Work Text:
"Paint my nails for me?"
Jiseok looked up from his laptop, seeing Hyeongjun in his bedroom doorway. He had something clutched in his hand, the bulk of it hidden by his palm. He looked a bit shy, in the way that he always held an air of reserve, but still holding his ground as Jiseok looked at him curiously.
"Okay."
Hyeongjun entered the room as Jiseok shut his laptop and stowed it under his bed. He folded himself on Jiseok's duvet, closer to the edge, and opened his palm, revealing a bottle of black nail polish. It was unopened.
"Here, scoot closer." Jiseok pushed the bulk of the duvet away, leaving room for Hyeongjun to sit right in front of him. Hyeongjun did as he was told, his knees pressing against Jiseok's.
He tugged Hyeongjun's left hand into his lap, forcing him slightly forward. His hands were warm as he delicately painted a thin layer of black over Hyeongjun's thumb nail.
Jiseok was hunched over his work, head tilted so that he didn't block the light of the room. His tongue stuck out slightly and Hyeongjun's eyes flitted from his face to the way he held his hand in his own, watching the way he was able to so carefully avoid Hyeongjun's cuticles.
Hyeongjun never painted his own nails. He was clumsy with the brush, sometimes spilling the bottle and making a mess. Jiseok was much better. He painted his nails for the bulk of his high school career, and had since grown accustomed to the other members asking for his service. Seungmin and Jooyeon were his primary customers, but he liked painting Hyeongjun's nails when asked.
Neither of them felt the need to talk, and it was nice to just be casually close to someone like this. Intimate.
As he finished with the pinky, Jiseok glanced up and chuckled. Through the curtain of his bangs, he could see Hyeongjun watching him like a child in awe. It was cute.
"Do you wanna try painting my nails, too?"
Hyeongjun pouted. "You know I'm not good at it."
"I don't mind," Jiseok replied easily. "Plus, it's easier to do someone else's. You can use both hands to be steady."
It took some thinking, but Hyeongjun eventually nodded his head. "Okay."
Jiseok let go of Hyeongjun's hand and let Hyeongjun pull his right one into his lap. He held his painted fingers cautiously, awkwardly splayed in the fear that the paint might smudge. They were tense around their hold of Jiseok's hand.
He grabbed the brush with his other hand and brought it towards Jiseok's nails. There was far too much paint on the brush, though, and he grimaced when some dripped onto his leg. He was thankfully wearing shorts, but he wasn't looking forward to the leg hair he would have to rip out in order to clean it.
Jiseok laughed at the look on Hyeongjun's face, a tintinnabulation that airily filled the room.
"You can scrape some of the extra paint off into the bottle," he said joyously, "It's less messy that way."
Hyeongjun listened to his advice, dipping the brush back into the bottle. He pressed it into the neck as he pulled it out so that only one side of the brush was filled with paint. He brought it back to Jiseok's hand, beginning with the thumb nail like Jiseok had.
He finished a bit sloppily, quite a lot of nail polish had gotten on Jiseok's skin, but the coat was even. He looked up at Jiseok for approval and Jiseok smiled at him encouragingly.
"Try doing the outside of the nail first, then the center. Like when you do a coloring book," Jiseok advised as Hyeongjun began on his pointer finger.
Hyeongjun nodded and continued painting. It was less messy this time, only a few stray marks where the brush refused to color inside the lines. Jiseok reassured him that it was inevitable.
As he painted, Hyeongjun's hand began to relax. He held Jiseok's fingers no less carefully, but they were no longer stiff as he manipulated his hand to get the best angle.
Just as he was finishing the pinky, Seungmin walked into the room. He had obviously just got done with something at the company— loose clothes, backpack slung over his shoulder, and beanie pulled low on his head to hide the shock of newly bleached hair.
"Oh, are you painting nails?" he asked curiously as he put his backpack down by the door. He walked closer as Jiseok nodded.
"Yeah, look," he shoved his hand into Seungmin's face proudly, like he was showing off an engagement ring.
Seungmin jerked back, but then held Jiseok's hand in his own so that he could look at it closer. He turned Jiseok's hand this way and that, moving his head so that he could see it in the light.
"Hyeongjun did this?"
Jiseok nodded, still overly proud.
"You did really well," Seungmin smiled down at Hyeongjun.
Hyeongjun couldn't help the shy blush that warmed his ears, but accepted the compliment regardless with a small, "Thank you."
Seungmin's grin was lopsided and bright as he asked, "Wanna paint my nails too?"
"I don't know…" Hyeongjun trailed off, unconfident and uncertain as his eyes darted between Jiseok's and his own nails.
"Come on, it'll be fun!" Jiseok insisted. "Here—" he twisted around and leaned over so he could open his bedside drawer. Among the various miscellaneous objects, a variety of nail polishes rolled around. Jiseok grabbed the half-empty bottle of black— "You can paint one hand and I can do the other. Are you okay with that?"
Hyeongjun hummed as he thought, brain turning slowly. Only doing one hand was a lot less daunting than two. Realistically, he knew Seungmin would be happy regardless, but the nagging part of his mind chastised him for even entertaining the thought. The members had helped him get better at ignoring that part of his brain, the one that insisted on perfection, so who better to practice with than those same members.
Finally, Hyeongjun nodded slightly. Jiseok and Seungmin beamed at him.
Seungmin plopped down on the bed, to Jiseok's left and Hyeongjun's right. Their bodies made an almost equilateral triangle. One leg was off the side, but the other was bent with his foot hooked behind his calf. This way, all three of their knees pressed together.
They each took a hand and began painting. Jiseok was steady and reassured with his brush strokes. He had painted Seungmin's nails enough to know how broad he could make them without getting on his skin. His breath was warm and steady against Seungmin's fingers.
Hyeongjun was slower, hands shaky and light. He held his breath often, too concentrated on the task at hand. When he did remember to breathe, however, it was light and shallow.
Seungmin couldn't do much outside of talking about his day, the songs that he practiced at the company and how he caught a glimpse of Sungjin sunbaenim in the cafeteria. Hyeongjun was far too focused to respond, but Jiseok prompted Seungmin with questions and banter.
They went back and forth, and the idle chit-chat had the desired effect. Seungmin could feel Hyeongjun's breathing on his skin now; he held his hand more firmly as he finished another nail.
Jiseok was done before Hyeongjun, bottle capped and stored back into his mess of a drawer. Seungmin admired the nails appreciatively, complimenting Jiseok and thanking him for his service.
Hyeongjun finished shortly after, straightening up as he gave Seungmin his hand back. Jiseok and Seungmin both peered at the nails. It was by no means perfect, noticeably more clumsy than the nice edge Jiseok was able to achieve. But it wasn't bad either. There were few to no blotchy patches where he would have to do another layer, no globs of paint that would dry tacky and squishy and easy to peel off. Seungmin was more than satisfied and Jiseok was overflowing with pride.
"I like it," Seungmin said.
"Maybe you can paint my nails from now on," Jiseok teased.
Even though his painted hand was probably dry by that point, Jiseok reached over with his left hand to pinch Hyeongjun's cheek. Hyeongjun made a disgruntled noise at the affection, leaning back but not knocking Jiseok's hand away. With his nose scrunched and upper body invading most of Seungmin's personally space, Hyeongjun said a tentative— but hopeful— "Maybe."