Archive of Our Own

September

“It is currently September twenty-first and our meteorologists are following the sudden storm that appeared in the metropolitan area of Seoul. It doesn’t seem to be leaving any time soon. We advise to take shelter and be prepared for stronger storms to continue throughout the night,” Soobin hears the radio echo softly through the bookstore, staring out the window as he watches the sky darken more as the rain pounds harder against the roof at – he has to check his watch – four in the afternoon.

The weather would shock him more if it weren’t for the fact his lips pull into a frown to make the wrinkles in his forehead become more prominent. He hopes the resting-bitch-face Beomgyu comments on is enough to deter potential customers at his small bookstore. Not that he can really afford to deter the customers who are even able to find it, but today’s not the day.

His phone chimes from where it’s hidden under the desk with messages, and he’s sure it’s Beomgyu screaming at him for the sudden storm that his bad mood caused. Or Yeonjun asking what’s wrong because it’s never been this strong before.

Or one of the two telling him he needs to get laid – italicized, for emphasis, and with a capital L. All in Beomgyu’s words.

It’s not his fault his mood has been sour all day. Before he left it was all dark clouds that threatened to rain anyway, but he was able to hold it off well enough.

That was until he was yelled at by the multiple customers that came in during a rush. Magic Island Books has gotten quite the following thanks to Yeonjun’s ability to make a decent TikTok post, which Soobin is grateful for. The bookshop was going under with both the normals and magic users alike, just a small hole-in-the-wall shop that Soobin couldn’t even hire another worker to help him.

But more customers also means more entitled assholes that are forced in by their teenage kids. And it really puts a damper on the already somber mood Soobin had woken up to that morning.

The thunder outside rolls at the same time his thoughts go through his head, the downpour even harder. Sometimes he thinks it’d be better if he had his own personal rain cloud rather than his mood unintentionally affecting the metropolis area of Seoul that he resides in.

His phone rings through with a text, and he decides to just glance at the screaming Beomgyu has done in their group chat with Yeonjun.

Gyu: what the FUCK SOOBIN!!

Gyu: why is it a downpour!!!

Gyu: even the weather guy can’t explain this!!!!

He tries to ignore it, locking his phone until it buzzes again just three seconds later.

Gyu: ASSHOLE

Gyu: I SAW YOU READ THAT

Gyu: ANSWER ME

Gyu: CHOI

Gyu: SOOBIN

Gyu: ANSWER

Gyu: ME

Gyu: I WILL SHOW UP AT YOUR WORK DON’T TEST ME!!!!!

Gyu: DON’T MAKE ME CALL YOUR MOM AGAIN!!!!

It’s a threat Beomgyu would actually go through, and Soobin lets out a sigh as he tries to will his fingers to work on a message.

Jjunnie-Hyung: Baby bear, can you please stop

Soobin wrinkles his nose at their little pet names for each other. Couples. Disgusting.

Jjunnie-Hyung: I’m sure our Soobinnie is busy

Soobin: Yeah our Soobinnie is busy wallowing in his own self-pity

Jjunnie-Hyung: Stop that

Jjunnie-Hyung: Be careful coming home

Gyu: We’re still gonna talk about this >:(

Soobin sends the emoticon of one of the rabbits shaking in fear before he locks his phone to ignore the rest of Beomgyu’s spamming. It’s enough to make his bad mood even worse, something that spreads through his veins and grows larger and larger until he’s not able to handle it by himself.

The storm outside follows his thoughts as the wind picks up enough to shake the old building he owns. Part of him wants to close up early and rush back to his shared apartment to bury in his bed, knowing Beomgyu and Yeonjun are there would be enough to help whatever anxiety that’s brewing under his skin just stop for a moment and let him breathe.

He hesitates, the thought running through his mind as he stares at the lonely streets that are usually busy with school kids around this time. What is he really missing out on with a storm like this? It’s not like it’ll quiet down, not when Soobin is able to unintentionally make it worse. So he decides, after sending a message back to the group chat that he’s closing early, and moves away from the desk to go lock the door.

Just as a customer – of course, right when he wants to close – pushes the door open with a struggle and moves into the shop. The door catches with the wind, the noise howling through the quiet shop, and Soobin scowls down at the smooth wood. He reminds himself to take a deep breath, that it’s fine, as he places his phone back on the countertop and greets him. “Welcome to Magic Island, please let me know if you need any assistance,” the words make the boy jump as he forces the door closed, immediately turning around to stare directly at Soobin.

He gives a sheepish smile, and Soobin realizes he’s soaked. His clothes, down to his shoes, and the backpack that’s slung along his front as if he were protecting it. “I’m so sorry,” he immediately apologies, shifting in the makeshift puddle he’s forming in front of the door, “I just got out of class and didn’t know it would be raining,” that’d be two of them, “and I forgot my umbrella.” Soobin nods along to what he’s saying. “Did I come at a bad time?”

“I was just able to close up,” He admits, rubbing the back of his neck as he glances outside the window and then back to the boy. He’s cute, brown hair that sticks to his forehead and his cheeks round out when he smiles wide. A smile that’s too bright for someone who is soaking wet and standing in the middle of a bookshop.

Something glistens, and Soobin has to blink.

He’s wearing braces. Oh god, he’s wearing braces.

“I can go…,” he starts and Soobin immediately shakes his head when he glances at the storm brewing. He’s sure he’d say I’ll only stay here until it dies down and Soobin knows good and well it’s not dying down any time.

Though it could, if he tries. That is if he’s willing enough to make himself sick and almost bedridden while having to listen to Beomgyu’s bitching.

“It’s fine,” He immediately assures, waving a hand around as he stares at the boy. “You can look around if you want, there’s some chairs around,” and when he doesn’t move where water collects below his feet, Soobin holds up a finger. “Let me get you a towel.”

“That’s not–“ Soobin rushes off before the kid can finish his sentence, fingers threading through his hair as he takes a deep breath in. The anxiety from the day brews into something that’s completely different, something that tells him don’t fuck up as he grabs one of the spare towels he keeps around for days like this – usually reserved for Beomgyu or Yeonjun as a small apology.

“I guess we’re the only two people who are stuck in the midst of this storm?” The kid jokes when Soobin finds him in one of the random aisle of hobbies and DIYs, two of the only music books he’s been able to find in his arms. Soobin shrugs, his heart fluttering and the anxiety twisting in his stomach that makes him fall quiet. “Thanks, by the way.”

“No problem.” He glances outside, and scowls at the rain. “I don’t think it’s going to die down any time soon.”

The kid nods in agreement, placing the book back on the shelf. “It’d be great to control the weather,” he jokes, and Soobin nods. It’s not that great actually. “My poor notes are probably soaked through.” The words are pitched with a whine – a whine – with lips poked out in a pout that makes Soobin’s heart skip a beat.

How can someone be that cute? Cute enough that he wants to squish his cheeks and just hug him.

The question, “Do you want to use my umbrella?” leaves his mouth before he actually knows what he’s saying. That’s his only umbrella and he has to walk home? His brain decides to short circuit instead.

The kid shakes his head. “I couldn’t ask you to do that!” He tries to argue and Soobin waves his hand around. His brain screams at him to stop being an idiot that sounds a lot like Beomgyu sitting on his shoulder.

He tries not to think too much about how hot his face feels. “It’s fine. I promise. I have another one,” no he doesn’t, but this kid doesn’t know that.

And he smiles, brighter than Soobin’s ever seen someone smile. He reminds Soobin of sunshine, the way he feels when the sun is at its fullest and beating down on him but makes everything around him bright and lively. He’s like the personification of the actual sun. “I’ll be sure to bring it back tomorrow!” He promises, holding up his pinky finger to show he’s serious. He tries to set his lips in a thin line, but it’s impossible with the way his lips twitch upwards, and it just makes Soobin’s chest tighten more.

Their hands brush against each other, and Soobin tries to ignore the way electricity flows through him from their touch at the same time a lightning bolt strikes and the thunder rolls louder than it has before.

He scowls at the window as the boy jumps back with a yelp, letting the umbrella clatter to the ground. “Sorry, sorry,” he immediately breathes out, taking the umbrella and shifting on his feet once more as he glances at the downpour outside. Soobin imagines he’s willing himself to face the rain again, from the way he shifts his backpack to press more against his stomach. “I’ll….see you tomorrow?” He questions, raising an eyebrow.

Soobin nods and watches him walk out, opening the umbrella with a bit of struggle, before he turns and waves. He waves back, and reaches to turn the open sign to close. “Guess it’s just you and me, old friend,” he mumbles to the sky, deciding the best course of action to make it home.

⛈️⛈️⛈️

“I’m home,” Soobin announces as he steps into the apartment, hearing the Animal Crossing music coming from the living room. Beomgyu and Yeonjun are bickering about something, and he’s curious if it’s over another villager they want to add to their shared – gross, domestic, revolting Soobin’s mind adds in – island.

“We need him! How can you pass up Marshal, Hyung!” That’s Beomgyu and Soobin rolls his eyes.

“I’m looking for that duck, Beomie. I don’t want another squirrel.”

“But I want it.”

“Tough luck, get your own Switch.”

Soobin decides it’s the perfect time to interrupt their game, trudging water droplets behind him as he stares at the tv from over their heads. Yeonjun’s character immediately leaves the island he’s on, Beomgyu whining and shifting on the couch beside him when he talks to the weird bird to get back on the plane.

He flicks some water against the back of their heads to get their attention, both of them jumping. Beomgyu lets out a small yelp as he immediately glares at Soobin the same moment as Yeonjun mumbles Aish and turns to look at him.

The glare fades away immediately from Beomgyu’s eyes, full of concern as he takes in Soobin’s state. He’s soaked, and he feels the nervousness of being around his own friends as he shifts on his feet. He’s sure Beomgyu notices as the storm outside gets louder to prove his point. “Shit, Soobs,” He says, immediately jumping up to grab a towel from the bathroom.

Yeonjun drops his controller to stand up and wrap him in a hug, despite Soobin being soaked and that he’s going to make his shirt wet. “Bad day?”

“I’m fine,” he mumbles, pushing him away when Beomgyu throws the towel on the top of his head. A shiver runs through him and Beomgyu sighs. “Why the fuck do you have the AirCon on?”

Yeonjun lets out a small smile, turning to glance at Beomgyu for a moment before back to Soobin. “Beoms wanted hot chocolate,” he admits and of course that’s the case. Soobin stares back at him as if to say whipped.

“Do you want some?” Beomgyu asks, ruffling the towel along Soobin’s hair as if the taller were his son.

Soobin has to think about it for a moment, humming as he tries to nod. “I’m gonna take a shower first,” he settles on, taking the towel away from Beomgyu’s hands as he looks at the state of Yeonjun’s shirt. “Sorry, Hyung.”

Yeonjun only shrugs in response, patting Soobin’s butt when he walks past him to the one shared bathroom that they have in their small two-bedroom apartment. He tries not to take too long, not wanting to dwell within his own thoughts or think about the storm he caused outside to fight back against him. But it helps to warm him up, pulling on a pair of fluffy pajama pants with rabbits that Beomgyu had given him back in high school and a t-shirt when he gets out. The water that drips down his neck doesn’t make him shiver like it did when he was stuck outside, but he uses his towel to lay across his shoulders to soak up the excess anyway.

The Animal Crossing game has been turned off when he joins them once more, a steaming cup of hot chocolate sitting on the coffee table as Beomgyu waves his hand in the way that he does when he’s talking about something interesting to him. Yeonjun nods, humming along, and Soobin decides to sit in between them.

Yeonjun scoots to the side just slightly to accommodate him as Beomgyu reaches up to pull against his ears. “You’re going to be sick in the morning.” Soobin already knows this, turning his best pout to Beomgyu. “Don’t give me that look. I won’t be able to help you.”

Yeonjun raises an eyebrow, glancing from Soobin and then behind him to Beomgyu. “I thought you had healing magic?”

“He does,” Soobin huffs through his pout, looking away to stare at the television. “It’s some stupid rule that doesn’t apply when you overuse your powers.”

“And making a whole storm because of your bad mood,” Beomgyu pulls at his cheek before reaching up to squish both of them in his hands, “is overusing your powers. I thought you had it under control?”

“I did too!” He glances at Yeonjun, seeing the way his face morphs into confusion. Normals. “It’s whatever,” he bats away Beomgyu’s hands.

Yeonjun pokes at his side. “Anyway, why were you out without an umbrella?”

And that makes Soobin blush, his stomach turning into knots again before biting his lip. He’s not sure how to even answer them. Yeonjun pokes him again, getting the response, “No reason.” Beomgyu doesn’t believe him for a moment, poking his stomach that makes him squirm away. “Stop.”

“You’re the weather manipulator. You always have an umbrella, at least.”

He mumbles under his breath that he gave it away to a kid at the shop. Beomgyu pokes him again, jabbing his finger harder into his skin. “This kid – well he’s not actually a kid. He looks old enough to be a uni – he took it, okay!”

“He took it?” Yeonjun asks, raising an eyebrow and Beomgyu looks murderous.

Soobin thinks they’re overreacting. “Wrong word,” he admits, glancing down at his fingernails before he starts picking at his cuticle. “I sorta,” he pauses, and Beomgyu has to slap his hand away to make him stop. He settles on shaking his leg. “I gave it to him.” He can’t bring himself to look at them. “He was cute.”

“Cute enough that you’re going to have a cold?”

“He was desperate and I wasn’t thinking.”

“You never think,” Beomgyu says with an eyeroll. He immediately reaches out to slap his shoulder.

He feels the need to defend himself, pulling at the hem of his shirt. “He was cute and he had these puppy dog eyes and he was sad because he said his notes were soaked and I just,” he waves his hand around, letting his sentence trail off as he tries to melt against Yeonjun to disappear.

It makes Yeonjun sigh. “You gave away your umbrella,” a nod, “to a kid you don’t even know,” another nod, “and probably don’t know how old he even is?” A third nod. He lets out a low whistle. “You’re down bad, Soobinnie.”

“He said he was going to give it back tomorrow,” he mumbles, and part of him hopes the kid will keep that promise.

He wouldn’t be opposed to seeing him again.

Beomgyu pulls at his cheek again as Soobin slaps his hand with a yah! “We need to get you laid instead of pining over some stranger for like,” he waves his hand, “the third time?”

And Soobin doesn’t feel like answering him, instead leans his head against Beomgyu’s shoulder. He can already feel the way his body is becoming weak, and he knows Beomgyu knows him well enough to catch on. And he does, dropping whatever argument that’s already on his tongue as he reaches his arm around to lay against Soobin’s broad shoulders. He’s able to feel his eyes close, to feel Yeonjun shift to pet the back of his hair.

He’s able to fall asleep almost instantly, trying to forget the day.

🌧️🌧️🌧️

Beomgyu’s never wrong when it comes to Soobin getting sick, especially when his anxiety spikes and everything becomes too out of control for him. Today is one of those days that Beomgyu was right, not that he would actually tell him, but he decides to pull the blankets over him just a bit tighter as he hits the snooze on his alarm.

It’s not the worst he’s been, not since he was in college and his anxiety almost caused a monsoon. He had been bed ridden for at least a week while Beomgyu fussed over him, and they had to explain to Yeonjun the whole magical power abilities after a couple of months they had started dating.

But now, it’s just a stuffy nose and a scratchy throat with some minor fatigue. He’ll still complain about it, never one who enjoys getting sick despite it being a repeating factor in his life, and he’ll let Beomgyu suffer through his whining like every other time.

“Soobs,” Beomgyu shouts, and it’s too loud for the way his head pounds and he shuts his eyes as tightly as he can to ignore him. “You need to open the store.” He can hear Beomgyu brushing his teeth too hard, especially when he steps into his room and shakes him. “Get up.”

He mumbles, “Sick,” and turns over.

Beomgyu probably rolls his eyes as he kicks at his bed frame. “Tough luck, you knew it would happen Mister I-Gave-Away-My-Umbrella-When-I-Caused-This.” He tugs the blankets off of him, forcing him to curl in on himself as he tries to make himself smaller. “Now get up.”

“You sound like my mom.”

“Someone has to watch out for your dumb ass. She appreciates me.”

“I’m older than you.” He turns to open one eye to stare up at Beomgyu with a frown.

“By three months,” Beomgyu gives him an even stare for just a moment, and Soobin would find him more threatening if he didn’t have toothpaste around his mouth and his toothbrush hanging out the side. He kicks the frame once more, a test to see if Soobin will actually get up. He doesn’t.

He steps away to shout out the door, “Yeonjun-hyung!”

“It’s too early, baby bear,” he hears Yeonjun sigh before he pokes his head into the room. “Soobinnie.” It’s just his name, nothing else. But it’s enough to make him feel like he’s being scolded like a kid.

“This is an unfair advantage,” He whines as Beomgyu grabs his toothbrush to stick his tongue out at him. Soobin wouldn’t hesitate to hit him if he had the energy to do so, but instead he just falls back on his mattress. “I don’t feel good.”

Yeonjun pushes Beomgyu out of the room before the younger can say anything, directing him towards the bathroom. Soobin won’t deny he’s grateful to have Yeonjun at times like these. “Do you want me to see if Soonyoung-hyung will let me come in late to help you at the shop?” He asks and Soobin immediately shakes his head. He doesn’t need help, it’s not like he gets many customers anyway.

And he technically could close for the day, but…

He thinks about the cute boy that came in when he sits up, all smiles and sunshine and round cheeks and eyes that shone brighter than any star he’s seen. And how he made a promise to come in today to give him back his umbrella. Beomgyu comes back to nudge him with his elbow and Soobin hopes that today he can wrangle some self-control on his own anxiety. He knows he’s too exhausted and burnt out to even subconsciously cause something to happen.

He decides to get up, getting dressed in one of his college t-shirts that he collected back in first year before dropping out, stomach churning when Beomgyu asks if he wants breakfast. He’s quick to shake his head, only waving towards his two roommates when he’s leaving. Beomgyu shoots him a thumbs up, yelling that he’ll bring him lunch around one when he takes his break, and Soobin immediately nods in response.

He sniffles a bit as he locks the door, and he prays to whatever is above that the boy will actually keep his promise.

🌧️🌧️🌧️

Time ticks forward and it’s enough to make Soobin sigh as he lets his head rest on the countertop. He can feel a headache brewing behind his eye, and he really wishes he had one of his mom’s healing potions right now when these things happened. It’s already almost two in the afternoon, Beomgyu had gotten him lunch from his favorite restaurant down the street and Yeonjun had already dropped in to see how he was doing.

But no sign of the cute boy who had showed up last night, and Soobin wallows in the fact it was probably one of those lost chances at love moments that seem so incredibly common in the sappy dramas Beomgyu likes playing in the background when he’s being domestic.

He doesn’t know when he falls asleep, doesn’t realize it until the bell rings through the store of someone stepping foot in the shop and he jumps up to say his normal greeting as he glances at the front door.

Except, he can’t. His words stick in his throat as he sees an all too familiar smile flashed at him. His mouth runs dry, and the boy bounds up to him with the umbrella – a normal, black umbrella – in his arms. His eyes immediately glance at the boy beside him – smaller than the other one by a few centimeters, small face with a defined jawline, and large, round eyes that seem to stare directly through him – who shoots Soobin with some sort of look that he can’t quite place, but he’s pulled out of his thoughts as the kid stands in front of him while bouncing on his toes.

“Hi!” The kid says immediately, and Soobin wonders how he can be so enthusiastic. But now that he’s not soaked, Soobin can get a better look at him. His hair curls perfectly to frame his face, and he wonders if the smile is a permanent look or if he’s really just that happy all the time. He stands at almost Soobin’s height, just a couple of centimeters shorter. He clutches the umbrella close to him, shifting from one foot to the next as he looks back to see where his friend was. “Thank you so much,” he finally continues when Soobin doesn’t say anything back. He feels like his brain is malfunctioning.

404 error. Soobin.exe has shut down because of a problem.

“You really helped me out yesterday,” he laughs, a soft chuckle, and Soobin can only nod when he continues. “I ended up missing the bus, so I’m glad I could at least salvage my backpack.”

He blinks. “You missed your bus?” He wonders, and the kid nods. Now he doesn’t feel too bad. One of them would have walked in the rain regardless. He lets out a sniffle, reaching for the tissues he has beside the register.

The kid’s eyebrows knit together as if he were piecing something together. “Don’t tell me…,” he starts, and Soobin looks up as he arches an eyebrow. “Did you walk home in the rain?” He knows he should lie, that no he’s fine. Because honestly, the whole cold thing is more from his own powers than actually walking through the freezing rain to his apartment that’s a block away. But instead, he just nods his head.

The kid’s face crumbles immediately. “Oh my god! I am so, so, so sorry I didn’t want you to walk through the rain!” He reaches over, grabbing at Soobin’s hands. The same electricity from the first time comes back, shooting through his veins and makes his stomach twist and turn into knots. “Oh my god, and you’re sick!” He looks like he’s going to cry, wide eyes and a pout as he stares directly at Soobin before glancing down at their hands.

“It’s fine,” he finally lets out, and the kid shakes his head.

“It’s not fine! This is all my fault.”

“It’s…it’s really not, I promise,” He tries to assure him. Because it’s no one’s fault but his own. He stares down at where the kid holds his hand between his two, fingers shaking. He can’t bring himself to look up at him. “I’m Soobin…by the way.”

He’s sure the boy is about to introduce himself, hearing the way he takes a deep breath. But it’s silenced by a shout of, “Hueningie!” from the only other resident in the bookshop, and Soobin looks up to watch the kid turn around to look at his friend. “Found the book I’m looking for, you ready?”

“You didn’t tell me you wanted to buy a book, Taehyunnie,” he teases, taking his hands away from Soobin’s – he already misses the warmth as he curls it into a fist and outstretches his fingers once more, the electricity dying away just as quickly as it came – to turn to stare at his friend. He sees the way his cheeks poke out as he stares at the back of his head.

The other – Taehyun, he guesses – just shrugs. “You dragged me to a bookstore,” is the only thing he says as he shoves the book into the kid’s – Huening’s? – hand. “This the guy that gave you that umbrella?” And wow, okay. This one is a bit scary. His eyes shift into a glare, staring at Soobin for a moment before he gives a small smile. “Good thing our Hueningie isn’t sick,” he coos, moving to pinch at the boy's cheeks that just makes him whine and bat his hands away.

“We’re the same age!” He turns to set the book on the countertop, arguing with his friend? Boyfriend? Soobin can’t really tell, especially not by the way they cling and speak to each other. He lets his gaze drift to the book in front of him, it’s one of their books from the magic section, an old textbook of ancient runes he had bought because no one wanted it.

He tried to ask his parents if they understood what was written in it, but even they shrugged and said that there’s only a couple of people who could read and use it.

He stares back up at Taehyun as he flashes a smirk from over the kid’s shoulder, before ducking down to stare at the book again and ring it up.

“My name’s Kai,” the kid says after a couple of moments of bantering with his friend, placing the umbrella on the counter beside the book. Soobin looks up again, staring at him as Taehyun hangs off his arm. “Huening Kai,” it’s foreign, and Soobin tries to repeat the syllables as best he can. His mouth feels too clunky to say it the same way Kai does. “But really…thank you again. I don’t know what I would have done if it weren’t for you.” His cheeks tinge pink, reaching up to rub against the back of his neck.

Soobin waves it off. “It’s no big deal,” he tries to assure him, typing the price into the register. “Anyway, the book is a hundred thousand won.”

His eyes go wide, filtering through his wallet, but Taehyun laughs as he slaps it away. “Not like you actually have that money on you,” he teases, immediately grabbing his own to pull out a credit card. Soobin wishes he could say cash only, but he doesn’t. Because it’s not true. And swipes it. “That’s actually a steal.”

“A steal?!” Kai squawks, and Soobin agrees with Taehyun’s statement with a hum. Taehyun pats the back of Kai’s hair down, waving a hand to change the subject, before reaching up to grab the book as Soobin hands it towards him. His eyes shift to something cold once more, their hands brushing that changes the electricity in his veins from Kai to ice, and he holds his gaze with Soobin.

Soobin doesn’t like the way he stares at him, shifting from one foot to the next as he feels like he’s getting smaller under the boy’s gaze. But he changes after a couple of seconds, face brightening once he looks back at Kai, and he drags him off with a promise of, “You’re buying me ice cream at least!”

Kai turns back once more, giving a small wave and a, “Thanks again, Soobin-ssi!” before he’s gone.

Soobin waves back, not able to say another word, before he kicks himself at screwing up his second chance.

He immediately kicks at his desk, before he regrets it and yells out, “Fuck!”

His head throbs more and something in his chest squeezes too quickly. He decides he’ll just close the shop early once more as he calls Beomgyu.

“What?” is the first thing he says and Soobin tries to scowl at the phone.

“Hi, I missed you too.”

“I literally saw you not even a couple hours ago. I brought you your favorite food. What is it?”

“I got the boy’s name. Kai.”

“Okay? Did you ask for his number?”

“No…”

“Bye, Soobin.”

🌧️🌧️🌧️

September comes to an end with no Kai coming back into his shop and a storm pounding down. It’s one of the few times that Soobin didn’t cause this to happen, and one of the few times he accidentally forgets his umbrella because he’s running late.

He runs as fast as he can in the stuffy button down-blazer combo he decided to wear, feeling like the tie was cutting off his breathing the closer he got to his bus stop. It’s not like the store is far, but he knows walking without an umbrella again and getting sick before September is over is a bad idea.

He’s only barely gotten over his cold from last week, and he doesn’t want to deal with Beomgyu and Yeonjun’s scolding again. He may be the middle child between his friends, but he feels more like their overly large son more times than not.

He moves closer to the bus stop, and groans as he sees the shelter over the bench filled with elderly grandmothers and women with their children. He can’t be too mad, he would be the person to move out of the way to let one of them by, but it does feed the small bit of human annoyance he has as he has to fend for himself with his blazer to try and stop getting soaked.

He tries to message his family’s group chat, assuring them he’s fine when his sister sends him a message from what happened last week – Beomgyu probably told them, not one who can keep his mouth shut – when an umbrella appears above him.

He doesn’t recognize it at first, until he glances up when there’s no raindrops on his shoulders or soaking his hair, looking from one side to the other until he notices a familiar face. A bright smile and braces shine towards him, and he feels like he’s about to melt. “Guess it was my turn to repay you,” Kai teases, and Soobin flashes a soft smile as he shifts more under the umbrella. Kai feels like a magnet, automatically attracted to him who pulls him along. “Can’t believe you’re the one to forget your umbrella, Soobin-ssi.”

He shrugs, rubbing the back of his neck, as he glances down the road. “I was running late,” he admits, rubbing at his wrist where his sleeve stops. “Just trying to go home now, you?”

“Wish that were me,” Kai sighs, throwing his head back in dramatics. “Monday and Wednesdays are my busy days, I just finished class,” Soobin checks the time on his phone to see it’s almost five pm. “But now I have to go to my job.”

“You’re working and going to school?” Soobin asks, impressed by the dedication. When he tried that, it always turned into a disaster, one of the few reasons he dropped out in the end. “What do you do?”

Kai smiles, rubbing the back of his neck as a pink blush brushes across his cheeks. Soobin has to restrain himself from cooing. “It’s nothing special,” he mumbles, rolling his shoulders as he looks down the road to see if the bus is coming. “I play piano.”

“You play piano? As a job?”

“I’m a music major so it works out well.” Soobin watches the way he smiles, how his eyes brighten as he talks about his major. He moves his free hand around, discussing the classes and how he’s doing before he coughs and the pink turns darker as it dances up to cover his ears. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. It’s interesting,” Soobin admits as he looks away. “Hearing people’s hobbies is one of the nice things about the store. I’ll be sure to find some more music books.”

“Oh you don’t have to do that!” Kai scrambles, reaching out to grab at Soobin’s arm. “I enjoy other things too, I promise. You don’t have to order books just for me.”

Soobin wishes he could say that he wants to. That he wants Kai to visit more often, to see him more often than just one or two random encounters. But instead, he just shakes his head and smiles. “If people find what they want, they’re more enticed to return. It’s one of the things I enjoy. Learning about others and learning about what they enjoy.”

He’s not sure what Kai’s thinking, watching his mouth open before he closes it once more and stares at Soobin. Soobin smiles back, shifting under his feet as he feels his nerves kicking in. “I hope I can play piano for you one day,” Kai says the moment one of the buses pulls forward, he steps closer to Soobin as he moves the umbrella to create a pathway for the elderly ladies to step onto the bus. “But, this is my bus.”

It’s the same bus Yeonjun takes to the studio, Soobin notices, but he doesn’t dwell on it as he lets out a smile and a nod. “I hope I can hear you play one day,” he answers, watching Kai wave towards him before he ultimately slips through Soobin’s fingers for the third time.

He’s able to hide under the awning as he lets his head bury in his hands.

🌧️🌧️🌧️

October

Soobin walks into the apartment with a pout, it’s already been two weeks since the last time he saw Kai and he hasn’t come back to the store. He should take his losses as they are, that he should just move on and realize it was a fleeting crush.

He throws himself on the couch beside Yeonjun, who’s currently too focused on a game on his Switch. He tries to get his hyung’s attention, wanting at least a bit of solace from his terrible love life. But it doesn’t work, Yeonjun continues to focus on his intense battle of Mario Kart that makes Soobin whine instead. “I’m depressed,” he finally says, though it’s Beomgyu who glances back at him over Yeonjun’s shoulder to raise an eyebrow.

“Is this about your crush again?” He wonders. Soobin doesn’t answer, which gives Beomgyu the answer he was wanting. “Why didn’t you get his number?”

“I couldn’t figure out how to ask him,” he admits.

“Please tell me you at least know this new crush’s name before you start simping over him, Soobinnie,” Yeonjun says as the crowd around the tv, switch control in his hand as he moves from one side to the next with eyes staying on the course of Mario Kart that he’s too invested in. Soobin wonders if he’s playing online, but 1st shines in the corner and he’s not mean enough to mess that up on the third lap.

Beomgyu snorts in return from Yeonjun’s other side, fingers playing against the hem of Yeonjun’s skirt he decided to wear for today. “Our Soobinnie? Not being a creep?”

He immediately reaches over to land a slap against the back of Beomgyu’s head the moment Yeonjun crosses the finish line with a shout of, “Suck my dick!” as he throws his hands up.

His fist lands against the underside of Soobin’s chin and he immediately collapses into Yeonjun’s lap with a groan. Apologies leave him just as quickly, the same time that Beomgyu mumbles out deserved and kisses Yeonjun’s cheek.

He doesn’t know why he keeps them around as friends.

“Are you okay?” Yeonjun asks again, though Soobin doesn’t move where he lays on his lap. The switch controller is forgotten and Soobin lets out a groan before burying himself into the fabric of Yeonjun’s skirt to escape the world that he’s stuck in.

Beomgyu pokes his shoulder, earning another groan before he rolls his eyes, “He’s fine.” The thunder that rolls over them doesn’t agree with his statement. “Stop being dramatic. I’m not dealing with another week of you being whiny and sniffly.”

“If I could help it, I would!” He pouts, voice pitched into a whine as he looks up to stare at Beomgyu. “He’s so cute, you don’t understand!” He buries his face again, and he feels Yeonjun’s thin fingers threading through his hair. He can’t hear what he whispers to Beomgyu about. Not like he even has to, even if it’s a short drop it, Beomgyu already knows if he’s crossed a line. Perks of them being friends longer than he’s had a boyfriend. “Besides, he was with this other magic user that came in and took the rune book. They were clingy. I bet they’re dating,” he sulks even more at the very thought of it.

“You didn’t tell me someone bought the rune book,” Beomgyu says, and Soobin does his best to nod.

Yeonjun pushes his previous statement from before. “Do you know his name?”

“Of course,” Soobin huffs, turning over to stare at him. He rubs against the spot that he was hit, wonders if a bruise will form and the thought of Kai kissing it to make it better makes him want to melt into the couch. He trips over his name as it leaves his lips, not as fluent as Kai was when saying it himself. “Huening Kai,” He whispers as he stares at the ceiling. Beomgyu moves into his vision with a frown, staring down at him and then back to Yeonjun before he rubs the palm of his hand against Soobin’s forehead. His eyebrows knit together, but he goes along with whatever Beomgyu is doing as he hums and nods.

“He’s in this deep,” he informs, turning to look at Yeonjun. “Choi Soobin. Diagnosis: a lovesick fool.”

Soobin doesn’t say anything, letting out a sigh instead as he closes his eyes. Yeonjun hums, fingers still running through Soobin’s hair. “Does he play piano, by any chance?” He wonders, and it makes Soobin snap his eyes open. “What?”

“How would you know that?” He wonders, and Yeonjun gives a sheepish smile. “Choi Yeonjun.”

“That’s Hyung to you!” He says, but he still pushes himself up as quickly as he can. Soobin immediately reaches out to grab at his wrist, pulling him back onto the couch. He lets out a screech of, “Soobin-ah!” as he falls into the younger’s lap.

He holds onto his waist, tipping them over onto the couch until he’s able to get on top of Yeonjun. Some days, his height is the advantage point, and today is one of those as he holds Yeonjun’s hands above his head. “Tell me what you know!” He demands, the same time that Beomgyu shouts out, “Kinky.”

Yeonjun flails, kicking out his feet to try and get free. “No!” Soobin moves just a bit so he’s sitting directly on top of Yeonjun’s stomach, the older still flailing to get free. “Get your fat ass off of me!” He screams out.

Soobin shakes his head. “Only when you tell me.”

“Soobin-ah!” He tries to wiggle his arms out despite not being able to move. “You’re squishing me!”

“I don’t care.”

“Get off!”

“No!”

“Beomgyu-yah!” He screams instead, and Soobin glances over to where Beomgyu is standing as he snickers. His phone is held up, and Soobin’s sure he’s recording their interaction. Yeonjun screams louder, “Beomgyu-yah! HELP ME!”

At least he has Beomgyu on his side when he notices his best friend shaking his head, a finger over his lips. “He won’t help, so tell me what you know!”

“I can’t!”

He chooses a different tactic, pulls his best frown as he stares down at his hyung. “I’m your friend.” He can see the walls cracking just slightly, Yeonjun shifting under Soobin before he’s able to turn the tides when he throws a leg up to wrap around Soobin’s. A yelp leaves him as his back hits the couch and Yeonjun is above him with a frown.

“Soonyoung-hyung would kill me,” He finally cracks. And that’s one step closer to knowing more about his crush.

“He works at the studio?” He asks, and Yeonjun lets out an exasperated sigh. “Can I come to the studio with you?” A glare, and he lets his hands clasps together, “Please hyung, please. You and Beomgyu are the ones saying I need a date and I’m desperate.”

“Yeah you are,” Beomgyu agrees, and Soobin immediately turns to shoot him a glare before turning back to Yeonjun.

He’s considering it with the way his eyes shift around the room and letting his hand move up to mess at his bangs. Soobin continues, knowing he’s so close to cracking. “Please hyung, I won’t ask for anything else. Please.”

He breaks, the walls tumble down the moment he groans when he looks at Soobin and stands up, “Fine.” But he points a finger towards Soobin before he can cheer, poking him in his chest, “But if this doesn’t work out, it’s not my fault. Got it?”

Soobin nods, not able to hide his smile as he pulls Yeonjun close to him to wrap him in a hug. One hand wraps around his waist, another presses against the back of his head as he ruffles his hair. “Thank you, Hyung.”

🌧️🌧️🌧️

Soobin feels his anxiety skyrocket the closer he steps to the dance studio. Each movement forward makes him feel worse and worse, ready to turn back and just forget this entire thing. His feet start to feel like lead, and he’s sure Yeonjun notices the way he’s picking at his cuticle.

“You’ll be fine,” Yeonjun tells him, turning to glance at Soobin with a smile. “Besides, you already know Soonyoung-hyung.”

“I don’t,” Soobin shoots back, turning from looking at Yeonjun to instead staring at the poster that’s advertising for new classes. “You talk about Soonyoung at the apartment. I’ve never met him.”

Yeonjun shrugs. “Semantics.” He waves a hand around before throwing his arm around Soobin’s shoulders to guide him into the studio as best he can. Soobin feels his stomach twist and turn, the more steps he takes towards the door of the studio, the stronger the feeling.

There’s already a storm brewing above them, and Yeonjun immediately pulls away to give him the look. The one he shoots Beomgyu when he’s being irrational. A frown pulling at the corner of his lips, hip cocked to the side as he crosses his arms over his chest, raising an eyebrow. Soobin notices the same fondness in his eyes as he shows Beomgyu and the clawing of his chest dies down only slightly. “Choi Soobin.”

“Choi Yeonjun,” he repeats the name back, though the words stumble in his throat as he has to force them out. “I can’t.” He can feel his thoughts swirling, enough that the anxiety that fills his head is forcing its way into every part of his body. It flows through his veins, makes his feet become lead and makes his hands shake.

The storm grows louder above them.

He keeps his eyes on the ground, staring at Yeonjun’s Converse covered feet as his thoughts spiral throughout his mind. Wondering if this is okay, if it’ll go to hell, if Kai would actually hate him for finding out where he works.

Oh god, he’ll hate me. He’ll hate me. Oh god what if–

Hands are placed on his shoulders and he yelps and jumps back away from them, immediately looking up to see Yeonjun standing there with a frown. Not the same judging frown, but eyes filled with concern as he lowers his hands to shove into his pockets of his sweatpants instead. “Do I need to call Beomgyu?”

“Why would you need to call Beomgyu?” Soobin asks immediately, defensive as he backs away from under the awning of the studio’s entrance. He gets hit with something immediately.

“It’s hailing,” Yeonjun answers before Soobin realizes what’s happening.

There’s hail. Hail. In October.

He’s never formed hail before.

And that’s when Yeonjun decides, “I’m calling Beomgyu,” before he enters the studio with his phone in hand.

It makes everything come to a halt, time stands still, as he watches Yeonjun enter the building and pull the phone to his ear. More hail rains down on him before he’s able to break out of his stupor and immediately run inside. “Yeonjun-ah!” He screams, jumping on Yeonjun’s back to try and grab at his phone.

“Yah! Punk!” Yeonjun yells out, immediately placing the call on speaker to move his hand away from Soobin. “Get off me!”

“I thought that term was usually reserved for me,” Beomgyu’s voice comes through the phone speaker and Soobin feels like he needs to disintegrate. “Your class hasn’t started, Hyung. Did you miss me that much?” He teases, the same way he always does with Yeonjun. Yeonjun usually plays along with him, but this time he just shakes his head and screams directly into the mic.

“Your best friend is being dramatic!”

“He’s a drama queen, I can’t do anything about that.”

“Can you talk him down before there’s an actual hail storm outside?”

“Hail?” Beomgyu pauses, the line goes static and Soobin has half a mind to think he hung up. But instead he hears rustling and shuffling and then a quieter, “Hyung? Soobin-hyung?” Beomgyu’s voice cuts through and Soobin immediately knows that tone. He’s worried. He’s made Beomgyu worry.

He’s probably already pacing the room, debating on making his way down to the studio. Soobin wants to remind them he’s not five. He’s not a child. He’s twenty-two and can make his own decisions and control his own actions.

But he jumps down from Yeonjun’s back, hearing his hyung grumbling how he’s old and probably broke his back now because of Soobin, before he grabs at his phone to press against his ear. “I’m fine, Beomie. No need to worry,” which is just the phrase that will make him worry more. But he doesn’t hear the rest of what Beomgyu screams into the phone as he hangs up and hands it back to Yeonjun. “I’m fine.”

“Then make it stop with your,” he waves his hands around, trying to convey his point before he drops his voice into a whisper. “Your wizard powers.”

“I can’t do it immediately. It calms down on its own,” he hisses back, ignoring the way he rolls his eyes and pushes at Soobin’s shoulder. “Hey!”

“If my students miss class, I’m making you clean up the studio,” Yeonjun threatens, looking from one side to the other. “Kai’s probably in the back practicing,” he grumbles as he snatches his phone from Soobin’s hand. Soobin sticks his tongue out at the back of Yeonjun’s head when he turns around, letting out a huff of annoyance as he stands in the middle of the hallway alone.

He shifts from one foot to the next, glancing around to figure out where he should go. He doesn’t want to look like a stranger who decides to stand in the middle of the hallway.

It’s not until he hears music coming down the hallway that he starts moving. He follows the sound of the piano, glancing into each room as he tries to see where it’s coming from. It’s not until he gets to the furthest room, and sees the same person that’s been on his mind throughout the past month since they met.

He barely recognizes the bleach blonde hair that lays down flat compared to the curls he had, but he still knows it’s Kai. His eyes close in concentration, body swaying from one side to the other as his fingers move along the keys on his keyboard without even hesitating. He seems more relaxed, content, behind a piano compared to when he talks to Soobin on bouncing heels and too much energy.

Soobin decides to knock on the door, feeling a sense of annoyance to himself at breaking Kai out of his concentration when he jumps and glances up to see Soobin standing at the window. Soobin waves at him.

Kai’s face breaks out into a smile, immediately jumping up to open the door. A wide smile and bright eyes greet him just like every other time, braces that make the light bounce off him in the perfect way. “What are you doing here, Soobin-ssi?”

The honorific throws him off for just a second, and he has to remind himself that this is technically only their fourth time talking – third that he knows Kai’s name. He barely knows him. He wishes he knew him more, shaking his head as he tries his best to smile. “You can call me hyung,” he assures, glancing down the hallway once more before turning back to Kai when he smiles even brighter.

“Okay, hyung! What are you doing here?” He asks once more, rocking on his feet as if trying to get whatever excess energy stored in him out. Soobin smiles, watching him.

“Ah, I have a boyfriend,” the words slip out before he knows it, and he can’t say there’s not a feeling that nags at his chest when he sees the smile die down just the slightest and Kai stops moving altogether. Soobin has to backtrack, face bright red and shaking his head rapidly. “Not a boyfriend! I don’t have a boyfriend! I live with my best friend who does have a boyfriend! Yeonjun-hyung works here and I decided to join him. He asked me to.”

Kai raises an eyebrow. “You’re friends with Yeonjun-hyung?”

“Unfortunately. Him and Beomgyu have been dating for,” he has to count on his fingers, for a moment, trying to recollect when they actually started dating. “Three years? I think…”

“You think.”

“Yeah, I think,” Soobin smiles, though it’s more sheepish still feeling the anxious thoughts hold onto him at his dumb mistake. But he shrugs, he’d rather talk about Yeonjun and Beomgyu’s relationship than his own desperately single one. “They’re weird,” he admits, “never had a ‘so we’re officially dating’ moment. Enough about them.” He stares at the keyboard in the corner of the room, before he looks back up at Kai. “I didn’t know you worked here.”

“Oh! Yeah,” he lets out a soft giggle, his hand ruffling the back of his head. The word cute flashes through his mind almost immediately. “Most dance studios don’t like an accompanist since it’s easier getting rights to the soundtrack and less time consuming but,” he shrugs his shoulders, and Soobin enjoys watching the way he gets more excited with each word. How he bounces on his feet even faster and his hands flail around him and his smile grows brighter. “Soonyoung-sunbaenim got word from one of my music professors he’s friends with and wanted to see if I would like to play something for his ballet kids. I needed the money, Taehyun was nice enough to pay my side of the rent for a bit.”

“How long have you been playing?”

“Since I can remember,” he laughs again, moving back to his keyboard. Soobin watches him sit down, his fingers immediately finding the keys as they run over black and white notes to some song that Soobin doesn’t know. The notes intertwine with each other well enough, and Kai keeps talking towards him without even looking down. “My sisters and I all play. I also play guitar, drums, and flute. Both my sisters took up playing the violin. Like our own little Your Lie in April moment,” he laughs again. “Except without the death. We actually played that song at a recital!” Kai glances up at him, eyes bright as he notices Soobin staring at the keyboard. “Do you want to try?”

“Oh. I can’t. I don’t know–”

“I can teach you!”

“I couldn’t–”

“C’mon, Soobin-hyung.” He’s persuasive enough, lip drawn out in a pout as he stops playing and clasps his hands together. It shoots Soobin right in the heart, and he wonders if this is how Yeonjun feels when Soobin does the same thing. He doesn’t know how Yeonjun is strong enough to know all of them when he’s weaker than Soobin is. “I swear, I’ll teach you something simple! Like the ones I teach my babies.”

And Soobin is already moving to sit beside him, nodding despite knowing he’d probably mess up anyway. Kai shows him one note at a time, Soobin following him with each nod of his head, before he turns to smile at him. “What do you enjoy doing?”

It breaks Soobin out of his concentration, wide eyes turning to stare at Kai as all he can say is, “Huh?”

“Your hobbies. I play piano. What do you enjoy doing besides staying in a stuffy bookstore and getting rained on?”

He bites his lip, thinking about it as he lets his fingers move along the keys without pressing down. Kai’s hand immediately moves on top of his, pressing down on one at a time for him. It’s enough to make Soobin’s heart feel like it’s stopping, his brain immediately shutting down with any answers. “Gaming. Beomgyu and I play League a lot together. I watch anime a lot.” He won’t deny he’s pretty boring, and his fingers twitch under Kai’s that don’t move away from him.

“I do too!” Kai laughs, nudging Soobin with his shoulder. “I think my favorite is Jujutsu Kaisen, but I’ve been watching Spy x Family and it’s been moving up on my list.”

“Spy x Family?”

“Yeah! It’s so cute, you’d love it! The main character is a spy and he’s super cool and he has the cutest daughter,” Soobin looks up to watch the way he gushes more about the anime, how his smile widens with each word. He waves his hand as he talks with a slight blush on his cheeks as he refuses to look up at Soobin. He’s cute. He’s so cute.

🌧️🌧️🌧️

Kai leaves before Yeonjun does, waving goodbye to Soobin as he packs up his bag and heads out without another word. Soobin wishes he could control the anxiousness in his stomach to rush after him, wanting to get his number or something. But he refuses.

He barely knows the kid.

Yeonjun hands him a mop where he sits, looking at him expectantly with a raised eyebrow that makes Soobin’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. “You’re helping,” he says, like it’s obvious.

“Helping?”

Yeonjun nods. “I make Beoms help me if he wants to come. So it’s your turn. Start mopping, weather boy.” Soobin does, with an exaggerated sigh that doesn’t deter Yeonjun from making him work even harder. He’ll never ask Yeonjun for a favor again.

He’s sure that’s what his hyung wants the most. The silence is comforting in Soobin’s opinion, not forcing himself to say anything. He’s never had much in common with Yeonjun-hyung besides them being close to Beomgyu, but this is fine.

Until Yeonjun decides to break the silence.

“You two are cute,” he says, enough for Soobin to drop the mop in shock as he turns to face Yeonjun. He feels his face heat up almost immediately, hands moving to cover his cheeks before Yeonjun points it out like he always does, and pouts. “I’m sure Kai really enjoyed talking to you. He’s not much of a talker.”

“He’s not?” Soobin asks, between pouting lips that are squished together. Yeonjun turns to him and just laughs. He tries to frown instead.

But Yeonjun shakes his head, giving him a smile. “He’s a good kid. Mostly quiet. He plays on his phone when we don’t need him, so we’ve never had a proper conversation. But he’s always quick on his feet with new music for the kids so Soonyoung-hyung likes having him around.” He gives a shrug. “I think he reminds him of his husband.”

“Soonyoung has a husband?”

“Wonwoo-ssi. I’ve met him once or twice. He’s a–”

“Professor. I was in his class. I see what you mean.”

“Ah. Makes sense. But I hope you two can become friends.”

Soobin nods, shifting from one foot to the next. They fall into a comforting silence, Soobin picking up the mop to continue his job as he stares at the floor. He doesn’t expect Yeonjun’s next question of, “Did you get his number?” The mop falls from Soobin’s hand, clattering to the ground in a loud echo before he turns to look at Yeonjun. Who has a raised eyebrow and stares at him. He gives a nervous smile instead, rubbing the back of his neck. He can’t meet Yeonjun’s eyes, not until he pushes forward with, “You did get his number, right?”

He glances back up at Yeonjun with a sheepish chuckle. He stands there with his hands across his chest, hip popped to the side, and a glare that informs him that yes he fucked up. It’s the Beomgyu glare. The one where he’s stepping over the line and Yeonjun needs to rein him in.

He feels like he’s being scolded by a parent despite Yeonjun not saying anything. “You’re hopeless, you idiot,” He finally sighs, holding out a hand for Soobin’s phone.

Soobin hands it over without hesitation. “I was nervous,” he admits, not looking up at Yeonjun as he probably plugs Kai’s number in his phone. “And he didn’t ask me either.”

“Beomgyu’s not letting you live this down, by the way.”

Soobin just rolls his eyes. He has enough dirt on Beomgyu from before he was with Yeonjun. He still has dirt on him after Yeonjun. “Beomgyu doesn’t scare me.”

“Sure.” But he hands Soobin’s phone back to him, and when he glances down at it he notices a text already sent to Kai.

“Hyung.”

“You wouldn’t have done it,” is his only answer, nudging Soobin with his shoulder as he nods to the floor. “Hurry up so I can lock up. My legs are killing me.”

🌧️🌧️🌧️

Kai texts him back when Yeonjun and Soobin walk into the apartment, Beomgyu waiting for them as he flicks through different tv shows.

Cutie Kai: soobin-hyung!!!! I’m sorry I forgot to give you my number!!!!

Cutie Kai: i’m glad that yeonjun hyung thinks of everything!!! ^3^

Cutie Kai: but i need a photo for your contact!!!!!

He sits on the arm of the couch when Yeonjun immediately curls up in Beomgyu’s side, whining for his attention. Soobin stares at the text for a moment before looking at the two as they whisper to each other, before giving a sigh. “Cutie Kai?” He asks, closing out of the messages just to look at them once more. Kai’s already seen him read it.

His stomach flips as he tries to think of what to say. Yeonjun looks up at him from where he has Beomgyu curled in his arms, rubbing his cheek against Beomgyu’s shoulder. “I’m not wrong, am I?” he grumbles, kissing Beomgyu’s neck like he’s used to it.

Soobin sticks his tongue out in disgust, wrinkling his nose to show how he feels with their blatant affection in front of him. In his own home.

“He’s doing the thing,” Beomgyu comments, nudging Yeonjun off of him as Yeonjun lets out a whine. “What’s going on?”

“I gave that guy Soobin’s been crushing on his number and he probably texted him,” Yeonjun sighs, shifting his body to lay his legs on Beomgyu’s lap as he rubs them. Soobin can see the faint green aura around Beomgyu as he focuses his energy into helping Yeonjun’s sore muscles heal and part of him wants to comment that’s cheating. “And his contact is Cutie Kai because it’s true.”

“Am I cute, hyung?” Beomgyu asks with a pout, making Yeonjun immediately sit up to kiss him.

“The cutest, baby bear.”

Soobin groans at them, instead turning back to look at his phone as he brings it close to his face. The selfie is a close up, one that makes his cheeks look squishier as he tries to smile without glaring at the annoying couple. He doesn’t even stare at it before he sends it, feeling like he’ll overthink how he looks.

He can’t figure out what to say to Kai as he sends it, fingers typing out a message before erasing it. He falls into the pattern until Kai sends a message back that makes his cheeks burn red. His hands immediately cover his face, dropping the phone in his lap as he stares down at it between his fingers.

Cutie Kai: HYUNG IS SO CUTE!!!!!!

Cutie Kai: MY HYUNG IS THE CUTEST~~~ >3<

Cutie Kai: here’s one for you~~

Cutie Kai: [image]

Soobin doesn’t want to look at the image. He doesn’t want to press it as he feels his heart beat too hard in his chest. But he knows Kai already saw him read it, so he decides to do so. He’s met with a smiling Kai who shows off his braces, and Soobin won’t deny how the blonde hair suits him so well when he flashes a finger heart in Soobin’s direction. He doesn’t know what to say, doesn’t know what to type as he feels like his brain is malfunctioning.

Beomgyu pokes his side, and he hears his voice but the words are too far away.

“I think he’s broken.”

“As usual.”

Beomgyu leans over to glance at his phone, before he lets out a whistle and pokes Soobin’s cheek once more. “He’s cute. Is this the Kai kid he’s been obsessing over?”

“If it’s blonde hair and braces then yeah.”

Soobin feels his body shifted from one side to the other, forcing him out of his stupor as he turns to glance at Beomgyu who’s shaking him. “Don’t just sit there like a fool! Text him back! He’s flirting with you!”

“He’s not flirting with me!” Soobin argues, staring down at the message before looking up at Beomgyu. “There’s no way he’s flirting with me.” He stares at the messages once more, before he shakes his head. There’s no way he’s flirting. There’s no way.

Yeonjun waves his hand, pulling Beomgyu closer to him, and he tries to drown out their conversation. His mind goes through all the emotions, feeling his own anxiety ticking away as he tries to type out a message.

Cutie Kai: soobin-hyung?

Soobin: Sorry, sorry. Yeonjun-hyung and Beomgyu are being annoying.

Soobin: You’re really cute, Kai.

Cutie Kai: really? >///<

Soobin: Of course!

Soobin: I really like the blonde!

Cutie Kai: thank you ; — ;

Cutie Kai: i tried to go lighter but it didn’t work! :(

Cutie Kai: also!!! Are you free this weekend??

Soobin: I think so?

Soobin: I can be.

Cutie Kai: would you like to go to the arcade with me? >3<

The arcade? Soobin tilts his head back as he thinks about it. He hasn’t been to the arcade in a while.

Soobin: I don’t know….

Cutie Kai: HYUUUUUUNG ; n ;

Cutie Kai: it’ll be fuuuun!!!

Cutie Kai: PLEASEEEEE!!!

A smile forms on his lips, he can hear the way Kai is whining.

Soobin: You drive a hard bargain.

Soobin: I guess. It sounds fun.

Cutie Kai: YAY!!!! ♡♡♡

Cutie Kai: it’s a date then!!! ^3^

The message immediately makes Soobin toss his phone to the side as if it’s a bomb. He feels how hot his face is, pulling the blankets over him. His mind immediately tells him it’s not an actual date. He’s not actually going on a date with Huening Kai. That’s what people call hanging out sometimes. There’s no way Kai actually likes him. They haven’t known each other that long.

He tries not to think about it, it’s only Wednesday. He’ll have to think about it for an entire two and a half days. The wind picks up outside and he decides he needs to go to sleep before something happens.

Beomgyu glances from outside to him, raising an eyebrow. “What happened?”

“Nothing!” His voice pitches up an octave before he coughs in his fist to repeat, “Nothing.” He grabs his phone, staring at the message once more before shaking his head as he announces, “I’m going to bed! Goodnight!”

“Don’t jerk off too much thinking about Kai,” Beomgyu teases. Soobin only throws him the middle finger before closing his door shut. The wind outside picks up more, and he tries to take a deep breath to control it.

He can’t let anything happen Saturday. But the thoughts brewing in his mind intensify that he still has two and a half days left until then. He doesn’t know if he’ll even be able to survive.

🌤️🌤️🌤️

The days seem to tick slower than they usually do leading up to the so-called “date” that Kai asked Soobin out to. Every single terrible thing that Soobin could possibly think of has gone through his head, the anxiety and stress that something bad would happen blowing over. And now, he finds himself scouring through his closet for something decent, showing each shirt to an unimpressed Beomgyu that makes him feel sicker with each dwindling pile.

He throws his last shirt down on the floor to join the pile of other shirts that have been denied. “I don’t even know what to wear!” he groans, tossing himself on his bed as he buries his face in one of his pillows. Beomgyu coos from where he sits beside him, letting him have his moment as he pats his head. “I have nothing, Beoms! I’ll look like a loser!”

“You always look like a loser, Soob,” he teases. Soobin immediately looks up at him with a glare. Beomgyu rolls his eyes in response. “You’re overthinking this. It’s an arcade, not a five star restaurant.” But Beomgyu still gets up, hands on his hips as he stares at the pile on the floor. “Do you want me to steal something from Yeonjun-hyung’s? Or mine?”

“No,” he whines again, wrapping his arms around his pillow to scream into it. Beomgyu reaches over to slap his ass, trying to get his attention. “I should just cancel,” He mumbles into the fabric, kicking his feet out to try and protect himself from another Beomgyu attack. The thought runs through his mind once more as he nods, immediately sitting up to reach for his phone. “That’s what I’ll do, I’ll just cancel. Say I’m sick or something.”

Beomgyu dives onto the bed, grabbing Soobin’s phone before he can. “No you’re not!” He shouts, holding it away from Soobin when he jumps up to try and grab it. “You’re being stupid!”

“I’m not!” He argues, but Beomgyu ignores him as he tosses a shirt in his direction.

Soobin tries to put up an argument, but Beomgyu holds a hand out immediately before pointing a finger at him. “I’m not listening to you, Choi Soobin. You go be a panicked gay outside of this apartment, but I refuse to let you screw this up when you’ve been whining since last month about not seeing this boy.”

Soobin glares at him, before he turns to look at the shirt that Beomgyu threw at him. It’s a cardigan, a simple black and white checkered one that seems too basic to put on to impress a guy. But Beomgyu holds his gaze steady before giving a nod. “It’s an arcade, stupid. You’re going to play games anyway.”

“Fine.”

🌤️🌤️🌤️

It’s not fine. Soobin feels like he’s going to be sick, his heart pounding loud enough in his ears that he’s sure thunder is following him. His stomach flips every time he checks the clock to see the time tick closer to the time Kai said they should meet. He already got there thirty minutes early, and now that he feels the anxiety brewing in his veins he can feel the wind blow through his fingers. He tries to control it, giving him some semblance of control as he watches it move from one spot to the other like it’s dancing.

The thunder above him still gets louder, and he’s wondering if he can stave the rain that’s supposed to come. He doesn’t want to make it heavier than it already will be and he’s sure the meteorologist would get fired because of his inability to control his own powers.

“Were you waiting for a while?” A voice asks behind him, one that startles him and makes him jump with a yell. The thunder rolls even louder, a flash of lightning joining it before he turns to see Kai smiling as he tries to hold back a laugh by biting down on his lower lip.

Soobin immediately throws a hand out to hit against his chest, frowning. “That wasn’t funny!”

Kai can’t stop himself from bursting out in laughter. Head back and echoes down the street with so much joy and amusement that Soobin pouts. “Hyung is so cute,” he coos, reaching up to pinch at Soobin’s cheeks that makes him pout more. “I’ll buy Hyung food?” He tries, voice pitched up that makes him cuter.

Soobin’s heart does a flip and he can’t stop himself from nodding. “Deal.”

“Only after you beat me in most tickets,” He teases, immediately skipping into the arcade that makes Soobin roll his eyes. His smile betrays him, immediately following Kai into the building, watching him reload a game card before handing one to Soobin. “You scared?”

“Not at all,” he narrows his eyes, snatching the card away from him. “You’re on.”

“If you think so, then I’ll let you choose the first game,” Kai teases, leaning close to him. Soobin feels his heart skip a beat as he takes a step back, immediately nodding. He won’t let Kai get in his head, feeling his own competitiveness flair at the challenge.

He heads to the DDR first, one of the few games he knows he could beat Kai at. He’s beaten Yeonjun at it. He doesn’t need luck, despite glancing back and seeing the way Kai smiles at him. He smiles back, swiping the game card before giving a small bow towards Kai to have him step up on the machine with him.

His legs cross over each other before he gives a fake curtsey, laughing as he swipes his own card and shuffles through the songs. “Do you have a favorite?” Kai asks before Soobin gives a shrug.

“Do you know Gfriend?” He asks, stepping on the arrow to look through the songs. He sees Kai nod from his peripheral vision, immediately stopping on one of their songs as he lets it play. He clicks hard on his side, barely able to see Kai stay on easy. “Not allowed!” He challenges, though Kai looks at him with wide eyes as if he wasn’t caught cheating. “We have to match.”

“But we are!” He argues, waving a hand in front of his machine to try and prove a point. “We’re both on hard!”

“You’re on easy,” He holds his gaze to Kai’s, watching him roll his eyes as he shifts through the levels and lands on hard. Soobin lets the game start, reaching back to hold onto the red bar behind him.

He doesn’t deny that Kai can follow along easily, and he chalks it up to the boy being more musically talented than him. The song gets faster and faster, Soobin trying to teach his feet how to move to press against the arrows that somehow seem to get tangled in one another when he focuses too hard. He hears Kai’s voice say something, though the words are jumbled in his head as he misses the last note with a groan.

Kai lets out a shout, throwing his fist in the air as Soobin groans. He doesn’t want to see the score, already feeling the bit of pride he held in his chest leave him. But when he hears Kai’s groan, along with, “Are you serious?” He turns to look at the score. His character shows just a few points above Kai’s, and he throws his head back in a laugh, body thrown to the side as he holds onto the red railing. “That’s not fair!” Kai whines, and Soobin looks up to smile at him. “You missed more note than I did!”

“Fair and square,” he sing-songs, puckering his lips out like he’s waiting for a kiss. Kai reaches over to pinch his cheeks instead, making him let out a huff. “What do you want to play?”

“Let’s do the basketball game,” his hand reaches for Soobin’s, and Soobin feels the same electricity flood through him that he felt when he first met Kai. It’s comforting rather than the shock that it started as, dying down as it makes a smile pull at his lips. Kai points towards the basketball goals, and Soobin can’t help the way his shoulders slump in defeat already, Kai noticing it immediately. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m not good at basketball,” he admits, though he follows Kai anyway when he starts walking to the game.

Kai just laughs. “You’re,” he raises his free hand above his head, measuring Soobin’s height against his own. His chest puffs out when Kai adds just a couple of centimeters to Soobin’s own height as Kai shakes his head. “How are you not good at basketball?”

“I’m not good at sports.” He rubs the back of his neck as Kai lets go of his hand to start the game. It’s easier to compare with a points system rather than DDR, but he still whines when he swipes his own. “You’re going to beat me.”

“That’s the point,” Kai sings towards him, smiling as he leans over the divider between him and Soobin to press Soobin’s go button. The basketballs immediately roll down the incline, and Soobin tries his best to keep up with him as he tosses them towards the basket.

Miss after miss happens, occasionally getting one in as his numbers tick up much slower than Kai’s. He lets out a shout as the basket begins moving from one side to the other, trying to aim it better and going slower as Kai tosses ball after ball into the basket.

He throws one in his hands, and he knows the regret almost immediately when it hits the rim of the basket and gets thrown back at him. His hands come up to catch it, though his vision betrays him as his perception is thrown off, and it’s hard enough to hit him square in the face.

The pain is almost immediate, making tears form in his eyes as he lets out a groan. His hands move to cover his face, pressing against the spot on his forehead as he ignores the ball falling on the floor and rolling somewhere else. Kai immediately looks over at him, and he can’t see his face from where he hides his own behind his hands, but hears the worry in his voice as he asks, “Oh my god! Hyung are you okay?” and hands that immediately reach up to take his away from where they’re pressed against his nose.

Soobin shakes his head instead, trying to move his head out of Kai’s reach as he mumbles, “I’m fine.” But Kai doesn’t believe him. Instead his hands wrap around Soobin’s wrists to pull them away and inspect the damage himself.

His fingers are gentle, barely brushing along the sweaty skin of Soobin’s forehead before they press down where he was hit the hardest. He tries to laugh, tries to tell him he’s fine, but the seriousness on Kai’s face makes him fall silent. “I guess you weren’t kidding,” he jokes, and it makes Soobin crack a smile as he nods in agreement. “You really are bad at sports.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, not sure what else to say. He feels a headache forming behind his eye, and the arcade has too many bright, neon lights and no windows that he can’t see the weather. “Do you want to do anything else?”

“How good are you at the claw machine?” Kai asks, looking over the lineup of Gacha machines and crane games the arcade has. “There’s a plushie that’d I like as a reward for beating you,” he teases, though he doesn’t let his hand leave from where it pushes up Soobin’s hair.

“It’s fine, really,” he tries to assure. He has Beomgyu. He didn’t overuse his powers no matter how much his anxiety makes his stomach turn. He reaches up to grab Kai’s hand, letting their fingers interlock as he waves his free one towards the machines. “Which one?”

Kai’s smile is worth it, pulling Soobin in the direction as he stands in front of one of the machines to point towards the Piplup in the machine with their conjoined hands. “That one is so cute, don’t you think Hyung?” He asks, voice pitched up as he turns to look at Soobin with wide eyes and a pout on his lips.

Soobin feels like his heart is going to stop at any second. He hopes Kai knows how cute he is. “It looks like you,” he comments with a nod of agreement, reaching up to pinch Kai’s cheek before swiping the card as he stares at the machine. It’s one that circles around, having to be precise to land on the arrow to drop the plushie. He tries to focus, though Kai’s hand in his doesn’t help as his eyes drift to stare at the boy who stares longingly at the plushies in front of him. Soobin wants to win one just for him, wants to see the smile he had.

He takes a deep breath, before pressing the button just a second too late. It lands just one away from the arrow, groaning as he throws his head back. “Why?” He yells, wanting to shake the machine as he swipes his card again.

Kai laughs at him, Soobin looking up to raise an eyebrow. “It’s nothing,” he assures, waving his hand around. “You’re funny.”

Soobin frowns. “I’m not as bad as Yeonjun-hyung. He’s been banned from arcades after he almost broke one of the rhythm game machines,” he says, staring at the circle for another moment before he hits the button. It’s too early, and the little voice of too bad just makes the aggravation worse.

Kai only smiles, tugging at Soobin’s arm with a small laugh. “It’s fine, Hyung,” he tries to assure him, but Soobin immediately shakes his head despite the headache getting stronger. He wants to win this. He feels like he has to, from the taunting of the machine itself to Kai’s want of the cute plushie.

He just swipes his card again. And again. And again with each failed attempt. He grows more frustrated, feels the annoyance at the stupid machine feed around him when the cheerful voice of too bad comes through after the fifth time. His eyebrow twitches, and he stares long enough to slam his fist on the button.

It doesn’t fall. He glances over at Kai who’s grown bored of the multiple attempts Soobin has made to win the dumb plushie, playing a game close enough to him that he’s not too far away from Soobin.

He stares back at the machine, and there’s just enough of a breeze to use his powers against the machine. It’s weak, and he knows it’s dangerous with the use of mechanical productions, but it’s worth it. He closes his eyes, feeling the way the air floats around him before his own aura grows brighter with his focus. Pushing it against the machine is dangerous, knowing that it could cause problems with the mechanics or just being found out that he’s cheating. But he ignores that thought, focusing it to blow the plushie to the side just the slightest bit. It struggles, feeling his own power struggle before he takes a deep breath to make it happen.

He presses the button at the same time he makes it fall, making sure the camera doesn’t catch him cheating and he somehow get banned from the arcade. He’ll let his anxiety control him for just a bit longer, though he smiles when the machine lights up that he won and immediately ducks to pick up the Piplup.

Kai looks over at him when he finishes his game, Soobin holding the plushie behind his back as he tries to hide his smile. It doesn’t work, and before Kai can ask him anything he holds it out towards him.

Watching him gasp with excitement as he takes the plushie in his arms is worth it, the way his eyes brighten and his smiles reminds Soobin of the sun. He feels the words, “All for you, Sunshine,” slip from his lips before he can even think about them.

Kai’s cheeks tinge pink, staring at Soobin before glancing at the Piplup. “I didn’t intend for you to spend all the money on me,” he admits, rubbing the back of his neck as Soobin shrugs.

“I wanted to,” he assures, reaching out to take his hand. “Besides. I’m always up for a good challenge. Now I think I deserve some food.”

“Of course you do, Hyung,” Kai teases, poking his side as he drags him out of the arcade. The clouds darken above them, but the sliver of sunlight follows Kai like a spotlight and it’s enough to make him sigh.

🌧️🌧️🌧️

Soobin thinks he can sneak in. The lights are mostly off in the apartment when he punches the code into the keypad, immediately kicking his shoes off with a yawn. He doesn’t see Beomgyu in the corner playing a game, not until Beomgyu says something and he lets out a yelp as he jumps. “You really are a rabbit,” he snorts, and Soobin shoots him a glare.

“I don’t appreciate being ambushed in my own home,” he mumbles, though he walks over towards Beomgyu’s pc to lean against his back as he watches him play a round of League.

Beomgyu only shrugs, one ear available with the other covered by his headphones that are falling apart. He’s surprised he hasn’t bought new ones yet. “One, we share this place. Two, I’ve ambushed you back at your actual home. Your siblings like me way more than they like you.”

“At least Toto likes me more than he likes you.”

“That’s not true and you know it.” But Soobin gives a shrug, falling quiet as he watches the way Beomgyu moves around the map and waits for him to finish. He does it with ease, immediately leaning back with a sigh of victory and staring up at Soobin. “How did it go?”

“It went fine,” he shrugs, turning to sit on the couch. The adrenaline of his day with Kai still courses through his veins, feeling too giddy about the moment as they grew closer.

Beomgyu stares at him for a moment, and Soobin notices how he’s bouncing his leg before he tries to stop it. It’s enough for Beomgyu to shut down his computer, immediately coming over to sit beside him. “You can’t just tell me ‘it went fine’,” he copies Soobin’s deep voice, using air quotes around the words as he says them, “and now tell me what went fine. It was sunny all day! The meteorologist was so confused, you’re going to get the poor man fired!” Beomgyu giggles at his own words, and Soobin rolls his eyes with a smile. “And I have almond bon bon ice cream in the freezer and all the time in the world to listen to my best friend’s date.” He nudges his shoulder and Soobin can’t stop his smile from growing.

He wants to say that it wasn’t a date. That they were just hanging out as two friends who were getting to know each other, but he can’t bring himself to say that as he waits for Beomgyu to bring the ice cream towards him. He wants it to be a date. He would love to classify it as a date.

But it wasn’t a date, and he doesn’t want to force that onto Kai.

Beomgyu sits beside him with the ice cream container and two spoons, immediately handing one to Soobin. He always feels grateful for these moments he has with Beomgyu, with the way he cares and listens to every word. He finds himself rambling before he even realizes it, mouth talking too fast as he tries to recount every mundane part of the day. How they went to the arcade, what games they played, the way they were immediately able to read each other’s minds when it came to winning a prize. He recounts the moment he accidentally knocked a basketball out from the basket, hitting himself in the head and that Kai immediately made sure he was okay. How he kept checking him throughout the time they spent together.

He talks about the way that Kai’s face lit up when they went past a claw machine, how he tried to hide his disappointment after every failed attempt and won he put in the machine. The way Soobin was able to finally win a plushie he wanted and how happy he was that he carried it around everywhere.

He begins to trail off, before stopping to take a bite of ice cream and giving him a shrug. “We went out to eat after. And he told me a bit about his sisters and how close he is with them. Kinda jealous about it, but you know how Hyung and Noona are anyway especially with them being so much older.”

Beomgyu nods, reaching up to pinch at Soobin’s cheek. “You’re baby. Eungae.”

Soobin shrugs, but he doesn’t deny the fact he acts younger than Beomgyu and Yeonjun do. He blames it on how much he was babied throughout his life, but Yeonjun acts similarly. He takes another bite of ice cream, finishing up his daily recount, and it reminds him of how long it’s been since he’s talked to Beomgyu like this. Just the two of them in the comfortable night silence. Like when they called each other just to talk for hours in their rooms.

He looks over to see Beomgyu smiling at him, raising an eyebrow with his spoon in his mouth. Beomgyu just shakes his head at his unasked question of what, but he tells him anyway. “I’m just proud of you,” he admits and Soobin waits for him to continue. “How much you’ve been stepping out of your comfort zone to make a new friend outside of me and Yeonjun.”

“There’s no reason to be proud.” The moment the words come out of his mouth, Beomgyu reaches up to slap him upside the head with a frown. He immediately points his spoon in Soobin’s direction, holding it like it’s a weapon. Soobin waves his hands, a sarcastic, “Oooh I’m so scared.”

“When I ran for school vice president and president, you tried to help my campaign and could barely talk to anyone,” he reminds him, poking him in the side with his spoon. Soobin scoots away from him, trying to dodge the attack. “Everyone knew you as the tall, quiet kid who followed Choi Beomgyu around.”

“And? I didn’t need other friends.”

“Anyway,” he sighs, taking another bite of ice cream. “I hope you ask him out soon. I want you to be happy, Soobs.”

He feels his heart fluttering, his cheeks heating up as he turns to look away from Beomgyu. “Thanks Beoms,” he mumbles before he nudges Beomgyu in the side. “I’m glad you're happy with Yeonjun, by the way.”

And Beomgyu rolls his eyes before he swats at Soobin’s arm. “Anyway, enough sappy shit. Let’s do something else,” before Soobin is nodding along to whatever Beomgyu has an idea of doing.

He turns on some show and they just end up talking even longer over nothing, doubled over each other in giggles as they finish the ice cream. He whispers, “I’ve missed this,” that Beomgyu immediately agrees with.

🌧️🌧️🌧️

November:

Cutie Kai: got my braces off!!!

Cutie Kai: [picture]

Soobin: You look good

Cutie Kai: you mean it hyung~~~? >///<

Soobin: Of course I mean it!

The bells rings throughout the shop, making Soobin jump as he scrambles to pocket his phone to instead focus on the stacks of boxes at his feet that he needs to clear and put up. He clears his throat, shouting, “Welcome to Magic Island!” from the back of the bookstore, taking a few of the books to shove onto the shelves. “I’ll be with you in a second!” They don’t seem to fit right, staggered around as the annoyance nags in the back of his mind. He pushes his hair away from his forehead, frowning at the shelves. Sometimes he wishes he has his older brother’s telekinesis.

“No need,” a voice replies and Soobin jumps again to glance back. His eyes meet with the wide eyed boy that came into the shop back in September with Kai. He blinks, tilts his head to the side, and the boy just smiles. He remembers his name, Taehyun. Kai talks about him a lot. “Good afternoon,” he says, stepping forward to grab one of the newest books that Soobin had just shelved.

“Hi,” Soobin says back, pushing his glasses up as he watches him. He flips through the book for a moment, before setting it back and doing the same with the next. But Soobin is too fixated on the muscles of his arms that show from the muscle shirt he’s wearing, sweat clinging to the front of it as if he just left the gym. Taehyun glances back up, meeting Soobin’s eyes, and his smile immediately turns into a smirk. “Can,” Soobin has to lick his lips, mouth suddenly dry as he glances away, “can I help you?”

“Sure,” Taehyun says with ease, holding the book close to him. “Do you like Kai?”

Soobin immediately feels his face heat up, not sure what to say as Taehyun stares at him in waiting. The room feels like it’s jumped up a couple of degrees, the sweat on his brow more prominent. “What?” he’s finally able to choke out, just barely above a whisper as the word sticks to his throat.

Taehyun rolls his eyes before he lets out a sigh. “He’s always been into stupid men,” he mumbles under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose with a shake of his head. “I know you probably mean well. But,” he pauses and Soobin can’t help the way his eyebrows furrow at the implication of Taehyun’s words.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He asks.

“Don’t break his heart because you’re too dense,” Taehyun tells him, and Soobin’s chest tightens at the thought. Break his heart? But his thoughts come to a screeching halt when Taehyun looks up at him with a glare that makes Soobin cower just a bit despite towering over the boy. “If you break his heart, I’ll break you.”

“What are you? His protection squad?”

“Yeah and I could probably bench press you.” There’s no hesitation in his voice and honestly, Soobin believes he probably could. He glances down at the book, before looking back up at Soobin. “I’m ready to check out.”

He has to pause for a minute as Taehyun turns around to head to the front, blinking at the back of his head before turning to stare at the bookshelf. He likes stupid men. Don’t break his heart.

Does this mean Kai actually likes him? He’s not sure what to think, but the sweat on his palms tells him that he hopes it’s true. He rubs his hands against his slacks, trying to calm down long enough that his entire body doesn’t feel like it’s about to catch on fire before he heads to the register. “What’s your magic?” He asks when he checks out the book, another one filled with runes that he can’t read. “You bought the other rune book the last time. I’ve never been able to read them, so it must be something powerful.”

Taehyun laughs, bright and high that makes it seem like he wasn’t just threatening Soobin’s life. “I’m flattered you think so highly of me,” he teases, taking the book. “Illusion. Some call it copy-cat but,” he shrugs before waving a hand towards Soobin. “You?”

Soobin nods. “Weather manipulation,” he admits, scratching the back of his neck.

“Ah so Kai is the reason for the weird weather patterns,” he comments, and the words make Soobin’s face heat up even more. He can feel it spread from his neck to his cheeks, sure he’s blushing harder than he ever has. Taehyun just laughs. “Glad to have found this place. It’s hard finding these books. I’ll see you later, Soobin-ssi.”

And he walks out the door, letting the bell chime above him. Soobin stares at him through the window, his eyes following him as he walks down the sidewalk, waiting until he’s gone far from the shop.

He collapses on the floor, burying his face into his hands as he thinks about the conversation. Kai likes him? Kai likes him? Kai talks about him? How did Taehyun even know his name if Kai’s never talked about him before?

He immediately grabs his phone, sending a message to Kai.

Soobin: Your friend came into the shop.

Soobin: He’s scary.

Cutie Kai: don’t be scared of him~!! >3<

Cutie Kai: he’s just a nerd!!

Cutie Kai: do you want to hang out~~

Soobin: Sure.

Soobin: Hyung and Beomgyu are going on a date.

Soobin: You can come over.

Soobin: [address]

Cutie Kai: you have to watch this new anime~!!! >3<

Soobin: Looking forward to it!

“Hey,” is the first thing Soobin says when he walks into the apartment, it’s not a rare sight to see Beomgyu tapping away on his computer, currently finishing up his nursing degree and he’s sure Yeonjun went into the studio early so he could be off for their date. He closes the door, reaching back to lock it before kicking his shoes off. Beomgyu’s eyes meet his in a glare, and he just rolls his own as he fixes the shoes to line up correctly. It’s enough to appease him, as he stares back down at his computer. “Are you working on that essay you’ve been procrastinating?”

“Yes,” He sighs, before he throws his head back as he scrubs at his eyes. “Why did I choose this? Why nursing? I have healing magic. Why can’t I just,” he waves his hands, cheeks puffed out as he makes a whooshing sound to convey his meaning, “and they’re better?”

“Who’s saying you couldn’t?” Soobin asks, leaning against his back as he stares at his computer.

“The code of ethics,” he sticks out his tongue.

“When have you ever followed a code of ethics?”

“I’m not a deviant, Choi Soobin!” He closes the computer immediately, turning to look back at him. “Enough about me. How was work?”

“Long. Tiring. Boring,” he shrugs. “Kai’s friend came in and threatened me.”

“I’ve been threatening you since we were five.”

“Yeah but he’s actually scary. And doesn’t look like a teddy bear.” He pulls at Beomgyu’s ear, smiling at the way he whines and tries to swipe his hand away. He instead reaches forward to pull at his cheeks as Beomgyu lets out a yell and flails in his seat.

He doesn’t hear the door open as Beomgyu starts yelling about something, knocking his chair over when he stands up too quickly. But Soobin does look up when he feels an extra set of eyes on them, glancing up at Yeonjun who just smiles and leans against the doorframe. “Hyung!” Beomgyu immediately yells out, rushing over to him to hide behind his larger frame with arms wrapped around Yeonjun’s waist. Soobin rolls his eyes. “Soobin attacked me.”

“Sure he did,” Yeonjun teases, but Soobin sees the way his eyes are filled with fondness when he turns to stare at Beomgyu. Beomgyu pouts up at him, and Yeonjun doesn’t have the self control to stop himself from cupping his cheeks. Soobin feels his own chest ache, turning away from staring at their little moments they have that they think they’re the only two in the room. It makes him feel lonelier than ever watching them. “I think you started it, little bear.”

“I didn’t!” He squawks, hitting Yeonjun’s chest with a pout. “I was working on my essay and then the giant rabbit comes and starts annoying me.” He sticks his tongue out towards Soobin, and Soobin sticks his own tongue back at him.

Their own childishness makes them grin in unison, giggles immediately leaving both of them that makes Yeonjun shake his head. “You have anything planned?” Yeonjun asks, directing the question to Soobin.

He rubs the back of his neck, the giggles fading as he glances away from them. He can already feel his cheeks heating up. “I invited Kai over,” he admits, trying to be nonchalant over it as he shrugs. “I knew you two have your date night.”

“We really do have a son together, huh?” Beomgyu teases towards Yeonjun, leaning his head back as he kisses their hyung to rub it in before staring back at Soobin. “Can’t believe you worked up the balls to ask him to hang out.”

“Considering I had to give your number to him because you were too chicken to save it,” Yeonjun tacks on. Soobin frowns at him.

It gives Beomgyu an idea. “I want to meet Kai if Yeonjun already knows him! I should be able to meet Soobin’s boyfriend too!”

His face feels hot, but he ignores it. “One,” he holds up one finger, pointing it towards Beomgyu, “he’s not my boyfriend. Two. That’s hyung to you.” Beomgyu raises an eyebrow.

“Okay Soobin.”

“Hyung.”

“Glad you acknowledged I’m your hyung,” he teases as Yeonjun nudges him in the side with his elbow. “Will I get to meet him?”

“You’d be worse than Mom in trying to embarrass me.”

“False, it’s Noona who tries to embarrass you.”

It makes him pause, thinking about that for a moment, before he admits that yeah, Beomgyu’s right. At least his mom has more tact than his eldest sister. Just wait until his nephew gets old enough to know how evil his sister is. Beomgyu moves close to him to pinch his cheek, smiling as he asks, “So do I get to meet Kai?”

“No.”

🌧️🌧️🌧️

He does.

Beomgyu runs to the door the moment there’s a knock, pushing Soobin down on the couch to grab it like he’s waiting for a package. Except there’s no package, just a startled Huening Kai that he smiles at. “You must be Kai!”

“Um….hi?”

“Baby bear,” Yeonjun cuts in, Beomgyu immediately turns around to stare at him when he stands up. “Hi Kai.”

“Ah, Yeonjun-hyung!” Soobin sees the smile immediately light up his face, not moving from where he’s sitting on the couch until they’re gone. “So you must be Beomgyu-ssi?”

“Yep, that’s me. I’m glad someone else is going to be able to put up with Soobin. It’s a daunting task, I can assure you.”

“Well, guess it’s a task I’m ready for,” he laughs, sheepish as he rubs the back of his neck.

That’s Soobin’s cue to get up, reaching forward to pull Kai into the apartment so he’s able to push Beomgyu and Yeonjun out the door. “Bye Beomgyu, bye Hyung. Have fun on your date.”

“Don’t have too much fun!” Beomgyu shoots back at him with a wide smile, wagging a finger in his face. “The couch better be in pristine con–”

“Bye Beomgyu!” Soobin interrupts, immediately slamming the door in their face. He immediately locks it, despite there being a keypad on the door and he lets out a sigh. “Sorry he’s a bit much.”

“I think he’s funny,” Kai admits with a shrug of his shoulders. “How long have you known each other?”

“Since preschool. He’s sweet, don’t get me wrong. He looks out for me a lot. But he can be…a lot.” Kai only laughs in response, and Soobin smiles. “Anyway, I’m hungry. What do you want?”

“Anything’s fine with me.”

They order delivery. Soobin had to ask if Kai was okay with every restaurant on the app, figuring out what they should eat. It makes Kai laugh, assuring Soobin he’s fine with anything that just makes Soobin get in his own head even more. Taehyun’s words live at the forefront of his mind, reminding him that he needs to be careful.

They settle on fried chicken with a round of rock, paper, scissors that Kai wins. He throws his hands in the air with an excited yell, and Soobin smiles. “Do you want ice cream?” he wonders, tilting his head from one side to another before seeing Kai nodding enthusiastically. He immediately opens the app back up, placing a separate order to Baskin Robbins that is truly just down the road from his apartment. He uses the excuse in his head that he has a guest, but really it’s just him being too lazy to want to leave the apartment at nighttime in November.

“Mint chocolate,” Kai says, making Soobin crinkle his nose. It makes his dimples show, Kai leaning forward to poke a finger against his cheek with a smile. “Don’t make that face. It’s good.”

“It’s not,” he replies, knocking Kai’s hand away. He just returns to poking him. “It tastes like cold toothpaste. Why would you want to eat toothpaste?”

“Maybe so you don’t have to brush your teeth before a kiss?” He teases, laughing as he leans against Soobin’s side. Soobin knows he’s hyperaware of the weight of Kai against him, trying to cool his emotions so they don’t affect the weather outside. It’s already getting windy, and he can’t be the reason for another bad storm despite already feeling like a headache is forming behind his eyes. “Let’s watch something.”

He’s not sure what show Kai puts it on, but it doesn’t stay on very long when the delivery person finally arrives. He sets the food up, pouring a glass of soda to hand to Kai and then one for himself.

He watches Kai continue searching, growing bored of the one show they were watching before he stops on something. Soobin looks up, staring at the anime he landed on. It’s some romance anime, bright and colorful. He reads the name Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku, glancing back at Kai with a raised eyebrow. He’s never been particularly one who likes watching shoujo, always someone who drifts towards the typical shonen.

“It’s good,” Kai admits with a sheepish chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. “I thought it was cute.” Soobin lets out a huff of laughter.

“Tell me about it then.”

“They work at an office and they’re otakus. The girl tries to hide it, but the boy doesn’t and they fall in love. Just shenanigans at the office.”

Soobin thinks for a moment, before nodding as he lets Kai press play. “Have you dated anyone who enjoys watching anime with you?”

Kai shakes his head. “They’re fine with the anime obsession. They tend to run off when they see the plushie collection.”

“I think the plushie collection is cute,” Soobin admits around a mouthful of chicken, covering his mouth with his hand. “Besides, I was the one who bought your current favorite.”

Kai agrees before he falls silent when the episode starts.

“I wish I could find someone like that,” Soobin sighs as he watches the episode end with Narumi admitting her feelings. There’s an ache in his chest, something that says that he doubts anyone would actually feel the same way as him, that he’d probably end up alone. Kai hums in agreement, and he doesn’t move his hand from where it pets at Soobin’s hair. The nagging in his chest grows bigger, trying to ignore it as he stares at the television. He tries to ignore it as the episode ends and the next one begins, the opening song immediately playing that Kai sings along to.

He smiles as he watches him do the dance when it gets to the four protagonists, trying to follow their movements with stiff motions and falling behind the actual words. He’s cute is the only thing that flashes through Soobin’s mind and he truly just wants to lean closer to kiss him. But he doubts Kai would feel comfortable with him doing that, if he even likes him.

They fall in silence once the episode starts, and Soobin shifts a bit as he sits up. He can’t follow along, his brain feels like static, and he hears something outside that he wishes would shut up and go away before he tries to calm himself down. He feels eyes on him from the side as he takes a deep breath, immediately opening one up to see Kai glancing at him. “What?” He asks.

Kai shakes his head, waving towards the television with a smile. “You remind me of Narumi,” he admits and Soobin’s eyebrows knit together in confusion.

“How?” He won’t deny he could see himself in the character, but he thought he’d be related to Hirotaka instead of her. “I’m not that much of an otaku.”

“I don’t know, you seem like an otaku to me,” He teases with a shrug of his shoulders, tilting his head from one side to the other like a puppy. “It’s later in the show, honestly. But she’s just…,” he pauses, licking his lips as he turns to look at Soobin when he pauses the episode, “considerate,” he finally settles on and Soobin only raises an eyebrow. “She cares about her friends and she wants them to have fun, even if she sits in the back. And…,” he pauses again, immediately shaking his head as he glances back at the tv.

“And?” Soobin tries to push him after seconds of silence, nudging Kai’s arm. “And what?”

“Did you not watch the first episode?” He teases and Soobin just frowns. “Were you only thinking about me instead?” He feels his face heat up at the comment, choking on his spit as he tries to sputter out something. But Kai only laughs, tossing his head back as his eyes close, and it’s so genuine. The way he tries to breathe in, but it only forces out a wheeze that grows louder and louder until it echoes around them. Soobin wants to make a comment, but his brain feels like it’s malfunctioning. “You’re both oblivious as fuck,” he chokes out between gasps of air before throwing himself into Soobin’s lap as he laughs harder.

Soobin doesn’t follow and he’s sure Kai sees the confusion on his face when his laughter dies down into the occasional giggle. He just shakes his head, not able to stop smiling as he stares at Soobin. The older just pouts. “What does that mean?”

“It means I like you, dummy,” he teases, poking a finger against Soobin’s forehead. Soobin wants to make a comment that he’s still Kai’s hyung and should be respected, but unfortunately Soobin.exe has shut down from an unexpected problem. Kai just laughs again. “This wasn’t how I wanted to confess, honestly.”

It’s not for a few seconds later that the wind picks up enough that he can hear it through the small cracks of the windows, he feels like he’s burning from the inside out. His face heats up, frozen in his spot as he feels the crackling under his skin of electricity that moves through him. He watches Kai shake his shirt like he’s trying to cool off, looking around as he asks, “Did it suddenly get hot?” and it’s enough to break Soobin out of his thoughts.

Hot? It’s hot? He’s burning up, and he feels his phone buzzing from under where he sits. He doesn’t want to look at the message from Beomgyu, because that would mean he’s ruining Beomgyu and Yeonjun’s date.

“You like me?” Soobin has to force out, the words barely a whisper as he stares at Kai. Kai looks over at him, smiles widely and he can’t think about anything more than how he’s turned from a kid to someone even more handsome in just a little over two months.

“Who couldn’t like you, hyung?” He asks, immediately reaching over to pull Soobin’s hand closer to him. The room burns hotter. “You’re sweet and caring and funny and–”

“Wait, wait, wait,” he shakes his head, trying to stop Kai from continuing. “Stop.” Kai closes his mouth immediately, staring at the older with a raised eyebrow. He’s not able to hide his smile, even if he wants to. His lip quirks at the side and Soobin can feel a headache already brewing behind his eye. “You like me?”

“Yes,” Kai laughs, intertwining their hands as he pulls Soobin closer to him. “I’ve been wanting you to shove your tongue down my throat since I asked you out on that date to the arcade.”

“That was a date? I thought Yeonjun was trying to make me feel better!”

“Yes,” he laughs more, shaking his head with a smile. “It was a date. I wanted it to be a date.” He takes his hands away and Soobin doesn’t admit how much he misses holding them, but they instead cup his cheeks to squish them in his hands. “You’re so stupid. It’s so cute.”

He mumbles the words, “I’m older than you,” that doesn’t hold the same effect that he would hope with how Kai just continues to squish his cheeks with a smile.

Kai smiles wider, and this close he sees how handsome the boy is. How much he’s grown now that he got his braces removed. His smile is brighter, jaw stronger, and Soobin feels his stomach flip when he notices him moving closer. His eyes immediately fall shut, squeezing them too tight as he feels the breath of air on his lips and he’s sure Kai is right there. He’s sure he can reach forward to pull him closer, arms immediately wrapping around his neck, and there’s a whisper from the younger of, “Is it okay if I kiss you?” that he nods too enthusiastically for.

The kiss is quick, just a small peck before Kai is pulling away just as quick, but it makes Soobin feel like he’s melting. The electricity that buzzes through him shows outside, lightning forming around their apartment.

The show plays in the background, but the only thing that Soobin can hear besides the pounding of his heartbeat in his own ears is Kai’s breathing right in front of him. His hands reach for Kai’s, letting them intertwine before he pulls Kai closer to him and presses their lips together once more.

It continues like that, not able to separate as the kisses grow from minimum pecks to a makeout session with Soobin biting down against the juncture of skin of Kai’s neck meeting his collarbone. He sucks a bruise there before he goes back to kissing him.

“Does this mean,” he has to take a moment to breathe, his hand caressing Kai’s cheek. He has to lick his lips, mouth running dry as he tries to force the words out. “Does this mean we’re boyfriends?”

“Do you want to be boyfriends?” He asks, wide eyed and Soobin can’t help how enthusiastically he nods. “Guess that settles it, huh?”

They continue the show, and Soobin doesn’t deny that it is cute. But it’s cuter when he pokes at Kai’s side and hears him giggle, or watching the way he smiles and turns to look at Soobin when something happens that just makes him go, “That’s you.”

Soobin can’t take his eyes away from Kai, pressing himself closer. Wrapping his arm around Kai’s waist to pull him closer. Pressing a kiss to his cheek or his neck or forehead. Kai whines, bats him away, and Soobin just laughs as he does it again and again.

The clock continues ticking and it gets later and later. He’s not sure if Beomgyu and Yeonjun decided to get a hotel to have sex without bothering them or if they’re coming back home, but he doesn’t think about it as he stands up with a yawn and announces that he’s going to brush his teeth.

“About time,” Kai teases, and Soobin kicks out at him with a smile. “I guess I should be going. I’m sure Taehyun is getting worried.”

Soobin hesitates to ask, but he glances outside before checking the time. “You can stay the night if you want,” he finally says, trying to hide his own nervous feelings about ultimately being denied or if he’s moving too fast. He tries to let Kai decide, and gives him the option if he wants to take it.

Part of him has been craving this for over three months now, but he understands if Kai doesn’t want to.

“That depends,” Kai says when he stands up, wrapping his arms around Soobin’s waist. “Do you have an extra toothbrush?”

“I’m sure Beomgyu does, let me see.”

He finds one, and it’s enough for Kai to agree that he’ll stay the night.

They curl up in Soobin’s bed together, Kai’s legs curl around Soobin’s as he rubs the older’s stomach in small circles. Soobin brings him closer, pressing a kiss on his forehead as he holds him against him. Feeling whatever coldness that has seeped in his body leaves him in just moments before he’s falling asleep with Kai in his arms.

He’s never felt more comfortable than this moment.

🌨️🌨️🌨️

December:

The last week of November passes far too slowly for Soobin’s liking. Kai seems to have fallen off the face of the Earth, ignoring every text that gets passed off as sent instead of read. He’s half tempted to asks Yeonjun if he’s been at the studio, but Yeonjun has currently been in a pouting mess in front of the shared room he has with Beomgyu as he begs for the younger’s attention.

Oh right.

It’s finals.

He’s used to being ignored during finals from Beomgyu and Yeonjun before Yeonjun graduated, but seeing Yeonjun in the position he had been in for so long makes a smile crack on his face.

Except when he’s feeling the same exact way about Kai right now.

He tries to keep himself busy for the next few weeks, trying not to obsessively check his phone when Kai texts him that he has to finish a musical piece that he hadn’t started on. He adds that it was assigned at the beginning of the semester, and Soobin can’t feel too bad for him.

But Soobin does feel bad for him, wanting to wrap his arms around Kai and hold him and just be in his presence. That nothing else matters, but he’s sure Kai would argue with him.

So he instead sulks and spams Kai’s messages that he’ll see later.

Even if he’s stuck at work.

He lets his head fall on the desk, letting out a sigh. He’ll wallow in self-pity at being stuck here, in a dusty, rundown bookstore while being denied in seeing his own boyfriend. His stomach flips at being able to call Kai his boyfriend, his actual boyfriend. It still doesn’t feel real, especially when he started dating him only to be ignored for a week because of finals.

He doesn’t know how long he lays there or if he even fell asleep at the desk. Concept of time does not seem to exist in his bookstore, but his mind thinks about how much needs to be done. A new shipment, stocking, cleaning the dusty shelves. He wishes it was popular enough to hire another person, but the thought immediately disappears when the bell above the door rings through and scares him.

“No welcome for me?” He hears Kai’s voice echo through, immediately picking his head up to stare at him. He doesn’t believe he’s real, but he smiles wide and Soobin’s brain tries to catch up. Kai is there for him. Kai came to visit him. “Bad business practice there, Hyung,” he teases.

He immediately jumps out of his seat, feet tangled in the chair as he tries to rush past the register. He basically collapses in Kai’s arms, hip hitting the corner of the counter, though his arms hold onto his waist to try and catch himself. Kai is like a boulder, holding him up with a smile and a laugh, as he pulls Soobin close. “It’s been a long week,” he whines, immediately leaning forward to kiss Kai fully on the lips.

It feels like their first kiss, hearts beating too fast with adrenaline and electricity moving from his lips down to his fingers that start tingling. His hands immediately press against Kai’s waist, pulling him closer as he tries to breath him in completely. Missing him and his warmth, missing his soft voice, missing the silent moments like this where he can kiss him.

He hears him whine when he opens his mouth, not missing the moment that he can curl his tongue around Kai’s. His fingers loop through the belt loops of Kai’s jeans, pressing them closer and closer as he feels himself grow harder against the seam of his pants. Kai lets out a moan, and Soobin breathes him in like he’s addicted.

They break away, a string of saliva connecting them as Kai heaves a breath of fresh air. Soobin smiles, not able to hide the giggles that leave him when he pulls him into a hug once more. “I missed you,” he whispers, pressing his nose against the juncture of Kai’s neck to breathe him in. He presses a kiss against his pulse point. “It’s been a long week.”

“My baby,” Kai coos, patting his butt. “I’m done with finals now, do you want to do something?”

Soobin looks at his watch, they don’t have much longer for the store to be open and he hasn’t had any customers due to the finals. He could stay open longer knowing that some Fridays it’s a popular spot for the cafe next door. “Can we watch that anime you were talking about?” He asks, pouting up at him.

Kai knits his eyebrows together to try and remember, shrugging as he kisses Soobin once more. “Which one?”

“The spy one, I want to watch it with you.” He kisses him again for good measure, interlocking their hands as he brings them close. “I’ve missed you for so long.”

Kai laughs at that. “It’s been a week!”

“So long!” He repeats. But Kai just rolls his eyes and pats his cheek. “Is that a yes?”

“Sure. I haven’t caught up yet.”

Soobin lets out a cheer, followed by a kiss as Kai pinches both of his cheeks. He can’t hide his smile, enjoying the younger’s affection that he had missed, before leaning closer to kiss him once more.

He scrambles to text Yeonjun and Beomgyu as he shoves his arms through the down jacket. The wind outside has picked up already, the December chill being enough to strike through his bones. He’s not sure which is worse, being able to drop the temperature or making it so much hotter without realizing it.

Kai immediately reaches out for his hand, and Soobin notices that this hands are covered by mittens. He can’t help but let out a coo, immediately grabbing one of them between his hands as he massages his fingers into Kai’s palm. “How are you so cute?” He wonders, before he pulls him closer once more to kiss him.

Kai just laughs, shaking his head as he shoots back, “And where are your gloves, Mister Choi?”

He gives a sheepish smile, not wanting to deny the fact that he tends to forget them when it comes to the winter months. They’re much less necessary than that of his umbrella, so it always slips his mind.

His umbrella would also slip his mind if he didn’t keep one at his job for emergencies.

Kai rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t say anything as he slips one of his mittens off to instead put on Soobin’s free hand. His arm interloops with Soobin’s, taking the gloveless hand between his own to interlock their fingers and shove into his pocket. “We don’t need you to get sick,” he teases, and Soobin smiles.

If only he knew how much the weather truly made him sick.

They walk back to his apartment, drifting from topic to topic. Kai talks about his classes, what he enjoyed and what he hated. How close he is to graduating and he’ll be done by May. Soobin nods along, enjoying the way he gets excited about his favorite things – about music or a new show he’s watching that he wants to show Soobin. How he accidentally spoils something and doesn’t realize it, but Soobin just smiles and reaches over to pinch his cheek as best he can with the mitten on his hand.

They even stop at a pastry shop to get an egg tart for Kai and a fish bun for himself. He waves his hand when he goes to pay for it, that it’s fine and he’s got it. But Kai pouts and whines anyway, until the treat is in his hand and he’s able to eat it.

The wind picks up, cold enough that Soobin can feel his lips becoming more chapped as he starts sniffling. Kai isn’t much better, cheeks a bright pink along with his nose. He ducks his mouth under his jacket after he finished his egg tart, trying to cover himself as much as he can without a scarf. “Do you like winter?” He wonders, Kai immediately looking over at him as he gives a smile.

He shifts closer to Soobin, pressing himself against Soobin’s side as he lets out a sigh. “I guess,” he shrugs.

“Guess?”

“It’s,” he pauses, pursing his lips a bit as his hold on Soobin’s arm tightens. “I wish it would snow,” he sighs after a moment and Soobin glances over at him. “The weather has been crazy lately,” Soobin feels his cheeks heat up at that, knowing it was his fault. He’ll blame the wind for how red his face is instead, but he should be able to pin blame on Kai for it too. “I feel like we’ve already missed the first snow.”

“I like seeing the first snow too,” he hums, nodding in agreement. Kai gives a small smile before he lets out a sigh. Soobin immediately thinks he said something wrong.

My sisters and I always enjoyed watching it together. We’d stay up all night waiting by the window,” a smile crosses his lips. “It was like waking up on Christmas day.”

Soobin nods in understanding, smiling at him. “You seem close to your sisters,” he says, a simple observation. It makes him jealous, just slightly. It’s completely different from his family. The only brother he grew up around was Beomgyu and Beomgyu’s older brother, his own being so much older than him. He remembers crying for hours after his sister left for university when he was eight and getting into arguments with his brother because he couldn’t hang out with his high school friends before he left just as quickly.

He doesn’t notice the way he scratches at his cuticle as the thoughts of his family move through his head, the anxiety creeping under his skin. Except Kai does, reaches over to take his hand the same way Beomgyu always did, and he looks over to see him smiling. “I am,” he answers with a nod, letting his thumb brush along the top of Soobin’s hand. “I grew up in China, my dad was pretty famous but none of the kids wanted to play with me. That’s when I started getting into music with Lea. And then soon Hiyyih.” He shrugs his shoulders. “We only ever had each other.”

“Seems lonely.”

“It wasn’t too bad. I moved to Korea when I was about ten after my parents divorced,” he gives a shrug, stopping to stand in front of Soobin. He immediately smiles, and Soobin feels like his heart stops. Kai hands immediately come to cup his face, pulling at his cheeks as he laughs. “Besides, I have some great friends now.”

Soobin smiles, and he makes sure to make it snow for tomorrow when he hangs out with Kai. He wants to see the way his face lights up at the snow falling around them.

He doesn’t realize how long they’ve been walking hand in hand until he’s in front of his apartment complex, immediately jumping up on Kai’s back to have him walk up the stairs. “My legs hurt,” He whines in his ear, but Kai rolls his eyes with fondness as he shifts Soobin up just slightly to go up the stairs.

“You’re impossible,” he teases, but he arrives at the door without even being out of breath. Soobin thinks he’s crazy, wanting to know his workout regime – he really doesn’t, he knows he wouldn’t stick to it.

Soobin punches in the keypad code, kicking the door in and he hears Beomgyu shout his name from somewhere in the apartment. “Gyu?” He yells back. He hears some arguing between Beomgyu and Yeonjun – glancing at Kai when his eyebrows furrow. Yeonjun isn’t supposed to be here.

“Soobin!” Beomgyu yells once more, immediately running to greet him at the door. “Oh my god, I thought you were at work!”

“I closed early,” he raises an eyebrow at him, noticing the way he shifts from one foot to the next, his fingers play at the hem of his sweater. He tries to glance down the hallway, but Beomgyu immediately blocks his view. “What are you two doing?”

“Nothing! Nothing at all!” He lets out a soft giggle and Soobin knows he's hiding something. But he can’t say anything as Beomgyu turns to look at Kai. “Hi Kai, nice to see you again? Has Soobin told you his birthday is Saturday?”

“What?” Is Kai’s first response, looking from Beomgyu to Soobin. He sees the way his face falls, the look of ultimate disappointment that shows through. Soobin tries to smile, immediately reaching to rub the back of his neck. He honestly forgot about it, the days beginning to weave into each other that he’s not even sure what the date is. “Your birthday?”

Soobin immediately shakes his head, reaching out to grab Kai’s hand between his. “Not yet!” He assures, glancing back at Beomgyu with a look of you caused this, now help fix it before turning back to Kai. “Not until the fifth.”

He feels like it just makes it worse. Kai’s face falls as he grabs his phone, before staring up at Soobin. “I have four days to find you a present?”

Soobin shakes his head. “You don’t have to get me anything!” He tries to assure him, reaching up to cup his face with a smile. “We’ve only been dating for a month. Don’t stress about it!” It doesn’t work, Kai’s face fallen as he stares at his phone. Soobin shoots a glare to Beomgyu who holds his hands up in surrender.

“Don’t look at me like that, Hyung.” He has a stupid smirk on his face, smug at the predicament that he placed Soobin in. He knows of all people he’s not a huge birthday person. He wanted to keep it quiet. “I didn’t expect you to bring your boyfriend here so soon.”

Soobin rolls his eyes, pulling Kai’s arm in the direction of his room. “They’re being weird,” he mumbles, turning to look at Kai. “I’m sorry about him. He’s not usually like this.”

Kai waves a hand around, pulling the jacket off. “It’s fine,” He tries to assure him, collapsing on the bed. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me your birthday is coming up,” He pouts, staring up at the ceiling. Soobin can’t help but coo at him from where he sits in his gaming chair. “I have to figure out Christmas presents and a birthday present.”

“You don’t have to get me anything,” he tries to assure him, but Kai immediately sits up with a shake of his head. “I’m serious, baby.” The petname makes Kai blush, a light dusting of pink across the bridge of his nose as he looks away. Soobin can’t help but smile. “You don’t have to get me anything.”

“But I want to!” He whines, kicking his foot against the bed. “Now tell me what you want!”

“I told you, silly,” he teases, immediately smiling when he glances over at Kai. “I don’t want anything.”

Kai pouts. Soobin thinks he’s too cute. “That’s not what I asked.”

“Maybe a pet?” He wonders, tilting his head to the side as he thinks about. “I’ve always been interested in hedgehogs.”

“Hedgehogs?”

“Yeah! It could be our baby!” He smiles even wider before he shrugs.

“Couldn’t you pick something…,” he pauses, licking his lips. “Normal?”

“Beomgyu has a parrot.”

“A parrot?”

“A parrot. His name is Toto.” He pauses as he glances up at the Kai with a smile. “I may close the shop next week and see my family. It’s been almost a year,” he licks his lips, the sudden thought crossing his mind before he even fully thinks about it. “You should come with me. My mom would love you.”

“Ah,” he falls silent and Soobin glances at him. He reaches for a stray piece of paper that lays on Soobin bed, rolling the edges in strips as he tears them. His fingers twitch when he meets Soobin’s eye, smiling as best he can.

It doesn’t meet his eyes, and Soobin immediately opens his arms. Kai doesn’t hesitate to crawl into his lap. “What’s wrong?” He asks, rubbing his hand along his back. Kai’s hands find his stomach, pressing against it as he rubs small circles with a shrug. “You can tell me.”

“It’s nothing. I don’t want to ruin the mood.”

“Kai, baby,” he coos, kissing the side of his head. “My sunshine.” He sees the way Kai’s ears burn red and it makes him smile just the slightest. “You can tell me if something is wrong.”

“It’s stupid,” he mumbles, pressing himself closer to Soobin.

“Family?”

“Mmhmm.” He presses a kiss to the underside of Soobin’s jaw, moving down to his neck as his fingers play with the hem of his shirt. “‘M sorry.”

“There’s no reason to be sorry,” Soobin assured him, holding him close. “I didn’t mean to bring up a sensitive topic.”

Kai shakes his head, taking a shaky breath as he holds onto Soobin. “It’s fine,” he tries to admit. But Soobin can see it’s fake.

He intertwines his fingers with Kai’s, holding them close. “Baby?”

“My sisters are okay with it,” he mumbles, squeezing Soobin’s hand. Soobin doesn’t mind. “My parents got divorced when I was still in middle school and Dad moved back to America. Called him on Father’s Day and said ‘oh by the way, I’m gay!’ Then hung up.” He tries to let out a laugh, but it’s wet and sniffly. Soobin immediately uses his free hand to caress his cheek. His thumb brushes against his cheekbone and he can’t help but lean in to kiss Kai squarely on the lips, soft and special just like him. “He’s never really called me back. Mom’s still learning, just doesn’t understand.”

“Thank you for telling me,” he whispers, kissing him once more for good measure. “You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to,” he sniffles again, reaching up to rub at his eyes. “It’s not a big deal.”

“It is, sunshine,” he coos, rubbing smooth circles in Kai’s back, pressing his lips to his forehead. “Enough about family,” he hums, reaching over to click on the television that he has set up in his room. He immediately goes to one of the three anime accounts he has, typing in Spy x Family to pull it up. “Do you still want to watch it?”

Kai nods with all the enthusiasm, pressing himself close to Soobin. Soobin lets it play, enjoying the company while rubbing Kai’s back.

🌨️🌨️🌨️

The day before his birthday, Soobin tries to redo the shelves. He has a late shipment that was supposed to be here today, instead the tracking company said that it’ll get here tomorrow. Tomorrow when it’s his birthday and that he’s not going to be here.

He should be, he knows he should be. He’s never been one to celebrate his birthday that extravagantly. HIs siblings left when he was younger, his only friend really being Beomgyu and his family. He never had anyone, but he tries to push that thought out of his mind. This year will be different.

He doesn’t hear the door open, too occupied with his own thoughts until two hands snake around his waist and he lets out a yelp and jumps out of his skin. “Fuck!” He screams out, immediately turning around to hit his assailant. He hears Kai yelp, backing away with his high pitched laughter that always makes Soobin smile. This time he just holds up his glove-covered hands up in front of his face and Soobin can see the way his eyes sparkle from his smile that’s hidden under his scarf. “Kai?”

“Hey babe,” He teases. He unravels the scarf from around his neck, cheeks and nose tinged pink despite the fabric to keep him warm. “I thought you were going to close for the week?” There’s a box by his feet and Soobin glances from it back up to Kai. “And here I was, going to sneak in and surprise you.”

“With my book shipment?”

Kai glances down at the box and then back up at Soobin with a shaky smile as he nods. “Yeah, yeah,” he says, though it doesn’t sound as effective as he probably thinks it does. “Book shipment. I grabbed it for you.”

“No you didn’t,” he teases, leaning over to tease him. “Were you going to drop my birthday present off here so I didn’t see it?”

“No!” His voice cracks and it’s enough to make Soobin laugh as he watches the way Kai’s face burns red. “Stop laughing at me!”

“I’m not laughing at you, sweetheart,” he assures, holding out a hand for Kai to take it. He does, and Soobin feels the same warmth spread from his fingers to his entire body as he smiles at the boy. He’s truly the sun, able to provide so much warmth even in the middle of winter. “I just think you’re cute.” He stares at him for just a moment, enough that Kai shifts from one foot to the other, before he reaches out to try and grab the box. Kai immediately picks it up to take a step back, not letting him touch it and Soobin can’t help the pout forming on his lips as he opens his hands and closes them, “Gimme.”

“No, you’re being mean to me.”

“I’m sorry,” he whines, puckering his lips as a kiss that Kai accepts. He has that look. The cheeky one where he bites the inside of his lip debating if he should. Soobin pouts more, hands clasped together, “It’s my birthday.”

“Not yet,” he teases, but he hands the box to him anyway.

Something runs around in it that makes Soobin jump. Definitely not his bookshipment. He looks up at Kai with a raised eyebrow, wondering what it could be. “I’m scared to open it.”

“Don’t be scared! You’ll like it, promise!” He holds up his pinky finger, as if making a promise. Soobin levels his stare with him before he sets the box down on the floor, immediately crouching to stare at it.

He takes a couple of moments trying to figure out what it is. If Kai played a prank on him or got him something that was going to attack him, but when he stares up at him he just smiles even brighter. Bouncing on his toes with too much energy. Soobin wants to bite him.

But he doesn’t, instead he lets shaky fingers pull at the box when he finally notices the holes around the box. He doesn’t try to get his hopes up, not sure what he’s even expecting, but the moment he opens the box he doesn’t believe it.

He looks up at Kai once more who’s smiling even wider.

“You didn’t,” he whispers, feeling his words getting choked up in his throat. He doesn’t see the way Kai’s face falls almost immediately at Soobin’s reaction, collapsing in front of him. “Kai, oh my god.” And he sobs.

He doesn’t know why he’s crying. Everything spinning in his head that makes his emotions feel like they’re going crazy. He doesn’t think about how the weather is or how much he holds back, or his anxiety. He doesn’t think about those when he sees Kai’s face in front of his and the worry that he shows towards Soobin that makes him sob harder. “Soobin-hyung?” Kai whispers, though he doesn’t get any response. “Baby?” He tries again, touching Soobin’s knee with caution.

Soobin can’t choke out more than a, “Thank you,” as he immediately stumbles over towards Kai like a baby deer, collapsing into his embrace. “I don’t even know why I’m crying,” he admits, which only makes him cry harder.

Kai shushes him, fingers running through his hair as he sits there on the floor with Soobin. It takes a few minutes for Soobin to fully calm down, not even sure what spurred the reaction in the first place as he brushes away some stray tears from his cheeks. Kai immediately reaches up to thumb them away, leaning forward to capture his lips into a kiss. “I don’t know what happened,” He admits, a watery chuckle as he lets Kai be his wall for just that moment. “I’m sorry.”

“There’s no reason to be sorry!” Kai assures with a chuckle, letting his hand move to rub against Soobin’s stomach. Soobin lets him embrace his small habit. “It’s okay, I promise.”

He nods, not able to say anything else, before he glances at the box again. It’s a small hedgehog, one that he always wanted but never could bring up his own courage to get one. Always worried that he wouldn’t be able to take care of it. His hands immediately reach to take it, the small animal curling up into one of his palms with ease as he lifts it out.

It sniffs around, sniffing at Soobin’s hands despite curling up before looking over at Kai. Kai waves at it, watching the way its quills stood up to hiss at him before ducking its head back around to be covered by Soobin. Kai laughs, “Well he certainly likes you,” he teases, kicking out at Soobin.

Soobin sniffles, nodding as he looks up at Kai. “Thank you,” he says once more, though Kai shakes his head. “I don’t have anything for him though.”

“Hyungs and I got it taken care of,” He assures, reaching forward to pat his thigh. “And Taehyunnie. He helped research. Says he looks like a mulberry.”

“A mulberry?” He asks, staring down at the animal with wide eyes before looking up at Kai with a smile. “Odi?” He asks, running his fingers along the top of his quills. The hedgehog immediately tenses before sticking them up, Soobin just barely fast enough to escape the danger. “I can’t believe you did this.”

“I like Odi,” Kai immediately agrees, leaning over to kiss his cheek. “You can’t be mad if I have more presents for you.”

Soobin smiles, leaning his head on Kai’s shoulder instead as he nods. He lets Odi down, just enough to explore a little bit around the bookstore.

Maybe this birthday wouldn’t be too bad.

“I hate all of you!” Soobin laughs the moment the clock strikes midnight, the lights immediately being flicked off when Yeonjun rounds the corner with a cake and candles. He feels the tears prickle behind his eyes again, feels the warmth in his chest spreading with nowhere to go. It’s so much, too much. The feeling of love that encompasses him for once, someone he can reciprocate it with and enjoy moments like this with other than his two best friends.

Kai sings the softest compared to Yeonjun and Beomgyu, but Soobin thinks it’s the loudest of them all. His arms loop around Soobin’s waist, holding him against his chest with his chin hooked on top of his shoulder.

He enjoys the moments with all of them, laughing and playing around. He starts a wrestling match with Beomgyu when handed a snow white pajama set, Kai and Yeonjun immediately joining in to attack Soobin directly with yells that will probably wake the neighbors.

He doesn’t care though, even as he’s falling asleep at two in the morning with Kai’s soft breathing beside him, their bodies pressed together, and a Gengar plushie that Kai had given him tucked between them. He enjoys it all.

🌨️🌨️🌨️

Soobin wakes up before Kai, wiggling out of the warm embrace of his boyfriend to instead go to the bathroom when the need to pee hits him. His feet touch the cold wooden floors, the draft that blows through reminding him of the winter weather.

He stares out the window, furrowing his eyebrows at realizing that it was just barely sunrise, before glancing at his clock to confirm. Yep, the numbers 5:25 flash back at him and he can’t help but let out a sigh followed by a yawn. Less than three hours of sleep.

Oh well.

He heads down the hallway anyway, immediately ducking into the bathroom. He hears Beomgyu on his computer when he washes his hands, surprised that Yeonjun hasn’t forced him to shut it down yet.

He decides to go join him, hovering over his back as he watches Beomgyu’s character move from one spot to the next as it attacks. His mind is too hazy to keep up with it, letting out a yawn before pressing his wet hands against Beomgyu’s cheeks to get his attention.

It makes him jump, and Soobin feels a bit of pride at the fact he was able to scare Beomgyu when he turns around to glare up at him. Soobin pats his head. “What are you doing awake?” Beomgyu challenges with a frown.

Soobin shoots him a raised eyebrow. “I could say the same to you,” he teases, pinching at Beomgyu’s cheeks that makes him shout out eungae! that he’s been using the past couple of months. But Soobin smiles anyway.

“I couldn’t sleep and wanted to log on. I’ll just pout to hyung when and he’d be putty in my hand,” He shrugs, finishing up his game. “Did you and Kai get up to any funny,” he wiggles his eyebrows towards Soobin, making a blush spread across his cheeks, “business?”

“NO!” His voice is louder than he thought it would be, cracking just a bit before he turns to hide his face behind his hands with a groan. “I’m sure he wants to.”

“He said he wanted you to stick your tongue down his throat,” Beomgyu agrees, and Soobin can’t help but make a weird noise in the back of his throat. “That’d be a perfect present for the birthday boy.”

“Can you shut up.” He reaches out to hit Beomgyu, though it just makes him laugh louder. “I don’t need to listen to sex advice from the likes of you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He gasps, throwing his arm up to cover his chest as he turns around to stare directly at Soobin. “Hyung and I could teach you anything! We could have a professional sex ed class right here!”

“I already hear you two enough when I’m trying to sleep,” He deadpans, frowning as he turns away to stare at the window. “Enough talk about sex, what’s the weather?”

“Cold?”

“It’s December. Of course it’s cold.”

“You better not thinking what I think you’re thinking Choi Soobin,” Beomgyu challenges, pointing a finger at him from where he sits. “And if you are, I’m not taking care of you this time.”

He lets out a hum, giving him a thumbs up without even looking at him. “I have my boyfriend this time,” he teases, sticking his tongue out. When he stares out the window, focusing his energy into the air around him, he ignores whatever Beomgyu says to him or if he’s turned back to his game knowing that Soobin was gone for a boy he’s barely dated for a month. “I’m going outside,” He announces, only slipping on the slides by the door before he steps out into the cold, he hears Beomgyu shouting something about a coat, but he ignores it.

“Oh my god, Choi Soobin!” is the last thing he hears from Beomgyu before he closes the door. The wind nips through his entire body, making him shiver in the Snow White pajama dress from Beomgyu. His teeth chatter together as he holds out his arms, hands shaking when he closes his eyes to focus on the coldness around him.

The wind moves through his body, moves through his fingers, and he feels something shift in his gut. It’s something much more intentional than his anxious freak outs, swirling inside him as he takes a deep breath. He thinks about Kai’s smile, his laughter, how much he talked about the first snow, the pout he showed when the meteorologist was wrong about it. The times it was his fault it didn’t happen. He thinks about it all until the cold feels like it’s taking over him and his feet and hands become numb, his lips sting and his nose feels like it’s already chapped.

He doesn’t know how long he stands there until little flakes are swirling around, dancing around his body that makes him laugh. Makes him throw his head back to stare at the sky and laugh.

“Kai!” He hears himself yelling despite the wind in his ear, running inside as he kicks off his shoes to head to his room. Beomgyu tries to say something, but he ignores him. He’ll take a sniffly nose any time if it meant seeing his boyfriend’s smile over something he can control. “Kai!” He yells again when he steps into his room, immediately jumping on the bed.

Kai lets out a grumble that’s unintelligible. Soobin just tries to shake him even more. “C’mon baby, you have to get up!” He tells him, before he leans down to kiss his face. He hears a giggle and Kai turning away from him.

He decides to use the big guns. He immediately lets his freezing cold hands manuver under the blanket he’s buried himself in, pushing up the hoodie that Kai stole from his closet as he digs his fingers against Kai’s ribs. It makes a yelp come out of the younger’s mouth, jumping away from the attack as Soobin laughs. Kai turns to glare at him, hair sticking up in every direction with bleary eyes.

Soobin only coos, immediately leaning forward to cup his face and kiss him fully. “Baby, wake up,” he coos again, kissing him once more for good measure.

“I’m awake!” He whines in return, pushing Soobin away. “And you’re cold! What have you been doing?”

He doesn’t answer, instead pointing directly out the window with an exclamation of, “Look!”

Kai does, turns to stare out the window as he tries to blink awake. He grumbles something about food while holding the Gengar plushie he bought Soobin, but they die down just as quickly as they came up. His eyes widen immediately, a gasp leaving his lips, and he turns to look at Soobin.

“It’s snowing?” He asks. Soobin can’t help but smile, nodding as he holds out a hand for Kai to take. He does, letting their fingers interlock before he barrels out of the room to rush down the hallway.

“Jacket!” Beomgyu yells, shutting down his computer now that three-fourths of the apartment are awake. Soobin knows that Yeonjun will be up just as quickly. “I’m going to make some food,” he announces as Kai struggles to shove his arms through his sleeves in too much excitement. “Want anything special?”

“Do you have my mom’s recipe for tteokbokki?” He wonders, Kai tossing him his jacket as he puts it on. Beomgyu nods and he can’t help but smile, “Please?” Beomgyu just nods as he heads to the kitchen, and Soobin thinks he’s going to end up passing out the moment he finishes eating.

Instead gloves are forced in his hand as Kai stands by the door struggling with his shoes. Soobin can’t help but laugh at him, slipping in his own shoes before he’s practically pulled out the door.

Kai doesn’t wait for him as he immediately rushes out the door, head thrown back as he stares at the sky. The snow flurries around him, catching on his black puffer jacket and in his hair. The wind whips along his face, turning it rosy as he smiles and turns back to look at Soobin.

The sun barely peaks above the horizon, and Soobin is sure it’s only six in the morning. Too early to be dancing in the street as everyone around them is sleeping, but the silence is welcoming as he immediately runs to wrap his arms around Kai’s neck. Kai doesn’t hesitate to pick him, making Soobin squeal as he immediately wraps his legs around Kai’s waist, holding his face to kiss him.

No one sees them as Kai twirls around, all smiles and laughs. The snow flurries land on his eyelashes, framing his face to make him even more beautiful as Soobin cups his cheeks within his glove-covered hands.

“You’re so pretty,” he whispers, kissing the younger as if he was addicted. Kai just giggles, high in his throat as his face darkens. Soobin thinks it looks the best on him. “My pretty boy,” he coos even more.

“Happy birthday, Hyung,” he whispers back, kissing him once more.

🌨️🌨️🌨️

Soobin wakes up to a blizzard and his entire body aching. Odi runs around in the makeshift cage that Yeonjun and Beomgyu have made, the only noise that he can actually tolerate. A chill runs down his spine, curling into his blankets despite the heater being on full blast.

“You knew it was a bad idea,” Beomgyu says as he walks into the room, placing a water bottle on Soobin’s bedside. He lets out a sniffle, wrapping his blankets around him as he sits up to try his best to glare at Beomgyu. “How’s your throat feeling?”

“Better if you’d just decide to heal me,” he croaks, making Beomgyu roll his eyes as he reaches up to thump Soobin’s forehead. “You can’t hurt the ill.”

“Just did,” he teases, nodding to his phone. “You said you had your boyfriend.”

“But you’re the one who’s a healer,” he whines, pulling his blankets closer to him. But Beomgyu just waves his hand around just like he always does as he walks out of the room. Soobin frowns, sticking his tongue out at Beomgyu as he grabs his phone to send Kai a message.

Soobin: I hope you got home alright.

Soobin: I’m sick.

Soobin: If you’re up for it, could you bring me some porridge? BG’s making me honey tea.

Cutie Kai: HYUNG!!!!!

Cutie Kai: are you going to be alright?? :(

Soobin: I’ll be fine. It happens.

Cutie Kai: I’ll be there!!!

Cutie Kai: DON’T!!!! MOVE!!!!

He doubts he could move even if he tried.

Beomgyu pokes his head into the room once more, a small smile on his face. “I can’t heal you, but I can make honey tea?”

Soobin smiles, “Thanks Beoms.”

He’s woken up by a bang and shouting in the living room, head throbbing as he sits up to scrub at his eyes.

“Hyung!” Kai cries as he enters Soobin’s room. He immediately sets down a bag filled with something, cupping Soobin’s cheeks to check on him. “Oh my god, did I get you sick?” His voice pitches in a whine, and Soobin thinks he’s going to cry from guilt.

He doesn’t want that, letting a shaky hand move to cover Kai’s own hands against his face. He feels how hot he is, how sweaty his palms are, and he immediately moves it away. Kai’s faster, reaching down to grab his hand and let their fingers intertwine. “I’m fine,” he assures him in a whisper, barely able to make out his own voice in his ears. It shouldn’t have been this bad, but when he glances outside at the snow and ice that form on the ground he realizes how bad he made it.

Kai pouts, following his gaze with a sigh. “Beomgyu-hyung told me you went outside without a jacket. First the umbrella and now this?” Soobin tries to crack a smile at his teasing, wishing he could assure him that it wasn’t due to him forgetting an element of protection. He lets go of Soobin’s hand to reach for the bag of food, immediately pulling it out. Soobin feels his stomach roll. “Taehyun offered to make some food for you since I can’t cook,” he smiles, reaching up to brush Soobin’s sweaty hair away from his forehead. “I’ll take care of you, Hyung.”

Soobin shakes his head in response, “You don’t have to do that, baby.”

“I want to. Let me,” His voice is a whisper, and Soobin feels his heart clench at the amount of care Kai shows him. He glances to the door, seeing a flash of black hair duck behind the door that he knows is probably Beomgyu and Yeonjun watching him like little kids. He rolls his eyes, turning back to look at Kai as he nods.

“I have to tell you something though,” he croaks, accepting the bottle of water from Kai. “But you can’t tell anyone,” he wags his finger, watching Kai nod. He doesn’t look at Soobin as he opens the containers, setting a bowl of rice porridge beside him. “So you know how the weather has been…really off lately?” He feels his mouth drying out, immediately taking a sip of water from the bottle.

Kai nods once more. “You’re the reason for that,” he says, matter-of-factly.

It makes Soobin cough in his hands, the water coming out of his nose. He waves his hand as he coughs harder, making his throat even worse at the added irritation. Kai immediately passes him a tissue, rubbing Soobin’s back as he tries to stop coughing. “How,” he takes a gasp of breath, covering his mouth with his hand as he coughs again, “do you know that?” His voice is strained, and Kai just smiles and gives a shrug.

“You’re not subtle,” he teases, reaching over to pat Soobin’s cheek. It makes him pout. “Taehyun told me when chewing me out about messing with you. I know about his magic abilities,” he waves his fingers around as he jokes about it. “And yesterday just confirmed it. Thank you, by the way. I enjoyed it.”

Soobin only nods, letting out a yawn as he holds his arms open. Kai immediately moves into his hold, hugging him close. “Thank you for coming,” Soobin whispers, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “Beomgyu doesn’t like taking care of me.”

“I wanted to. Now go to sleep.”

He falls asleep with Kai humming some tune, the thought of I love you playing through his mind.

🌨️🌨️🌨️

March

“I want to see the cherry blossoms! They’re blooming!” Kai shouts, pulling Soobin along towards the cherry blossom trees. It’s only the first few days they started blooming, not full yet that causes the crowds to multiply, but it’s still a decent amount of people. Soobin hesitates, but Kai glances back at him with a pout and a, “Hyung please,” as he flashes the puppy dog eyes.

He’s weak. He’s weak and he knows it. So he follows along, letting Kai interloop their arms before grabbing his hand to hold. It still makes the butterflies in Soobin’s stomach flutter, despite how much they cling to each other and stick to each other. The others have started describing them as chewing gum, never far apart from one another since they started becoming friends.

And now he’s been dating Kai for four months. Four months, but it feels so much longer when he wraps his arms around Kai’s waist and buries his face in the crook of his neck as he listens to Kai’s gasps and squeals.

“Hyung you have to see them!” He whines, wiggling in Soobin’s arms that makes him chuckle and picks his head up to stare at the rows and rows of trees that have started blooming. He lets a light gust of wind blow them around the two of them, something that always makes Kai smile and laugh as the fallen blossoms cover his hair. Soobin thinks he looks great, he’s recently dyed his hair to black. The light pink plays off it well, making him look more ethereal than he has before.

Soobin’s hands immediately find Kai’s cheeks, turning from where the blossoms dance around them to look at him instead. He smiles, and Kai smiles back with just as much love and care that meets his eyes. And Soobin leans forward to kiss him, like they’re not in the middle of a public place, like there aren’t people surrounding them on every side. Kai is his, the scent of cherry blossoms and citrus from Kai’s perfume that he wears, and he’s never one to back away from what’s his.

Kai pulls back, still laughing as he smiles at him. “What was that?”

“I love you,” he whispers, arms moving around his waist, fingers looping around two of his belt loops to pull him closer. His lips find Kai’s once more, quick succession of kisses before Kai is pulling back with a smile and his arms are wrapped around Soobin’s neck.

“You mean it?” He wonders, fingers playing with the hair that curls at his nape. Soobin blinks. “That you love me?”

“Of course I do.” Because how couldn’t he? But he doesn’t say much more, only kisses Kai once more that causes the sun to beat down on them in its own spotlight and he thinks the cherry blossoms are blooming even more. But he doesn’t mind. “I love you as much as the stars in the sky.”

“Waxing poetry for me already, Choi Soobin?” Kai teases, watching him blush as he ducks his head. “Can I make a request?” Kai asks, face pressed close to Soobin’s. Soobin’s eyes immediately ducks down to stare at his lips before back up at his face, so close he could lean in and kiss him. But he nods regardless, feeling his heart skip a beat when Kai smiles. “Can you not make it storm anymore?”

He smiles, shaking his head as he kisses him once more. "I can try my best," he teases, though he doesn't mind the storms anymore. Doesn't mind his anxiety rolling and his overthinking that happens. 

He doesn't mind when he has his own sunshine that stands beside him. Throughout all his thunderstorms, he still has Kai.