cooed, feeling happy for Seojoon, knowing how excited his boss was to finally become a dad. “God, I forgot how good this feeling is.”

“What feeling?” Minho asked. 

“This, the excitement over someone new being born,” Jisung explained. “No one close to me had given birth in ages, the last time I was happy over a baby being born was in my last year of high school when my mom gave birth to my youngest brother,” he added, not even caring that he was oversharing and that Minho probably did not need to know the details about Jisung’s family. 

“Oh, I remember that,” Minho said. 

Jisung’s smile disappeared and he needed a second to process the words that came out of Minho’s mouth. “Wait, what?” he laughed.

“The day your brother was born, I remember how happy you were,” Minho replied, acting like he said something normal. 

Jisung got up in a sitting position, not sure what Minho was talking about. “I’m confused,” he said, “That was like six years ago.”

Minho’s smile disappeared as well, he looked like he had just realized something. “Oh my god, you really don’t remember.”

“Remember what?” Jisung asked, getting more and more confused. 

“I thought you just forgot about some things, but you really don’t remember me at all, huh?” Minho looked at him with his big brown eyes. “Jisung, we went to the same high school.”

Jisung’s mouth opened, wondering if Minho was just fucking with him. 

“You were in the other class, but we had our philosophy lessons together for a year,” Minho added. “Hold on, I’ll give you the proof,” he said before getting up and opening one of his drawers, searching through his stuff. 

Jisung continued to look at him in bewilderment. 

“Ah! There it is!” Minho sounded pleased as he pulled out a picture out of his drawer. He got back on the bed, sitting right next to Jisung and showed him the picture he was holding. Jisung immediately recognized it since he had the exact same one somewhere in his house too. It was a picture taken on their graduation day. 

“Here’s you,” Minho pointed at the picture, “and here’s me.”

Jisung looked at the picture in awe. There were more than a hundred students in the picture, the picture that Jisung had looked at numerous times and yet, he never noticed Minho. His hair wasn’t purple back then, it was still in his natural color and he was wearing glasses. The more Jisung stared at the picture the more he realized why Minho felt so familiar when he first saw him at Honey. 

“I can’t believe this,” Jisung said. “I remember I thought your face looked familiar when I first saw you, but I didn’t think much of it.”

“Did you know who I was this entire time?” he added, feeling curious. 

“Mhm,” Minho responded. “I mean you were one of the cooler guys back in high school and you still look the same, so I immediately knew it was you.”

“I wasn’t cool,” Jisung snorted at Minho’s words. 

“Maybe, but a lot of people knew who you were,” Minho replied. 

“Have we ever interacted during high school? I find it weird that I don’t remember you at all,” Jisung couldn’t help but ask, wanting to know what else Minho knew. 

“Kinda, but not really,” Minho scrunched his face and wow, it was the cutest thing Jisung had ever seen. Again, that was a thought for another day. “I used to tutor one of your friends, Kangmin.”

“Oh wow,” Jisung replied, suddenly hit with a wave of nostalgia, “I haven’t heard of that name in a while.”

He had plenty of friends in high school, but it seemed like they were just friends, because they had to be. They never felt like real friends to Jisung and he only realized that after he got out of high school and met his actual friends at college. They made him realize how many fake friends he used to have without even noticing it. 

“Are you not friends with him anymore?” Minho asked and Jisung swore he almost sounded hopeful. 

He shook his head in response. “Nah, I’m not in touch with anyone from high school anymore, I’ve moved on from that.”

“Oh,” Minho replied, “that’s… that’s good.”

“Why?” Jisung laughed softly. 

He could feel Minho tensing next to him, suddenly feeling a bit uneasy. “It’s just that your friends were kind of assholes, you know?” the purple haired boy shrugged. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend them. I just remember Kangmin used to give me a lot of shit for so many things back then.”

Jisung’s face frowned in concern, surprised by how he never noticed that. “Did he bully you?

“Bully is a bit of a strong word, I guess he was just mean to me for no reason, he used to say homophobic shit to me, but then he’d also threaten me to give him free tutoring lessons or else he’d out me to my parents,” Minho explained and Jisung could tell he was feeling vulnerable. “I used to be a lot shyer when I was in high school and I didn’t have the courage to defend myself, so I just let him be mean to me and then I’d just wait for the day we’d finally graduate so I could never see his face again.”

“I’m so sorry,” Jisung said, feeling awful for never realizing how bad his friend was. Sure, he knew that he wasn’t the best person in the world, but he couldn’t believe he hung out with someone for four years without noticing he was acting like that. 

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. “Is this why you’ve disliked me this whole time?”

Minho looked at him for the first time in minutes and winced. “I’m sorry, I just… seeing you made me remember how much I hated high school and I just felt like I was back to being this weird loner kid.”

“Hey,” Jisung sat up, gently rubbing Minho’s shoulder, hoping he wasn’t overstepping. “I know I can be an asshole sometimes, I’m aware we don’t really get along, but I’m also nothing like Kangmin. You don’t have to worry about it, I’ll never treat you like that, I promise.”

“I’m sorry your high school experience was ruined because of him,” he added, hoping that Minho would believe him. 

“It’s whatever,” Minho tried to shake it off and Jisung didn’t like that at all. “It’s been so long, I barely even think about it.” 

For a while they sat there in bed and looked at the graduation picture. Something about it felt oddly domestic, the way Minho was sitting right next to Jisung, their shoulders touching.

It felt nice to be around Minho without them screaming at each other. He could get used to it, Jisung thought. 

“Jisung, what are we?” 

Jisung swallowed, feeling a thousand times more awkward now. He was glad Minho was the one who dared to ask about their situation, it was about time they acknowledged it. 

Jisung didn’t know what to say, he wasn’t sure what they were either. “I don’t know, friends with benefits?” 

Minho tilted his head, a smile appearing on his face. “Friends?” 

Jisung smiled back at him, secretly hoping that maybe one day they could be friends. “Enemies with benefits then?”

Minho let out a soft laugh, throwing his head into the crook of Jisung’s neck. Jisung noticed he did that a lot, he liked being close to people. He was often touchy with Hyunjin, but with Jisung too. Often when they would fool around and Minho would reach his high he’d get closer to Jisung, wanting to be closer to him, even if it was just for a second. Jisung didn’t mind it, he didn’t mind it at all actually, he liked that he was able to keep Minho closer to him before everything would go back to normal, before they’d start bickering again.

“I wouldn’t say we’re enemies either,” Minho murmured.

“Oh?” Jisung replied teasingly. “So we’ve been fighting for the past month, because we’re such good friends?”

Minho pulled back, rolling his eyes. “Okay, let’s say we’re coworkers with benefits. How do you feel about this, do you wanna stop having sex?”

Jisung shook his head, not wanting that at all. “I kinda like this, I wouldn’t mind it if we continued sleeping together. Only if it’s something that you want too of course,” he reassured Minho.

“I’d like that,” Minho said softly. “Maybe we could eventually try to go from coworkers with benefits to friends with benefits,” he suggested and Jisung felt a strange feeling in his tummy.

“You wanna be friends?” Jisung asked and mentally cursed at himself for sounding so desperate.

“Do you?” Minho asked back with his eyes wide.

“I asked you first.” 

“I wanna try to see what it’s like to communicate with you in a way that doesn’t make me wanna rip my hair out,” Minho admitted.

“Maybe I want that too,” Jisung smiled at him.

“Good,” Minho breathed and then backed away from Jisung. “You should really take a shower, you stink.”

Chapter Text

From that moment on things got better, easier . Jisung realized that it was impossible for him and Minho to not bicker every five minutes, but he also realized that it was impossible to not find every single thing about the other man endearing. Everyday he got to learn a new thing about him and everyday he got happier, feeling like he was getting closer to calling Minho his friend.

It was almost like a daily routine for Jisung to make a quick trip upstairs, even when they weren’t working during the same shifts. Sometimes he’d wait for Minho in his apartment because for some reason the purple haired boy trusted him enough, and sometimes he’d come knocking on Minho’s door at a late hour.

They’d agree it would be better if Jisung didn’t spend the night, but they still made sure to hang out a little every time they had sex, figuring it’d make things more comfortable.

Jisung quickly found out that Minho’s cat played an important part of his life. His name was Soonie and he was without a doubt, Minho’s favorite living thing. Minho would often stop his makeout sessions with Jisung when he’d hear his cat meowing, he’d always make sure to feed him and to entertain him and shower him with love.

Jisung was never that much of a cat person, but seeing the way Minho loved him made Jisung like the cat too. He usually heard that cats weren’t very friendly, but Soonie wasn’t like that, he let Jisung pet him all the time. 

Another thing Jisung found out was that he was right about his assumption about Minho being a dancer. Turns out, Minho had been dancing since he was little, which explained a lot, specifically his thighs.

Jisung loved Minho’s thighs. Every time he and Minho had sex he made sure to give his thighs lots of attention too. He loved leaving hickeys on them and he loved resting his head on them after eating Minho out.

He liked it when Minho would initiate their conversations, because it was obvious he was saying the most random things just to keep Jisung in his apartment for a few more minutes. 

Jisung liked it when he’d share things with Minho and the purple haired boy remembered them. He could still recall a moment from last week when Seojoon was struggling with something in the bar, asking if anyone was good at finances. He could never forget the way Minho’s eyes lit up and the way he enthusiastically replied to Seojoon. “Jisungie is good at it, he studied economy.” 

He could still remember the way Minho’s face got red after saying Jisungie out loud in front of his boss and his coworkers, he could still remember the look Hyunjin gave him.

He also found out Minho knew how to play guitar. Jisung really liked music in general, but he never tried to pursue a music career. Nonetheless he still knew how to play a bunch of instruments and finding Minho’s guitar in his closet made him remember the love he had for music all over again.

He knew it was cheesy, but Jisung loved spending time at Minho’s apartment, he liked hanging out with him more than having sex with him. He liked it when they’d sit on the bed and Jisung would play random songs that he knew on guitar while Minho ordered takeout food for them and cuddled with Soonie. 

It felt so domestic, almost too domestic for two people who claimed they weren’t even friends, two people who were constantly at each other’s throats.

The bickering never stopped, but Jisung didn’t mind it. He liked teasing Minho and he liked how playful their bickering had gotten, there were no cruel intentions behind it. They just liked to bother each other and sometimes it felt like they were doing it just because they wanted to be in each other’s company, they just didn’t know how to express it in any other way. 

Minho never seemed to mind Jisung’s remarks, until one time he broke. 

Yuna, Jeongin, Minho and Jisung were working together during one of their shifts. Jisung liked entertaining people and he had spent so much time laughing with Yuna and Jeongin that it took him a while to realize that he hadn’t had the chance to speak to Minho in hours. In fact, he hadn’t spoken to Minho at all the entire day. 

He didn’t want to think about it too much, but at the same time he wondered why Minho hadn’t said anything to him yet. Maybe it was because Jisung messed something up again while working, Minho often got annoyed because of that. 

Despite not remembering Minho from high school, he didn’t question the fact that Minho was a nerd and a teacher’s pet at all, he still acted the same now. He was Seojoon’s favorite for a reason and he always pointed out people’s mistakes, he was a perfectionist.

Jisung had noticed that in Minho’s apartment as well. Minho was good at cooking and he’d often start preparing the meal all over again when he messed something up, even if it wasn’t that noticeable.

As he saw Minho walking out of the restroom and walking back to the cash register, Jisung saw the opportunity to finally talk to him. Yuna and Jeongin were in the storage room, so now was the perfect chance to do what he was best at, annoying Minho.

Once he took a better look at him, he noticed the boy looked grumpy and he wanted nothing more than to cheer him up. 

Suddenly, Minho stumbled on his own feet, awkwardly trying not to lose his balance. “Fucking hell,” he murmured to himself.

“Someone’s clumsy,” Jisung decided to tease him just a little bit. He instantly regretted it though.

Minho took a deep breath and looked at Jisung. “Please don’t,” he said, his voice cracking. “Just not today, please.”

Jisung could see there were tears in Minho’s eyes and the purple haired boy tried his best not to let them out. It was the first time Jisung had seen him in a state like that and he didn’t like the sight at all. He didn’t want to see Minho crying because of him, he didn’t want to see Minho crying at all. He looked so small and broken.

He was about to apologize and ask what’s up, but an angry voice stopped him from doing that. 

“Lee Minho!” a middle aged woman stormed into the bar, looking furious. 

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Minho whispered and quickly wiped his tears away before turning around and facing the woman. 

Jisung had never seen her before and he wasn’t sure if he should’ve left, but something told him he should stay, just in case. 

“Care to explain why your brother just came home and said you never showed up at his office?” The woman and Jisung did not like the tone she was using at all. “And you haven’t answered a single call either.”

“I’m working,” Minho replied, keeping his voice low, “I didn’t notice.”

The woman scoffed in return, shaking her head in disappointment. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing Minho, but I need you to get your crap together. We’ve given you too many chances.”

“I’m doing perfectly fine without your help, thank you very mu-”

“What, in this shithole?” she laughed mockingly. “You’re ruining your own life, can’t you see that?”

Jisung felt like he shouldn’t have been there, but he also knew it would be too awkward to leave now. He tried to pretend he was doing something behind the counter, looking unbothered. He was glad there were no customers at the moment, he didn’t want anyone to witness this. 

“How exactly am I ruining my life?” Minho replied, biting the inside of his cheek. “I’m doing better than when I lived with you.”

“You’re not using your potential to the fullest,” the woman, probably his mom, replied. 

“How the fuck is doing something that I don’t want good for me?!” Minho raised his voice, breathing heavily.

“Do not talk to me this way,” the woman said sternly. “We’re having dinner tomorrow, you should join us if you still want to be a part of this family.”

Jisung could see Minho was having a hard time trying to stay calm and he looked visibly upset. He didn’t know what came over him, but he wanted to help him out, he wanted to give him at least some sort of comfort. 

He slowly took two steps to the right to get closer to Minho, trying not to make it too obvious. He carefully reached out for Minho’s hand, holding it gently, drawing small circles on it with his thumb. Minho’s breath hitched at the gesture. He closed his eyes for a second, trying to slow down his breathing. 

Jisung looked at the woman who was standing in front of the counter. “I’m politely asking you to go, we don’t like causing a scene during work hours.”

The woman looked at him and her piercing gaze told Jisung that she did not appreciate him at all. Nonetheless, she turned around and started walking towards the exit. “Your dad and I are tired of supporting you.”

“What are you even talking about, you haven’t supported me in years!” Minho raised his voice again and Jisung could tell he was on the verge of crying. 

“I’m so disappointed in you,” the woman said before she left. 

The moment she walked out the door, Minho let out a sob and his face was covered with tears. Jisung’s eyes furrowed in concern and he was about to pull him closer, but Minho pulled away, letting go of his hand. “I’m fine,” he said and wiped his tears again, refusing to cry. “Let’s just get back to work.”

Their shift wasn’t over for two more hours and Jisung was having a hard time trying not to ask Minho about how he was feeling, he felt so hopeless. 

He got the feeling that Minho was one of the people who needed some privacy when they were upset, so he decided to leave him alone for a while, to give him some time to recharge. 

He had already come with the terms that he would go straight home after his shift, something that he hadn’t done in days, weeks. He was used to coming home late, because he was spending so much time at Minho’s.  

To his surprise, Minho stopped him before he could leave. “Can we go upstairs?” he asked with a pleading look in his eyes. “I need you, please,” he looked like he was about to cry again if Jisung rejected him. 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Minho,” Jisung was skeptical. “You’re not feeling well.”

“Please,” Minho insisted, his voice cracking. “I promise I’ll explain everything later, I just really need you now.”

Jisung hesitated for a while, but he wanted nothing more than to comfort Minho and for him to open up to Jisung, so he accepted the request and let Minho lead him upstairs. 

He didn’t want this time to be like all of their other times together. No, he wanted to take his time with Minho now, he wanted to show him that he was there for him, despite everything that they’ve been through. 

He gently cupped his face and pulled him in for a kiss, a soft one. They just kissed for a few minutes, feeling no need to rush anything. They kissed slowly and lazily, the way they’ve never kissed before. Minho started getting impatient after a while, but Jisung shushed him. 

“Let me take care of you, yeah?”

Minho nodded in response, too overwhelmed to say anything. Once he took off his shirt, Jisung decided he was going to leave kisses all over his torso. He started by trailing soft kisses down his neck, focusing on his collarbones and covering them with marks. He continued by softly sucking on his nipples, loving how sensitive Minho was. 

He left a few kisses on Minho’s tummy too, he loved his tummy. He realized that he loved every part of Minho's body. Minho was beautiful. 

“You’re beautiful,” he said and Minho only whimpered in response. 

Jisung slowly took Minho’s pants and underwear off with the purple haired boy arching his back, helping Jisung out. 

“Can I eat you out?” Jisung asked, even though he already knew what the answer was going to be. Minho loved being eaten out and well, Jisung loved doing it just as much. 

“Fuck,” Minho whined, feeling desperate, “Yeah just, hurry up, I want you.”

“You have me,” Jisung replied, knowing that’s not what Minho meant. 

“I meant inside me,” Minho whined even more and Jisung couldn’t stop himself from smiling. 

Not wanting to make Minho wait any longer, he grabbed him by his thighs and buried his face between them with no warning, sucking on his rim. His lips curved into a smile as he felt Minho’s fingers going through his hair. He was leaving wet kisses all over Minho’s hole, adoring the reactions he got out of Minho. 

“Jisung,” Minho whimpers, pushing his ass forward. At one point Jisung felt like he was making out with his hole, messily kissing it and prodding at it with his tongue. “S-Stop, stop, I need you.”

Jisung pulled away, leaving a few more kisses all over Minho’s thighs, just because. He grabbed the lube from the nightstand and took a second to look at Minho’s flushed face. He laughed breathlessly, wanting to kiss those pouty lips, and that’s exactly what he did, loving the way Minho melted under him. 

He swallowed all of Minho’s moans that came out of him once Jisung added his finger in. “Hurry,” Minho broke the kiss, breathing heavily. 

“Don’t be impatient,” Jisung smiled at him, pushing the sweaty hair that was stuck on his face back, secretly just wanting to have a valid excuse to stare at Minho’s face. He added another finger and Minho arched his back in pleasure. 

The purple haired boy pulled Jisung in for another kiss while he was opening him up. That was another thing Jisung had noticed about Minho, he liked being kissed while having sex. 

After figuring Minho had been waiting for too long, Jisung pulled his fingers out of Minho’s hole and started unwrapping the condom he had in the pocket of his jeans. Ever since he and Minho had started sleeping together, he liked to be prepared. 

He lined up his dick to Minho’s entrance and slowly started pushing in, absolutely in love with the way Minho clenched around him. “Fuck,” he Jisung mumbled, leaning closer to Minho, their foreheads touching. 

They always acted like a pair of horny teenagers when they had sex, it was always hot and messy, but not this time. Jisung wanted to let Minho know how appreciated he was, he wanted to worship him. They went slow and gentle this time and as much as Minho complained about it at first, constantly telling Jisung to go faster, he eventually shut up, enjoying the slow pace even more. 

Minho hid his face in Jisung’s shoulder, leaving soft kisses all over his neck. Jisung liked being kissed on his neck and Minho knew that, he always peppered Jisung’s skin with soft kisses. 

“Fuck, you’re perfect,” Jisung gasped, feeling like he was on cloud nine. 

Minho pulled away and kissed Jisung senseless again, gently caressing his hair with one of his hands. Despite going slow this time, Jisung made sure to make his thrusts powerful, wanting to make Minho feel good. 

Their chests were touching and this was something that they both liked, they liked being as close to each other as possible, they liked the way their bodies felt like one, despite how cheesy that sounded. 

Suddenly, Minho let out a high pitched moan, the kind of moan that Jisung was familiar with. He lifted Minho’s legs even more, trying to hit his prostate better. “Are you feeling good?” Jisung asked, checking up on the man under him. 

Minho furrowed his brows in the cutest way. “Don’t ask me stupi- ah!” he let out another whine, “Don’t ask me stupid questions,” he managed to finish his sentence. 

“Just making sure,” Jisung smiled, hitting Minho’s prostate again. 

“I’m close,” Minho whimpered. 

“I got you,” Jisung said reassuringly, kissing him softly again. It didn’t take Minho long to reach his high, Jisung was surprised he was even able to last this long considering how needy he had been the entire time. Luckily, he was close too, speeding up his thrusts, not wanting to make Minho over sensitive. 

He leaned his head against Minho’s shoulder as he came, moaning softly, taking a few seconds to catch his breath. 

Suddenly, Minho pushed him off and Jisung was about to ask him what’s wrong, wondering if he had accidentally hurt him. To his surprise, Minho did it just so that he could rest his head on Jisung’s chest, wrapping his hands around his waist. 

This was new. Minho was often clingy, but he was never much of a cuddler. Jisung didn’t mind it though, he was looking forward to the day he could have Minho in his arms. 

“That was mom earlier,” Minho said quietly, breaking the silence between them. 

Jisung’s mouth opened, realizing Minho was about to explain everything to him. “Hey, you don’t have to talk about it, especially now that you’re tired,” Jisung told him. 

“No, I wanna talk about it,” Minho insisted, looking at Jisung with his beautiful brown eyes. 

“Okay then,” Jisung nodded, giving Minho time to talk. 

“You know how I’ve told you I’ve been dancing my entire life?” Minho reminded Jisung. “My parents were supportive about it when I was younger, cause it was just a hobby of mine, but then years later they changed their minds after noticing I was planning to have a career in dancing.”

Jisung pressed a soft kiss to Minho’s head, wanting to make him feel more comfortable, figuring this was a sensitive topic. 

“I know the whole thing about parents not supporting their kid’s dream might be corny, but that’s exactly how my parents have been for the past ten years,” Minho continued. “My mom’s a lawyer and my dad owns a company with one of his old friends, they created it together. I have an older brother and he’s following my dad’s steps and I guess it just made sense that just because my dad owns a company, his children have to continue his legacy.”

“They expected me to do the same, but I’ve always wanted to dance. They let me study whatever I wanted in college because they thought I was eventually gonna change my mind, but then three years later I was still hoping to become a professional dancer. They’ve stopped supporting me financially,” Minho admitted and Jisung was surprised by how honest he was with him, appreciating that he trusted him enough. “Well, technically, they threatened to stop supporting me. I didn’t wanna be treated like that, so I decided to move out. I met Seojoon one day, two years ago. It was around the same time he purchased this building. He was looking for people to work here and of course I immediately reached out to him. He randomly mentioned he was also planning to rent a few apartments above the bar. I told him about my situation and he invited me to live here. That’s how I ended up here.”

Jisung blinked, lots of things making sense now. “That’s really nice of him,” he said, not sure if it was okay to interrupt Minho. 

“I know,” Minho replied. “I’ll forever be grateful for what he did. We’ve gotten pretty close over the past two years. Anyway, my mom came here today, because she still hasn’t given up on her dreams about me working at my dad’s company. I was supposed to meet up with my brother today, he was gonna explain the whole thing to me. But I couldn’t go. I knew they were gonna give me shit for it, but I couldn’t force myself to go there.”

“Do you remember that time I had somewhere to be a few weeks ago, when you offered to switch shifts with me?”

Jisung remembered that day pretty well, it was the first time he did something nice for Minho. “Mhm,” he replied. 

“I’ve been saving up money for the past two years. It might sound dumb, but I’ve always wanted to own a dance studio, a place where I could teach other people how to dance,” Minho smiled against Jisung’s chest. 

“That sounds like a lovely idea Minho,” Jisung replied, his heart full of adoration. 

“There’s this place a few miles ago. It was on sale, it’s big enough and I was able to afford it. I was scheduled to meet up with the guy who owns the place so I could check it out,” Minho explained. “I bought it.”

An immense wave of pride washed over Jisung. He held Minho even closer to him, wanting to give him the biggest hug. “You did?!” he asked enthusiastically. 

“Yeah,” Minho laughed and looked at Jisung. “You don’t find it silly?”

“Fuck no!” Jisung replied. “This is amazing, you should be proud of yourself!”

“I think you’re probably the first person who thinks so,” Minho smiled at him sadly. It hurt to see him like this, Jisung wanted him to know how brave and admiring he was. It must’ve been hard for Minho, not having a single family member close to him to support his decisions. 

“I’m serious, Minho,” Jisung said softly, pressing another kiss to the top of Minho’s head. “You don’t need your family members to tell you that, there are people around you who support you and know you’re doing great. You have Seojoon and Hyunjin and-” Jisung hesitated for a second. “You have me, Minho.”

Minho only blinked at him, looking flustered. “Thank you.”

“What about you?” he added, this time with a playful tone. 

“What about me?” Jisung wondered. 

“I’ve just told you about me, it’s your turn now. What’s up with your business degree?” Minho laughed, remembering Jisung often complained about it. 

Jisung grimaced, hating being reminded about his failed college experience. “I’ve always thought getting a business degree would be useful and I’m good with numbers, so I didn’t mind studying it. I just don’t think that’s it for me, you know? I don’t really know what interests me.”

“What about music?” Minho asked. “You’re always playing the guitar here and I’ve heard you sing before, you’re really good.”

“Oh, stop,” Jisung shook his head. “I’m too old to start a music career now, I’m 23.”

Minho lightly punched his chest, making Jisung shriek. “The fuck was that for?”

“Don’t say stupid shit,” Minho pouted and rested his head on Jisung’s chest again. “Just… think about it, yeah? I think you’d be good at it.”

“I don’t even know where to start,” Jisung replied. 

“Well,” Minho said, “there are always people performing at Honey, maybe one day when you're ready you can talk to Seojoon and he’ll schedule your performance for one of the events.”

“Oh,” Jisung responded, realizing that did not sound like a bad idea at all. 

“Do you wanna sleep over?” Minho suddenly asked, sounding unsure. Jisung’s brain stopped working, wondering where that came from. It was like Minho could hear his thoughts and he immediately let go of Jisung, looking at him panically. “I-I mean cause it’s late,” Minho tried to explain himself. “I just thought you wouldn’t want to drive home at such a late hour.”

Jisung looked at the clock, seeing it wasn’t even 10 pm yet. Time was never a problem for him, he was used to leaving Minho’s apartment at 4 in the morning, so he wasn’t sure what Minho was saying right now. They had mutually agreed to never spend the night together, not because they were scared of falling in love, but because they felt like that was only something couples did. 

Still, something told him that Minho did not want to say goodbye just yet and luckily, Jisung didn’t want that either. 

“I’ll stay then, if that’s okay with you,” Jisung smiled fondly at him. 

Minho looked relieved, like he had just released a breath he didn’t know he was holding. 

That night, Jisung realized he was fucked. 

The moment he and Minho got out of the shower and cuddled before going to sleep with Soonie purring next to them, it finally hit him. He didn’t dislike Minho. He didn’t like him as a friend either. He was falling for Minho and he was falling hard . 

For the next two weeks, Jisung decided he wasn’t gonna care about his feelings, he had to put them aside. It was almost ridiculous how quickly he discovered how enamored he was of everything that Minho did. 

He adored Minho’s laugh more than anything else. He loved the little sound he let out every time he laughed. He loved the way his entire face lit up whenever he was happy. He loved the way his eyes sparkled at all times. He loved the way his face resembled a cat. 

Minho was so charming in every way and the more time Jisung spent with him the more he wondered why he ever disliked him in the first place. 

Minho was easy to talk to, Jisung loved talking to him about random things. He loved talking to him about his favorite things, he loved talking to Minho about the weather, he loved talking to him about cat food. Minho was always so attentive or at least he seemed like he was. 

He hoped that Minho found him tolerable too. He could still remember the night Minho had told him about Kangmin. A part of Jisung was scared that Minho still didn’t completely trust Jisung, that he still thought Jisung was just like his old classmates used to be. 

Talking to Minho was so easy, but so hard at the same time. They were able to talk about anything, except for the way they felt about each other. Despite the amount of sex they’ve had, the number of hours they had spend working together, keeping each other company, Jisung still had no idea how Minho felt about him. It was driving him insane.

He knew Minho didn’t like him back, he could never. Somehow, he was okay with it. The only thing he had to make sure was to never let Minho know about his feelings, because he knew that would ruin everything. He had gotten attached to the purple haired boy too much, he wasn’t ready to lose him just yet. 

He knew it wasn’t healthy to be intimate with someone who didn’t return his feelings, it wasn’t good for either of them. He wondered why they even agreed to be friends with benefits in the first place, he knew damn well those never ended well, it was like waiting for a disaster to happen. 

One day, Jisung was in the storage room, going through all the boxes with Ryujin while Seojoon was there to check if everything was alright. He didn’t know what came over him, but he was aware he had been thinking about Minho the entire day, looking like a kicked puppy, feeling sorry for himself. He needed some advice. He hadn’t told a single person about his situation with Minho and eventually he started feeling uneasy, not used to not having anyone to talk to. 

“Can I ask you guys something?” Jisung suddenly said, making both Ryujin and Seojoon look at him in confusion. They were definitely not the right people to talk to, Seojoon being ten years older than him with a wife and a kid and Ryujin being a lesbian. 

“Mhm,” Ryujin replied, waiting for Jisung to talk. 

“This is so random, but I think I kinda like this guy. But I don’t know if he likes me back,” Jisung admitted, already regretting he even said anything. 

“Is it Minho?” Seojoon immediately asked, like a child who wanted to hear a secret. 

“Woah, what?” Jisung got surprised, taking a step back. 

Ryujin and Seojoon both glared at him, making Jisung wonder if he was really that obvious. 

“... Maybe,” Jisung murmured. 

“Ha!” Seojoon jumped like a little kid. “I’m telling you, I know my employees better than anyone else!” he said to Ryujin who rolled her eyes. 

Jisung stood still, wondering what the fuck just happened. 

“He made a bet with Jeongin and Beomgyu last month,” Ryujin said to Jisung and the brunette boy’s eyes immediately widened. 

“Excuse me?!”

“I kept saying there’s something going on between these two and no one would believe me!” Seojoon squeaked. 

“There’s nothing going on,” Jisung tried to defend himself. 

“Oh, come on, like I haven’t noticed you camping in front of Minho’s apartment hundreds of times,” Seojoon replied. 

Jisung felt himself blushing, hating the way he got called out. “Okay, fine,” he said in defeat, “maybe there’s something. But you still haven’t answered my question, how can I know if he likes me back?” he said almost too desperately. 

Ryujin smiled at him, cooing at the sight of Jisung sulking. “Just talk to him.”

“I can’t just talk to him,” Jisung replied. “It’s Minho we’re talking about.”

“What, you think he’s not crazy over you?” Seojoon joined the conversation again. 

“No?!” Jisung whined. “Did you forget how we treated each other at the beginning?”

“Oh lord,” Seojoon sighed. “Do what Ryujin said, just talk to him. Nothing’s gonna go wrong, trust me.”

“Everything can go wrong,” Jisung complained. 

“Come on,” Ryujin shook his shoulders. “You know Minho, he’s a sweetheart. He’ll understand and listen to you.”

For some reason, Jisung couldn’t follow Ryujin’s advice even though he knew she was right. 

He needed time to think, he needed to sort some things out. He thought it would be best to stay away from Minho for a while, just to get some space. It hurt him, his heart broke when Minho would invite him to go upstairs and he’d say no. He wasn’t used to saying no to Minho, he was always willing to hang out with him. 

Even during their work hours, Jisung tried to communicate with Minho as little as possible. He wasn’t doing it to hurt him, he just couldn’t be with him without immediately panicking and overthinking. 

Thankfully, Minho didn’t seem to mind it, he was friends with everyone who worked at Honey, so it wasn’t like he didn’t have anyone to talk to. He had Hyunjin, his best friend, surely he didn’t miss Jisung’s annoying ass. Maybe he was wrong.

The bar was pretty empty the entire day, it was usually like that on Mondays. Jisung was the only one left at Honey, just a few minutes left before he could go home. To his surprise, a man he had never seen before came inside, asking for a drink. Jisung often got annoyed when people would come just minutes before the bar would close, but this man looked like a nice guy, so Jisung didn’t mind it, especially since he was the only customer he had left. 

The man, his name was Hyeonwu, seemed to be bored. Jisung quickly found out he was just a tourist, staying here for a few weeks. The man just started talking and talking and Jisung didn’t care that he could’ve been at home already if it weren’t for Hyeonwu telling him about his adventures. 

This was one of the things Jisung liked about working at a bar. He loved having the chance to talk to people at all times, not only was it entertaining, but it also made the time go by faster. 

Occasionally, Hyeonwu would say something flirty and at first Jisung didn’t know how to react to it, but eventually he gave in, flirting back. It was all pretty innocent, he knew Hyeonwu didn’t have any intentions, he just seemed like a flirty person in general. 

Eventually, the man realized he came at the wrong time and apologized, already paying for his bill. Jisung told him it was okay, he liked having some company on a Monday night. Hyeonwu was even kind enough to help Jisung clean up the place even though Jisung repeatedly told him that it was not necessary. 

They walked out of Honey together, Jisung turning off the lights and locking the door behind him. “It was lovely talking to you. Maybe we’ll see each other again some day,” Hyeonwu said kindly, winking at Jisung before he walked away. 

Jisung smiled at him in return, waving at Hyeonwu. 

He was about to leave too, already getting the car keys out of his pocket, when he suddenly spotted a familiar face just a few feet away from him. 

“Minho,” he breathed, looking at the purple haired boy who was standing right next to his own car. He looked so lost, gloomy. He looked sad. 

Jisung hadn’t seen him at all that today, he was uncertain whether his breath hitched, because he had missed Minho so badly or because he was simply just Minho. He wondered why he was standing next to his car at such a late hour. Did he just come back home? Was he just leaving? What was he even up to today?

He woke up from his thoughts as soon as Minho started walking towards him with a frown on his face. He sped up his pace and Jisung was scared he had messed something up, thinking Minho was gonna punch him. Instead, Minho pulled him in for a hug, tightly wrapping his arms around Jisung, hiding his head in his chest despite being just an inch taller than Jisung. 

It took Jisung a second to hug Minho back, not sure where this was coming from. Did something happen with Minho’s parents again? 

They stood there for a few minutes, just hugging each other. Whilst he was holding Minho close to him, hoping to bring him some comfort, Jisung found comfort too, basking in Minho’s presence. He always smelled good, Jisung loved his scent. 

Eventually, Minho pulled away, tugging at Jisung’s hand. “Let’s go upstairs?”

Jisung blinked, knowing those were some dangerous words. He had spent the entire week trying to avoid Minho, hating how quickly he got attached to the boy. He did it just so that he could avoid this from happening again. He couldn’t sleep with him, knowing it meant so much more to him than to Minho. 

He quickly realized he was a fool, because the moment Minho looked at him with those gorgeous pleading eyes he knew he couldn’t say no. He wanted Minho all to himself, hating how possessive that sounded. 

Being a weak man, Jisung nodded and let Minho grab his hand, leading them upstairs. 

As soon as they got to Minho’s room, they were already all over each other. Minho had pushed him against the wall, kissing him hungrily. Jisung was astonished by his action, he was usually the one taking the lead, but he couldn’t complain. Regardless of how rough Minho was, Jisung could also feel his neediness. He was kissing Jisung as if he was starving, holding him so close like he was scared he was going to disappear. Jisung wasn’t sure if that was possible, but that was a worry for tomorrow. 

Minho shortly lost his fight, going from kissing Jisung aggressively and nipping at his bottom lip to slowly melting into Jisung’s touch, letting the brunette boy take the lead. They pulled away for a second to catch their breaths and Jisung was about to kiss Minho again, but the taller man stopped him. 

“Who was that guy earlier?” he asked. 

Jisung needed a second, almost forgetting about Hyeonwu already. He figured Minho had spotted them when they were walking out of the bar. He tilted his head, confused as to why Minho was curious about the guy. 

“No one, just one of the customers,” Jisung replied, not wanting to talk about someone he probably wasn’t going to see ever again. 

“Is he the reason why you’ve been ignoring me all week?” Minho bluntly asked with a stern face, but Jisung could tell by his voice that he sounded insecure. 

“Wh-” Jisung said bewildered, surprised Minho even noticed it. “No, I just met him today. He’s a tourist here.”

“Why have you been ignoring me then?” Minho asked quietly, looking embarrassed. “I needed you.”

Jisung immediately frowned, feeling guilty. “Did something happen?” he asked, hating himself for not being there for Minho. 

Minho shook his head in response. “No, I just wanted to be with you.”

“Oh,” Jisung replied, a small smile appearing on his face. Minho wanted his company. He looked at Minho who was pouting and swiftly kissed him. “I’m here now. You have me,” he said, hoping Minho didn’t know his words had a deeper meaning. 

Minho whimpered in response, kissing Jisung again. He started leaving kisses all over Jisung’s chin and neck, slowly dropping to his knees and it took Jisung a second to realize what he was doing. 

“Can I?” Minho asked, reaching for the zipper of Jisung’s jeans. Jisung nodded, too overwhelmed to even say anything. 

Minho pulled Jisung’s jeans and his underwear down to his knees, his face getting closer to Jisung’s dick. He gave it a few strokes at first, wanting to get Jisung hard and the brunette boy was embarrassed by how quickly Minho managed to do that. 

Jisung gasped, leaning his head against the wall the moment he felt Minho’s tongue on his tip. Minho licked it a few times, knowing that it was driving Jisung insane. 

One thing that they had learned about each other was that while Jisung loved eating ass, Minho loved sucking dick just as much. Or maybe he just liked making Jisung feel good. He always started getting progressively more eager after hearing the noises Jisung made. The thing about Jisung was that he was usually quiet during sex, he usually just let out a few hums and moans before he came, Minho was the loud one. However, he got much louder while receiving a blow job and maybe that’s why Minho liked doing it so much. 

Minho took a deep breath and swallowed Jisung whole, bobbing his head rapidly. “S-Slow down,” Jisung warned him, not wanting Minho to start choking. His hands found their way to Minho’s hair, occasionally tugging at it. 

Minho thankfully listened to Jisung and started licking his tip again while stroking the rest of the length with his hand. 

As much as Jisung was enjoying it, he also didn’t want to reach his high yet, wanting to devour Minho first. “S-Stop, I’m gonna come,” he said. 

Minho moved back, already back on his feet and kissing Jisung again. “Fuck me,” he whispered and Jisung almost laughed. 

“Bold of you to assume I wasn’t planning on doing that already,” he replied, making Minho giggle. 

He grabbed Minho by his thighs and lifted him up, knowing that he liked to be manhandled and took him to bed. 

They started taking their clothes off, both of them feeling eager. Jisung wondered if they were so impatient because it’s been a week since the last time they’ve slept together. He found it almost humorous how often they’d sleep with each other, it was almost like a daily routine for them. 

“Have you slept with any other people in the past month?” Minho suddenly asked while Jisung was in the middle of fingering him, two fingers already reaching for his prostate. 

“No,” Jisung replied, thrown off by the sudden question. “Have you?” he asked, scared to hear the answer. He knew Minho wasn’t his, they were not a couple and he was allowed to sleep with whoever he wanted, but the thought of someone else touching Minho in seeing him all spread out like Jisung did made him feel sick to his stomach. 

Minho shook his head, moaning softly. “I haven’t. Only you.”

“That’s… good,” Jisung replied hesitantly, not knowing what else to say. 

“Mhm,” Minho arched his back as Jisung continued to stretch him, “you’re mine.”

Jisung’s eyes widened and it seemed like Minho didn’t even notice what he had just said, his eyes closed from all the pleasure. The sudden possessiveness coming from Minho did something to Jisung, and he added a third finger, wanting nothing more than to hear Minho screaming his name as soon as possible. 

He reached down to connect their lips, most of it being just teeth and tongue. While kissing him, Jisung couldn’t stop himself from thinking about their situation again. He loved this so much, but he knew he couldn’t continue like this, it was already a mistake that he accepted Minho’s offer earlier. 

It wasn’t fair to Minho, keeping him in the dark. Jisung decided this was the last time he’d sleep with him, aware of the fact that he should just stick to being Minho’s friend instead. 

“Jisung,” Minho whined and the brunette boy realized he was so deep in his thoughts he forgot Minho was still all naked under him, waiting for Jisung to do something. “Hurry up.”

Jisung pecked his lips and took his fingers out of Minho. “Do you wanna get on top again?” 

Minho nodded rapidly, already getting into a sitting position. He waited for Jisung to put on a condom and then sat in his lap, straddling his thighs. He took Jisung’s dick in his hand and slowly lined it up with his hole. They both let out a quiet moan as Minho started sinking down on him. 

Jisung gave Minho a few moments to get used to the stretch, both of them breathing heavily. Eventually Minho started bouncing on Jisung’s lap, his mouth falling open from all the pleasure. 

Jisung used this as an opportunity to take a good look at the man in front of him, appreciating how beautiful, ethereal , he was. He really had the privilege to be with the most perfect man alive, it was almost unfair. He looked at his neck that was covered with marks Jisung gave him and he smiled to himself, feeling proud of what he did.

He could tell Minho was struggling, getting tired after a few minutes. Usually, Jisung would tell him it’s okay and he’d take over, but this time he let Minho stay on top of him, rolling his hips, until he’d ask Jisung to fuck him into the mattress himself. He wanted to see Minho get all whiny again. 

Minho liked being on top, but Jisung also knew he was frustrated because he could never reach his prostate properly. 

“H-Hannie,” Minho whimpered, opening his eyes. 

There it was , Jisung smiled to himself. He liked the nickname Minho used on him.

“Help me,” he added, stilling for a moment, not having any energy left. 

Jisung smiled fondly and gently grabbed his hips, helping Minho get off his lap and laying him down on his back. Before Minho got the chance to complain about Jisung still not fucking him, the brunette boy already thrusted his hips forward, making Minho let out a loud moan. 

Minho wrapped his legs around Jisung’s waist, tightly holding onto him and letting the man do whatever he wanted to him. 

The room was filled with skin slapping sounds and the intense panting. Something about it made Jisung even more turned on, the thought of just him and Minho mattering right now. 

He didn’t know what came over him, but he remembered the sudden possessiveness from Minho earlier and decided to do something about it. 

“Mine,” he grunted, speeding up with his thrusts. 

Minho’s reaction was priceless, his grip on Jisung tightening, unintentionally scratching his back. He looked at Jisung with his glassy eyes, shuddering under him. 

“Yours,” Minho replied with a shaky voice. “Yours, yours, yours,” he started repeating, his voice barely audible. 

“Jisung, I’m close,” he added, clinging onto him like it was his lifeline. 

“It’s okay,” Jisung whispered, “you can let go.”

Minho reached his high just a few seconds later and Jisung pulled out, stroking his dick a few times before he came too. 

They both needed a moment to collect themselves, panting next to each other. 

Jisung reached for the tissues on the nightstand and wiped both of them clean, knowing that Minho hated feeling sticky. “Do you wanna take a shower together?” he asked the purple haired boy who was still coming down from his high. 

To his surprise, Minho shook his head and pulled Jisung closer. “Wanna stay like this for a few more minutes.”

Jisung smiled in return, not being opposed to it. He let Minho rest his head on his shoulder, one of his hands tracing patterns to Jisung’s chest. He sighed happily, feeling content like this, loving the idea of being the only one that gets to experience this with Minho. 

“Hey Jisung?” Minho sleepily said. 

“Hm?” Jisung hummed, softly playing with the strands of Minho’s hair. 

Minho pressed a soft kiss to Jisung’s neck, making him blush. “I don’t hate you.”

Jisung’s heart skipped a beat, his breath hitching. If only Minho knew how much these words meant to him. 

“You know that, right?”

Jisung in fact did not know. Maybe he got the memo weeks ago, figuring Minho didn’t want to kill him in his sleep when he told him he wanted to be friends. Still, hearing those words brought him an immense amount of relief. Now he knew for sure. When Minho said “I don’t hate you” that automatically translated to “I kinda care about you” and it was enough for Jisung. 

“I actually wasn’t sure,” Jisung admitted. “I don’t hate you either,” he added and gave Minho a chaste kiss. 

When Jisung woke up the next morning it was because Minho was already up by 7 am, getting ready. His eyes remained closed until Minho shook his shoulder. “Hey, I’m meeting my friend to help him out with furniture shopping,” he said softly, figuring Jisung was barely processing his surroundings. “You can stay here and wait for me if you want to, just don’t forget to feed Soonie, yeah?”

Jisung nodded in response, too tired to do anything else. As soon as Minho left, he noticed he was sweating like a pig, so he opened the window to get some fresh air and then fell right back asleep. 

When he woke up for the second time, it was already 10 am. He didn’t have to go to work today, so he didn’t feel guilty about staying in bed and doing nothing. He grabbed his phone and went through all the missed notifications and then thirty minutes later decided it was finally time to get up. 

He stretched his arms and yawned, already missing the warmth of Minho’s bed as he got up. He went to the kitchen and smiled at the sight of the pancake batter Minho left him on the counter. God, he really was falling hard for him. 

Before he could start making breakfast, he wanted to make sure Soonie would eat too. He grabbed the cat food and looked around the room, trying to find him. “Soonie,” he said, still looking for him. 

Minho’s apartment was tiny, it was basically just one big room with a bathroom, so finding the cat shouldn’t have been a problem.

Turns out Jisung was wrong, because that damn cat was nowhere to be found. He got confused, trying to find out where he was hiding. He checked under the bed, the bathroom - Soonie liked sleeping in the bathroom sink, the closet and basically every inch of Minho’s apartment.

His heart started racing the moment he noticed the opened window in front of him. 

“Oh no,” Jisung realized, “no, no, no, no,” he panicked, looking out the window, seeing if he could spot Soonie anywhere outside. 

The problem was that Soonie was an indoor cat, he had never stepped a foot out of Minho’s apartment. Jisung felt like crying, realizing this was all his fault. 

He quickly rushed outside, looking for Soonie and asking everyone at Honey if they had seen a cat going around. He unfortunately did not get the answer he wanted. 

He started walking around the street, hoping the cat could be somewhere near. His main concern was that he had opened the window in Minho’s room hours ago, meaning that Soonie could already be god knows where doing god knows what. 

An hour and then two had passed and Soonie was still missing. Jisung felt hopeless, scared that he was never coming back. 

He wanted to text Minho, but he was also terrified of the thought of the purple haired boy finding out the news about his cat. Jisung had quite literally just lost the most important thing in Minho’s life, there was no way he could ever forgive him for it. He’d be lucky if Minho hadn’t decided to murder him. 

He was sitting on the floor, his back leaning against the wall. He hated himself so much. As if things couldn’t have gotten any worse, he managed to fuck everything up even more. He kept imagining that Soonie was probably feeling scared or worse, dead somewhere. The traffic was atrocious here, it could be possible that a car had run over him. 

Tears threatened to spill out of his eyes, Jisung had never felt worse in his entire life. He wanted to punch himself for being so irresponsible, for not thinking twice. He didn’t know how to look Minho in the eye. He didn’t want to see his reaction to finding out his everything was gone. 

The sound of the door opening made Jisung get back on his feet, taking a deep breath. Minho came back, looking at Jisung with a bright smile on his face. However, his expression immediately changed as he saw the look on Jisung’s face. 

“What happened?” Minho asked in concern, walking closer to Jisung. “Are you okay?”

Jisung let out a sob and felt the tears streaming down his face. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he sobbed, making Minho even more confused. 

“Soonie, he-” 

He stopped himself from talking the moment he saw the way Minho’s jaw clenched when Jisung mentioned his cat’s name. He couldn’t do this. 

“I didn’t mean to, I swear I didn’t,” Jisung said desperately. 

“Jisung,” Minho said softly, cupping his face. “Calm down, you’re panicking.”

“I lost your cat,” Jisung said and let out another sob as he felt Minho’s hands pulling away. 

“What?” Minho asked, his voice filled with hundreds of different emotions. 

“I opened the window in the morning and I didn’t notice he climbed out,” Jisung said apologetically. “I’ve looked everywhere, I’ve asked people around and no one has seen him.”

Minho looked like he needed a few seconds to process the news. Jisung couldn’t blame him. 

“It’s okay, let’s not start panicking,” Minho eventually said, his voice too calm for Jisung’s liking. “We’ll go search for him together, he shouldn’t be too far away.”

“It’s okay Jisung,” he repeated. 

“It’s not okay!” Jisung yelled, tearing up again. “Nothing is okay Minho! What if we don’t find Soonie?! You’ve just stopped hating me, I can’t go back to you hating me again. I don’t wanna be the reason why Soonie is gone, I can’t stand the fact that I’ve hurt the person I care about the most!”

Both of them stilled, surprised by what Jisung had just said. Jisung wanted to punch himself again, wondering why he had to share that at the worst opportunity possible. 

Before any of them could react, a loud knock broke the silence in the room. 

“Hold that thought,” Minho said, still in shock. He turned around and opened the door, not being in the mood for a visitor at all. 

However, what the pair saw in front of them, made all of their worries go away. There was a woman standing under the doorframe, holding a furry creature in her hands. 

“I think this little guy belongs to you,” she said, letting Soonie go. “I just got back from work and he was the first thing I saw when I opened the door. He was sleeping on my kitchen counter,” she laughed. 

“Thank you Mina,” Minho replied, picking up Soonie and pressing soft kisses to his head.

“No problem,” Mina smiled and stepped back. “Bye you guys.”

Minho closed the door as she walked to her own apartment that was right across from his. Jisung immediately rushed to him, petting Soonie, wanting to shower him with love. 

“I’m so sorry,” he apologized again, “I swear I’ll never let it happen again, I’m so glad he’s okay.”

Minho looked at him with an angry look in his eyes and Jisung was not ready for the confrontation. The purple haired boy dropped Soonie to the floor and hit Jisung’s chest in the next second. 

“Ow!” Jisung yelped, knowing he deserved it. 

“You asshole,” Minho said, hitting him again, “can’t believe you had to lose my cat to finally confess to me.”

Jisung opened his mouth, not expecting that at all. “I’m sorry?” he shrieked. 

“You like me?” Minho asked, sounding hopeful. 

“I do,” Jisung admitted, figuring there was no point in hiding it anymore. “I’m sorry.”

“Why the hell are you apologizing?” Minho narrowed his eyes. 

“Because I keep making your day worse,” Jisung replied, thinking it was pretty much self explanatory.

Minho took a step closer to him. “My cat is at home and safe and I just found that the guy I’ve liked for two months likes me back, how exactly do you think you’re making my day worse?”

Jisung gasped dramatically, making Minho snort. “You what?”

“You’re so fucking dumb,” Minho laughed, “I like you, Jisung.”

“Why didn’t you say anything sooner?!” Jisung raised his voice.

“Why didn’t you?!”

“I just did five minutes ago!” 

Both of them burst out laughing at the same time. Jisung wished someone could pinch him, there was no way this was happening. 

Minho reached for his cheek and softly caressed it. “I meant it by the way. It’s okay, I know that you didn’t lose Soonie on purpose,” he said reassuringly. “He’s okay now, please don’t beat yourself up because of it.”

Jisung nodded, feeling comforted. “You really like me?”

Minho smiled at him, nodding. “I thought I was so obvious. I didn’t want to say anything, because I wasn’t sure you felt the same. I was scared you just liked sleeping with me.”

“Hell no,” Jisung replied. “I like everything about you, I love hanging out with you and definitely not just because of sex. I thought the same for you, I was sure you didn’t like me back. That’s why I’ve been so distant during the past week,” he admitted. “I didn’t want to get too attached.”

“I thought I did something wrong,” Minho pouted. “Glad to hear you were just going through a Minho crisis.”

They both laughed again and Jisung had never felt so comfortable around him. “This is so weird,” he said, leaning his forehead against Minho’s. 

“Right,” Minho agreed, “I’m not used to us being like this.”

“Well, you better get used to it,” Jisung replied, feeling bolder this time. “Because I’m not letting you go now, not when I just got you.”

Minho’s eyes sparkled from happiness. He kissed Jisung innocently, wrapping his hands around his neck. Jisung immediately kissed him back, once again loving the way Minho melted against him. 

“You’re totally spending the night here again by the way,” Minho pulled back for a second, trying to look intimidating, but then his face softened. “I’m sorry for being mean to you at the beginning.”

“It’s okay,” Jisung smiled, pecking his lips. “Look where that got you.”

Minho giggled against his lips and it was the prettiest sound Jisung had ever heard. In that moment he realized he was probably the luckiest man alive.