Work Text:
Chenle is growing out his hair.
The dark strands contrast against the pale blue wall as he rests his head on the recently painted bricks, the hard surface uneven and a little ugly now that Jeno stares at it with more detail.
“We shouldn't've painted that wall." He comments, eyes trained on Chenle as he turns his head to look at him. The hair that was squished against the wall falls back in place, and Jeno just can't stop staring. Black looks so good on Chenle.
"You're the one that wanted to paint it." Chenle laughs, a little mocking, a little confused at the sudden statement. He raises a brow at Jeno, who doesn't even try to hide the way he stares, dead on, at the small fluff of hair standing out of place atop the younger's head.
Jeno likes it better all black. The bright colors looked good on Chenle and were very fun for a while, but the constant stress of having to get his roots redone every one or two months, plus the breakage and stench of bleach made him get sick of it, of always having to cut it short if he wanted to avoid even more damage to the strands. Jeno was on board with the decision, excited to see what Chenle's hair would look like in its original color. He just didn't expect it to have such an impact on him, to pull his gaze like a magnet and have him in a chokehold.
It's just hair. Chenle can change it, cut it, get rid of it, or grow it out. It doesn't change much, but at the same time, it changes a lot.
Chenle's black hair is nearly down to his nose, parted at the middle and messy in a didn't-try-at-all kind of way, and Jeno can't stop thinking about what it would be like to run his hands through it, grab at it, and gently pull on it.
"I just didn't like the red of the bare bricks. It looked too aggressive." He gives a half-assed reply, something that makes Chenle snort at how ridiculous it sounds. Jeno really can't stop staring at him.
"So you went with the worst color possible to cover them up."
Jeno sighs. "You could've talked me out of it. We both went out to buy the paint."
Chenle shrugs. "Not my room, not my decision. I just went to the store with you and helped you paint. I'm not the one who has to look at the ugly baby blue walls all day." And he's right, but Jeno doesn't want to admit it.
"You can help me repaint it, then."
"I'm not gonna do extra labor just because you're in a mood." Chenle says, not even looking at Jeno. He just scrolls through his phone, double tapping the screen every now and then. His Instagram feed seems more interesting than anything Jeno has to say, so Jeno decides to drop it, just because he would rather have Chenle staring at his phone than looking back at him and catching him staring like a creep.
The room might be painted an unfitting shade, but it makes Chenle stand out. His dark blue t-shirt looks nice against it, just like his hair (god, Jeno can't stop looking at it, it's insane) as he rests his back against the wall, legs sprawled out and taking up most of the space in Jeno's tiny bed.
They're just hanging out, unplanned and a little boring, but still enjoyable. Chenle was tired of his roommate nagging at him over silly and trivial things, like unwashed dishes and laundry detergent, so he showed up at Jeno's doorstep a few minutes before the rain started pouring. Jeno had been in a mood all week, the weight of college exams and his stupid job feeling like too much of a burden, as if they were both fighting over which one could make Jeno collapse and have a breakdown faster. It only took Chenle flashing a cheeky smile and waltzing into the apartment without actually being invited in for Jeno to completely forget about his current stress,- deadlines and unfinished work getting pushed to the back of his mind.
Chenle had that effect on him. Just the thought of him could make Jeno find a little peace, gather his thoughts and take some weight off his shoulders. The Chenle Trick, he liked to call it,- only in his head, of course. He would rather die than say out loud that the thought of his best friend could ground him so easily,- would work out nearly ninety six percent of the time, the remaining percent proving ineffective because Chenle was the reason behind the stress. (It didn't happen often, and it was mostly over silly things, but Jeno will always overthink and worry about Chenle and his occasional questionable decisions. It couldn't be helped.)
There's really not much to do at Jeno's place, other than maybe play a board game or watch a movie. Jeno had no plans for the evening, already done with coursework and ignoring texts from his manager who usually pestered him outside his work hours to see if Jeno would like to pick up an extra shift (he never did). Still, Chenle decided to stay and make himself comfortable in Jeno's bed, leaving the crooked second-hand gaming chair for Jeno to sit on, not the most comfortable but still better than laying on the carpet.
He's about to complain again about the eyesore of a color his room is painted in before the lights flicker and go out suddenly, leaving his room in near darkness except for the crack of light coming in from his window, the curtains drawn back just a little.
Chenle huffs in annoyance. "Man, really? I was trying to get a video to load." The frozen video on his screen is proof that Jeno's wifi is no longer working, since he knows Chenle's phone automatically connects to it and he uses it as much as he can, because his data plan is shit and makes his phone run slow whenever he's not connected to a stable network.
Jeno gets up from his spot near his computer and walks over to the bedroom window, pulling the curtains open to let in some more light. It doesn't do much, since the skies are darkened with heavy rain clouds and it seems to be pouring hard enough to drill a hole into a rooftop, but it's enough for him to see where he's going and move around without tripping accidentally.
"The rain probably fucked up a nearby utility pole or something." Jeno comments, walking back to his chair and plopping down on it ungracefully.
Chenle locks his phone and sets it to the side. "You think it tore down the whole thing?"
Jeno shrugs. "I've seen it happen before. They don't really cement the poles to the ground, and sometimes the wooden ones rot away and crack easily. Let's hope it's something else and not a broken powerline, they take weeks to fix those."
Silence fills the room. Chenle's eyes are trained on the ceiling, which was a weird shade of off-white painted by the previous owners. Jeno studies his face; there's a soft pink tint to Chenle's cheeks that wasn't there before, and it seems to spread towards his ears and down his neck the more Jeno looks at it. It contrasts against the soft tan of his skin and the blue of his shirt, and Jeno can't believe he's so far gone that he's mentally trying to name all the colors of Chenle, his skin tone and lips and the shadows in his hair.
"Is there something on my face?" Chenle asks, kind of snappy and a tad too loud for the previous silence in the room. Jeno makes a confused little noise. "You've been staring at me non-stop."
"I haven't-"
"I can see you, you know." Chenle cuts him off. His face remains neutral, a little guarded even, like all the staring is because there's something wrong that Jeno won't voice out but still stare at.
There's nothing wrong. Jeno wouldn't call his newfound infatuation something wrong. It actually feels right, completely natural to stare at Chenle's features and find them attractive, like they're luring him in. He guesses Chenle has that sort of power over him, and has probably had it since forever, only now taking effect in full.
"I like your hair." Jeno answers, and it earns him a raised brow. He doesn't just like it, he thinks he could wax poetry about it at this point with how much he's stared at it, starting by the gentle swoop at the roots, down to the way it frames Chenle's face so perfectly, the black of his hair making his eyes look sharper.
"It's whatever." He shrugs it off, lifting a hand to run his fingers through it and mess it up a bit more. Jeno tries to swallow down the knot that suddenly jams at his throat.
"It's pretty."
"It's bland." Chenle answers back. Jeno can't agree. "I liked my orange hair better, but my hairstylist said I need to let my scalp breathe, otherwise I might have to shave it all off."
Even with a buzz cut Jeno would still think Chenle looks pretty. "Yeah, better to let your scalp rest a bit."
The rain doesn't stop pouring even after the power comes back on, so Jeno invites Chenle to spend the night, pumping up the inflatable mattress himself after Chenle complains that he doesn't want to move from Jeno's bed. He just stares boredly at Jeno, like a lazy cat, as Jeno huffs and puffs while pumping, the room mostly quiet aside from Jeno's harsh breathing.
He doesn't really mind it. Inflating the mattress, that is. What he does mind is the way Chenle stares him down, making his skin warm up in embarrassment, watching his every move, not saying a word. Is this how Chenle feels when Jeno stares? It couldn't be, simply because the way Jeno stares is very different.
Chenle seems bored, pretty mouth set on a thin line, eyelids half closed. He drapes over Jeno's bed like royalty, or at least what Jeno would call the 'Cleopatra' resting pose, like the one that's been portrayed over and over in every single piece of film throughout the twentieth century. It's regal yet nothing out of the ordinary, pretty in a way that only Jeno can appreciate. Chenle stares at him the same way someone would watch paint dry, and that is not how Jeno stares at him. He would like to think there's a hint of adoration in his own eyes, a softness that can only be directed at Chenle. It's different.
And yet Chenle's gaze makes him react the same way Chenle did before.
"Something on my face?" Jeno asks, out of breath and a little snappy. He might work out occasionally, but nothing truly beats the exhaustion that comes with wrestling an air mattress and not receiving any help.
Chenle doesn't say anything, just changes his position over the bed, rolling face down and pillowing his head on his folded arms, eyes still on Jeno.
There's a drop of sweat running down Jeno's nape. Suddenly the room feels a tad too hot, and the baby blue of the walls does nothing to add to the illusion that the room is cooling. It's on the slightly uncomfortable side of warm, and Jeno looks down at the nearly inflated mattress for a split second before making the decision to set the pump down and peel his black sweater off, just so he won't get it all gross and sweaty.
His every move is followed by a pair of eyes. He can feel them on him as he fixes the t-shirt he wore under his sweater, as he rummages through his closet for a hanger to put the sweater on, as he returns to the air mattress. Jeno only manages to pump three more times before his eyes meet Chenle's again, this time not as bored or sleepy-looking, but determined and dead serious.
A hand extends towards him, fingers flexing and beckoning him closer. Jeno follows without complaint, taking a few steps from the middle of the room to the side of his bed, where Chenle's extended arm retracts back under his head for support.
"Yeah?" Jeno's voice comes out quieter than expected as he squats down to be at eye level with the younger. Chenle searches his face for something, like he's scanning every single muscle movement of Jeno's face, from the small twitch of the corner of his lips to his slow blinks and slight tightening of his jaw.
"Why did you keep staring at me?" Chenle asks softly, and if Jeno didn't know any better, he'd think Chenle was on the brink of falling asleep. "Be honest."
How can he explain himself without coming off as crazy?
Jeno licks his lips, looks down at his bedroom floor, back up at Chenle's face, and lets his eyes wander over to the messy strands that fall over his forehead. "I think you're pretty." He says. Simple, straight to the point.
Chenle blinks. "So it's not about my hair?"
A shrug. "It's more than just your hair, but I think it plays a big part in it." Chenle's stare is so intense Jeno has to settle on looking down at the fraying edges of his old blanket, the one Chenle is laying on top of. "I don't know. I just really like looking at you. You're really, really pretty."
Jeno wasn't expecting anything out of his confession. Usually Chenle would just hum and offer a lopsided smile everytime Jeno would talk about his feelings, be it good ones or unhappy ones, and it would do the trick each time. Chenle would try to either keep his mind off things or keep the good mood going by keeping Jeno entertained, and that would be the end of it.
But he tries to find Jeno's eyes and for the first time ever his presence makes Jeno nervous, hesitant to stare at him like he always does. Chenle lets out a huff of air,- not really a sigh, but close enough to one that it makes Jeno regret ever saying anything for a split second,- before he lifts his head up from his pillowed arm and reaches out to Jeno, hand gently settling on the curve of his jaw and make him turn to look at him. His grip suddenly turns firm, and Jeno only has half a second to brace himself before Chenle pulls him in and crashes his lips against Jeno's own.
Jeno is no fool, nor does he waste time. After the initial shock wears off, he leans further in and lets Chenle lead the kiss, making sure he doesn't strain his neck or let his arm tire while holding Jeno's face. It's gentle as it is deep, heads tilted slightly to the side to give space for more; Chenle's tongue licking into Jeno's mouth and making him let out a soft moan, mind fuzzy and senses overpowered by everything Chenle.
It ends too quickly for his liking, but there's a small smile on Chenle's lips that feels as mocking as it is reassuring, a small promise that there will be more from where that came from. Chenle's hand, still on Jeno's jaw, slowly moves down to his chest and pushes back slightly, before losing contact completely as Chenle turns on his back and reaches for his phone, moment completely over and feeling like a fever dream as Jeno tries to blink himself out of it.
Nothing really happens after that, other than the air mattress finally getting inflated enough to be sturdy and comfortable. Chenle steals some snacks from Jeno's pantry and changes into Jeno's clothes, something that happens regularly enough that Jeno doesn't even bat an eye when he sees his favorite ratty t-shirt get used as a napkin after Chenle finishes a bag of mini nachos. His hair is on his face now, no longer parted in the middle but covering his eyes instead, like a curtain hiding his sleepy eyes.
Jeno manages to get Chenle off his bed with a little bribery, the promise of some tasty breakfast in bed if Jeno manages to wake up before him. Getting ready to sleep feels a bit intense with the charged energy in the room, but as Jeno finally settles on his bed, everything shifts slightly to just right when he notices how Chenle is staring at him. There's a glint of mischief in his eyes, but his face is set on a soft smile as he walks over and hovers over Jeno, who takes in a sharp breath and braces himself.
Chenle pecks him goodnight, lips so soft and kiss so chaste Jeno swears he might've imagined it if it weren't for the pink tint that blooms on Chenle's cheeks as he turns away and goes over to flick the lightswitch off. Jeno hears him get into bed more than he sees it, blinking a few times to let his eyes get used to the change of light.
He can't help but just sit there, slightly dazed and with a small smile hanging on his face. His lips tingle and his cheeks feel warm, heart skipping a beat at the thought of more kisses from Chenle, of finally being able to be a little greedy and have him all for himself the next day. He wonders how Chenle manages to fall asleep so quickly, deep breaths and light snores already filling the room, sleep coming to him as easily as always. It takes him one look at the object of his affections to make Jeno smile like a fool, Chenle's black hair spread over his head like a halo, face calm and lips slightly parted.
Jeno thinks he should definitely keep growing it out.