Work Text:
“UNO!” Hyunjin practically screeched, throwing his second last card down so aggressively that he nearly sent the entire pile flying.
The black-haired witch was one of the last two players standing, facing off directly with poor Minho who had no idea how he had even ended up in this situation. For as long as he could remember, Minho had always won on UNO night, and he couldn’t even recall the last time that he was in the bottom three. He was starting to miss the weeks where Changbin whined for an hour about coming in second last. Even that was better than the reality he was coming close to facing.
When Hyunjin and Seungmin had first perfected their truth serum, pretty much the entire group jumped at the opportunity to give the potion a whirl. It was only a few days ago, at their most recent hangout that didn’t involve the cutthroat card game. They had to confine UNO to a specific night every week, just to stop it from ruining friendships. The group had met at Hyunjin and Seungmin’s apartment, as the pair of witches had ominously texted the group chat to do so.
chat: town of salem (8)
[jinnie]
gather round mere mortals
[binnie]
do i count
[jinnie]
are bunnies immortal
[binnie]
no
[jinnie]
then yes???
[binnie]
:/
[the favorite witch]
we have something to show everyone.
[not old, youthful even]
lix and i will b over in 10
[pixie lixie]
૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა
[binnie]
im already inside the walls
[jjeong]
wtf hyung
[jjeong]
i’ll come if u say sike
[acorn]
k i guess i;ll come after my foods done
[acorn]
who changed my name to acorn :/
[squirrelsung]
me, hyung!! do u like?
[acorn]
oh
[acorn]
thank u jisungie i love it
[jinnie]
on second thought . jisung and minhohyung are not invited
[squirrelsung]
:((((
[the favorite witch]
please just come see
[jinnie]
as soon as u can!!
[jjeong]
HYUNG SAY SIKE
Jisung and Changbin loudly complained for nearly an hour when the witches revealed that the potion wouldn’t work on non-humans, and although the gang’s beloved pixie was a little disappointed as well, Felix was always just happy to be there. Minho vividly recalled the way Jisung’s bushy tail drooped between his legs when Hyunjin broke the news, and he remembered how badly he wanted to reach over and pat the squirrel’s head.
Jeongin went first because he knew that his hyungs would go easy on him, and he was right. They all gathered around the witches’ living room excitedly, asking the youngest stupidly easy questions, like what he had for breakfast and what color underwear he was wearing. Chan went next, and the boys (with the help of the serum) forced him to tell the story of his first kiss, among other humiliating things.
“Channie-hyung,” Minho started from his spot on the couch, a mischievous glint in his eye, “What’s the most embarrassing thing you did in high school?”
“I called my English teacher mom in front of the whole class,” Chan blurted out like he couldn’t help it, and his hand slapped over his mouth instantly.
Jisung, who sat between Minho’s legs on the floor, squeezed his eyes shut and threw his head back in a loud, hearty laugh that shook his whole body. When he inhaled enough oxygen to calm down from the howl that made his stomach hurt, he opened his eyes and looked up and Minho. He blinked his big, round eyes owlishly at the older, who couldn’t help but coo at the squirrel boy and squeeze his cheeks. Minho smiled back down at Jisung, half relishing in his crush’s heart-shaped smile and half satisfied that he had asked the question that caused the boy to burst a lung laughing. Jisung scrunched up his nose at Minho before lifting his head from the elder’s lap and turning to face the group again.
Hyunjin cackled from the other end of the couch, careful not to jostle the rabbit that rolled around in his lap. Seungmin rose from where he was sitting with Felix on the floor, clapping slowly at his own fine work. He shuffled over to where his witchy partner in crime sat on the couch, and they shared a satisfied high five. This potion was certainly one for the history books.
When the serum wore off and Chan shook his head like he was trying to erase his memories, everyone’s eyes turned to Minho. As the last of the group’s human trifecta, he was naturally expected to follow suit. He raised his hands and gestured no, shaking his head gently. Jisung threw his head back to pout at Minho upside down, and the expression alone nearly convinced him. But he couldn’t. He knew that Changbin and Seungmin knew about his feelings for Jisung, and could assume that pretty much everyone but the boy himself had an idea or two regarding Minho’s unrequited crush. He loved them dearly, but his friends were absolutely intolerable and would most certainly ask him questions about the squirrel that was looking up at him with a sulk.
“Hyung,” Seungmin stared Minho down from his spot on the carpet, with a glint of mischief in his eyes, “Why, may I ask, are you so scared to take the truth potion?”
Minho held the eye contact for a few moments and he could feel Jisung waiting patiently for his response. He could sense that there was no right answer here.
“No,” Minho replied tentatively, “You may not ask.”
Hyunjin snorted and lifted his leg to kick Minho in the thigh.
“How ‘bout, if you lose the UNO game on Saturday, you take a swig?” Hyunjin egged him on, carding his hands through the fur of the black rabbit on his lap. He wiggled his eyebrows at Minho, eyes moving between him and Jisung suggestively. The squirrel made a quizzical noise at this gesture, turning to look up at Minho for some form of an answer. Minho would remember this betrayal.
“Fine,” the purple-haired human huffed as his hands subconsciously moved to scratch behind one of the fluffy brown ears on top of Jisung’s head. This seemed to placate the squirrel enough to make him forget about the implications of Hyunjin’s look. “But what do I get out of it?”
“If you win the UNO game? Hmm…” the witch tapped at his chin, looking up as though it would help him come up with an answer any quicker. His gaze slowly traveled from the ceiling toward Seungmin, and they seemed to have an entire conversation in their head. Minho guessed this from the way that they both broke into a shit-eating grin at the same time, and he wondered if they really were telepathic.
“Mind sharing with the class?” Minho did his best to sound bored, but his pulse was quickening as he imagined what the witches were scheming. He tried to look uninterested, sipping at his iced tea and fiddling with a strand of Jisung’s hair.
“If you win the game of UNO…” Seungmin started.
“...we’ll make a truth potion that works on squirrel shifters,” Hyunjin finished.
Minho made a dying noise as he practically inhaled a mouthful of tea, and Jisung quickly hopped to his feet and smacked him on the back. While he appreciated the effort, the hit just made him cough prematurely and a few drops of iced tea dribbled down his chin. Jisung murmured a quiet “Sorry, hyung,” before dropping onto the couch next to Minho and tucking into his side.
“Do we have a deal?~” Hyunjin pressed on, despite Minho fighting for his life against the liquid in his lungs, “Win and we make a potion for squirrel boy, lose and you’re the one that has to drink.”
Minho wiped the tears from his eyes and the tea from his chin and just nodded helplessly, silently willing the conversation to be over. He would win at UNO anyways, like he always did, and just make sure that no one asked any questions that would upset Jisung.
The shifter in question was confused as to why he was a part of the bet and looked around the room for an answer from any of his friends, but they all either laughed knowingly or shrugged at him. He squinted at them, suspicions high. They were hiding something.
On UNO night at Minho’s place, Jeongin managed to snatch the victory relatively quickly. Jisung whined about not getting to try the truth potion.
Minho desperately looked through the cards in his hand, grasping for some sort of play that would miraculously close the 5 card gap between him and Hyunjin. The witches must have hexed the deck or set him up to lose somehow. He recalled how one time they admitted to charming the UNO cards to let Felix win on his birthday. Something about Pixie Privileges.
“Pick up 2!” Minho cried out, throwing the yellow +2 card down as if his life depended on it. He watched anxiously as an evil grin began spreading across Hyunjin’s face.
“I’d say pick up 4,” the witch began, and Minho’s stomach dropped, “But instead I’ll just say GG!”
Hyunjin threw down a red +2 and flew to his feet, jumping around wildly like he had just won the lottery. Minho stared at his cards in disbelief, jaw tightening as he remembered what was coming next. His eyes flitted over to Seungmin as the witch was already reaching into his bag to retrieve the vial, and then to the back of Jisung’s head, who had assumed his regular position between Minho’s knees once he had placed down all of his own cards. As if he could feel Minho looking, the squirrel hoisted himself up onto the couch next to the human, murmuring something about a “front seat to the show” and training his gaze on him. His stare made Minho feel feverish.
“Do we really have to do this?” Minho tried bargaining for his life one last time. He hoped he came across as just annoyed or exasperated, but his teeth worrying at his bottom lip gave away his stress.
“A bet’s a bet, hyung~” Hyunjin singsonged obnoxiously, drowning out the older’s groans of protest. Minho buried his head in his hands as the bunny in Hyunjin’s shifted back to his human form, yelling about not missing the action. Without missing a beat, Changbin lead the group in an overdramatic drumroll, while Seungmin made a show out of delivering the vial to Minho. Jisung's eyes bore holes into the side of his head before he moved to lie down on the couch.
The human held up the serum in front of him, examining it in an attempt to stall for time. He watched as the silvery liquid swirled in the bottle, shining under the yellow light of his living room. Minho couldn’t stop himself from looking down at Jisung, who had draped himself over the human’s lap and was looking back up at him. Minho gulped.
“Do I just- like, do I drink it raw?” he cringed at his own question, but the chorus of laughter that replied managed to calm him a little. Minho was undeniably nervous, and he was worried about his feelings being revealed, but he did feel safe. Hyunjin nodded to him, watching and waiting for the human to take a sip.
“Here goes then,” Minho mumbled, pulling the cork stopper out of the vial and taking a decently sized mouthful. There was no way in hell that he was drinking the whole thing, but he knew that he would face Seungmin’s wrath if he only took a tiny sip.
It didn’t taste half bad, really. It reminded him of lemon poppyseed muffins and maybe a little bit of thyme, and Minho tried to make a personal note to ask Hyunjin and Seungmin what it was made out of. As much as he knew that humans couldn’t practice magic on the same level, he was curious about the workings of the witches.
Minho didn’t really feel any different, and he dared to look down at Jisung again. The squirrel smiled up at him with huge, curious eyes, and his ears twitched with interest. Cute.
“So who wants to go first?” Seungmin asked like he was working at a carnival ride, like Minho was a rollercoaster waiting to be tested. Felix’s hand shot up.
“Which one of your cats is your favorite?” the fairy asked excitedly. It was a hot topic among the group; everyone insisted that it was impossible not to have a favorite pet, but Minho stayed firm that he was a good cat dad who didn’t have any bias.
“Soonie.”
Minho felt his mouth move without his brain’s input, and it was an odd feeling. He wasn’t sure if he liked it. He was used to keeping parts of his thoughts hidden at all times, like when he lied about not wanting to take anyone to the winter formal, or when he told Jisung he looked pretty instead of beautiful.
“I knew it!” Felix clapped, seemingly satisfied with his fill of truth-ified Minho. The questions had only just begun, so he accepted his fate.
Minho sighed and ran a hand through his faded purple hair, and his eyes flitted down to find the person in his lap observing the action closely. Jisung made a small squeak when the human caught him watching, and he quickly tried to look busy fidgeting with the string of Minho’s hoodie. Before he could tease the squirrel for staring, Chan decided it was his turn for revenge.
“Minho-ya~” he called out, and Minho could tell just from his tone that he was out for blood. He braced for impact, wincing before Chan even started his question.
“Besides, y’know, cats…what’s your favorite animal?” Chan raised an eyebrow and bit his lip to hold in a laugh, and nearly the entire group waited with bated breath. Jisung was too busy fidgeting, now with the fingers on Minho’s left hand, listening but not overly interested in the interrogation.
“Squirrels,” Minho breathed out and he felt Jisung abruptly still in his lap.
His friends erupted into laughter and claps, but it all sounded like a dull ring in his ears. To Minho, he was in an invisible bubble with Jisung. The squirrelboy lifted his head from Minho’s lap and sat up, shifting so that their sides were touching but he could examine his human’s face. Minho couldn’t bring himself to turn and meet his gaze, but out of his peripherals, he could see Jisung’s big eyes searching for something in his face. The bubble popped.
“Hyung, what’s the last lie you told?” Changbin piped up from the other end of the couch, tapping his fingers together evilly as a black bunny ear twitched atop his head.
“I said I didn’t have a crush on anyone,” Minho cringed at his own words, sounding foreign to him, as he remembered the conversation.
It was just last week, in the library on campus. He was studying with Changbin and Jisung, biting at the back of his pen while the two shifters bickered over something that Minho could not care about if he tried. The human sighed loudly, but it carried no weight or annoyance, only serving to get the attention of his friends.
“You guys are so loud,” Minho scolded, giving them both an empty glare as he tried to remind them of their location. They were on the social floor of the library, but the eldest still hated making a scene.
“Tell Changbin-hyung he’s wrong!” Jisung protested, loud as ever, bushy tail standing up attentively as he held Minho’s gaze. The human scoffed and turned back to his book, both shifters watching him with scrutinizing stares as they waited for his verdict.
“Changbin-ah, Hannie’s right,” Minho said plainly, not even taking his eyes off of the paragraph he was working on, “Now quiet down.”
“Wh- Hello?! You don’t even know what we were arguing over!” Changbin threw his arms up into the air, ears moving around agitatedly as he looked at Minho with disbelief.
“Exactly. Were arguing. Past tense. Now please stop causing a scene before I kick you in the shin,” Minho replied boredly, trying not to smile when he heard Jisung laugh at his words. His lips betrayed him anyways.
“I call foul! Unfair ref!” Changbin cried, standing up quickly. His chair made a loud screeching noise against the floor, and Minho pinched the bridge of his nose. He really could not take them anywhere.
Jisung scoffed, crossing his arms, cocky with his victory, “What do you mean unfair ref? He’s a neutral third party.” The squirrel smirked a little like even he knew just how wrong he was.
Minho and Changbin made eye contact, and the human had never feared bunnies more in that moment. He watched in horror as the black-haired rabbit held eye contact with him boldly, slowly sitting back down in his seat. Changbin chose violence.
“I think a big fat crush disqualifies someone from being a neutral third party,” he said loudly, smugly, raising both eyebrows and staring Minho down.
“I don’t have a crush on anyone!” Minho exclaimed, probably too fast. Definitely too fast. He hadn’t let the words hang in the air for an acceptable amount of time, he jumped the gun far too quickly. Changbin snickered into his laptop, marveling at his handiwork.
“Oh,” Jisung said quietly, unfolding his arms and picking up his pencil. He lowered his head and tried to look like he was really interested in whatever he was working on. Minho wanted to believe the act, but he couldn’t ignore the way Jisung’s ears flattened against his head and his tail drooped pathetically.
He felt something twisting in his stomach, a sick mix of guilt and regret. An opportunity to come clean had presented itself, but Minho felt justified in not taking it. There was no way he was going to confess his feelings for Jisung in the middle of their campus library like that. He refused to profess his love for the squirrel at a wobbly table right next to a Starbucks, and he especially refused to do it with Changbin sitting right there.
But there was something in Jisung’s round eyes that avoided Minho that made him feel like he had said the wrong thing. He tried not to let himself believe that Jisung was disappointed, tried to convince himself that he was projecting. Jisung wasn’t disappointed, jealous, disheartened, bitter, or even a little upset. He just couldn’t be. Minho didn’t want to think about it.
At the library, after the awkward post-fight exchange, Jisung seemed like he wouldn’t even consider looking in Minho’s direction. But here, on his couch in the midst of their friends hollering and laughing, and after the human’s charmed confession, it felt like the younger couldn’t stop staring.
Minho gained the courage to look over at the boy, letting out a breath that he didn’t even realize he was holding. Jisung seemed shellshocked, and it would be funny in any other situation—he had managed to silence the squirrel who was notorious for literally never shutting up. In fact, it was still kind of funny. Minho would laugh if he didn’t feel the eyes of everyone in the room on them.
Normally loud and unabashed, Jisung’s mouth was open in a small ‘o’ but didn’t move to form any words. They stared at each other for a few tense moments, neither of them moving an inch, with the exception of Jisung’s left ear twitching. The squirrel’s big eyes quickly skitted back and forth across Minho’s face, like he was looking for something in his expression.
“Hyung, that’s kind of a boring lie,” Jeongin chirped from next to Seungmin on the floor, and a few of their friends nodded and murmured some agreements.
“Yeah, I thought it would be something exciting. Like, if you said you only took one chicken nugget from someone’s plate but you actually took two,” Felix thought out loud, tapping his chin like he was pondering it deeply.
The entire room quickly filled with adoring laughs, and Jisung and Minho were snapped out of their little daze by the sudden uproar. Jisung, ever the type to start laughing just because others around him are, broke into a blinding smile and joined the group in cooing at Felix. Minho felt himself smile, but it didn’t fade into a laugh. He felt far too exposed for that, felt like his nerves were out in the open and being prodded at. He felt like he had shown his friends a bruise and they all jumped at the chance to poke it.
Despite knowing that they just wanted to tease him and didn’t mean any harm, Minho was beginning to feel a little bit out of place on his own couch. The laughter was too loud and the light was too bright. His arm felt like it was burning up where it was pressed to Jisung’s, and for the first time, he wished that the younger would stop tracing little patterns into his thigh. He chalked it up to the truth potion and the unpleasant buzz it played on repeat in his ears. Minho decided that he did not like the feeling very much. Or at least, not like this. He could feel the cogs in his brain turning against his will, and it was frightening.
Jisung seemed to pick up on the worry wafting off of his human, looking at him with heavy concern while his tail moved back and forth anxiously. Minho hated how cute he was. It made him want to forget every worry that lived in his head and replace them all with Jisung. The younger had a question in those wide eyes, waiting for an answer to something that he hadn’t even asked.
The purple-haired boy just shook his head to Jisung, a little curtly, and the doodles on his thigh came to a slow stop. Minho instantly regretted wishing for Jisung to stop, as he missed the small touches as soon as the squirrel lifted his hand. He swallowed hard, trying his best to refrain from catching Jisung’s wrist to stop him from abandoning the hearts that he had been outlining on Minho’s leg.
Shockingly, but to Minho’s relief, it seemed as though the group had forgotten about their little truth experiment. He felt himself melt into the couch a little at the realization, relaxing once he was sure that they were done pestering him about his crush. He leaned back with a quiet exhale, and closed his eyes as he felt Jisung lean with him and drop his head onto his shoulder. Without thought, Minho reached up to scratch at the squirrel’s ears. He tried his best to feel grounded.
After nearly half an hour of Jisung and Hyunjin arguing over cats vs. dogs, Minho could no longer feel the buzz in his ears. Jisung had resumed his position lying across his lap, tail wrapped around the human’s waist like a warm hug.
Minho clicked his tongue quietly and pursed his lips, as if he was trying out his mouth, checking it for any faults. He even wished that someone would ask him a question, just so he could see if he was finally free from his magical obligation to spill all of his secrets. The last time he wished for something that he didn’t actually want, it came true, so he made sure to mentally retract the entire thought.
When Hyunjin threw in the towel on their argument, Jisung hummed a little victory tune with a smug look on his face. Minho hung off of every note.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, to confess to him. Maybe he’d feel the same. Maybe he was just waiting for Minho to make the first move. That had to be it.
Minho let out a small, hopeless romantic sigh as he carded hands through soft brown hair, and laughed quietly at the way Jisung’s fluffy ears turned toward the noise. The younger’s tail tightened around him and he scrunched his nose at Minho, smiling up at him.
“What’s on your mind, hyung?” Jisung asked quietly like the conversation was just for the two of them. He reached up to grab one of Minho’s hoodie strings again, eyes flitting between his fidgeting and the older’s face.
“Nothing, nothing,” Minho laughed breathlessly, even though nothing was funny, “You’re just really cute, is all.”
Jisung made a small, surprised squeak at this, before recovering with a laugh and hitting Minho on the shoulder.
“The truth serum turns you into a flirt,” Jisung tried to distract from his blush by sticking out his tongue, and Minho blinked at him.
He supposed that everyone still thought he was under the effects, since the potion lasted longer for both Chan and Jeongin. He looked over to the half-full vial on the floor in front of them, and thanked his past self for taking a small sip. It didn’t really matter anymore, since the whole group had abandoned their Interrogate Lee Minho game the second that it turned even a little serious.
“I guess it does,” Minho chose to go along with it if it helped Jisung to believe that he really did think he was cute. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.
I mean, anyone with eyes could see that Han Jisung was adorable. Not just his bushy tail and squishy cheeks, or the sensitive ears in his hair that gave away how he was feeling. It was the boy himself—all toothy smiles and stupid jokes, a glimmer in his eye when he was up to no good, how he worried his lip when he was anxious. Jisung didn’t seem to see it, and Minho hoped he could change that. If he had to lie about still being under the influence of the potion to do it, then so be it. It wasn’t like his answer would’ve changed if he actually was anyways.
Minho tore his gaze from the vial on the floor and let himself focus only on the boy looking up at him. Out of all of their odd ways to drape themselves over each other, Jisung’s head in his lap was his favorite. It was a nice view. Minho braided a tiny piece of the squirrel’s hair, trying to soak up the moment.
“Oi, lovebirds! You listening?” Changbin kicked Jisung’s leg, causing him to let out a howl like he had been shot. He pouted and glared at the rabbit, and Minho guessed that the group had been asking them something.
“Lovebirds,” Minho scoffed with no bite, trying to repair some of the damage that the truth serum had done to his ego, “He’s not the crush, you guys are so annoying,” he huffed.
He didn’t realize what he had done until he did it. Isn’t that always how it goes?
The whole room stilled like Minho had just announced that he had killed a man, and he supposed, in Jisung’s case, he had. Hyunjin opened his mouth to say something, but just made a sort of stuttering sound before closing his lips and covering his face with his hand. Jisung sat up straight from his lap, nearly hitting his head on Minho’s chin on the way up. He looked at Minho, then to the glass vial on the carpet, and then back at Minho. Jisung’s ears drooped and he cleared his throat.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” he murmured, voice crackling a little. He scampered away, practically bolting into Minho’s bathroom down the hall and locking the door with enough force that the sound of the click echoed into the living room.
This time it was Minho’s turn to be shellshocked, blinking dumbly and mourning the loss of the squirrel’s warmth. His heart hurt seeing Jisung skittering away from him like he had burned him, and he winced thinking of the way his tail hung between his legs. What did he just do? The rest of the room seemed to be wondering the same thing. By this point in the evening, everyone knew how Minho felt about Jisung. Maybe even Jisung himself. They were all waiting for some sort of answer to the truth serum paradox that he had created.
“Hyung…?” Felix started meekly, the question more in his face than in his voice. Minho shook his head rapidly.
“No! I was just lying without thinking about it, I- the, uh, it…it wore off. A while ago,” Minho admitted, and his mouth was so dry. He felt like his throat was made of sandpaper as he spoke, enduring the type of dry mouth where even a glass of ice water doesn’t provide any relief.
“Go after him,” Hyunjin said quietly, gesturing in the direction of Minho’s bathroom with his nose. Changbin nodded in agreement, ears pressed against his head.
“Right, yeah,” Minho mirrored the nod like he was in a trance, slowly rising to his feet and feeling himself walk into the hallway. He heard their friends break into hushed whispers once he was around the corner, and he felt like he was going to be sick.
This was not how he planned to confess. He raised a shaky hand and knocked at the door, and his knuckles hitting the wood stung a little more than usual.
“Jisungie,” he called softly, not trusting his voice to not betray him. It had done nothing but that all night.
He heard the younger sniffle from inside and concluded that he was sitting on the tile with his back against the door. Minho sunk slowly to the carpet, mirroring his position over the threshold.
“Do you want to come out and we can talk about it?” he tried.
“No,” Jisung replied quickly, and Minho supposed that was fair.
“Can I come in and we can talk about it?” he offered instead, and Jisung seemed to think this one over for a bit. They sat in silence for a few moments, but it wasn’t like the silence that they usually enjoyed together. This one was tense, and uncomfortable. Minho couldn’t help but feel a ball of guilt tumbling in his stomach, building slowly like a snowball.
“No.”
“Okay.”
They left it at that, but neither of them moved. Minho knew that Jisung could hear that he was still there, knew that the boy would be listening close for the noise of him getting up and walking away. He would stay as long as he had to.
After a while, Hyunjin slowly approached the bathroom at the end of the hall. He padded along in his sock feet like he was trying not to wake his parents in the middle of the night, and Minho could see him carrying a sleeping black bunny in his arms.
“Hey hyung,” Hyunjin called gently, giving him some space and staying a couple of feet away. He spoke quietly, as if he could sense the tension in the air and he was nervous that his words would break it. Minho thought that maybe he was keeping his voice down in order to prevent Jisung from hearing their conversation, and almost laughed at how pointless that was. He could picture Jisung on his knees in the bathroom with his ear pressed up against the door, eavesdropping like a child on the playground.
Minho offered Hyunjin a mini-wave and remembered to give a small greeting to Changbin as well, despite the bunny sleeping soundly.
“We’re all gonna head out, thank you for hosting UNO night again,” Hyunjin gave a small smile and Minho returned it, as they both recalled the positive part of the evening, “And I’m sorry if we upset Jisungie. We should have just let you confess on your own, when you were ready.”
Minho heard Jisung shift in the bathroom at that, and he gave Hyunjin an appreciative nod.
“Thanks, but it wasn’t your fault,” Minho admitted easily, moving to stand, “I’ll come to see you guys out.”
He made idle chit-chat with his friends as they tied their shoes, mostly out of obligation and not out of any desire to speak to anyone at the moment. He waved halfheartedly as they all shuffled out of the door, and murmured a thank you when Hyunjin patted him on the shoulder with the hand that wasn’t occupied with an armful of bunny. The gesture was nice, and he did appreciate it, and Hyunjin, but he didn’t feel much better.
When the door clicked shut, Minho turned to survey his living room with a long, drawn-out sigh. It was crazy how the room felt extra empty after being the best kind of full. His shoulders felt heavy and so did his heart, and he reminded himself to thank Chan for making everyone clean up before they left. The room was spotless, barely a trace of the rowdy boys left in sight, except for a small clump of black fur left behind on the couch where Changbin and Hyunjin had sat. Despite feeling like he was going to throw up, Minho snorted at the fact that Seungmin had even folded the blanket that he had shared with Jeongin. The cleanliness was a stark contrast to how his friends usually left his apartment, and he thought maybe he could get used to it.
He did not want to get used to the way his stomach felt, or the way his fingertips felt cold. He couldn’t remember the last time he had experienced this level of dread, or regret to this degree. It had been nearly an hour since Minho had said the words that essentially ended the evening, but he could still taste the sour taste that they had left in his mouth. It was cruel, the way that he could still feel the ghost of Jisung’s soft tail wrapped around his waist.
He sunk into his spot on the couch, deciding that it was much less comfortable without a lapful of squirrel. Something by his feet caught the glare of his yellow living room light, and Minho looked down to see the half-full vial of truth serum just staring back at him. Oh, a very big fuck you to that stupid bottle.
If he had a cute pair of squirrel ears, they would have twitched attentively when he heard the click of the lock on the bathroom door for the second time of the evening. Minho turned quietly as the hinges of the door squeaked, and the noise kind of reminded him of Jisung.
Speaking of, the boy emerged from the bathroom with his tail up high, bushy and extra straight like he was on edge. They made brief eye contact, and that seemed to kick Jisung into action.
He made a beeline for the front door and Minho sprung up from the couch to stop him, but it seemed that Jisung’s own two feet were enough to stop him from leaving. The poor squirrel tripped over his oversized platform boots that sat by the door, crumpling to the ground in a pathetic pile of fur and skinny jeans. He made a pathetic noise from the carpet, giving up and hiding his face in his hands.
Minho made a noise like when you see a puppy trip over its own paws, or a cat roll off of its bed accidentally. He hurried over to the heap of Jisung, crouching down next to the boy and offering his hand. Though it took a few moments of contemplation and humiliation, Jisung gave in and took it. Minho pulled him to his feet delicately, his heart breaking a little at the way his tail curled around himself like a safety blanket. Jisung took his hand back quickly and Minho swallowed.
“Can I just go now,” Jisung said in a tiny voice, more of a statement than a question, “Please.”
“No!” Minho said a little too loudly, a little too quickly, and he quickly apologized for scaring the squirrel so badly that he jumped, “Sorry, I’m sorry. I…can we just talk?”
Jisung shook his head, wrapping his arms around himself to mirror his tail. His ears laid flat against his head, and he bit at his lip so hard that Minho thought it must really hurt. They stood in silence for a moment, and Minho didn’t know what to do with himself. He so badly wanted to reach out and pull the squirrel in for a hug and never let him go, but he didn’t want to overstep or spook him again.
“I don’t see what there is to talk about,” he mumbled, staring at his socks and shifting his weight around a little, “So I don’t really want to anymore.”
Minho frowned at the long term implications that the statement held, but he supposed he deserved it. He wasn’t sure what he would do in Jisung’s position. But he wasn’t in Jisung’s position, he was in his own. And he had to pick up the pieces, his pieces.
“How about…” Minho tentatively reached out a hand, tried to ignore the way his arm was quivering, and placed it on Jisung’s shoulders, “Can I talk? And you just listen? And then you can leave, if you want.”
The squirrel leaned into the touch, and that brought Minho at least some semblance of reassurance. Silence hung around them for a little longer than what was comfortable, but Minho supposed that this whole thing was rather uncomfortable in general.
“Okay,” Jisung decided, but he said it like it wasn’t really okay.
This was really his only chance at doing this and doing it right, so Minho resolved to do just that. He slid his hand down Jisung’s arms until it reached his hand, and he intertwined their fingers before leading the brunette to the couch. They sat on the couch in the same spot, but instead of hanging all over each other, they just held hands and kept a bit of distance between them. Minho absentmindedly rubbed a single circle into Jisung’s hand with his thumb, and the squirrel just stared at their intertwined fingers with something that Minho couldn’t place. Maybe longing.
“Jisungie,” Minho started, eyes trained on the younger’s face, determined to stay attentive to every emotion on his face, “I’m sorry I never told you earlier. I just…I didn’t want to ruin what we already had, or scare you away.”
He hated the way his voice wavered, hated how it came off as unsure. It seemed like Jisung had picked up on it too, and the squirrel wrenched his eyes away from their hands to look him in the eyes.
“Are you trying to say…?” he spoke very quietly, like he was trying not to get his hopes up. Jisung spoke like he was walking on eggshells, except it was like Minho was also made of eggshells and so was he.
Minho nodded earnestly, bringing his other hand to rest on Jisung’s knee.
“I don’t know why I said it wasn’t you,” he admitted regretfully, drawing hearts on the younger’s knee in hopes of conveying his affections, “I just get really nervous when I get teased in front of everyone because they all know how I feel about you. Or at least, they all do now.”
Jisung’s eyes scanned every inch of his face, searching for a hint of the truth. Minho could see how confused he was, and he promised himself he would never make Jisung look this sad ever again.
“You said it wasn’t me because…because you drank a truth potion,” Jisung said like the words physically pained him to admit, and then added in a very small, hurt voice, “I’m not stupid, hyung.”
Minho’s teeth tugged at his lip and he felt like someone ripped his heart from his chest and chopped it into tiny pieces in front of him. Did he really make Jisung feel like he was stupid? He would never forgive himself for this mistake.
“Jisungie…I know you’re not,” he started gently, moving closer, but slowly so that he didn’t scare Jisung away, “I really wasn’t affected by the potion anymore, I promise.”
Jisung sniffled pathetically, scrunching his nose up as if he could will his tears back into his eyes. Minho lifted his hand from the younger’s knee and pulled his sleeve over his palm, wiping away his tears. When he was satisfied with his work, he rested his hand on the boy’s cheek gently. He saw the angry splotches of red around Jisung’s eyes and the skin that had been chewed on his lip, and he felt guilty. Minho felt really guilty.
“Hyung, I…” Jisung’s watery eyes darted to the bottle of truth serum on the floor, and he grabbed Minho’s wrist with his free hand. He didn’t push his hand off of his cheek, but rather held on like it was keeping him grounded. “I don’t know if I believe you. I don’t want to…to get my hopes up. Again.”
Minho could understand that. It hurt, but he understood. He followed Jisung’s gaze to the bottle on the floor that glinted like it was mocking him. He reassured the crying boy that he would just be a moment, and pulled away gently to fetch the bottle from the carpet.
Minho pulled the cork out of the vial once more, wincing a little at the memory of how it had made him feel the last time, and he downed the rest of the truth serum. Jisung watched with wide eyes, and Minho wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The human adjusted himself on the couch so that he was facing the brunette, and he tenderly put his hands back on Jisung’s chubby cheeks.
“Han Jisung, I really, really like you,” he said without a waver in his voice, confident in his words and in his feelings, “My stupid fat crush is on you, and it always has been. It’s always been you.”
Jisung’s eyes brimmed with tears once more, his lip quivered, and he tackled Minho backward onto the couch.
The older made a startled noise, but quickly adapted and wrapped his arms around the boy’s waist. He laughed as Jisung’s ears tickled his face, grinning from ear to ear as a bushy squirrel tail snaked its way around his waist once more.
“Hyung you are so so so stupid!” Jisung cried into the crook of Minho’s neck, clinging onto his shoulders as though his life depended on it. Minho nodded quietly, rubbing his back as he sniffled grossly.
Jisung lifted his head to look at Minho, tears streaking down his face as he smiled his heart-shaped smile down at him. The human cooed at this, and he lifted him gently to reposition them. He sat up and placed Jisung in his lap, enveloping the younger’s tiny waist with his hands.
“I think it’s safe to say you feel the same then,” Minho surmised, tapping his fingers on Jisung’s sides and grinning dumbly, “I made this big fuss for nothing then, because here y- mmph!”
His last remaining brain cells didn’t have time to finish his thought before Jisung was diving down to capture his lips, kissing him swiftly but sweetly. Hands buried themselves in Minho’s purple hair and tugged him closer, and the human returned the sentiment by pulling Jisung’s chest flush with his own by his grip on his waist.
They clung together and kissed slowly, losing any concept of time while their lips were together. Jisung pulled away after a minute, taking a couple of deep breaths and opening his mouth to say something, probably either sappy or teasing. Minho gave him a taste of his own medicine, cutting off his sentence that hadn’t even started by jumping back in for more. His hands slid down Jisung’s sides, marveling at the dip in his waist and eliciting a shiver from him. He finally found purchase at the sides of Jisung’s hips, and he thought that this moment couldn’t get any better.
Jisung quickly proved him wrong, tilting his head to deepen the kiss and nibbling on Minho’s bottom lip. Kicking into overdrive, Minho dug his fingers into his hips and matched the hunger in Jisung’s kissing, not willing to let the younger take the upper hand.
He bit down on Jisung’s swollen lip and eagerly swallowed the little whine that it pulled from him, the noises only acting as fuel to Minho’s fire. Their teeth clicked when their tongues met and Jisung’s hands drifted to rest on the older’s shoulders, wandering down to explore the expanses of his chest. Minho slowly made his way from his lips to the corner of his jaw, and while Jisung whined at the loss of lips on his, the complaint was quickly replaced with small gasps. When Minho placed an open-mouthed kiss on the side of his neck, the squirrel made a noise so loud that he ended up scaring himself into pulling away.
Jisung smiled sheepishly, red bottom lip caught under his front teeth. Minho laughed, endeared, and placed a final, chaste kiss on his lips. He reached up to pet Jisung’s head, making sure to scratch behind his ears in the way that he knew the squirrel adored.
Eyes fluttering shut, Jisung sang out a hum of contentment as he relished in the moment. He looked like he was on another planet, soaking up the attention and affection, letting out a long, low purr.
Minho’s hand froze.
“Did you just-”
“Shut up.”
“That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Jisung whined, ears flattening, and he buried his head in Minho’s neck, cheeks burning a brilliant red.
“I said shut up,” he pleaded, muffled by the hood of Minho’s sweater.
“Please do that again. I’m begging.”
“I’ll kill you where you sit.”
They sat in silence for a few more, perfect moments, Minho carding his hands through long strands of soft brown hair and Jisung nosing at his neck. They were in their own little bubble again, where they felt like they belonged. Where they had always belonged. Jisung's tail swooshed happily.
“I didn’t know that squirrels could purr ,” Minho mused, petting idly.
"Yeah, well, they also bite when provoked.”