Chapter Text
“I’m really sorry again, hyung.” Minghao says dejectedly as they drive along campus.
“Haohao, I told you, it’s alright. It’s not that big of a deal anyway. Don’t worry about it.” Junhui says as endearingly as possible, his free hand rubbing softly the younger’s knees to assure him.
“But hyung!! You were on a date! And I definitely cockblocked you” Minghao says with a small pout.
Junhui chuckles as he recalls what happened the night before: he was on a date with a guy from the university’s basketball team, Changkyun. If he were being completely honest, he (Junhui) was definitely expecting to get laid. Changkyun was the aggressive type and he was definitely, definitely, attractive. It took all of ten minutes inside Junhui’s apartment before they started making out with Junhui straddling Changkyun on his couch. Things were heating up pretty quickly until he heard a frightened scream by his door and looked up to see a horrified and apologetic Minghao carrying some microwavable popcorn, chips, and cola.
“Shit I-I’m sorry, hyung. I uhh…i gotta go” Minghao stutters, accidentally dropping some of the bags of chips he brought along with him.
Junhui could have sworn there was a tinge of pain in Minghao’s eyes.
“Again, it’s not that big of a deal.” Junhui assures him. Junhui, although a little disappointed, (afterall, he did miss out on getting dicked down by one the hottest men he’s seen on campus) he’s surprisingly indifferent to what happened. “It wasn’t even that serious; Changkyun made it pretty clear he had no plans of dating anyone and was looking for a good time.”
Minghao frowns at that. “Well then I’m glad I interrupted, you shouldn’t be a one night stand. You’re not just a ‘good time’”
Cute.
“Well then I hope you feel better now because you have class in 20 minutes and so do i.” Junhui says as he makes a stop in front of Minghao’s buildings.”
“I guess so.” Minghao gives a small smile and finally Junhui is relieved.
“Looks like Seokmin is waiting for you.” Junhui says as he gestures towards their building’s front door. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
Minghao gives him a small nod and Junhui watches as he runs towards his friend.
–
“So rumor has it you gave Changkyun blue balls.” Soonyoung says as he sits down beside Junhui, placing his book on top of his desk.
“Well good morning to you too, Kwon Soonyoung.” He deadpans. “Where’s Jihoon and why is he not controlling your mouth at this time of day?”
“One, my boyfriend’s whereabouts are none of your business.” Junhui chuckles at the petty jealousy Soonyoung barely manages to control. “Second, I am merely relaying to you a rumor I heard from a little birdie. Although, Jihoon’s birdie definitely isn’t little at all.” Soonyoung gives him a little wink at that.
“That is absolutely fucking disgusting.” Junhui gently slaps Soonyoung, eliciting only a cackle from Soonyoung. “And technically Haohao gave us both blue balls.”
“What?” Soonyoung looks at him in confusion.
“We were making out and stuff when Haohao barged in my apartment.” He says nonchalantly. “Not a big deal if i’m being honest”
Noticing the weird silence, Junhui looks up and sees Soonyoung giving him a shit-eating grin.
“What?”
“Haohao huh"
“Not this again” Junhui says, exasperated “How many times do i have to tell you, Minghao is like my little brother. Hence the nickname?”
“Okay, okay.” Soonyoung says “But I remember the last time Haohao went on a date you spied on him”
“That was different, that guy was sketchy and looked like he would kill someone.”
“He literally sat next to Myungho in his class, he was NOT sketchy.” Soonyoung deadpans. “Oh and what about that Kyulkyung chick? Myungho went on a date with her twice? You couldn’t stand it!”
“That’s because Haohao was not comfortable!!! He told her multiple times he was gay but she would not let it go!!”
“Okay, okay. Fine, I’ll let this go. For now.” Junhui rolls his eyes, he’s used to this.
He met Minghao when the younger moved into the Wens’ apartment complex with his parents. Word got to Junhui’s mother that another Chinese family had moved into their building and she couldn’t contain her excitement–cooking all the Chinese dishes she did best and telling Junhui that he’s finally getting a friend from home. Junhui and his mother went up to the Xu family and offered their dishes and of course, to no surprise, their families were now basically one.
“Hi, I’m Minghao” a little boy approached Junhui, all shy and uncomfortable. “I’m 11”
Junhui smiles wide and introduces himself as a “gege” to Minghao “I’m Junhui! I’m 12 so I’ll be like your big brother, okay?”
Minghao nods shyly and says “Thank you, Junhui gege” Junhui’s tiny heart flutters from how adorable this boy is and ruffles his hair.
“I’ll call you Haohao!” Junhui says, hugging the little boy.
The first time they were mistaken for a couple, it was their high school lunch lady. Minghao was feeling a little under the weather that day, so he skipped class.
“Oh, you’re alone today, my love. Where is your boyfriend?” She asks as she places a bit of kimchi on Junhui’s tray.
“My what?” Junhui looks at her, confused.
“Boyfriend? You know that guy with cute little pixie ears.” She says happily. Realization hits Junhui and he gives her a small laugh.
“Oh no, Ma’am we’re not dating. He’s my best friend and doesn’t really like other people, that’s all.”
“Well if you say so.” Junhui brushes off the doubt in her tone.
When Junhui told Minghao about the incident, the younger one seemed nonchalant about it and had told him to brush it off–so he did. As it turns out, the entire school thought they were a thing. Minghao didn’t seem to mind, even casually just mentioning that he was practicing Korean more and more.
“Don’t mind them, hyung” Minghao says, reading a book in Korean. “I’ll be calling you hyung from now on, by the way. My tutor told me I should practice Korean more with my friends and you’re basically that one friend I talk to all the time.”
Junhui just gives him a small smile and brushes the rumors off.
Junhui’s sharpest memory of being mistaken as Minghao’s boyfriend was from Jihoon–it was hard to forget, given the string of curses he gave Junhui after he was corrected.
“So how long have you and that freshman been dating?” Jihoon says as he takes a bite of his kimchi fried rice.
“He’s not my boyfriend” Junhui says, knowing who Jihoon meant. It’s happened way too many times to be confused at this point.
“Fuck outta here!” Jihoon says with wide eyes.
“Umm..I-umm” Junhui stutters, clearly taken aback by Jihoon’s reaction. “I don’t really know how to react to you”
“You’ve gotta be shitting me, fuck i’m sorry. Fucking shit you’re not dating him?” Jihoon continues.
“Babe, you’re scaring him” Soonyoung says “Sorry, we never really talk about you that much so he didn’t know”
“It’s fine.” Junhui gives them a small smile. “But Jihoon you have got to stop cursing like it’s a second language.”
“I’ll do whatever the fuck i want” Jihoon glares at him, clearly forgetting about Minghao.
“WEN JUNHUI” He snapped out of his thoughts when Soonyoung screamed in his face “I said let’s go! Professor Park just canceled classes. And Jihoon is waiting outside our lecture hall.”
“Oh shit. Okay let’s go.” He says quickly standing up.
–
They end up in the University park with Seungcheol and Jeonghan. Of course it’s no surprise to Junhui that word of his and Changkyun’s little moment in his apartment got to Jeonghan; he definitely has some sort of demon whispering in his ears when anything remotely controversial happens in their Uni.
“How the fuck did you end up getting cock blocked. I need everything, all the tiny little details!!” Jeonghan immediately says.
Seungcheol and Jeonghan were seniors Junhui met at the start of the school year. Minghao apparently got lost in the University and Junhui’s phone died, so the younger was desperate to find him. Thankfully, Seungcheol noticed Minghao and offered to help him out, together with Jeonghan. They eventually managed to find Soonyoung who was with Junhui at the time and Jeonghan had proudly declared their friendship.
“Of course you know.” Junhui deadpans. “It’s really no big deal, I don't understand why people are actually talking about it.”
“OF COURSE PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT IT.” Jeonghan says, almost offended that Junhui doesn’t understand why it’s big news. “Changkyun is so fucking hot I’m surprised YOU didn’t pounce on HIM.”
“Wow okay.” Seungcheol says, a pang of jealousy hitting his chest.
“Aw baby, you know no one’s hotter than you. I am a testament to how good you are in–” Junhui cuts them off.
“Don’t even think about continuing that sentence!” Junhui says, horrified at the implications of Jeonghan’s sex life “I’ll tell you if you don’t ever bring up your sex life in front of me ever again.”
Jeonghan nods eagerly, his body leaning towards Junhui.
“Okay. It’s really simple. Changkyun and I were on a date, we went to my apartment since he lives with his teammates right now. We were making out and it was getting kinda heated when Haohao barged in–” Junhui sips on his iced coffee before continuing “–That’s pretty much it. Haohao apologized and left.”
Jeonghan, for 5 seconds, seemed disappointed–until he smacked Junhui at the back of his head, nearly choking Junhui on iced coffee.
“HOW COULD YOU FUCKING CORRUPT MY SWEET LITTLE SON HAOHAO”
“What the fuck, hyung?” Junhui said as he coughed up his iced coffee.
When the fuck did he start calling him Haohao? And what does he mean HIS Haohao.
Seungcheol laughs at the scene and calms down his boyfriend. “Hannie, relax. Haohao is not a little kid or a baby.”
“He’s OUR baby!” Jeonghan vehemently says.
After that whole incident with a lost Minghao, Jeonghan had decided to keep Minghao as his little son in the university. They felt so bad seeing Minghao and felt the dire need to protect the fairy-like boy. So, it’s safe to say the couple was very protective of him.
“When the hell did you guys start calling him Haohao?” Irritation clear in Junhui’s voice. “Don’t you call him Myungho?”
“What’s it to you??” Jihoon teases
“It’s just weird” He shrugs “And Jeonghan hyung, it wasn’t my fault okay!! I didn’t know he was coming that day. He said he was bored!”
“He was bored?” Seungcheol asked, raising his eyebrows. “So he went to you?”
“Yes? We’re best friends, that's what we do?” Junhui looks at them, as if they’re the strange ones.
“Do you ever notice how clingy he is to you?” Jeonghan asks “I mean he’s not a loner that’s for sure. He can talk to Cheollie and I, Seokmin, or Mingyu, maybe”
Mingyu? Who the hell was that?
“Who’s Mingy–nevermind. Look it’s normal okay, I’m used to a clingy Haohao. It’s not that weird”
“Oh come on, Jun!” Soonyoung starts “You always prioritize Hao! Remember that one time, when you were out on a date with Wonwoo? You really left him because Minghao said he was bored. I bet that scene with Changkyun wasn’t even the first time he walked in on you doing the nasty!”
“OKAY FIRST OF ALL, he wasn’t just bored when I left my date with Wonwoo he was sorta sick too. Second, how dare you I am not some deprived caveman!”
“But that wasn’t the first time he’s interfered with your love life, is it?” Jihoon says
“Well…”
That definitely wasn’t. He’s had countless guys deciding against pursuing him, or breaking up with him because Minghao always needed him or just because he had his Haohao. Minghao wasn’t like Junhui, the former was quiet and cold. He didn’t really talk that much with others but was extremely affectionate with Junhui. It does at some point get overwhelming–he contacts Junhui for the tiniest things and depends so much on Junhui’s presence as well. But Junhui’s he’s never really let those thoughts twist up, as much as he could, at least. And though the amount of attention and dependence the younger had on him was a lot at times, it never bothered him as much as people thought.
“I mean yeah, I guess that wasn’t the first time he’s had to contact me a lot for small things.” Junhui said “If I think about it, Haohao doesn’t really go to other people when he’s bored. Just me. It’s overwhelming but I don’t know I don't wanna think about it that way.” Junhui takes a small glance at them and decides to tell them how he feels. “Okay, fine let me be really honest with you.” Junhui looks around to make sure it’s just them. “Please don’t tell anyone, I do not want Haohao to get the wrong idea, okay? He’s still a little brother to me.”
They all nod in unison, eyes and ears completely focused on Junhui.
“Haohao…I don’t really mind him being clingy or dependent on me. I’m used to it, I guess? It gets overwhelming sometimes but I’ve learned to adjust to it and make it part of my routine. But being mistaken as a couple every single time? Now THAT gets annoying. I don’t wanna be forever attached to his name, okay? Haohao is fine but it does get annoying. I mean he always needs something and sometimes I jus–” Junhui is suddenly cut off when he hears a familiar name being called not too far.
“MYUNGHO-HYUNG!” They all look up hearing the name and Junhui sees Seungkwan calling in the direction of their group; Junhui’s getting a bad feeling about this.
“Uhh….Junhui?” Seungcheol suddenly says, eyes looking horrified as he stares at something behind Junui.
Nervous, Junhui turns around and is met with Minghao forcing a smile and gripping on to a bottle of Sprite and looks at Junhui.
He heard him. He heard a fraction of what he was saying, a portion of his dialogue that could be so easily misunderstood. Dread fills Junhui and immediately he tries to reach out, but Minghao was quick to break their eye contact.
“Hey Kwannie!” He says but disappointment was clear in his voice. “What’s up?”
“I need help with our Psych50 assignment. Could you help me?” Seungkwan pouted “We can even invite Jun hyung!!”
“Ahh sorry, Kwannie. I have a lot to do today” Minghao says “Junhui hyung can help you, alone.”
Junhui sees the small smile Minghao forces out and he feels terrible.
“I’ll see you later, hyung.”
They don’t see each other until the next day.
–
Junhui's heart is pounding louder than ever, even louder than the one time the guy he really liked asked him out. He’s outside Minghao’s dorm building, holding a paper bag of Minghao’s favorite Starbucks drink and donut. He’s an hour earlier than the usual time he picks him up. He wanted to make sure he would catch the younger, expecting Minghao to go earlier so he can text Junhui that he doesn’t have to pick him up. Junhui may be a little dumb at times but he knew more about Minghao than his current lectures. He knows how Minghao is when he’s upset or how he copes when he’s dealing with something. Junhui can’t stand the thought that Minghao’s upset, and he’s the cause of it.
“HAOHAO!” Junhui exclaims as Minghao steps out of his apartment complex. Still the same tactic, as Junhui predicted.
“Hyung…” Minghao says, almost surprised to see Junhui. “...you’re here early.”
“Yeah I–uh–wanted to make sure I could talk to you before the day starts.” Junhui scratches his nape, the sheer awkwardness so evident. “Listen, what you heard yester–”
“Hyung.” Minghao starts, cutting him off. “You know you can be honest with me right? I’m sorry if you had to force yourself to put me into your routine. I’m sorry you had to cater to my needs. I really didn’t know you felt that way. I’m sorry I was annoying.” Minghao says, lowering his head, almost as if he’s ashamed.
Junhui feels ten times guiltier, if that was even possible. He’s never seen this side or look from Minghao. He was so used to an affectionate Minghao. He’s not supposed to feel like this, fuck.
“No Haohao, listen–”
“You don’t have to call me Haohao either, hyung! I don’t mind, I promise. I’ll try my best to not be clingy anymore! I promise! I’ll start hanging out more with Seokmin, or maybe Kwannie, or Mingyu!” A wave of panic rises in Junhui’s chest.
“No, Haohao, let me expl–”
“Myungho-ya!” A man calls from the car behind Junhui’s, surprising Junhui.
“I didn’t think you’d come today so I called up Gyu to pick me up” Minghao said “I already told him about my schedule and since we practically have the same classes, you don’t need to do it from now on.” Minghao proudly says–Junhui hates that Minghao feels the need to do this.
“Myungho-ya, look! I got your favorite from Starbucks!” The paper bag in his hands suddenly feels heavier, so does his chest.
“Bye, hyung! See you whenever!” Minghao says as he rushes towards the sedan behind his car.
–
“Is that Starbucks? This is Myungho’s drink, right? Is he joining us?” Soonyoung says as Junhui sits down beside him in their uni’s park.
“No. Take it. Before the donut gets all soggy.” Junhui dejectedly says. “Hao already got something to eat when I came to pick him up.”
“Pick him up? But I just saw him–”
“I feel horrible.” Junhui says, cutting Jihoon off. “Haohao thinks I hate him.”
“Is this because of what he heard yesterday?” Jihoon says and he nods in response “Hui, Myungho is a reasonable kid, okay? He’s not gonna just disappear from your life if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“You don’t understand, he told me he would try to be less annoying, which is bad because he’s not the bad kind of annoying.” Junhi whines “It's just–I don’t want him to think that our friendship has been premised on obligations, okay? I don’t feel obligated to adjust to him, I just did.”
“I get what you mean, Hui. And I don’t blame Myungho for feeling the way he does now, but you have to relax, this is your Haohao we are talking about, not some random kid you lived next door to. Everything will be fine, Myungho doesn’t seem like the type to ditch people he cares about, okay? He’s a good kid and he wouldn’t do that.” Junhui takes a deep breath and nods in agreement.
This is Haohao. His best friend and little brother.
His person.
“And besides–” Soonyoung begins as he takes a bite of the donut Junhui bought “– maybe this little distance Myungho starts will make you realize shit too.”
“Okay? Whatever that means.” Junhui says, confused, especially seeing the little smirk Jihoon gives him.
It’ll be fine, right?