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Seungmin set the last of his boxes on the floor.
“Man, you have a nice view up here,” Felix whistled by the window of Seungmin’s new apartment, pulling out his phone from his jacket’s pocket.
“Yeah, dude, are you sure that you didn’t sign up to sell your soul to live here? Because, honestly, it’s too good for that cheap price,” Jisung said while crunching on crab chips, arching an eyebrow. He had already occupied the brown couch in the center of the living room.
“If you leave one crumb or even a trace of your disgusting imitation of food on my couch, I will change the contract’s terms and it’s your soul that would be sold, jackass,” Seungmin warned with not-so-hidden ominousness in his voice.
Jisung immediately held his hands up in surrender, which led to the bag of chips falling on the couch. A few poor chips landed right near the beige pillow comfortably. A brand new beige pillow that Seungmin had just got out of the package. He had ordered from an expensive online shop to reward himself for striking such a great flat. (It was also because his old ones with bears didn’t match the atmosphere and the new phase of his life.) It had been delivered only this morning and Seungmin wasn’t ready to say goodbye on the first day. He would skin Jisung alive if it got dirty.
Jisung slowly blinked at him and looked ready to pick up the chips, but was startled by Seungmin’s stern voice in the next second:
“Han Jisung! Don’t you dare touch anything with your greasy hands. Manage to not move and you may die peacefully,” Seungmin said, pulling out his new favorite mug he had just bought from the box he had just brought. Perfect weapon, Seungmin thought.
“Why would you even unwrap it in this dusty place without cleaning the room first, you germaphobe freak?” Jisung started to whine, demonstratively putting his hands behind his head. After he saw Seungmin assess the weight of his mug, slightly tossing it up would it kill Jisung if directly thrown at his head?
Jisung whispered:
“I have a witness that will testify in court.”
“Felix wouldn’t be opposed to the idea of killing you. In fact, he would even help after you embarrassed him in front of Chan yesterday,” Seungmin shot a glance at his other friend; he knew the wound was too fresh to be opened. Luckily, Felix was still busy taking pictures of the view from his flat. He stuck his tongue in concentration, looking peculiar, but all to measure the perfect angle for the photo. Good for him. Seungmin turned his gaze back to the culprit.
“Think it over, Seungminnie!” Jisung tried with pleading eyes. “There will not only be grease on your precious pillow, but also my dirty blood.”
Seungmin paused, really contemplating. He pretended to take some more time to reconsider his decision, while putting his mug down on the coffee table. Then he shoved the scattered chips and the whole bag of chips and lost ones onto the floor and proceeded to jump on Jisung.
“Guys, do you think if I send this to Chan, he would finally ditch his job and join us?” Felix spoke in the background, absentmindedly scanning pictures that he took and not turning his face to the noises of strangulation from the couch. “Yeah, I know that he’s kind of a responsible adult and he already said no when we asked him yesterday, but…this view is too lovely to miss, right? We can talk about nonsense and gaze at the sunset, daydreaming.” He dreamily sighed in the end as though he was already imagining his crush sitting beside him.
There were more struggling noises and whispered words:
“And that’s for Chanlix.”
Fortunately, Seungmin didn’t need to dispose of a dead body and was lucky to not taint the spirit of his new apartment.
He had moved here because after two years of saving up, he was finally able to afford his own home. Not something he had to share with someone else, be constantly aware of another person’s presence and clean trash he wasn’t responsible for (be a free maid minus the sexy uniform). His last roommate wasn’t a bad person, he wasn’t too annoying, but his habit of collecting empty pizza boxes and leaving his papers with old notes all over the floor was. And Seungmin could be a lot of things – a nerd, a germaphobe freak, an ice queen, a man who had a questionable friend group, the DAY6 fan club president, but being a pig who lived in a pile of garbage and swam in mud was definitely not on the list.
After coming up with a detailed plan and, rethinking it a couple of times, one nervous month later he could say that he was a man with not free, but real estate.
This flat was farther than the dorms he previously lived in, of course, but getting up earlier in the morning was a sacrifice Seungmin was ready to make if it meant that he would have his personal space. He would miss his friends being within close reach, radiating chaotic energy and infecting his life with all the consequences of their endless adventures. He used to enter their room any day and crash for the night if he was in a bad place mentally or if he was struggling with his assignments and needed to reduce stress. It would be calmer now without Jisung’s questionable ideas from that crazy place called his mind, without Felix’s cuddles and reassuring words. He always claimed that he would only miss Felix’s impact on his life, but really, Seungmin deep down loved them both so much. Looking at Felix’s smile and Jisung’s eyes glistening with mischief, Seungmin wasis sure they would be okay regardless. They were in the same city, and it was just a couple of kilometers that separated them now. Then why was he getting all emotional? Because, it felt like a huge change at his age. He depended on the people was close with and could anyone really blame him if his friends were so wonderful, if they were his support? Yeah, right, support, Seungmin caught himself thinking after looking back to just a few moments ago; – his childish fight with Jisung, while being something that Seungmin was pissed off with, still sent a wave of warm affection through his body.
“I swear, those gym sessions paid off, I almost knocked you out,” Jisung said to Seungmin, dusting his clothes off after the mess they made. Felix had separated them like the pure-hearted soul he was. It was always Felix.
“Yeah, the reason why you go there would be proud,” Seungmin smirked, seeing how Jisung’s cheekbones colored a dark red in an instant. “He always looks like he lowkey wants to beat my ass when I’m around you, so maybe you’ll even get a pat on the head.”
“Felix, I feel like it’s this heathen’s turn to be strangled,” Jisung squinted his eyes at the cackling Seungmin.
“You’re holding the pizza he paid for,” Felix deadpanned. After Seungmin’s approving humming, he added: “By the way, you don’t need to worry, you’re so adorable when Minho is around.”
Jisung groaned. “Not you ganging up on me. Felix, you experience the same thing. Shouldn’t you like be on my side, you traitor?”
“Well, not after you said that I would be, and I quote, on cloud nine? if Chan came to help Seungminnie with moving.”
“I tried to fix it.” Jisung’s groans sounded more exhausted now. It was as if they went over this conversation long ago, but in fact, they hadn’t even talked about it. Felix hadn’t talked to Jisung that day at all.
“Yeah, by saying you too would be given an opportunity to finally see his muscles in action since I’m praising them all the time.” Felix shuddered at the memory.
Jisung sheepishly smiled.
“His brain-to-mouth filter was lost long ago, Lixie.” Seungmin leaned forward to pat Felix’s arm as an offer of consolation. “Remember the time when he told Minho that he has kissable lips? And proceeded to add ‘bro’at the end, while blushing?”
“Okay, I deserved that.” Jisung folded his hands on his chest with a pained expression while Felix was crying with laughter and banging his hands on the floor.
Seungmin loved his friends and didn’t plan to let them go easily any time soon. If they noticed how much endearment his gaze held when he looked at them, they didn’t comment on it, continuing to munch on pizza.
“Are you sure you don’t need help unpacking?” asked Felix while putting pizza leftovers in the fridge so Seungmin had something to eat for breakfast tomorrow. Jisung perked up at this, immediately distracted from the phone.
“Yeah, we can cancel our plans for you, man,” Jisung agreed and sent a flying kiss to Seungmin.
“I know you just want to crash here, because a roommate of yours is in a rock phase right now, having a blast while testing your patience and his speakers.,” Seungmin brushed the air around him as though Jisung’s kiss could reach him. “I see right through you, Jisungie,” he added and gestured “I’m watching you” with his fingers.
Jisung rolled his eyes. “Okay, smarty pants, consider Felix’s offer at least. It really looks like you have a lot of stuff to unpack. A big ass amount of stuff.” He paused to sigh dreamily. “Almost as big as Minho’s –”
“That’s enough, get out, you, heathen.” Seungmin finished gathering a pile of plastic that was left from their delivery of pizza in one bag and got up.
“Minnie-Seungminnie, you’re really gonna send me to my death?”
Seungmin sighed heavily, rolling his eyes at the ceiling. “I would have let you crash any day, but the idea of me living with a parasite isn’t that appealing,” he said and Jisung sniffed. “Also try to help clean up next time before approaching me. Might work,” Seungmin smirked.
“Okay, okay,” he got up, too. And made a show of dusting the couch. “Here, in case you will get on my back for disgracing your furniture.”
Seungmin was too tired to keep up with his friend’s antics, so he opted to just roll his eyes at him once more. Felix had already put a jacket and sneakers on and was applying lip balm while looking at the mirror in the hall.
Jisung made grabby hands at him:
“Lixie, Seungmin is mean, give me a kiss of comfort, please.”
“I thought that it was Minho who has kissable lips, not me,” Felix chuckled.
“I take that back.”
Felix booped his nose and went for a hug instead, while muttering something in his ear.
“What was that?” Seungmin asked after Jisung giggled loudly, covering his mouth by hand.
Felix returned the serious expression on his face:
“I put the leftover pizza in the pink container with a puppy. Our little Seungminnie bringing our present into his new life, I think I may actually cry.” At the end of the sentence, his eyes did redden a bit, and Felix raised his gaze to the ceiling as though to not burst into tears. Then he decided to activate mum mode, perhaps to get rid of his overwhelming emotions. Top parent behavior. He and Chan were definitely perfect for each other. “Please, heat it up tomorrow before eating!” ordered Felix, furrowing his eyebrows worriedly.
Seungmin felt his heart melt a little at his friend’s words.
“See, Jisung? That’s what real friends do.”
“Whatever. Go, throw the trash away, unless you don’t want your precious flat stinking,” Jisung covered his nose and waved his hand as if the plastic boxes really stank.
Seungmin opened the door accompanied by Felix’s laughter, just to be stopped in his tracks in the next second. There, across the hallway, stood the most beautiful man Seungmin had ever seen. Queue the stupid music from romantic comedies’ soundtracks and slow motion. Seungmin felt the immediate urge to take his camera and take a picture like an absolute creep. He swore he had never been like this. Or at least not until a few seconds ago. The said man who apparently was his neighbor noticed him as well. He smiled amiably and was about to raise his hand in what Seungmin supposed should have been a greeting if some spirit hadn’t possessed Seungmin’s body. This spirit’s name was Idiot and of course, Seungmin couldn’t reason with it; he just did what this Idiot inside him told him to. Namely, completely ignoring his neighbor’s attempt at being friendly and nice (and his own fluttering heart along with sweating palm), stepped back inside his apartment, stomping Jisung’s feet in the process (“What the hell, man?” Of course, Jisung needed to scream his lungs out at the small discomfort) and slam the door shut as if he’d seen a ghost, or worse, as if a zombie apocalypse broke out and his neighbor was already infected, ready to eat him alive if he stayed in the corridor any longer).
Seungmin stood frozen again, dumbly staring at the closed door. He somehow could picture the man on the other side being sad so vividly that he almost went for the doorknob out of guilt and also because he was being ridiculous, really. However, the shriek from behind took his attention, so he turned around.
“It wasn’t a serial killer from the news, right?” Jisung being not only a drama queen, but a total dumbass needed to be in the news instead. How was he a functional member of society, Seungmin always asked himself. And occasionally, Jisung himself, too.
“He was too pretty to be one, Jisung-ah.” Felix patted his shoulder and cast Seungmin a weird glance he failed to interpret.
“That’s even more realistic, he charms everyone with his beauty, hiding his crimes. So no one actually knows his dirty hobby.”
“Your Netflix account should be supervised, Jisung,” Seungmin rolled his eyes.
There was an awkward pause, soon enough broken by Jisung listing his recently watched movies in an attempt to convince Seungmin that he didn’t actually binge weird content. Just as he was getting to the point that it was just that he was worried about the modern world and that nowadays there were a lot of crimes and violence (“I’m looking out for myself basically,” exclaimed he heatedly) Felix stopped to rub his chin just to ask Seungmin a reasonable question:
“Why did you jump like a scalded cat?” See, it being a reasonable question didn’t help Seungmin not to panic. His crush could not be disclosed this early.
“I don’t want him to think that I hang out with losers.” Seungmin rashly came up with an excuse just to piss Jisung and Felix off so they didn’t notice his current state.
“Wait, why are you blushing?” Jisung asked, suddenly closing the distance to stare at Seungmin’s cheeks and poke them slightly. He looked like he was inspecting, squishing his cheeks between his hands. He just needed a microscope at this point.
Seungmin recovered from the sudden hasty attack rather quickly. He harshly slapped Jisung’s hands, so he kept his microbes to himself. He was just about to say the remark out loud, but Felix was faster. “Oh, my God,” he gasped dramatically.
“What is it?” Jisung and Seungmin questioned simultaneously, but Jisung’s voice was not laced with concern, but with curiosity. He had a constant thirst for tea and his desire to gossip in any situation was most concerning.
“You…” Felix pointed at Seungmin. “Liked him, didn’t you?”
“What are you talking about?” Jisung furrowed his eyebrows. Then as if something was switched in his brain he turned to Seungmin and was up in his face once again, trying to pinch his still pink cheeks, now slightly paler though. “You just moved here and you already have a crush?”
“Get the fuck out of my face, idiot,” Seungmin pushed Jisung’s face away.
Felix was still watching him, waiting for the confirmation apparently. Then his eyes sparkled in a way Seungmin definitely didn’t like.
“I knew it.”
All of a sudden, Seungmin started to feel waves of tiredness wash all over his body. It had been a long day, and along with the satisfaction he felt earlier from successfully attacking Jisung, thoughts of this move influencing his life were dawning on him, and Seungmin felt the urge to just go sleep on his couch seeping through his core. This might be the last time Seungmin moved in somewhere new. Unless he was forced to again because his neighbor became weirded out by him.
“You too,” Seungmin sighed heavily, pointing at the exit.
Felix looked attentively at him. He must have found the answer he was searching for in Seungmin’s features because in the next moment, his expression softened as though Seungmin didn’t just tell them to get out, but asked nicely to leave. Maybe, his tiredness was also visible upon taking a close look, Seungmin thought. Felix took the trash bag that Seungmin was still holding, but had totally forgotten about.
“You still have a lot of work to do tomorrow, so just go and get some rest.” He then shook the bag a little bit as if signaling that he would take care of it.
On the doorstep, Jisung didn’t fail to add a remark in his style. This person was obsessed not only his sexy fitness trainer, but being the one who always has the last word.
“I hope sleeping at a new place will fix your usual ugliness at least a little, so you’ll have a chance to bang your cute neighbor.” And he even had the indecency to wiggle his eyebrows in a suggestive way.
Seungmin almost threw his precious pillow at that absolute violation of the world pretending to be a human. Bless Felix once again for not opening the door to the hallway with his neighbor before Jisung finished his goodbyes. Or else Seungmin would be forced to move out on the same day he moved in.
The next day, it was a lovely Saturday afternoon, until Felix showed up on his doorstep. It was just after Seungmin had unpacked his last box of belongings – a collection of DC comics. Felix smiled brightly after Seungmin swung the door open, gently shaking a plastic container in front of him.
“I baked some brownies for you. Gotta praise you for your hard work,” he chuckled, entering Seungmin’s apartment, both of them still standing in the open doorway. Seungmin swore he could see a golden light around his friend. And what was that? The smell of chocolate? So prominent even after Felix made his way from the dorms to his place? Seungmin almost tasted the sweetness on his tongue. He had already tasted Felix’s pastries and the wish to eat them again was still there. Now, upon smelling this sweetness and having reminisced on the taste since the last time, his wish became even stronger, if anything. Just like that, his afternoon turned from just plain okay to awesome, Seungmin thought. And, okay, he wasn’t an affectionate person per se, but if he could shower someone from his friends’ circle with love, it would definitely be Felix. He could kiss Felix right now on the spot.
“I love you, Felix.” To not break his usual unaffectionate attitude completely, Seungmin chose to just sigh dreamily as he was closing the door instead of going for the hug he craved. While doing so, he happened to accidentally make eye contact with a person opposite who seemed to have just arrived home. It was the cute neighbor he had behaved rudely with just yesterday. The man was just as gorgeous as that day, but this time he was wearing what looked like practice clothes. “Does he dance or something?” Seungmin asked in his head as he forced himself to close his mouth. His neighbor’s neck was dripping with sweat and his blonde hair was tied back cutely in a ponytail with a red bow. His bangs were slightly plastered to his forehead. Despite seeing Seungmin, there was a friendly smile on his full pink lips, eyes turning into small crescents from it and full of warmness. He then waved his hand lightly, saying hi. Drop dead gorgeous. Seungmin’s cause of death would only partly be this man, the other half from embarrassment. How long had he been he standing there ogling the poor man shamelessly again? His neighbor raised his eyebrows questioningly, a small frown now evident in the corner of his mouth.
“Oh, hi!” Seungmin finally managed to pull himself from the frozen spell by gripping his doorknob for dear life. Say your name, a hysterical voice in his head screeched.
“Hey, I’m Hwang Hyunjin, your neighbor,” he said. His eyes were full of amusement for some reason. It must have been entertaining to watch Seungmin suffer from a loss of words, closing and opening his mouth like a fish, observing his pathetic attempts at coming up with something intelligible to say. Seungmin’s thought process must have reflected on his face as well if the man’s snicker was any indication. The sound was so beautiful that it sent Seungmin’s brain into overdrive or it might have just shut down at that point, because there’s no way he would have said something so stupid if he had been in his right mind.
“We aren’t dating,” Seungmin’s voice sounded emotionless on its own, too. He wasn’t responsible for that. He then pointed between himself and Felix who was really trying his best not to burst out with laughter – squeezing his eyes shut, twitching mouth and all. Seungmin decided to just shut the door. Again. He didn’t even want to know his neighbor’s reaction to this catastrophe of a meant-to-be introduction slash apology for yesterday. He still was tempted to look in the peephole though, but instead chose to bang his head on the cold steel of the door – hopefully, it would cool him down a little before he had to face Felix. Truth be told, it was it’s better that it was and not Jisung. That idiot would already make fun of his encounter with a beautiful man, but Felix was better than that. He always was. Just like now – he was trying to mask his laugh with coughing, but sadly gave up on that and started cackling the moment Seungmin turned around. It proved that Felix wasn’t entirely an angel, but close to it. Seungmin almost shuddered picturing Jisung bursting out in laughter the moment Seungmin’s words left his mouth, embarrassing him even more in front of his neighbor. So, Seungmin was grateful. And hey, he still had Felix’s brownies. After Felix was done with his laughing fit while Seungmin was scowling, he looked at Seungmin pitifully:
“Uh…” he tried.
An awesome Saturday, my foot, Seungmin thought. Not awesome at all.
“Don’t,” Seungmin raised his hand in front of Felix with an open palm.
Seungmin started walking to the kitchen counter, because if he stood still even for a second more, he might explode. The kitchen counter being made from marble actually seemed like a fancier surface to bang his head on. Huh.
“It wasn’t that bad.” Felix tailed him and put his brownies on the kitchen counter now, on the same spot that Seungmin had found the most appealing to knock his brains out. Seungmin groaned.
“Actually, I wanted to bring up your neighbor before I even got here,” Felix smiled, eyes still twinkling with remaining laughter.
Seungmin raised his eyebrows.
“Didn’t you just see how embarrassing our exchange was? I would rather you not talk about this and him at all for like… a month. I need to recover.”
“You’ll see him earlier than that and your trauma will resurface anyway. Unless you don’t leave your flat for a month.”
Seungmin stared at him pointedly, but it gave little to no effect.
“You still need to go to work if you want to pay rent on time,” Felix continued, putting up one finger. And then another. “And you can’t skip classes or that’ll throw your reputation of a perfect student away. Now, we don’t want that, do we?” Felix sat at one of the bar stools and put his elbows on the counter and his chin in his hands.
At that Seungmin pouted. And then gave in, because the words were pretty reasonable. Seungmin was a sucker for logic, too. It also looked like Felix wouldn’t just let it go. He didn’t have a choice, really.
“Okay, what’s your point?”
“Go and talk to him,” Felix simply said, tapping his fingers on the counter.
“You’re kidding, right?” Seungmin hissed and gestured in the direction of the door. “You witnessed how incoherent I was just seeing him. You just made fun of it, too.”
“You’ll have to talk to him sooner or later if you don’t want to seem like a weirdo. Why not now? You have an amazing opportunity.” He pointed at the container with brownies. “Offer him some.”
Seungmin furrowed his eyebrows once again. The thought process his brain was going through today was a lot more complicated than his essay on Literature. He lifted the container and inspected it with squinted eyes, as though he had X-ray vision to see if Jisung happened to be around when Felix cooked and put some poison in the batter while the baker was distracted by chocolate. Wait, Jisung was more likely to be distracted by it.
“They’re good, Seungminnie and you know that,” Felix disrupted his train of thoughts and calculations. He hopped on his feet instantly, obviously taking Seungmin’s actions to mean accepting his idea or at least considering it. And, yeah, okay, Seungmin knew how good Felix’s pastries were. “It’s perfect for introducing yourself to your neighbor and, he’ll definitely think you’re nice and forgets all about your…” He trailed off with a pensive look on his face, snapping his fingers as if it helped to come up with the right word to describe the awkward disaster of a situation. Jisung would have straightforwardly called Seungmin an idiot, not sparing his feelings, and Seungmin was thankful that it wasn’t him. It didn’t stop him from mentally kicking Jisung’s ass for his hypothetical insults. Thank goodness, he wasn’t here, or more like thank his hot trainer who was fixated on regular and consistent workout sessions, not allowing Jisung to slack. “Um… misunderstanding” Felix was finally able to force out.
“Thank you,” Seungmin said coldly.
“So, what will you say?”
Seungmin took the lid off the container, sniffing the pastries.
“First, I really need to run a test on the taste just in case Jisung put some shit while you were baking and you didn’t notice.”
Felix smiled triumphantly as if Seungmin had already agreed to his plan.
But just to be sure, Felix later threatened to message the incident to Jisung, telling him everything. Seungmin realized then that he was actually quite far from being an angel.
Seungmin was staring at the doorbell for at least thirty seconds, rotating the plate of brownies, looking for a great angle to present them. He wasn’t nervous. He understood that if he didn’t ring the damn bell, he would look like a creep, waiting for the right time to break into the apartment and kill someone. Not an awesome Saturday? Scratch that. It was horrendous and still had room to worsen even more if Seungmin didn’t pull himself together. Okay, Seungmin braced himself and rang the bell before he chickened out.
It was a terrible idea, flashed through his mind after his handsome, so steamy hot neighbor opened the door. He was cute, too. Mostly, cute upon closer examination. Not that Seungmin was staring or anything. It was just that the man’s soft, comfortable clothes and loose fluffy hair were too hard to not notice. And appreciate, yes. Judging by the look in his eyes, he recognized Seungmin, of course. Quite an unforgettable performance he had given. He leaned on the doorframe and folded his hands over his chest.
“How can I help you?”
Seungmin mentally forced himself to get out of his now usual state of flustered mess for the umpteenth time. He blamed his beautiful neighbor’s smooth and velvety voice. Distracted by that and feeling his heart racing, Seungmin didn’t even register how he started to fan himself. Shoot. He abruptly stopped, looking anywhere but Hyunjin, but catching his amused smile with periphery vision.
“The weather broadcast didn’t promise hot temperature today, but here we are,” Seungmin awkwardly said. Scientific approach. Good. He then felt something click in his head and he remembered that he had to gather what was left of his sanity and pretend that he was normal. “Hey,” he greeted with an expressionless face. He succeeded in removing any emotions from his voice and face. Hyunjin seemed confused at this sudden change, questioningly arching his eyebrow. “I’m Kim Seungmin, your new neighbor, just moved here,” and Seungmin proceeded to give a friendly smile. It felt anything like that though; instead, it came out stiff. The slight unimpressed look Hyunjin gave him confirmed that. Seungmin hoped he didn’t look like he was forced to be here. He genuinely wanted to make friends with him, but he was too nervous to be cool about it.
“Yeah, I noticed,” the blonde boy suddenly chuckled, which somehow relieved Seungmin’s nerves a little. Hyunjin must haven’t taken this personally. Seungmin was far from disliking his company, he just sucked at engaging in chill conversations with strangers. Especially, pretty strangers like that. Hyunjin seemed lovely. Not only by appearance. “You’re kind of an interesting person, Kim Seungmin.”
Hearing Hyunjin calling his name didn’t help with calming down his heart. Give it a break.
“Um, so… Hyunjin,” Seungmin realized this was the first time that he had said his name. It tasted nice on his tongue. Seungmin decided the name really suited the other. Something graceful and equally beautiful as its owner. “Uh…” he trailed off, hypnotized by Hyunjin’s attentive and expectant eyes. Seungmin lowered his gaze in an attempt to concentrate and gather some words, so his eyes fell on the pink plate. Hyunjin followed his line of sight and looked at it, too, with an interest. “Right. I wanted to apologize if I behaved rudely yesterday and, oh, today, too. You know, with shutting the door like that. These are brownies,” he raised the plate to shield himself from Hyunjin’s attention, just for a second. He then met Hyunjin’s gaze to show how sincere he was about this. “As an offering for peace.”
Hyunjin softly smiled at that.
“You’re cute when you’re blushing.”
“I’m not…” Seungmin stopped mid-sentence to touch his cheeks as if he hadn’t felt the exact moment they got warm. Seungmin fanned himself a little. For the joke, sure thing. “So, I promise these aren’t poisoned or anything.” The change of topic had never been smoother, Seungmin thought. He shoved the plate in Hyunjin’s hands and turned around to go straight to his apartment, but thought of how rude it may seem. And not wanting to repeat his mistakes, he came back to Hyunjin who was watching him with sparkles in his eyes and didn’t think of anything better than:
“Enjoy,” he waved at him for some reason and ran away. The light chuckle followed him to the door. Once in the safety of his home, Seungmin pressed his back to the door and found himself smiling dopily. Felix peeped out of the kitchen curiously. He needed merely a second to assess Seungmin’s state to find out how the meeting went. But Seungmin wasn’t sure about that. Maybe, Felix already knew, unable to resist the urge to spy on him.
“I suppose it went well.,” Felix looked like a child who was opening his present on Christmas.
Seungmin nodded just not to leave Felix hanging. Or because he didn’t trust his voice at the moment. Same thing.
Hyunjin and his damned beauty, Seungmin thought, sliding down the door.
The following day, Seungmin was working on one of his assignments when the doorbell suddenly broke the peaceful silence of his apartment.
Neither Jisung, nor Felix texted him that they were going to stop by. Jisung could visit without a heads up, but he had told him that he would be working on music with Chan in the studio all day. And let’s say it was a parallel universe where Felix could come unannounced, too, but he would still be in love with Chan even if it was another world, so would be hanging out with the producers. In this universe, though he had a dance practice as – there would be a showcase soon. That meant that some stranger desperately needed to talk to him.
The stranger turned out to not really be a stranger. Because of course, it was Hyunjin on the other side of the door. Seungmin choked on the air.
“Hi,” his neighbor hesitantly greeted him, looking concerned as Seungmin’s face contorted in pain.
Seungmin coughed awkwardly and propped the door with his shoulder in a hopefully casual way. Yeah, right.
“Hi.”
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” Hyunjin said despite the fact that he rang the doorbell and hadn’t broken into his place. “Just wanted to thank you for the brownies.” He then touched the nape of his neck in embarrassment for some reason. “They were really tasty.” Seungmin felt his cheeks redden after Hyunjin stared at him intently. Did he have something on his face? He barely suppressed the urge to touch his face to check. Maybe, there were crumbs from the sandwich he had during lunch break, which was highly unlikely or more like impossible – he was not a pig or Jisung. Meanwhile, Hyunjin had apparently remembered something and took out a blue carton box from his backpack. Seungmin noticed that he was wearing sports clothes once again.
“Here,” the man held it out to him. “It’s not a brownie, but it’s delicious, I promise. From my favorite bakery.”
Seungmin dumbly stared at the box:
“Your favorite bakery?” he croaked. He would combust from cuteness overload any moment now. Hyunjin’s sweet smile might be the last straw.
“Yes,” he chuckled and Seungmin swore he could feel his brains melt at the sound.
Seungmin carefully took the sweets from Hyunjin, feeling their hands brush slightly. His cheeks won’t be a normal color today; they might even stay like that for a long time, Seungmin supposed. He pulled the box close to his chest, sighing. His nose caught the sweet smell of freshly baked pastries. He couldn’t control his expression right now at all, so he hoped his reaction didn’t come out creepy. Hyunjin was standing, eyes crinkling from smiling widely, totally not running away anywhere. Seungmin must have passed this one then.
“Thank you,” Seungmin smiled. Really, the fact that he his neighbor thought about bringing him something to thank him for the brownies, planned to buy something in return, and made time to stop by and give it to him must be a good sign, right? He and Hyunjin could be friends and his neighbor didn’t think he was a weirdo now, did he?
Hyunjin just waved him off in response as if it wasn’t a big deal for him. Even if the bakery was on his way or he didn’t buy them for Seungmin originally, but remembered him eventually, it still made Seungmin’s heart warm. The thought and the effort are what counted. Hyunjin spoke out hurriedly:
“I’m not sure if it beats your brownies though. You truly make the most incredible pastries I’ve ever tried. It was a really rough day at work and these things healed me, I’m not even kidding, Seungmin.”
Okay, okay, slow down, Seungmin told his heart. Hyunjin saying his name shouldn’t have affected him that much, but it did, damn it. Had his name always been this pretty? Or did it become like that after coming from Hyunjin’s pretty mouth?
“Really?” Seungmin giggled. What?
Hyunjin smiled once again. If making weird noises or making an idiot out of himself could bring his smile on, Seungmin was happy to comply. Because the things that smile did to his heart. Please, it was making Seungmin weak in the knees and at the same time ready to work out for days with Minho (and mind you, this man was ready to kill Seungmin any day) to cool the heat in his veins a little.
Hyunjin nodded and then peeked behind Seungmin:
“I didn’t distract you from anything important, did I?” The worried wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows.
Seungmin slightly shook his head.
“I was just finishing one of my essays for the next week,” Seungmin assured him.
“Today without the freckled cutie who’s not your boyfriend?” Hyunjin teased, smirking. Seungmin was about to pout upon hearing Hyunjin calling Felix cute, but registered the next words and instead, nervously snorted. The amount of willpower Seungmin used to speak nonchalantly after that was immaculate.
“Yeah, he’s not here today.,” The thought that maybe, Hyunjin wanted to see Felix, suddenly flashed through his mind. And he was here only because he hoped to see him, not to thank Seungmin. Too soon for overthinking, he scolded himself mentally. But Hyunjin couldn’t find out that Felix was the one to bake the brownies. Seungmin wouldn’t stand a chance then. “He’s just a friend of mine…” Seungmin blurted out like the idiot he was.
“Yes, I learned that okay,” Hyunjin laughed while Seungmin felt that his ears were perfect to stir fry rice on them.
“He is… on a date, actually.”
“I see.” Seungmin didn’t see any sign of disappointment like he was afraid of, it seemed Hyunjin wasn’t planning to stop smiling today. Seungmin thought of the fitness discount Minho threw in his face the last time he worked out and now was collecting dust somewhere in the depths of his bag. Seungmin couldn’t get rid of the euphoria he felt from Hyunjin’s smile though, so, he decided to direct it somewhere useful. He felt bravery overtaking his body then and blurted out shyly:
“Do you want to come in?” he lifted the box slightly, gesturing that he would be happy to eat with Hyunjin inside his apartment. “Of course, if you’re down. In the mood,” he added lamely. He sensed Jisung facepalm somewhere in Chan’s studio.
“Oh,” Hyunjin’s features contorted in regret. “I would really love to,” — he quickly glanced at his wristwatch— “but my lunch break is almost over and I have a class after that.”
“You came here during lunch break?” Seungmin nearly dropped the blue box from shock.
Hyunjin sheepishly lowered his gaze. Seungmin managed to catch pale pink dusted on his cheekbones. His neighbor chuckled nervously.
“Yeah, I must head out if I want to be on time,” his voice was filled with regret and something else Seungmin failed to decipher.
Hyunjin looked at him, giving a small wave.
“See you then.”
Seungmin barely made it to say his goodbyes to him before Hyunjin was already jogging to the elevator.
Seungmin was supposed to finish his damned assignment an hour ago, but Hyunjin’s words couldn’t leave his mind for the same amount of time. Did his neighbor work a stressful job? He must do something related to physical exercises if his attire was anything to go by. A fitness trainer, maybe? If that was the case, Hyunjin burned a lot of calories and he needed some carbs. Or he just had a sweet tooth and it helped him after a stressful day. Either way, Seungmin had been feeling the urge to bring him brownies to lighten up his mood. If that meant Hyunjin would feel relieved and would smile in the pretty way that only he could, Seungmin was ready to learn how to bake pastries. No, Seungmin thought, he couldn’t risk Hyunjin’s health, he should come up with another plan.
Minnie
Hey, Lixie~
I have a favor to ask
Bokkie
Hey <3
Sure ^^ what is it?
Minnie
Can you make me brownies like the last time please?
Bokkie
Of course ⸜ ( ｡ ˃ ᵕ ˂ ) ⸝
But I’m a little preoccupied with my history project right now
I will make them ASAP when I’m free tho
Minnie
Yeah, about this
I need it like by tomorrow
Bokkie
Minnie???
Minnie
It’s for a friend
And I need it like every day
Bokkie
Oh my God
I think I know what’s this about
Is this your cute neighbor again?
I would love to help you with ur luv life
But history is merciless
Minnie
Okay how about I do your homework every day if you make brownies for me?
Bokkie
WHAT??
Minnie you already have a lot of assignments
Minnie
I actually did almost everything for this week so I won’t be exactly busy
Bokkie
Why won’t you just ask him out?
Or talk to him??? Hang out??
Minnie
Bokkie please~
Bokkie
Just for this week
Minnie
Thank you so much!
“Minnie, I really don’t get it.”
Felix and Seungmin were sitting in the cafeteria of their university, exchanging goods. Seungmin put sheets with Felix’s history project and essays for Art Theory in his backpack, while Felix took out the plastic container with brownies and held it out for Seungmin to take. Seungmin already asked him a couple… hundred times if he changed anything in the recipe – he didn’t want his plan to fail. Not after he spent almost two nights working on his friend’s assignments. Felix in return every time answered that he stuck to the original brownies like last time.
“You should just ask him out,” his friend was trying to convince him once again, this time face to face. Seungmin just shook his head and took the homemade stress relievers for a person in desperate need.
“We are not that close yet,” Seungmin retorted. “He told me he has stressful days at work sometimes and these brownies help him to raise his mood, so I’m just helping out is all.” It really wasn’t about getting Hyunjin to like him, Seungmin just wanted him to be happy.
“Dude, how are you going to present it to him? With a bow or something?” Ah, unfortunately, Jisung was there, too. Filled in on everything that he had missed from Seungmin’s nonexistent love life. But Felix was too stubborn to call it like that. Ridiculous. On the other side of the table, Jisung was munching on his sandwich and at the same time putting some sense into his friend. Or he thought so. Chewing with his mouth open. Disgusting. “And for a week? He could grow tired of these things. Didn’t this thought pass through your genius mind, professor?”
Seungmin squinted his eyes at Jisung. The audacity to call him out while he wasn’t doing any better.
“Yeah? Did Minho already get tired of your weak ass?”
Jisung choked on his sandwich then. Serves him right, Seungmin thought while Felix was frantically patting Jisung’s back and making him drink water. Then Felix turned to Seungmin with a small smile:
“Good luck, Minnie.”
Okay, he now had secured precious stress relievers for his neighbor. The next part was a lot harder. Originally he planned to hand them to Hyunjin himself, but then the fact that he didn’t know his schedule at all, so automatically didn’t know when he would be home got in the way. And standing near his flat’s door for who knew how long didn’t seem right or appealing. And it wasn’t that he couldn’t wait for him; he surely could. He could wait for this guy for hours if needed. Plus, it didn’t really matter to Seungmin where he would be daydreaming about their dates: in the corridor near Hyunjin’s apartment or at home, pretending to do something productive. But the problem was that he couldn’t do it, not without looking like a psycho or a creep.
So, instead, he opted to just leave it outside. He put it in the plastic bag and hung it on the doorknob. As he was exiting his flat, determined to finish this plan of his, Seungmin caught himself thinking that it would look strange if Hyunjin would find this without any note informing him who this dessert was from. He might not even eat it, because who would accept the food that was brought by some stranger? But Seungmin couldn’t do it – firstly, he didn’t want Hyunjin to be obliged to get him something in return, because he was that kind of person. A sweet one, Seungmin dreamily sighed. Secondly, Seungmin would be embarrassed to face him if Hyunjin found out it was him, it would be so clear how gone he was for him so soon. No, he absolutely couldn’t let him know it was him. Oh! Seungmin nearly jumped right then and there when a sudden idea came to his desperate mind.
He could leave a note that it was it’s from someone else – for example, Mrs. Min. She lived on the same floor. Seungmin had met her the other day. She was such a sweet woman, asking how he was doing, if everything was okay with his new apartment. She probably baked, too. Perfect final phase of a plan. And even if Hyunjin would guess that the brownies were from him, he could just deny it. The possibility of Hyunjin going to the woman and finding everything out had flown over Seungmin’s genius head. Maybe, it was sleep deprivation from finishing all of Felix’s assignments or cackling at Jisung’s memes in between that made him overlook such an important detail.
The next day, Seungmin took out the trash in his pajamas, because, why not? He was too tired to dress properly for that, sue him. And look, because it was his building and not a public space, it didn’t matter as long as he was dressed in something. Seungmin had a flashback to one of the drunk nights with Jisung and Felix in the dorms. Truth or dare was a really scary game when you’re sober, but according to Jisung it could lead to accidents when you weren’t. The driver of a truck who was just about to run over a naked Jisung would agree. Seungmin agreed as well.
Just as he was returning to his apartment, head in the Psychology presentation he had to make for both himself and Felix, the door opposite his opened. Hyunjin met his gaze and his lips were pulled into a wide smile instantly. His neighbor had dyed his hair black, but thank goodness hadn’t cut it. It wasn’t in a cute messy bun today, and instead was styled as though Hyunjin was ready for some fancy photoshoot. His clothes and makeup further proved it. Seungmin was almost drooling at the sight of his neck being exposed by his black button-up and his long legs that were perfectly complimented by black trousers. Hyunjin’s all black outfit with newly dyed hair knocked any thoughts about studying out of Seungmin. Did Hyunjin apply cologne, too? Something pleasantly musky would be so perfect. If Seungmin dared to step closer would he be able to smell it? Just to check if it went well with the vibe was all. Hyunjin decided to speak then:
“Hi, Seungmin.” His smile somehow became more tender. He draped a black jacket over his shoulders.
Seungmin swallowed. “Um, hi! F-fancy seeing you here. Wow, you look very good,” he regained his composure and spoke. The key was to not think about how good it would be to hold Hyunjin’s hand or link arms with him. It was a lot harder to do when his neighbor was standing in front of him, but it should be easier with practice, Seungmin calmed himself down. Next time he would be more prepared.
“Thanks,” Hyunjin shyly responded, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. What a coincidence, Seungmin had just thought about how it was sticking out of his hairstyle and contemplated tucking it into place. Composure, Seungmin reminded himself, aware of how his hand was itching to touch Hyunjin’s hair.
“Ah, are you… going out with someone?” Seungmin found himself asking. Only the second the question left his mouth, did he realized what a mistake he had made. How stupid he sounded. Of course, Hyunjin was going out. As he should. Why wouldn’t he? He wasn’t an antisocial hermit like Seungmin. He could enjoy life without overthinking every action. He seemed like such a lovely person to be around. People who were close to him didn’t know how lucky they were.
“Yeah, it’s just some friends from work,” Hyunjin specified. “I’m definitely not dating them, I just hardly get to see them outside of work.” Seungmin furrowed his eyebrows, confused. Why was Hyunjin was telling him his plans in such detail – as if he didn’t want Seungmin to be upset or something. Seungmin wasn’t. He didn’t have the right.
Hyunjin wore a hopeful expression as though eagerly waiting for Seungmin to speak. Seungmin thought that he must have been missing something here.
“Well, I hope you have a good time,” Seungmin hoped his voice wasn’t bitter in saying this. He was thinking about how beautifully Hyunjin would look on the dance floor, being the center of attention. About his graceful dance moves and hypnotizing eyes, flickering in the club lights.
Seungmin swore he saw a pout on Hyunjin’s face, but it must have been a trick of the light or his imagination, because it disappeared as quickly as it came. Hyunjin was still smiling – not that wide, but still.
“I wanted to thank you again,” Hyunjin chuckled. Oh my God, Seungmin definitely wouldn’t get used to that pretty sound. He couldn’t resist a smile that appeared on his face automatically, listening to it. Don’t even get started on his laugh. Lost in his thoughts, Seungmin hadn’t even registered the words Hyunjin said, was it something about thanking him? The confusion must have been easy for Hyunjin to catch. “For the brownies, it was really sweet. Ha-ha, literally and metaphorically.”
Seungmin finally took time to process what Hyunjin was talking about. Time for denying.
“What?” He stretched the “a”, turning on his nonexistent acting skills. Furrowed eyebrows, waving his hands in every direction, constipated face, sweating palms – the full package. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Actually, I forgot to turn off the closet. My clothes might already be covered in frost,” Seungmin deadpanned. And slipped into his apartment at the speed of light before Hyunjin could respond. There was quiet, and Seungmin just stood there for a moment, trying to calm his rapid breaths. Had the fake note not worked?
In the following days, Seungmin actively avoided Hyunjin. By all means. Whatever it took. And by that he meant even hiding behind some buffy man while waiting until Hyunjin passed him in the building or taking the stairs instead of the elevator to not accidentally be trapped with his neighbor. Fate was trying to have them collide too often since he started to bring him brownies. And Seungmin hadn’t given up on the plan after being found out so quickly and still took time to leave them at Hyunjin’s door at all costs as well.
The week soon reached its end and Seungmin was weirdly successful at both of his missions – to not meet the man of his dreams and to make him happy with the pastries.
Seungmin, drunk on the joy of accomplishing everything he aimed for, was already contemplating talking Felix into prolonging his promise to bake brownies for one more week. And he had already come up with the argument – to be 100 percent sure that Hyunjin received enough serotonin and was relieved of stress, to confirm that his plan was working. And then he might be able to convince Felix to make some more – how could they cut Hyunjin’s source of happiness this soon? They couldn’t, especially when they were the ones who made him dependent on it. The arguments were totally ridiculous and Seungmin understood that, but he couldn’t do anything about it. If you are being an idiot, do it till the end. Jisung had to support him in this at least.
But despite all his avoidance, Seungmin was meant to meet Hyunjin again at some point. His luck wasn’t eternal. Seungmin just didn’t know that it would be in such unexpected circumstances. In retrospect, he should have taken the stairs like always, but that day had been so exhausting that his body couldn’t bear more torture. He chose the more comfortable elevator. But it soon stopped being the better option, when Seungmin heard a painfully familiar voice exclaiming to hold the doors. He recognized it immediately, but held the door open anyway, because how could he not? Some minutes of awkward silence he could bear if it was for Hyunjin’s comfort. He would just be casual about it. Hyunjin didn’t even know that Seungmin had avoided him, right? That should be no big deal. Right. Hyunjin stepped into the elevator and met Seungmin’s eyes. He gasped in surprise and his lips formed a perfect “O.” Seungmin awkwardly smiled as a greeting.
Hyunjin quickly recovered from his shock and huffed incredulously. Seungmin raised his eyebrows in question, his curiosity won over shyness. His initial way of handling this by staring at the ceiling and pretending that he wasn’t affected and totally unfazed be damned. He didn’t avert his gaze away.
“Seungmin, you became so hard to cross paths with after that day somehow,” Hyunjin elaborated on his reaction. “I wonder if it was intentional or not.”
Seungmin took a deep breath. He knew that their short encounter would end soon seeing the rising floor indicator out of the corner of his eye, only a few more floors. He exhaled. This was ridiculous, really. Now, when he was standing in front of Hyunjin, he felt like a complete and utter idiot for all the excessive planning and running away. Like always, things were different when he was facing reality. It didn’t break his desire to hide in the corner or to sink into the ground, though.
“I am busy these days,” he lied lamely. “It’s hard to be a working student. Not that I expected it to be easy,” he found himself saying. He didn’t plan to be that sincere all of a sudden. It didn’t discharge his stupid behavior, but he was telling truth, he had been struggling. Hyunjin wasn’t his usual choice for venting honestly about out his problems, but it seemed like he felt so guilty that his brain decided to come clean about his life in some way. Seungmin was afraid that Hyunjin would think that he didn’t want to see him, too. He was just embarrassed.
Hyunjin’s face softened upon hearing sincerity seeping through Seungmin’s voice. He looked like he was about to speak, when the elevator abruptly stopped, shaking roughly, and the lights went out.
Seungmin acted on pure instinct. It wasn’t intentional at all. He jumped on Hyunjin, clutching at his sides, the man grunting under him, but making an effort to not drop him and stabilize their new position so Seungmin wouldn’t fall.
“I wasn’t expecting you to weigh this much, Seungminnie,” Hyunjin said, sucking in a breath. Seungmin was eternally panicking so much that he didn’t even notice the endearing nickname slipping through his neighbor’s lips. Hyunjin’s breathing started to get uneven and Seungmin felt both of them shaking slightly. He couldn’t tell if it was because Hyunjin was really struggling or was this because of shaking from his fear of the dark, but then he felt a knee propping him up so he didn’t slip out of the man’s grip and onto the floor. Just as Seungmin was gripping Hyunjin for his dear life, Hyunjin was gripping him. It finally shook Seungmin out of the state of panic due to the darkness, but now he was panicking about giving Hyunjin discomfort. That overshadowed the previous worries. Seungmin jumped down awkwardly.
“I’m so sorry, oh my God, what have I done,” Seungmin started rambling. He turned in the direction that he supposed Hyunjin was standing and blindly reached to touch the man who was now breathing hard. His hand found Hyunjin’s collar by some miracle. Seungmin pulled him closer without thinking. “Are you okay?”
Hyunjin laughed loudly. He was finding this amusing for some reason.
“I can take it. You underestimate me, Seungminnie. Ouch,” he cried out, clutching at his heart dramatically.
This time Seungmin heard the use of the used nickname loud and clear in the silence of the elevator. His heart was still beating like crazy and this fact didn’t do anything to calm it down, but maybe Seungmin was just more on edge than usual because of the dark.
“I…am just afraid of darkness. I’m sorry, I didn’t want to jump you like a scared cat.”
Hyunjin hummed and a few seconds of shuffling later, a light of a phone flashed in his hand, making two shadows of them dance on the walls of the elevator.
“You were more like a puppy, though.” Seungmin didn’t know how, but he could tell that Hyunjin was smiling right now. It must’ve been his heightened senses. He also felt his cheeks get warm. He was told that he resembled a dog by his friends enough times that he got used to it. But hearing it from his crush was new; that’s why it affected him this much. “And I won’t lie and say that I didn’t like holding you and shielding you from the monsters hiding here,” Hyunjin added delightfully. Was he flirting? Seungmin could imagine the man winking at him. Seungmin squeaked and although Hyunjin couldn’t see him now, he still hid behind his hands.
Seungmin saw Hyunjin moving closer and leaning against the wall behind him. Seungmin started backing up until he felt his back touch the cold, grounding steel. His neighbor’s gaze was focused on something on his phone and he couldn’t help but gaze at his features. He hadn’t seen Hyunjin for a week and never this close, so he decided to fix that problem right now. He spotted a mole under his left eye and then his gaze lowered to his lips. They looked so soft and plush that he physically restrained himself from reaching for them. Hyunjin’s face was so close now as he was looking at something intently, Seungmin just needed to lean in a little to close the remaining distance between them. Hyunjin pressed a button and it did nothing to break Seungmin’s trance, unfortunately. But the voice coming from the speaker did.
“How can I help you?”
“My neighbor and I have gotten stuck in the elevator somewhere between the 6th and the 7th floors,” Hyunjin spoke calmly. Seungmin felt his breath fanning on his cheek and involuntarily closed his eyes, throwing his head back and leaning on the supportive elevator’s wall. How could Hyunjin be so calm? Meanwhile, Seungmin swore his heart could burst from their proximity any minute.
The rest of the conversation successfully flew over Seungmin’s head as he was lost in his own thoughts about his neighbor. The last one was about how easily Seungmin could turn his head slightly and press his lips to Hyunjin’s smooth and definitely soft cheek. Oh, it would be so nice.
Seungmin shook himself mentally – he needed to focus on getting out of this metal box. Hyunjin was doing all the work, while Seungmin fantasized about the softness of his skin. Really collected, Seungmin thought. He must have turned his head to Hyunjin at some point anyway, because he found himself holding eye contact with the man. When did that happen?
“Are you okay?” Hyunjin shot Seungmin’s question back at him. And accidentally blinded with the light of the phone. “I’m so sorry,” he blurted out apologetically as Seungmin squawked, instantly turning off the flashlight.
“No!” I can’t see you now, Seungmin wanted to exclaim, but resisted in time.
“Oh, my phone battery is almost dead, we need to keep it alive in case something happens again.” Hyunjin must have thought that Seungmin was scared of the darkness once again, but little did he know that Seungmin somehow forgot about the entire situation all of this. His neighbor seemed to hesitate to say his next words, but after a deep exhale, he added. “You can hold my hand if you’re scared. Only if you want,” he quickly backtracked out of fear of making Seungmin uncomfortable.
Meanwhile, Seungmin was nearly set to a cardiac arrest just now, but wasn’t about to turn him down. He shyly replied:
“That would be… helpful.”
He felt Hyunjin carefully touch Seungmin’s hand as if it was he who was scared. Maybe, he feared darkness the same way Seungmin did, but tried to stay unaffected by it for the sake of Seungmin’s sanity – someone had to have a clear mind after all. Seungmin squeezed his hand lightly, curling their fingers together. Hyunjin’s hand was warm and a little sweaty, but holding his hand brought strange comfort to his heart. He didn’t think about the situation they happened to be experiencing, but now the nervousness from being in Hyunjin’s presence vanished. As though it was smoke that billowed after a magician executed their trick, making people question whether magic is real or if it was a scam. Seungmin’s worries about how much of an idiot he made himself look like this past week disappeared the same way. The only thought that was in Seungmin’s mind right then was how he had made a mistake once again. He wanted to get out on his floor and run into his apartment as soon as possible, but he also didn’t want this elevator trip to end any time soon. He wanted to hold Hyunjin’s hand for the whole day, even if it meant being stuck here for the same amount of time. It felt like one of his daydreams. But the soft skin under his fingers helped him to make sure this was real.
“Better?” Hyunjin whispered.
“Yes,” Seungmin’s words were muffled by the collar of his shirt as he was trying to hide his face despite the elevator’s darkness.
Hyunjin squeezed his hand as if to provide Seungmin more comfort, as if he wasn’t doing enough already. Seungmin smiled contentedly. And then for some reason, Felix’s words popped into his mind.
Just talk to him!
Seungmin raised his head and turned to Hyunjin, forcing his eyes to get used to the dark so he could see at least the outlines of Hyunjin’s face. Maybe, the fact that Seungmin couldn’t see him was for the better. The feeling of comfort didn’t go anywhere, but Seungmin felt courage taking over him, too.
“So, what did the operator say?” He decided to check on the situation first. Seungmin needed to think about their lives. It didn’t matter that his thoughts were far from it, he made himself think straight just for a second.
“She said the help should arrive in half an hour max, so don’t worry, we won’t be suffocating here for hours,” Hyunjin rushed to assure him. Yeah, Seungmin had definitely been worried about spending too much time in the elevator, getting so much time to look at Hyunjin’s pretty face and talk with him in an enclosed space. Certainly awful.
“Right. Um… so, do you want – maybe, you don’t have to – to play question-answer with me?”
“Question-answer?” Hyunjin’s voice was laced with confusion, but there wasn’t any trace of mocking or indifference. If anything, he sounded interested in what Seungmin had to say. As if sweet Hyunjin could be mean or something.
“I ask you something about you and you ask me about something that you are keen to know about me.” Seungmin felt a little bit self-conscious after saying that, so he added in his usual, colder manner. He hoped he would nail nonchalance this time, because he had been successful previously, wasn’t he? The key is being emotionless, right? “It’s a little bit silly, but we don’t have anything to do anyway, so…” He carelessly shrugged his shoulders, feigning disinterest. Like it was nothing if his neighbor declined.
Hyunjin didn’t give off vibes of being uncomfortable or freaked out by Seungmin’s randomness.
“We can try,” he replied and Seungmin decided to focus on Hyunjin’s comforting warmth passing through the skin-to-skin contact. Would it be more comfortable if he put his head on Hyunjin’s shoulder?
“Then you go first.”
“Well, I actually am curious about something,” Hyunjin asked airily. “Where did you learn to bake such delicious brownies?”
Seungmin spluttered:
“I did like one time, and it was a pure accident, really,” Seungmin averted his gaze, abandoning his attempts to see a glimpse of Hyunjin’s face. Maybe, his neighbor had super vision, so it was better to play it safe. He lowered his voice, too in the hopes that it could help to mask the obvious lie. Seungmin couldn’t can’t really lie. But that just made Hyunjin to laugh harder.
“Seungmin, I know that it is you who brings me brownies,” Hyunjin mused, then sighed before continuing. “It’s not that hard to connect the dots, you know. And for your information, Mrs. Min doesn’t live here, you dummy. She sometimes visits her friend Mr. Lee who lives here. She’s pretty grumpy, if you ask me. Definitely not the type to bake.”
“Well, I expected this cover eventually backfire. You could’ve asked that woman and found out, anyway,” Seungmin shook his head. “I didn’t think it through. My initial goal was just to brighten up your mood.”
This moment was something that Seungmin dreaded. He was about to tell the other how he couldn’t actually bake and everything that he tried to cook literally ended up on fire one way or another. But if he wanted to become close with Hyunjin, he needed to begin whatever relationship it would bloom into without lies.
“I didn’t bake those brownies, by the way.” The expression stoic, good job, Seungmin praised himself. He didn’t notice slightly panicked notes slipping through his cool exterior, but Hyunjin did and almost cooed at the sight. But then he coughed and feigned annoyance:
“I thought we solved this case,” he whined.
“I… Felix baked them,” Seungmin squirmed, closing his eyes and finally dropping his casual act.
“You made your friend bake brownies for me?” It sounded more like a question than a statement. Hyunjin was probably thinking that he was stuck with a bully, so Seungmin rushed to assure him:
“No! Of course, not. I did homework for him for a week,” he exclaimed.
“A-ha! I knew Seungminnie couldn’t be a meanie,” Hyunjin giggled.
Seungmin felt his own hand sweat more than it already was and mentally manifested that Hyunjin wouldn’t be grossed out by that. He couldn’t break their embrace yet.
“You made it even cuter than it already was,” Hyunjin’s voice was full of adoration now. “Is that why you had been busy these days?” his neighbor joked and Seungmin turned his face to him on instinct. But it turned out he was able to clearly see his face this time. Hyunjin was smiling so contently.
He already knew about this whole mess Seungmin made, but he was still so pleased to hear Seungmin admit it. It was adorable. Seungmin was suddenly determined to confess his crush but expressed in his usual straightforwardness. Maybe, this would scare Hyunjin away, but the lingering touch of his hand still comforted him and he realized that he wasn’t afraid to be himself around Hyunjin. It was stupid of him not to act on it when Hyunjin was such a nice person. At least, it seemed this way at the moment. He found himself being curious about Hyunjin, wanting to know him better. Previously, it was just basic infatuation that he only dared to just sit and think about. Seungmin might’ve been a person of action, but it was a little bit different when it came to feelings. The words were already out of his mouth when he caught himself thinking about confessing:
“I like you, that’s why I’m busy these days,” he answered shyly. He was supposed to sound confident, so Hyunjin wouldn’t think he was unsure of it. Based on his reaction – which was stunned silence – he either simply didn’t expect this or (what Seungmin was mostly afraid of) he didn’t believe it. Maybe, he heard it wrong. “I like you!” he repeated louder.
“I, um, didn’t know that you would be the first to confess,” Hyunjin shyly said. “You were so shy about this brownie incident, too, so you surprised me, Seungmin. Apparently, you’re full of surprises,” he smiled so brightly that Seungmin saw it clearly even with his shitty sight. “I like you, too.”
Now it was Seungmin’s turn to freeze and be too stunned to speak. Meanwhile, that didn’t seem to faze Hyunjin in the slightest.
“I would like to take you out on a date.”
Oh. Oh. Seungmin found himself speaking his thoughts out loud. Had he caught Jisung’s no brain-to-mouth filter disease? Was that even a disease?
“Just like that?”
Hyunjin snickered.
“Yeah, a dark elevator is probably not an ideal place for this, but I like your cute smile too much to wait for a perfect moment. I want to see it more often, preferably not in the broken elevators.”
Seungmin choked.
“Oh my God.”
“I want to get to know you more, Seungminnie,” Hyunjin said. “But if it’s too fast for you, I –”
“It’s okay!” he interrupted quickly. “I would love to go on a date with you, too.” Finally, in reality, he muttered softly. And when Hyunjin asked what was that he just exhaled sharply, on the verge of laughing, feeling his heartbeat quickening. It appeared that it couldn’t beat even faster than when Hyunjin confessed to him, too, and asked him out just now, but Seungmin was really full of surprises. Even, for himself.
Hyunjin suddenly let go of his hand:
“I really want to kiss you right now, to be honest,” Seungmin was aware that the sound of his breath hitching was heard too clearly and felt his cheeks become impossibly warm.
Hyunjin touched Seungmin’s jaw and gently turned his face so they faced each other. Seungmin squinted really hard and saw Hyunjin’s serene smile which calmed his nerves a little bit. It wasn’t the same comforting feeling as the second before ago, more heated now. But the change surely wasn’t unwelcomed. And then Hyunjin leaned closer. Seungmin wondered why people didn’t make a description hotter than the word “heat.” Heat might be an understatement, it didn’t fit the temperature that was in the air. All the thermometers would shatter. He felt his lips and fingers tingling in from anticipation. Seungmin could touch Hyunjin’s skin freely.
Seungmin didn’t know how, but he knew he could die right at that place. Either from stroke or from fever. Could you die from a fever? Seungmin felt Hyunjin’s breath ghost near his lips and shut his eyes, feeling light-headed. But it was all just to be disappointed in the next moment, because his neighbor went for a cheek instead. On second thought, Hyunjin had done the right thing, it wasn’t the time for that yet. They hadn’t even gone on a date. Yeah, right. This thought supposed to soothe him, but alas.
As if Hyunjin was able to sense his mixed feelings of sadness and confusion, he explained:
“I didn’t want to give you a heart attack, you were breathing so hard,” Hyunjin chuckled, not in a mocking way at all. He was endeared if anything. “I also want to kiss you when I’m able to see your cute pink cheeks.”
And the universe must have waited for this exact moment or Hyunjin’s words, because the lights turned on abruptly and the elevator’s doors started to open. Hyunjin and Seungmin rashly stepped away from each other, making it look like they had been caught doing something inappropriate. A kiss on the cheek, Seungmin thought, smiling to himself. They quickly exited the elevator, scared of being trapped in this metal box for any longer. Not that Seungmin would mind being this close to Hyunjin once more, but his favorite, most precious couch in the apartment he was working hard to afford, sounded more tempting, of course. Hyunjin would likely agree. It would be perfect if Hyunjin would be right beside him, too.
There were two men in uniform standing in front of them. One of them looked really annoyed for some reason, while the other had a big smile plastered on his face, looking extremely pleased with himself apparently.
“Sorry it took so long, this brat kept telling me…” started the shorter man with a pout on his lips, but was effectively shut up by the other one shoving him.
“Kept telling him to thoroughly examine this elevator so there won’t be any more accidents.” He tapped his finger on the metal of the doors, seeming totally unbothered by his partner coughing from the power of his fist, folded in half.
Seungmin and Hyunjin glanced at each other and Hyunjin just shrugged lightly, not finding this even slightly suspicious. Seungmin squinted his eyes at the embodiment of the Cheshire cat standing in the hall as though he fell out of a children’s book. Seungmin stared at him for a solid five seconds until he remembered that he had more important business to attend to right then. Like, offering Hyunjin to visit that cute cozy café he found with Felix near their apartments last week. Seungmin shook his head and decided that how elevators work and what one should do once they broke were definitely out of his level of expertise.
The pair of lovebirds thanked the two building engineers and went further down the corridor and lined up doors of someone else’s flats, smiling widely at each other with sparkling eyes. Seungmin and Hyunjin didn’t seem to notice the two men exchanging glances between themselves.
“So, would you like to explain now why we stood near the elevator’s doors for ten minutes like idiots?” the short, dark-haired short boy questioned, rubbing his side. His partner with fox-like features walked right beside him. They were headed for an exit now, picking up the pace since they were already late for their next appointment. “We could’ve fixed this right away.”
“That’s why you’re still single, Binnie-hyung,” the taller but slimmer boy answered, showing off his perfectly straight rows of teeth.
Changbin scowled at him.
“How would you know, when you’re busy daydreaming about your precious boyfriend, Jeonginnie?” He mocked his friend. Jeongin just laughed loudly instead of replying.
Changbin then smirked proudly. “I am close to getting a date with this one guy,” he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“Oh, that hot fitness trainer?” Jeongin abruptly stopped.
“Minho-hyung, yeah,” he sighed dreamily.
Jeongin hummed and then continued walking, linking arms with Changbin.
“When you go on a date with him, then we’ll talk.”
“Yah, why you don’t believe me?” he whined. “I already asked him and he said yes.”
Jeongin nodded absentmindedly.
“I need a photo of you two in a restaurant or something. I need proof. And also I want to know how fast he’ll run away from you,” he laughed.
“You’ll see,” Changbin huffed in return and Jeongin raised his eyebrows at him. “The date is on Friday,” he spoke softly with red cheeks.
Jeongin pretended to mark the date on his phone’s calendar.