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Thumb unconsciously moving up to scroll on his phone, Soobin quietly sits on the dorm’s loveseat as he goes through his Instagram feed. There is nothing else to do when you are on break— Okay, maybe it’s only applicable for home lovers like him because the two youngest actually have something to do and the eldest is busy continuing the song he’s writing.
That leaves us with Soobin and lastly, Beomgyu, sitting comfortably beside the former on the small loveseat. Almost a tight fit for both of them but none of the two minds at all, both too immersed in whatever they were doing on their own devices.
Nothing has been catching the attention of Soobin while scrolling down on his Instagram Explore page until he finds this particular post:
Psychology says people who habitually bite on straws when drinking are good kissers.
It’s a stupid post. Soobin can tell in one second from the layout to the comical font that it’s fake, straight out of a 2016 Facebook meme page. And if something is stupid, it should be laughable, right? Soobin should’ve laughed right on the spot.
Except he didn’t. He chose to turn his head to his bandmate sitting beside him, one hand holding his phone and you know what’s on the other? You guessed it. A juice box. With a straw. And the straw is right on the top of Beomgyu’s lips, resting peacefully before the younger bites it lightly, nibbling a little, before sipping.
Oh wow, so is Beomgyu good at kissing?
Soobin looked away before Beomgyu could even catch him staring. He wants to punch his own face, kneel on the floor, and ask God for forgiveness because why does he think about something as horrendous as that ? He’s so stupid because he knew Beomgyu was drinking something and it would’ve been an innocent what a coincidence look if Soobin’s first thought wasn’t Beomgyu. Bite straw. Good kisser.
At the most unperfect time, a laugh escapes his lips as if the way he’s sweating isn’t embarrassing enough.
“What’s that?” Beomgyu looks at him before looking at Soobin’s phone, expecting a funny Tiktok, probably.
Instead of answering, the older one only shook his head, glancing at the straw separated now from Beomgyu’s lips. Now is the only chance he could see it clearly. The end of it is so flat like….. Like Beomgyu has been biting it since God knows when.
Soobin wants to run away.
But he knows Beomgyu, and before Beomgyu became a fully functioning human being, he was and still is, by the way, a brat. A brat who never stops whining until he gets what he wants. At this very moment, he wants to know what Soobin is hiding from his phone because wow, if Choi Soobin is being watched by Tiktok people, sus would be the only comment on him.
The younger only raised a brow before trying to peek curiously. “You wouldn’t laugh if it’s not funny.”
“It won’t be funny to you. I just know,” he lies, shifting his position on his seat.
“No, you don’t, because we literally have the same humor.”
Soobin agrees so much. More than a hundred percent. But the situation he is in right now demands a different answer, so he denies it more, “No, we don’t.”
The younger one lets out a huff, a pout staying on his lips for a nanosecond before smirking at Soobin.
“You remember when we laughed at this one Tiktok of a rat running in circles?”’
“That one was genuinely —”
“Right?” Beomgyu exclaims with excitement before he added, “But nobody else laughed with me except for you.”
He smiles sheepishly and it would’ve made Soobin smile in another day, but right now he’s just nervous about something he couldn’t even point out. The nervousness even grew when he felt the other scoot closer, their heads only a few inches away before Soobin dodges and leans back completely at the armrest to hide his phone.
Now, his enemy is not only Beomgyu, but even fucking gravity. If Beomgyu moves a meter closer, his head will be landing first before anything else.
“Just let me see for a second. Like just one—”
“It’s literally nothing—”
“You won’t be this defensive it’s nothing.”
The older one looks at Beomgyu with disbelief and muttered an Oh my god while the latter only stuck out his bottom lip, giving Soobin the pleading look like a mad man.
“Soobin, just show it to meeee ,” Beomgyu whines, dragging every vowel he can.
He only shook his head vigorously as he closes his eyes tightly. He didn’t even realize the lack of formality at the end of his name because that’s how distracted he is. Soobin’s only thought is why can’t Beomgyu, for the life of everyone, just let this go? It’s stupid, dumb, and he didn’t even laugh that much to make Beomgyu that curious.
With the intention to lash out at Beomgyu, he opens his eyes once again, mouth also gaping at the same time. But words got stuck in his throat when he felt a hot breath fan across his face.
Beomgyu is too close.
You know, Soobin and Beomgyu, they’ve been friends for years and proximity were never a problem to them. They’ve held hands. Hugged. Cuddled while sleeping. Heck, they even have kissed on the cheeks as friends.
Soobin repeats, Beomgyu is too close. Closer than he has ever been into Soobin’s non-existent personal shield. The boy in question is sitting right on his heels, a little lower than Soobin, so he has to look up at him. His lashes flutter slightly as he tries to look at his hyung cutely and his fringe almost covers it up, but Soobin is glad it didn’t. Of course, he’s fucking glad.
He’s so close that Soobin can count his pores right here until the sun rises up again. So close that Soobin’s just tempted to find his answer right here if his heart has its own mouth.
“Show it or I’ll kiss you.”
Coughs.
Soobin chokes right on his face. He’s still coughing seconds later as Beomgyu maniacally laughs and tries to dodge all the spit going around. It’s not funny— again in another day it would’ve been— not when the Beomgyu’s irritating laugh is the last thing Soobin will hear before his lungs give up and he finally ascends to another phase of this cosmical experience.
He’s wrong on the last sentence though, because if he did, then the shriek— an almost scream— he let out when he felt Beomgyu grab the most prized, hidden possession from his hand wouldn’t have happened. Soobin wouldn’t be fighting for his life— literally because of his uneven breathing— as he tries to pin Beomgyu down on the couch, only to be kicked by the menace.
“That’s fucking cheating. Why would say—How did you even—”
Beomgyu still has the audacity to laugh as he hides Soobin’s phone in between his back and the cushion. He’s lying so comfortably now, while Soobin, with the heaving chest, red face, and everything, sit in front of him. If anybody comes in, they look like they’re doing sit-ups on the small loveseat as a challenge.
Soobin kind of wishes they were actually just homies working out and being productive, so he wouldn’t be feeling the weird pull in him right now to kiss Beomgyu here.
With a smirk, he replies, “It’s called strategy, by the way. Just accept you’re a loser.”
The elder looks at him with a straight face, from the younger’s eyes down to the lips forming the smirk. It’s pink— Oh god, Beomgyu just licked it— now it’s shining, too. The way his blonde hair looks like it was placed delicately around his head, strand by strand, isn’t helping Soobin to just be angry. He’s angry and falling, that’s it.
Beomgyu smiles at Soobin, a little too sweet and dainty to be believable as an authentic one. Soobin’s conclusion is that Beomgyu’s the only happy person in the room right now. He would’ve been happy, too, if they just kis—
The younger suddenly jumps from his position, crossing his legs, and sits comfortably before he sets his empty juice box on the floor and unlocks the phone. Notice how the word try is missing because Beomgyu does know his password by heart. And Soobin wonders why their friends call them lovebirds?
Soobin watched him every second and he knows it was after 3.5478 seconds after unlocking the screen when the blonde’s smile falters, like the end of every 2000s song slowly fading. He wouldn’t have missed the slow rushing of Beomgyu’s blood from his neck to his ears if Soobin didn’t look away, diverting to the window beside them, after swiftly grabbing his phone back.
“Wow, so you were laughing because of a lame ass meme—”
Soobin gasps, dramatically turning his head again to Beomgyu.
“Dude, I warned y—”
“When the proof is right in front of you.”
The silence that engulfed their little bubble would’ve been awkward if Soobin didn’t chuckle. It sounded strained to be fair, he tried to get it out of his throat as Beomgyu looks at him with no trace of a smile nor sparkle in the eyes. If the latter is acting to mess him up, maybe Beomgyu could actually work as an actor on the sideline.
“So, you think you’re a good kisser? When you don’t even date?” Soobin crosses his arms.
As if on cue, Beomgyu also crossed his arms. It’s just cuter because he’s smaller.
“I think, therefore I am.”
“I don’t think Descartes would agree with you.”
Beomgyu rolled his eyes, scoffing for the next seconds as he looks away to hide his face from Soobin. He shouldn’t be blushing over a person who mentions philosophers in the middle of a high-tension drama scene-like moment.
“If you’re doubting that much, then do your own experiment,” says Beomgyu a few seconds after, still looking at their reflection on the television screen beside them.
The older one leans in, now he’s closer because he thinks he’s hearing things. Experiment? “What?”
Looking back at him, Beomgyu’s eyes look at him with furrowed eyebrows on top, “Soobin, do you know that Psychology is a branch of Science?”
“I’m not dumb—”
“Okay, then test your question, and kiss me,” Beomgyu says in a very casual tone.
Soobin doesn’t want to wake up if this is a dream. Before he could construct a flirty, heart-blowing reply, his mouth already answered on its own. Soobin promises to train it as soon as he finishes here.
“You want me—” he inhales before meeting Beomgyu’s eyes, “To kiss you as an experiment?”
“Do you not want to know if I kiss well?”
“I mean— I do but— you, we…”
“Just think of it as Science, hyung, it’s not that hard if you’re thinking objectively. Forget your feelings.”
Think objectively. Think objectively. Objectively. Forget feelings.
Soobin is about to burst like a dormant volcano that’s actually active and just bottling up all the lava he makes underground.
How can this person, Choi Beomgyu, the subject of his romantic fantasies and the reason behind the rollercoaster of emotions he is feeling right now, tell this as he asks for Soobin to kiss him? Not just a normal kiss, but a kiss to prove he’s good in this game.
Soobin is set up to fail from the beginning.
He whispers a small Okay , more to himself than to answer Beomgyu. He can’t mess this up. He's never been fond of science, and never dreamt of being a scientist, but this might be a breakthrough for the scientific community if he unfolds the real answer to his hypothesis, “If Beomgyu bites straws, then he is a good kisser.”
Beomgyu already has his eyes closed, waiting for the soft landing of lips on his, and it was on its way, Soobin crosses his heart, but 3 cm away from the destination, he stops. Admires the calm face of Beomgyu before the storm. Admiration time took too long unfortunately and the time buzzer comes into the form of Beomgyu pulling his shoulders, nails digging the cotton of his house shirt, and immediately pressing their lips together.
It tasted like apple juice.
Beomgyu’s lips taste like apple juice. Soobin wonders if his tongue has a stronger taste— oh wow, he couldn’t wait.
Soobin moves his lips first, tilting his head when Beomgyu made a little noise to say he wants Soobin to move already. So far, Beomgyu has shown no signs of being a good kisser as he sits there, gripping on the elder’s clothes, being pliant as his bottom lip gets sucked next.
The tight grip loosens 47 seconds into the kiss as the blonde sneaks his arms around Soobin’s neck, kneeling a little to gain whatever unspoken dominance they’re fighting for. Now, Soobin’s neck is up for a case of stiff neck today; he has no other choice but to keep Beomgyu balanced by his waist and crane his neck for how long the latter wants this.
He’s still not sure if Beomgyu’s good because when Soobin tried to slip his tongue in, the younger one gasps. Loudly. It was loud Soobin felt the sound echoing inside his mouth. The thought makes him laugh, pulling away from Beomgyu who stared at him like he wants to kill him.
Wrong 4 letters K-word.
Beomgyu huffs. He plops down, his palms landing on his face to cover up the humiliation he’s feeling.
“Sorry, I wasn’t good as you thought, huh?” Soobin’s eyes widened, making out the muffled noises Beomgyu was making.
His jaw slacks, “Huh?”
“Sorry, I failed. God, Beomgyu, you’re a fucking idiot.”
Oh no, this isn’t going to where it’s supposed to be going. Soobin’s supposed to find out if Beomgyu’s tongue has apple juice flavor.
Soobin reaches out to him, encircling his palms around Beomgyu’s smaller wrists to face him properly. “Hey, hey, I didn’t say anything like that. I—”
“You don’t have to say it. You laughed, so—”
“I laughed because you’re cute.”
Beomgyu looks straight into Soobin’s eyes. His smile with his white teeth couldn’t help but join the situation, too. There’s just no way Soobin wouldn’t fall for him.
“I fucking hate you.”
They both ended up laughing as the older one lets go of Beomgyu’s wrist, finally wiping the small tears at the corner of his eyes. It’s funny now, thinking about wanting to cry over gasping and ruining such a romantic moment.
“I should be saying that, I was wondering if your tongue tastes like apple juice, too.”
“Maybe,” Beomgyu smiles sheepishly, slowly taking Soobin’s hand to play with it. “Am I a good kisser?”
Now, Soobin's laughter is real. Evil, loud, and cruel laughter. Besides, honesty is the best policy, there’s no way he could hide his feelings.
“Well, you know, Instagram is a breeding ground of misinformation and fake news.”
The younger one sat there, stunned. Soobin can actually tell he’s inexperienced after being the person who initiated this and let everything happen.
Beomgyu shrugs. “You know, Instagram is a breeding ground of hot men who wouldn’t laugh at me like this.”
Soobin’s laugh fades away, making it even for him and Beomgyu. He only shrugs, too, and nods, completely ignoring the idea that Beomgyu is right. He could find anyone to give him the kisses he wants. No one would demand him to be a good kisser when he has that face.
He’s never going on Instagram again.
(“Soobinie-hyung, I was joking, c’mon.” Beomgyu jumps at him later that night, the cute member barging into his room like that.
Soobin groans, trying to breathe as Beomgyu hugs him even more, lying comfortably on his body.
The younger one whispers, “And it’s not like we’re exclusive, it’s one kiss and that was the first.”
Dumbass Soobin just angles himself a little to grab Beomgyu’s chin and put a peck right there on his lips. Which tastes like mint now, by the way. He added two more right on Beomgyu’s cheeks.
Beomgyu only looked with disbelief.
“I’m supposed to act as your best friend normally again, then?”
“It’s not like you like me,” again, Beomgyu’s answers were always inaudible. If the air conditioner noise was louder, Soobin wouldn’t have caught that.
“Dude, I like you. What else do you want to know?”
Beomgyu slaps his chest. “You like me and you call me ‘dude’? The hell—”
“Baby.”
“Bitch.”
“Baby, you want us to date for real?”
Beomgyu screams. Legend says he’s screaming until now. And Soobin never got to taste apple juice on Beomgyu's lips ever again.)