Archive of Our Own ^beta

That’s unusual.

This wasn’t the first time, Jisung thought, but it was unusual that Felix left without peeking through his door to say goodbye nor texting him what his schedule would be like for the day, seeing that it was a Saturday.

It wasn’t that Felix was obligated to, of course not, but it’d been this way between him and his best friend for so long during the weekends. 

Felix had only broken this unspoken agreement twice before. The first time was when they had their biggest argument ever, and the second was when the younger got really drunk one Friday night that he left his phone back in the bar, and ultimately never found it.

Jisung was not the early riser that his best friend, Lee Felix Yongbok, was. Weekends are usually for him to sleep in. So by the time that he’d read all the text messages he’s received overnight, checked Felix’s social media for any clue on where he might be, and then finally glanced over the digital clock on his bedside drawer, it was almost noontime already.

It took him about forty minutes to take a shower, brush his teeth, and dress up to head out, but he made sure to swing by the kitchen first to scarf down the brunch that Felix made for him on a regular weekend basis.

However, the kitchen was spotless and untouched, and no home-cooked food was waiting for Jisung when he got there.

Jisung frowned, then wondered what was so urgent that Felix had left their shared apartment without so much as a knock on his bedroom door, because he was fairly certain he wasn’t dreaming last night when his best friend announced his arrival with a single knock on Jisung’s door.

That thing was sort of one of their many routines, too, and they always observed it even on the weekdays. It was something they made sure to do so that the other was aware of the other’s arrival or otherwise, absence. And usually, too, during the day, they would be diligently updating each other of their whereabouts throughout the day, mostly to make it easy to determine how their set up was going to be, come evening - who was eating dinner at home? Should they cook or order in? Were they out of groceries? Would anyone be home late? Would anyone be bringing friends over?

It was their way of giving each other space, but at the same time, determining if there was any window in each other’s schedules which they could spend with each other. 

Jisung checked his phone for any reply from Felix to his “ Hey, you left so early I didn’t even notice,” as he closed the door to their apartment behind him. There was none.

He hailed a cab and continued to sleuth around for a clue on where Felix might be. Besides, he’d been so preoccupied over wondering where his best friend could have gone so early on a weekend, that he had forgotten to also check Lee Minho’s profile.

Minho, as in Jisung’s crush since forever. 

But Minho had been dating Seungmin for a little over a year already, so it wasn’t like Jisung was planning to make any move, although Minho, him, and Felix have been acquaintances since high school - all members of their drama club.

Quite the opposite actually, Jisung could admit that he should probably start making a serious effort to get over his crush on Minho, especially since his own best friend was pretty close with Seungmin; being family friends and being part of the same dance crew now that they were all in uni.

That’s always been strange to Jisung. Kim Seungmin. In a dance crew.

It wasn’t like the man was a bad dancer, it was just… It felt like an excuse to be with Felix all the time.

Jisung shook himself out of his own thoughts; he was better than this. He’d graduated from this. He was no longer territorial over Felix. Gone were the days when he suspected Seungmin of harboring a crush on his best friend. Kim Seungmin was dating Lee Minho now.

And Jisung was freaking attracted to Minho.

This was no secret to Felix, and he, not just once, had implicitly berated Jisung for his indecision to make a move on Minho before Seungmin snatched the heart of their senior. “It’s not like you were a total stranger to Minho hyung, and you were quite popular even in high school. I don’t know what was holding you back, Hannie.”

So for now, while he waited for his feelings for Minho to wane as a consequence of letting his many earlier chances pass him by, Jisung would be content just casually checking the other’s SNS profiles every now and then. Yet still maybe allow his heart to flutter sometimes at how dainty Minho’s features are - how soft & pretty he was - whenever there was a new selfie.

Jisung sighed at the almost sentimental picture of rain droplets trickling down a glass window that was Minho's latest Instagram post. It was coupled with an equally sentimental caption about sad farewells. No selfie today, he gathered, as he slipped his phone into his back pocket, then made himself comfortable in the backseat of the cab that was en route to a quick stop he just decided to make last-minute before he headed to his Channie hyung’s studio.

*

Hands carrying plastic bags full of snacks (one of them almost tearing at the seams full of Felix’s favorites) awkwardly pushed open the door to the studio which Jisung knew Felix and Seungmin’s dance troupe had reserved every weekend. If he remembered correctly, the troupe needed to squeeze extra hours of practice in because there was an inter-district dance competition coming up.

Upbeat music spilled from where the soundproofing of the room had gaps but he couldn’t hear any loud counting, or the rhythmic and synchronized thud of shoes on the floor so Jisung was glad to catch the boys during their break.

“Oh, Han Jisung!” Bae Jinyoung - who he initially knew through his old friend, Hyunjin, before he knew him as Felix’s dance crew mate - acknowledged his presence, navigating through his phone which apparently controlled the music. Jinyoung lowered the sounds to an almost inaudible level before asking the obvious, “You came for Lixie?”

Jisung nodded, standing in the doorway and noting that most of the usual faces were here, acknowledging his presence with either a wave, a smile, or a small bow – Hyunjin, Jeno, Soobin, Dino. Yet Felix and Seungmin were nowhere to be seen.

“Hannie brough snacks!” Dino hollered, ushering the studio’s visitor in, and promptly taking the bags from Jisung’s hands to dig through. “Felix’s not here though,” the older said quietly, verbalizing Jisung’s observation; almost like a question, because why else would the younger be here if not for his best friend?

“You know where he is?” Jisung casually asked Jinyoung, who was bending down to sit beside Jihoon who was playing a game on his phone.

“Seungmin and him were here earlier, actually,” Dino supplied a little unsurely. “I got here first, then Felix came in after me. When Seungmin arrived though, they excused themselves and talked in hushed tones in that corner.”

“Not gonna lie, it sounded and looked like some serious matter,” Soobin offered through his struggle to open a bag of chips which, if Jisung was not mistaken, he’d unceremoniously snatched from Dino’s hands.

Jeno, who Jisung didn’t even realize was paying attention, piped in, “Yeah. And they left shortly after that, promising to catch up on anything they’ll miss for sitting out today.” He didn’t even look up from his game.

“But it’s not like they would have trouble doing so,” Dino chuckled, “The routine was actually choreographed by Felix and me.”

*

By late afternoon, Jisung was back in their flat yet still had not heard from Felix. 

Needless to say, he was a little more than worried. 

Looking at all the texts he sent his best friend since morning, and seeing how they morphed from playful curiosity to concerned alarm, Jisung sighed.

It was already sundown and not a single word.

This? Felix has never done this. Not once. Ever.

He looked at the clock and decided that if it was still radio silence by dinner time - seven o’clock to be exact - then he would send messages all the way to Australia to alert Felix’s family. Then the police.

With dread filling his gut at his best friend’s strange behavior, deciding whether he should cook or eat out or order in became the least of Jisung’s worries. So he laid there in the darkness of his room trying to make up his mind how he should react once Felix decided to either show up, or at least, update him through text. Of course, he wouldn’t tell Felix of the extent of his concern so it was either nonchalance:

“Oh, hey! You had a busy day it seems! Where were you the whole day?”

Or feigned annoyance.

“It wouldn’t hurt to share your weekend plans with your best friend, you know?”

The sound of keys jingling, then the doorknob turning got all of Jisung’s plans flying out the window as he threw the sheets off of his legs and rushed to the living where he found his best friend in the process of toeing his shoes off with a hand braced against the nearest wall.

He was about to scold the blonde for making him worried out of his wits for the most part of the day (all of his rehearsed lines completely forgotten) but the younger beat him to saying something.

“Cheesecake?” was Felix’s sheepish offer, holding up a bag from Jisung’s favorite coffee shop, with an apologetic smile on his charmingly boyish face.

And just like that, at the sight of his best friend’s expectant eyes and cute bunny teeth, Jisung’s other previous emotions completely and almost immediately dissipated, leaving the older’s system in a defeated sigh.

“It’s your favorite, Hannie.”

Jisung rolled his eyes and gave Felix a long look, saying nothing. Perhaps it was better not to make a big deal out of it. His best friend was here in one whole piece in front of him now, after all.

Felix cranked up the intensity of his puppy eyes and pouted. “Let’s eat, hmmm? Hannie?”

And fine. The older folded, almost too easily. As he always did with Felix, his idiot of a best friend. So he just childishly stuck out his tongue, then headed towards the dining area, huffing, “Whatever. I’ll go set the table.”

(One day, he will gouge out Felix’s eyes in his sleep so that the younger will never have the audacity to pull a classic Puss n Boots manipulation move on him or anyone anymore. That shit worked like a charm.)

“ I love you, Han Jisung ,” Felix giggled gaily, trailing behind him.

Jisung made gagging noises.

*

Dinner was unnerving.

At least, for Jisung who expected everything to be normal.

Because Felix seemed to be excited to talk about anything and everything except how he spent his day. Then when he thought Jisung wasn’t looking, a pensive look would replace the sparkle in his eyes and he would seem so deep in thought, the older couldn’t help but think that Felix was definitely hiding something from him.

But if he knew his best friend at all, then Jisung should know better than to pressure Felix into talking about something that the younger wasn’t ready to share.

And it wasn’t like Jisung was incapable of wringing the truth of the younger. He knew he could ask Felix anything and the younger would let his thoughts & feelings out like a dam broken regardless if he was ready or not. Because it was Jisung. And they weren’t best friends for nothing.

It was just that Jisung respected Felix enough to give him whichever space and time he needed.

Jisung flinched back with a start when he felt a gentle pressure at the corner of his lips, realizing that he’d been so deep in his thoughts. So deep that he wasn’t aware how messily he’d been eating; and that the younger had reached over to wipe something off of the corner of his lips.

“You had something there,” Felix whispered, carefully wiping with his thumb while the rest of his fingers were gently holding the older’s jaw.

“Thanks,” Jisung muttered, flustered. Not that he will admit it. And not that Felix seemed to be aware that he’d caught his best friend totally off-guard either. Felix only pulled away wordlessly and sat back to continue eating.

And so dinner carried on as uneventfully as it could between the two best friends who seemed to be set on sweeping the matter of Felix’s whereabouts earlier that day under the rug.

But it was still somewhat comfortable. As things always were with Felix.

It was late when they’d finished eating and although Saturday nights usually concluded with movie nights, Felix wasn’t up for it tonight. 

Jisung was not above admitting that his heart fell a bit when Felix declined, but he still gave his best friend a nonchalant, “Oh you need to rest?”

Felix just muttered, “Yeah. Something like that.”

That niggling feeling that Felix was hiding something from him was there again.

“I’ll have you wake up to a grand spread of your favorite breakfast food tomorrow though, I promise,” the younger added a promise.

“You don’t have to, silly!”

And so there Jisung was, staring at his ceiling, unable to sleep despite having turned in over two hours ago, either because he wasn’t sleepy yet or because the events of today was still bugging him more than he’d care to admit.

And it was when sleep had finally begun to claim him that his door creaked open, and Felix’s adorably messy bedhead poked in.

“Can I sleep here with you, Hannie?”

Uh-oh.

Jisung couldn’t count the number of times Felix ever came to him with this request. It wasn’t out of the norm but added into the context of the day? Jisung can’t be too certain that this request for cuddles wasn’t riddled with secrets and unspoken thoughts – the kind not privy to Jisung.

But “Of course,” he whispered like it was a no-brainer, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, and sitting up promptly to scoot back closer to the wall, making space for Felix. 

The younger nodded solemnly, “Thank you, Hannie.” Then he was stepping inside the older’s room, closing the door behind him quietly.

The younger was wearing jammies and a plain white beater, the older noted, while his eyes adjusted back to the darkness, and Felix slinked his slightly shorter & thinner frame between Jisung’s waiting arms.

The older heard a small whimper as Felix practically buried his face in his best friend’s chest, arms coming around Jisung. But his ears could just be deceiving him.

“You crave cuddle time no less than twice a week,” Jisung whispered, playing softly with Felix’s hair, and letting his best friend pull him close, tangled legs, pressed chests and all. 

The younger didn’t respond, so the older confessed, “But I can’t pretend the curiosity hadn’t been killing me the entire day. You’re so… You’ve been acting strange and secretive and dodgy.”

“It’s-” the younger tried, “It’s nothing.”

Jisung just gave an unamused hum, telling the younger that he didn’t believe it one bit.

So Felix tried again. “I, uhm, I’m about to lose someone…”

Okay. None of these are making any sense. Who could be Felix so afraid of losing that Jisung didn’t know? His mind quickly went through a list of names from Felix’s family, his friends from school, the dance crew, and their other mutual friends, but Jisung couldn’t think of anyone that his best friend held dear enough to be this afraid of losing. Aside from himself, he couldn’t come up with anyone, as conceited as that might sound.

But he was swift to remember that Seungmin seemed to know something. So the older made a quick mental note of trying to squeeze some info out of his best friend’s other friend. But for now, Jisung offered his best friend his patience. Or whatever was left of it, as he tried once more to reel his curiosity back in, and let the younger tell him only as much as he wanted to - was ready to.

“I just-” Felix began again, only to change gears in the middle of his sentence. At least, that was how it sounded like to the older. “I just know I’m about to lose someone dear to me. And it’s not something I could stop or could do something about. And I’m just…”

Jisung hummed, if only to tell the younger that he didn’t understand fully, but that he was listening anyway.

“A lot of things are about to change. And I guess I don’t want them to. I’m scared.”

Jisung pondered on his best friend's words for a minute and it broke his heart to witness his ever-optimistic best friend this way. But still, he smiled. Because although the younger made his situation sound so helpless, there was something Jisung knew he could assure Felix he’ll never lose. “Hey.”

“Hmmm?” 

“You know one thing that’s never going to change?” Jisung couldn’t help one corner of his lips from pulling up smugly.

“What?”

“You & me.” And Jisung could only hope his best friend believed his words. Because he meant them and believed them.

Yet Felix tensed within his arms, for a long moment, not saying or doing anything until he squeaked a soft “Thank you,” that sounded so unsure and small, Jisung could almost think Felix didn’t believe him. “I can’t imagine losing you, Hannie.”

“As if I will allow that to happen, Lix,” Jisung said, pulling Felix’s body closer to him, “Now go to sleep.”

Felix couldn’t.

*

Morning was as interesting as morning between two best friends who spooned the entire night could be.

The older woke up with his face buried in the crook of Felix’s neck and damn, Felix smelled glorious.

Jisung inhaled a lungful.

“Good,” Felix said in amusement, “You’re finally awake.” It sounded like the younger had been awake for a while. 

The older faintly recognized the sensation of a hand carding tenderly and patiently through his hair, and he only groaned in response. (No, it wasn’t a purr.)

“Now, lemme up.”

Jisung whined long and deep in his throat, burrowing closer for a moment and earning a throaty chuckle from his best friend, before he pushed himself off of the younger with a grumpy huff. “What time is it, Lix?” he asked, blindly patting the bed for a pillow which he quickly cuddled to his chest when he found.

“It’s… time for me to get up and cook you breakfast as promised,” Felix answered with his voice hoarse and insanely deep from his slumber, pushing himself up to sit on the bed where he was fondly looking down at Jisung whose cheeks were squished so cutely against the pillow, lips relaxed in an unconscious pout. “I’ll wake you up when it’s ready.”

“Hmmm,” Jisung just hummed, preening when he felt Felix pet his head lovingly one last time.

*

Jisung was woken up by a weird-sounding notification from his phone.

He could faintly hear Felix moving around in the kitchen before the smell of pancakes wafted through his nose and suddenly, he was very awake. And very hungry.

He inched closer to his bedside drawer for his phone, pretending he wasn’t burying his face in his pillow because Felix’s scent was still there, and swiped his phone open.

He then found that the mysterious notification was from Facebook: “Lee Minho changed his relationship status to Single.”

Well, that woke him up.

Jisung’s eyes widened as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, reading and rereading the notification thrice before he actually clicked on it.

“Wow,” he breathed, not expecting this just when he thought he could start getting rid of his crush on Minho. “Wow,” Jisung repeated, running a bewildered hand through his hair.

“Liiiiiiiiix,” he began screaming his best friend’s name in glee, as he made his way to the kitchen not bothering to brush his teeth anymore. “Felix Yongbooook!”

He entered the kitchen to Felix hunched over the stove, narrow shoulders looking so delicate and domestic. But that wasn’t the point.

“Lee Felix Yongbok!”

“What,” the younger chuckled, turning around to place the plate onto the table that Jisung only noticed to be full of, as Felix promised, his favorite breakfast food: pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs; there were mugs empty, but a carton of his favorite brand of almond milk was standing off-center.

“Wow,” Jisung gaped.

“I promised, didn’t I?” Felix smirked, gesturing for his best friend to be seated across him, as he himself lowered himself to sit as well. “Sit! I’m starving!” He then raised his eyes to see his best friend looking at him with what he knew was Jisung’s deeply-touched look. He chose to ignore that. Jisung knew he was flustered easily at compliments and cheesy words on a normal day anyway. “And why are you screaming my whole legal name loud enough for the whole floor to hear so early in the morning? What’s so urgent that you had to tell me, you didn’t even bother washing your face and brushing your teeth?”

The older immediately reached up to the corner of his lips and wiped any dried up drool as Felix just guffawed.

“Really cute, Hannie…”

Jisung playfully glared at the younger before sitting across Felix, waving his cellphone screen right in front of the younger’s face. “Anyway, look at this!”

“I can’t if you won’t stop shaking it,” the younger deadpanned around his first bite.

Jisung handed his phone over to Felix and dug in. “Minho and Seungmin broke up!” he whisper-shouted as if there were other people within earshot.

But the younger only stiffened for a moment after hearing this; not surprised at all, yet frowning all the same.

When Jisung got his phone back, he asked incredulously, “You already knew?” 

“Seungmin told me yesterday,” the younger said matter-of-factly with a curt nod. There was an undertone of something in his voice but Jisung couldn’t quite identify what it exactly was.

Felix added, “I was actually about to tell you also but wow, Hannie, excited much?”

The teasing tone wasn’t lost to the older and although he knew what Felix was referring to, he still feigned innocence. “What do you mean?”

“You tell me,” Felix asked him with a quirked eyebrow, pausing mid-chew to give Jisung an unamused look.

Oh. Jisung thought, realizing that Felix didn’t know about how he was actually about to try to get over his years-long crush on Minho. But!!! But the news of the breakup changed things. A lot of things. Perhaps this was his chance, but still-

“Minho must need some time to recover and get over Seungmin properly,” Jisung pointed out.

“Exactly,” Felix agreed, “So hold your horses, Han Jisung.”

“Han Jisung? ”

“Is that wrong? That’s not your name anymore?”

“You brat!”

Jisung knew his best friend was making only perfect sense. But he wasn’t sure he could do what he should.

He’d always been smitten by Lee Minho. 

*

Han Jisung could not consider it as just a mere coincidence when he bumped into the crush in question come Monday, in the school hallways, on his way to his next class.

“Yah, Han Jisung,” Minho greeted him first, which was not out of the usual, and Jisung offered the most dazzling smile he could. “Weird seeing you without Felix.”

“Well, yeah, that little brat is almost always around,” the younger joked.

“Careful,” Minho warned playfully, “Everyone in this school loves that little brat of a best friend you have.”

Jisung had to agree. Felix might look intimidating at first but he was the sweetest, most innocent, child-like, and playful being on the planet and he effortlessly turned each hyung, noona, and sunbae from the upper class a #FelixProtectionSquad member. Not that he needed more than Jisung who was more than ready to throw - and even receive - a punch for Felix’s honor.

“I love that brat,” Minho added fondly, just to make a point.

“Me, too.”

“Anyway, you headed to your next class, Jisungie?”

Jisung gave the shorter male a cute nod, hoping his eyes didn’t have literal hearts on them. “Last class, actually.”

“Lucky you,” Minho chuckled to his fist and Jisung melted at the sight.

“I guess,” Jisung awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

“Anyway, I’ll see you around, Jisungie!” the older male began to walk off; long, pretty fingers clutching his books against his chest, and Jisung panicked momentarily.

Should he ask Minho about- “Minho hyung!” he blurted out before he could stop himself, instead of returning the farewell remark.

“Hmmm?” the older turned on his heel to face Jisung with a small, shy smile that encouraged the other to continue.

“Uhm,” Jisung began, scrambling for the right words. “I saw on Facebook…”

“Ah.” It was easy to catch that Jisung was referring to Minho’s breakup with Seungmin.

“I hope you’re okay.”

“I will be, in no time,” the other replied with a wink that replaced the glazed over look in his eyes that Jisung thought he caught.

And as Jisung watched Minho’s retreating figure, he sighed, wondering how dumb Seungmin was to flush a relationship down the drain with Minho, of all people, and for what? Jisung wanted to know.

Two hours later found him fishing his phone out of his pockets to check the message from Felix which he received in the middle of the lecture.

“What do you want for dinner?” read his best friend’s message.

He was sending his reply of, “ Default. Be home in half an hour,” which he knew his best friend understood to be practically the equivalent of “BHC Fried Chicken, please and thanks,” when his eyes caught the unmistakable silhouette of Lee Minho, headed outside the campus as he was.

He picked up his pace to catch up to Minho. “Minho hyung!”

The other whipped around curiously as his name was called, and stepped aside to avoid the traffic of people wanting to exit through the school gates just as he was, before Jisung called his name.

He waited for the shorter male to catch up to him.

“Playing hooky, hyung?” Jisung teased, not missing the chance to run a hand through his hair to make sure he was presentable.

Minho slapped his forearm playfully and shook his head. “So easy for you to assume the worst of me!”

And they laughed together, Jisung feeling elated. “Then where are you going?”

“My next class is in,” Minho checked his wristwatch, “Two and a half hours. And the library’s full so I’ll just burn time in the nearest and least crowded café.” 

“Oh, I know a place!” Jisung offered before he realized that he could be misinterpreted to be inviting himself.

Minho just smiled at the other’s enthusiasm though, and just said, “Your coffee’s on me if you will show me where that café is.”

Jisung couldn’t believe his luck. He could not pass up on that offer.

(It was only when Minho was waving him bye with a small wave and a, “Thanks for spending my break time with me and walking me to my next class, Jisungie,” did he have half the mind to realize that he’d completely forgotten to update Felix.)

Shit. He made Felix wait over two hours.

He sent a quick text to his best friend - “Forgive me ㅠㅠ” - and hurried home.

He came home to his now cold chicken sitting on the table and his best friend nowhere to be found. He felt really bad making Felix wait. Perhaps he should explain before he ate.

Peeking through the crack in Felix’s bedroom door, Jisung watched the younger massage his temples with a thumb and a forefinger as he read over what looked like a paper due really soon.

He softly knocked twice to make his presence known as Felix picked up his glasses, wore them back on, and poised his fingers over the keyboard of his laptop.

“Lee Felix Yongbok,” Jisung dragged that last syllable cutely, ready to ask penance for making Felix wait.

“Oh, Hannie,” the younger turned around in his seat to face Jisung. “Your chicken’s on the table.”

And Jisung totally forgot what he came here for, stunned at how good his best friend looked bespectacled. “You’re wearing your glasses,” Jisung observed quite dazedly.

“Uhm. Yes I am,” Felix confirmed dumbly, giving his best friend a weird look. “Ran out of solution for my contacts. I know I look weird in them,” then he removed them and Jisung wanted to protest. But he caught himself. That wasn’t what he came here for.

“No, you don’t look weird in them,” Jisung said, “I just haven’t seen you wearing your glasses for a while now.”

Felix just huffed, never one to easily accept compliments, even very implicit ones like this one. Thankfully for him, Jisung remembered, “But anyway, I’m so so sorry for making you wait up for me.”

For a second, a certain sadness in Felix’s eyes cast his face into a look that could really break Jisung’s heart, but it was gone behind a sweet, toothy smile before the older could process that.

“It’s okay, Hannie. I understand that Minho hyung is more important than dinner,” Felix teased, his joke falling flat and not at all funny to neither his ears nor the older’s.

“Wait. How did you know I was with him?”

“Oh, was it supposed to be a secret?” Jisung hadn’t even figured out how to answer that when Felix launched into his explanation, “Sorry, uhm, Jihoon actually was in the same café as you two and he told Seungmin & me in our GC.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah,” Felix gave him a thoughtful stare. “Good luck, Hannie. You know my stand on this already but I hope it works.”

“Hope what works?”

“Whatever you’re trying to pursue with Minho hyung - friendship, best friendship, something more than friendship.”

Jisung frowned. Something about Felix’s words, tone, and countenance were off but he didn’t want to overanalyze that.

“Uhm. Thanks,” he said slowly. “Well,” he straightened up from where he was leaning slightly against the door, “I’ll go eat my dinner now.”

Felix clicked his tongue. “Late dinner,” he corrected.

“I’m assuming a movie later is impossible?”

“Yeah,” the younger sighed, “This is due tomorrow and the required word count is brutal.”

“Nothing I could help with?” Jisung knew he was just basically looking for an excuse to spend time with Felix now, so he perked up when his best friend seemed to consider it, and then was ultimately deflated when the younger shook his head and offered him an apologetic smile.

“Nope, but thanks, Hannie.”

“No, studies first. Of course, I understand!” Jisung waved it off, hiding his disappointment behind a smile. “I should probably go eat now.”

“Good night, Hannie.”

“Good night, Lix. Good luck on that paper!”

Needless to say, Jisung didn’t enjoy his dinner; didn’t even have the appetite for it, if he was honest with himself.

And he didn’t know why.

*

When the same scenario presented itself to Jisung the following Monday, he made sure to send his best friend a text message saying that he will miss dinner for the same reason and, of course, Felix was supportive.

The younger graciously stayed out of his best friend’s way when it came to Minho, knowing full well that Jisung had been crushing on the other for years, even before Seungmin came in the picture.

So when Minho and Jisung built some kind of a habit of meeting up during their longer break times, Felix thought he’d better start finding other things to burn his time over doing. (He will soon find out that it was easier to find someone else - rather than something else - for that matter.)

But he tried his best to keep all of their other routines intact - their movie nights, their late dinners, breakfasts together - whenever their schedules allowed. ‘Tried’ being the key term there because as two weeks became three, and kept increasing from there, it seemed like Jisung was investing more and more of his free time into hanging out with Minho or talking to him on the phone.

Not that Felix didn’t see this coming. He knew. He saw this coming. He knew right when Seungmin told him that he and Minho have broken up, that, as much as he wanted nothing to change between him and his best friend, some things just can’t be helped.

He was just thankful that Seungmin - the same one that was Minho’s ex, and the same one who knows that Felix was in love with Jisung - needed as much time away from too many people asking him about the breakup as Felix needed time to adjust to the changes between him and Jisung now.

“Earth to Felix?” Seungmin waved his hand in front of the other’s face. “You’re spacing out.”

He really was.

“An idea just hit me,” Felix lied smoothly, avoiding the other’s eyes and looking around at the buzzing café that they were in, “It’s, uhm, possible replacement for the hook that we have to scrap for Jinyoung’s injury.”

“And yours.”

“Yes, and the thing with my back, too. Yes. I don’t think we should put in too much floor work.”

“Tell that to Dino,” Seungmin chuckled, shaking his head at Felix. “You two were the ones who put the floorwork there in the same place.”

Felix faked a chuckle. He couldn’t believe how easily he lied his way out of this one. (He wouldn’t have pulled that off with his best friend.) But Felix didn’t really want to be all mopey over Jisung again. With Seungmin. Again.

It was awkward; the first time he opened up to Seungmin about his feelings for his best friend that he had been suppressing for so long. Feelings that perhaps, he should start getting rid of the soonest he can, now that everything seems to be going pretty fast and well between Jisung and Minho.

A couple more days passed and Felix had taken the hint. He had resolved to not wait up for Jisung to eat supper with anymore, unless the older specifically asked him to. He would still get the one single knock on his door every night from the older, but even that was not enough to appease his sadness over their drifting apart.

Felix still cooked in the morning when he could, but breakfast times had become hurried; Jisung going on about what Minho and him talked about the previous night; how excited he was to walk Minho to his first class that morning - the same thing he did the day before that. And the day before that.

But Felix would always feign interest and hide his jealousy behind faked enthusiasm. A “Wow, Hannie, that’s some progress!” here, or a “Minho hyung seems to be moving on quickly. Good for you, Hannie.” there.

But as much as events of recent saddened him, the younger just didn’t have it in him to confess and burden Jisung with his feelings.

Jisung practically vibrated in excitement whenever he talked about Minho. How could Felix ever consider ruining that for his best friend?

Eventually, Felix has had to resort to packing his best friend’s breakfast to-go when Jisung had begun picking up Minho from his house off-campus, so they could travel to the campus together, too, before they walk to the lecture hall of whoever had an earlier class between them two.

But it wasn’t as if Felix could do anything about it.

In the blink of an eye, they found themselves in the middle of the semester and while Seungmin’s ex and Felix’s best friend grew closer, so did Seungmin’s fondness of Felix - whilst all of Felix’s former routines with his best friend, were slowly being replaced with their routines - Seungmin and Felix’s.

Over the months, Seungmin also learned to recognize that faraway look that took over the younger’s face whenever he missed his best friend, Jisung. And perhaps, Seungmin found that he would love to see that on Felix’s less often. So he actively and proactively looked for ways to build his own little routines with Felix, too, adjusting his schedule around Felix, so that his friend didn’t have the chance to be reminded that his “best friend things” with Han Jisung were no more.

And it was only a matter of time before Jisung caught awareness of this.

It came one morning when he saw Felix preparing two sandwiches to-go, instead of one.

Something has changed.

“You headed somewhere early, too?”

“Hmmm?” Felix absent-mindedly hummed in response, not even looking up at Jisung who was leaning on his elbows against the counter, watching the younger’s deft fingers carefully laying the tomato on top of the lettuce.

“You’re making two sandwiches,” Jisung pointed out, “Are both of those for me? Or do you have somewhere early to go to also?”

“Oh,” Felix finally understood what his best friend was inquiring about. “I’ve been making one for Seungmin, too, for almost two weeks now. You didn’t notice?”

Jisung’s heart did a tiny unpleasant jolt at Felix’s nonchalant answer.

But the feeling didn’t make sense anyway, so as his eyebrows met and he straightened up, he forced an “I didn’t,” past his lips as he watched Felix finish his (or was that one Seungmin’s?) sandwich.

His chest tightened with something unfamiliar which he was unable to give a name to yet, he just knows it was something akin to maybe confusion, alarm, and offense all at once. 

“This one’s yours, Hannie,” Felix lifted a neatly packed sandwich in his hand and laid it down on the counter, then grabbed the other one and carefully placed it inside his backpack.

And Jisung just stood there stunned, as he watched his best friend stop to check himself out in the mirror for a moment, before he slung one strap of the bag onto his shoulder and bid Jisung goodbye with nothing more than a, “Say Hi to Minho hyung for me! I’ll see you! Bye!”

The door had slammed behind Felix already, but Jisung was still glued to his spot, eyeing the sandwich that Felix prepared for him with distaste. Suddenly, he thinks he could go without breakfast today.

Since that morning, the older paid more attention to how their (best) friendship had changed over the months. He went through their text messages and realized that, true to his earlier words, Felix supported him with his newfound closeness with Minho; but also that Felix’s messages had littered his inbox less.

The younger’s messages were now limited to need-to-knows; no more weird selfies, unsolicited updates, and random memes and the older couldn’t believe he only realized it now. And now that he did, he realized he minded that.

He wondered if these changes warranted an apology to Felix for how he’d been a sucky best friend lately. But did Felix even notice the changes? How should Jisung feel if it turned out that Felix hadn’t even realized it, much less be bothered it?

Felix seemed to be taking all these changes in stride and Jisung wasn’t sure that growing apart should be this easy for either of them. They were best friends, and Jisung hated to admit it that now he’s had the time to take a step back and examine the amount of time they’ve had to themselves in the past couple of weeks, they might as well be just roommates.

It was Monday, and usually, he would forgo dinner with Felix to hang with Minho but one day wouldn’t hurt, right?

So he went about his day as normally as his thoughts allowed him and when the time came for him to meet up with Minho just right by the campus gates, Jisung had already prepared his apologies.

“Of course,” the older male graciously smiled, displaying perfect understanding. “Please don’t think you’re required to join me every Monday, please. I mean, time goes by faster when I have someone to chat with, but you already know I don’t mind my own company, too.”

Jisung sighed in relief, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, antsy. To go home. To Felix.

He assumed that the younger would get home before he did. But he assumed wrong and was surprised to come home to an eerily silent & empty apartment.

So he showered and changed into more comfortable clothes, switching between anime, mobile games, and social media apps as he waited for Felix to arrive.

He contemplated texting Felix but he thought he’d rather see his best friend’s pleased smile when he realized that Jisung was home for dinner on a Monday night. For the first time in a long time.

He jumped out of bed the second he heard keys jingling, dashed out of his room, and into the living to make his presence known to Felix the soonest.

But Felix wasn’t alone.

Seungmin was with him.

And Jisung had to watch in bated breath, in the dark, as Seungmin comfortably kicked off his shoes and poked Felix on the ribs with a finger, from which his best friend flinched away with howling laughter.

“I swear to god, Kim,” Felix threatened the other playfully, switching on the lights, “Do that one more time and I will give you hell.”

“You can’t and you won’t.”

“How are you so sure?”

“Because you love me,” the other chuckled playfully, annoying Jisung’s best friend even further by ruffling up his hair.

Jisung waited for Felix to refute Kim Seungmin’s remark before he realized it was supposed to be a joke. But there was nothing funny at all about how his best friend was acting like Seungmin’s best friend, how Seungmin looked so at home, and how the two younger males haven’t even noticed his presence.

So he cleared his throat and the two’s heads whipped towards his direction, their faces displaying a look of surprise.

“Oh, Hannie!” Felix acknowledged while Seungmin gave the other a polite bow. “You’re here.”

“I’m here.”

“Today is Monday,” Felix observed, eyes knitted together in confusion.

What’s that supposed to mean? Jisung frowned, his annoyance growing in an exponential rate. “And? This is my apartment?”

The sarcasm dripped off of his words before he even realized that he’d actually said that out loud. To his best friend. In front of Seungmin. 

“Uhm,” the guest awkwardly muttered. “We could just do this again next Monday, Lix. Skipping one week wouldn’t hurt. I could leave.”

Hold up. Jisung’s eyes narrowed. So Felix and Seungmin had this Monday thing on a weekly basis? And Jisung didn’t even know?

He wanted to search Felix’s eyes for explanation but when he directed his stare towards his best friend, it was an offended look that Felix was wearing. And it registered to Jisung what he’d just done. What he was doing.

When Felix just stared at him in disbelief, the oldest between the three had the decency and common sense to feel ashamed. However, he was still so surprised at his accidental discovery. Not that they were ground-breaking or anything, he just didn’t expect that Felix had a regular thing with someone that wasn’t him.

So he saved himself further embarrassment by turning on his heel to head to his room where he paced back and forth because one, he didn’t mean to be so rude; and two, he didn’t know what to do with himself and the urge to punch the nearest wall or something like that. He didn’t understand himself. Or anything, for that matter.

And his best friend wouldn’t even give him the time to.

“Jisung,” Felix let himself in his bedroom without a word or a knock, poised for a confrontation.

Jisung avoided his best friend’s eyes and thoughtfully glanced over the younger's shoulder to the door. “Seungmin-”

“I sent him home.”

“You didn’t have to, I’m sorry.”

“That’s not mine to accept,” Felix shook his head. “I wasn’t the one given a less than polite welcome to somebody’s home.”

Jisung took a long look at his friend, knowing that as while his eyes wouldn't detect any visible change, things have definitely shifted between him and Felix. Irreversibly so, Jisung feared.

“I just didn’t expect you to come home with someone else in tow,” the older admitted in a small voice.

And that was Felix’s turn to give his best friend a firm look. “And I didn’t expect you to be home on a Monday night.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“It means I can’t understand why you can have a weekly thing with Minho hyung and I can’t have a weekly thing with Seungmin.”

The older whipped his head back in total shock at his best friend’s words. Because it’s not the same thing?! Because you know I like Minho?! Because weekly things are for best friends and I’m your best friend?? Not Kim freaking Seungmin?? Hello?! Jisung wanted to protest, even if the only sound he made was a gasp at the younger’s bluntness.

He knew Felix was aware that he’d liked Minho for years so it was bewildering to Jisung that his best friend would liken Seungmin & himself to Jisung & Minho. Unless of course-

Jisung didn’t want to go there. He couldn’t; his gut was already twisting painfully at just the possibility that… Felix… liked… Seungmin…? 

So he stood there speechless in front of Felix whose shoulders sagged, unwilling to challenge Jisung’s non-response anymore.

Smiling bitterly to himself, the younger sighed loudly; a conclusion to their sudden confrontation. Resignation.

“I’ll set the table for dinner,” Felix monotonously announced. Like a period. A conclusion to this stupidity. “There’s enough food for three,” he said simply.

And the older didn’t stop him as he turned to leave.

He also couldn’t join Felix for dinner, mostly due to his pride standing in the way.

He knew that his behavior in front of Seungmin, a guest, was less than courteous and was uncalled for. Even if Seungmin’s arrival caught him off-guard and dampened his plan to catch up with his best friend; even if he sacrificed his usual Monday night habit with Minho for nothing, Jisung still knew he was wrong.

But the night wasn’t over yet. And damn if he would let this day conclude, and the week to begin with him & Felix not in the best of terms.

So he showered, hoping the time alone and the water washed away both his ego and the still-lingering hurt feelings he got from discovering that his place as Felix’s best friend had become nothing but just a title; Kim Seungmin, the potential replacement for him in Felix’s life.

He lied on his bed, waiting for Felix’s bedroom door to click close before he mentally prepared himself to seek Felix’s forgiveness, padding barefooted towards his best friend’s room.

“Hannie?” he heard the younger’s confused voice before Jisung could even call out his name.

“Hi,” Jisung whispered, toes wiggling in slight awkwardness as he felt the heat of Felix’s gaze on him. He waited a few moments for his eyes to begin adjusting to the darkness now that the bedroom door was closed, before he shakily announced, “I’m sleeping here.”

What he wanted and planned to say was actually I’m sorry but he couldn’t spit out the words because he was imperfect like that. So he just hoped that his best friend knew him enough to understand that this was his way of reiterating his apology.

A long moment of silence enveloped the darkness and Jisung didn’t think he could take it if Felix sent him away.

Thankfully, when the younger finally broke the silence, it was with a playful, “What? Like here on the floor? Or like on my bed?”

Relief flooded Jisung’s whole system. His best friend was the absolute best human being the world. So, knowing that Felix wouldn’t see it, he beamed. “Lixieee,” he whined in response to the younger’s teasing.

“I’m kidding,” the younger chuckled, “C’mere.”

And the older wasted no time inserting his slightly buffer frame between Felix’s open arms, letting himself be pulled to the younger’s chest.

He wanted to cry. He didn’t even realize he’d missed Felix so much until now, that they were acting like they used to. “You still mad at me?”

Felix sighed, “I never was.” I could never be, he wanted to add, but he stopped himself. So he just resorted to pulling his best friend closer until Jisung’s face was effectively buried in his chest.

“I’ll talk to Seungmin,” the older promised. 

“Hmmm.”

But the demons of curiosity worked hard. So while he listened to their even breathing, the many questions that Jisung had tried to ignore, resurfaced.

How long has it been since you liked Seungmin? Do you really like Seungmin? How long has it been since you formed a Monday habit with him? How long has it been since we spent time together like this, just you and me? 

But he swallowed them down, afraid that verbalizing them would just take them down a slippery slope where they might end up fighting again. So he just sank deeper in the embrace, slinging an arm over Felix’s waist as the smell of the younger’s body wash filled his senses.

“Good night, Lee Felix Yongbok.”

“Good night, Han Jisung.”

*

Jisung was a man of his word.

So when he swore to his best friend that he would talk to Seungmin, he was fully planning on following through with it.

So one could imagine his surprise when he woke up the next day and the other had him beat; Seungmin’s message reading, “Hi, Jisung. I was hoping we could talk.”

As far as the older knew, he was the one who owed Seungmin anything, so he replied in the affirmative despite the confusion.

And that was how he found himself in a bustling café seated across Kim Seungmin on a Friday night, their drinks & food untouched, and the tension palpable.

The older assumed Seungmin was going to give him the ‘Take care of my ex. We may have broken up but I still care for him fiercely’ kind of talk, seeing as it was no secret that Minho & him have been hanging out pretty frequently, and had significantly grown closer over the past couple of months.

“Uhm,” Jisung mumbled as he stared down at the pasta dish he ordered and realized he wasn’t hungry enough to dig in. The queasiness in his stomach steadily grew. “I was also actually planning on talking to you, too,” he confessed as Seungmin began to eat.

“Oh about Monday?”

“Yeah, about that.”

Seungmin didn’t respond for a brief moment, choosing to start eating, chewing thoroughly while he gathered his thoughts, it seemed to Jisung.

“I didn’t call you out to demand an apology out of you, Jisung.”

“Perhaps,” Jisung said, fiddling with the fork beside his plate. “But I’m still saying sorry anyway.”

The other simply nodded. “I understand you must have been surprised. Felix told me that you haven’t had the time to even ask him what he’d been up to since you started hanging out with Minho hyung. So he didn't - we didn’t - expect you as much as you didn’t expect us.”

Jisung’s other hand that was under the table started to curl into a fist. He knew Seungmin was just stating facts but said facts weren’t the nicest to hear.

Seungmin continued, looking at the window with a far away look on his face. “Felix thinks himself to be the least of your concerns as of recent.”

“He is wrong.”

“Perhaps,” Seungmin shrugged, using the same word Jisung just did, “But Felix has no reason to believe otherwise. He just knows you’ve been out of touch with each other recently.” He paused for a brief moment, allowing the older to say something. When he didn’t, Seungmin continued. “I’m at your dorm almost every night, Jisung; keeping Felix company for dinner. Did you know he hates eating alone?”

“Of course, he’s my best friend.” That came out with more venom than Jisung intended.

“Yet when was the last time you ate together?” the younger fired back. “Or even ask who Felix had to eat with?” he challenged, quite gently for words that cut deeper than he must know.

Jisung just reared his head back in surprise. He could feel the tension that was just beneath Seungmin’s otherwise calm facade, too. He was appalled at the way that Seungmin got so riled up so quickly but more than anything, the he wasn’t too fond of the idea that someone other than himself was being this protective of Felix.

(Shouldn’t he be glad though?)

Jisung just gave the younger a pointed look then began, “Look, I’m not sure where you’re going with this. Is this what you called me out for, to remind me how sucky I have been as a best friend to Felix? Just get to the point already, Kim Seungmin. If you’re going to make me promise that I wouldn’t be as neglectful a boyfriend to Minho hyung as I am a best friend to Felix, then I would have you know that I am not rushing into anything with Minho hyung anytime soon-”

“Wait,” Seungmin cut him off mid-sentence. “I’m not here to talk to you about my ex-boyfriend, Jisung.”

“You’re not?”

Seungmin laughed mirthlessly, “Don’t get me wrong, we ended on good terms but, really, it’s none of my business who he’s seeing.”

Jisung let out a nervous, confused chuckle.

Technically, Minho & him weren’t seeing each other yet. They were just getting to know each other better, and perhaps he should make that clear to Seungmin also. But that wasn’t the most pressing concern in his mind now either.

If Seungmin had already assured him earlier that the Monday incident was all good, and that Minho wasn’t what they were here to talk about then it really was Felix.

Did Seungmin also suspect that Felix was pining for him, just as Jisung suspected?

Jisung’s stomach sank. His annoyance dissipated, and he felt a little lightheaded; his previous irritation replaced by an unsettling feeling that got him tongue-tied.

Could Seungmin be here because he’d suspected the same and would like Jisung’s, as Felix’s best friend, help confirming his suspicions? If he told Seungmin that he actually did suspect the same, what would Seungmin’s response be-

“I like Felix. I like your best friend, Han Jisung,” Seungmin declared with his whole chest as Jisung’s own chest imprisoned the last breath he took and for longer than just a moment, he said nothing. Felt nothing. Heard nothing else after the younger’s confession, the words reverberating inside his head.

When he found his breath, he realized it’s a whole other ordeal to find his wits, and his voice.

So Jisung just breathed in then breathed out, knowing that he was staring dumbfounded at Seungmin, blinking every few seconds.

Wow.

Of course, Jisung, of all people, should know how easy it could be for anyone - literally anyone at all! - to fall for Felix if they were only close enough to know the mature, kindhearted soul behind the sweet & bubbly personality wrapped in outlandishly attractive looks and impossibly lean body. But that didn’t make any of this easier to process & digest. That didn’t explain why he was both so scared & so upset at the mere mental image of his best friend dating Seungmin - of his best friend dating at all.

On the other hand, while it was true that Seungmin liked Felix and had clear, good intentions to show for it, he wasn’t blind.

Seungmin did want to make his feelings known for Felix to Jisung in person, because he’d sensed that there was something deeper and fonder than friendship that bound the best friends together.

It was in the way that Felix practically glowed at Jisung’s presence. And it was in the implicit show of jealousy and possessiveness that Jisung displayed last Monday.

Not that the two best friends in question seemed to be aware. Neither was he keen on clueing them in on what’s really happening.

Seungmin, much like the person seated across him, just didn’t know whether he should scream or frustration or sigh in relief.

“I like your best friend, Jisung,” Seungmin repeated more firmly, trying for a reaction from the older again.

To the other, it felt like twisting a dagger that was already digging deep enough to hurt like hell.

“I like Felix just as you like my ex-boyfriend.”

Jisung swallowed a ball of saliva and found his voice, scratchy and tight his throat may be. “Ah,” was all he could say, unaware that his eyes had become glassy at realizing that his best friend could be leaving him in his singlehood-

Wait. It wasn’t going to be like that if, eventually, he could progress further with Minho.

An ugly strand of guilt pulled slowly yet painfully within him. Would he have considered how he could be (or was it how he’d been) leaving his best friend behind, in favor of pursuing Lee Minho?

He knew the answer. He knew the truth. And he felt like a tool. 

“Do you have nothing to say to me?” Seungmin probed carefully, which prompted the older to be torn between being defensive and being confused. “Even after knowing that this was why I was a little upset that you have basically left Felix high & dry these past few weeks?”

Jisung sighed. “What do you expect me to say? You aren’t wrong. Both with your observations. And in your choice to set your eyes on my best friend.” He faked a casual chuckle. “Our Lixie is very lovable - if not the most lovable creature on the face of this planet. You made a smart choice, Kim. Continue to make smart choices and treat my best friend right; never make him cry, or I will personally ensure you die a very slow & painful death.” He was telling it in a joking manner, but Jisung knew in his heart of hearts that it will be impossible for him to not want to destroy any low-life who dares hurt his Felix.

Seungmin took the joke in stride, but the older noticed that his eyebrows were set in a very odd way, as if there was something else he was concealing. A question he was reining.

“Jisung...”

“No. I understand. Treat him like a prince.”

“I would,” the younger vowed, “If he’ll take me.”

(Jisung was just terrified Felix would.)

The following day, Jisung was served something that he couldn’t have been mentally & emotionally prepared enough for - Felix standing in front of the same cinema indicated in the movie tickets inside his pocket, looking soft as hell with his plain beige sweater swallowing his body.

From the older’s view, Felix’s fingertips were barely visible, peeking only slightly from under his sleeves from where he was holding a cup of soda - a cup of soda in each hand?

“Lix,” he croaked; his throat dry for some reason.

They saw each other this morning before the older left their dorm first, not having the time for breakfast; his Saturday schedule for the day full from morning until evening.

But it seemed like it wasn’t only him.

“Oh, Hannie!” Felix practically leapt in delight at seeing his best friend, face split in the widest, most charming smile that the older has seen on the younger’s face in a while. Not that he’d seen much of the younger recently.

“You with anyone?” the older asked, gesturing to the two cups of soda in his hands.

“Oh, yeah. Seungmin and I have been wanting to see this movie! Although he’s still in line getting- Oh wait- You here to see this one, too? Join us!”

Felix was speaking a mile per minute. Excited like a kid. Endearing as fuck; so Jisung let his best friend finish before he admitted, “I came with someone actually-”

“Yongbok-ah?” a soft, melodic voice sounded from over Jisung’s shoulder, his companion for the evening appearing just as he was about to tell his best friend.

“Oh, Minho hyung…” Felix acknowledged a teensy bit less ecstatically, yet still politely and friendly. “I guess you two are watching this movie, too, huh?”

The half step backwards that Felix must have taken unconsciously was not lost to Jisung. So were the lights that left Felix’s eyes when Minho came in sight. But instead of overthinking it, Jisung just chose to assume that it was Felix’s trepidation at being seen with Minho’s ex-boyfriend by Minho himself. 

Minho, friendly as ever, stepped forward to give Felix a friendly hug, even hooking his chin over the younger’s shoulder while Jisung got a first row seat to his ever sociable best friend displaying an odd awkwardness towards Minho.

“You came here with someone? Seungminnie?” Minho casually asked, looking over Felix’s shoulder, causing the youngest among the three to visibly gulp.

Jisung knew that it wasn’t really intended to be a backhanded comment that would ruffle up Felix’s feathers but his best friend fidgeting and looking cornered drove Jisung into protective mode.

But before he could do or say anything in Felix’s defense - not that there was really a need for any - Seungmin’s arms came swiftly around the youngest’s shoulders from behind.

“I can’t believe we bumped into you two here,” Seungmin offered lightheartedly, oblivious to the unsettled state the two best friends were in. He must have seen the three from afar already.

“Me neither,” Minho giggled while handing Jisung his popcorn and drink from inside the bag of snacks dangling around his dainty wrist.

From his periphery, Jisung saw Seungmin sneak in a whisper into Felix’s ear to which his best friend just shook his head, and really, that arm should really fall off from Felix’s shoulder right about now.

“You sure?” Jisung vaguely caught Seungmin asking Felix softly, earning the latter a playful slap in the chest with the back of Felix’s hand. 

He could also vaguely recognize Minho talking about the movie’s reviews so far, as their pair naturally began to drift apart from the other two, both minding their own business and companion.

But Seungmin was cooing and fixing Felix’s fringe with his fingertips and Jisung just couldn’t ignore the blush dusting his best friend’s cheeks at that. 

So before he could think it more thoroughly-

“You guys wanna join us? We can have dinner after?” he blurted out. 

Three heads whipped towards Jisung’s direction at his inquiry.

He pleaded Felix with his eyes to accept his invitation while Minho gave him a long, steady stare that was so devoid of any emotion, Jisung still wouldn’t know what it meant even if he tried to decipher it.

So Minho turned to the other two in resignation, as if he had no choice but to second Jisung’s invitation. “I wouldn’t have a problem with that, actually,” he offered genuinely.

Besides, Seungmin would know if he was lying anyway.

Meanwhile, Felix’s hands tightened around their drinks, and he stood there apart from Seungmin, staring back at his best friend; puppy eyes, sweater paws and all because this was just not fair. Not to him. Not to Minho. 

He would decline the invitation if he could. If he knew what was good for his heart and self-esteem, he would put down a foot and decline. But his best friend was practically begging him with his eyes to join them. For reasons he couldn’t quite comprehend.

“Lix?” Jisung dialed up his request with his soft pleading voice, “Join us?”

Felix realized that this must be how it felt to drown. You’re surrounded yet you’re alone. The odds are against you and you’re helpless. Hopeless.

But Seungmin was there, pulling him to the surface, back to reality; grounding him with a hand at the small of his back. “We’ll go only if you want to,” Seungmin whispered as the other two waited for them to either decline or accept - Minho in amusement, and Jisung in confusion. Mostly at how he felt watching Seungmin bring his lips so near Felix’s ear whispering something.

*

Regret at extending the invitation came way too quickly for Jisung inside the cinema where Minho was seated between Felix and Jisung, while Seungmin was on the other side of the youngest in the bunch.

On screen, there were half-dressed gorgeous women, cars flying, heroes in an open combat on rooftops, but Jisung’s attention was divided between Minho’s head on his shoulder and Felix’s head on Seungmin’s.

Jisung knew Felix would rather watch Korean-dubbed anime on local channels than this boring action movie; so he wasn’t at all surprised that despite his best friend’s earlier claim that he’d wanted to see the movie, Felix had actually ended up dozing off. On Seungmin’s shoulder.

Minho was still watching the movie - the only one who still was - as Jisung caught Seungmin fixed his posture a bit so that Felix’s neck was not bended too far in an awkward angle.

Jisung rolled his eyes in the dark, knowing that no one would actually see him do it. He knew without a doubt that Seungmin’s intentions towards his best friend were pure. But were they clear to Felix? He mentally shrugged, denying that the whole scene, which probably looked romantic to any other person’s eyes, just had him fuming.

He didn’t know what it was about the gentle way Seungmin laid a hand on his best friend’s cheek to wake him up when the movie ended and the lights went back on, that just rubbed him the wrong way. 

And dinner together was no better and no kinder to Jisung than the movie was.

Minho was seated across Jisung and Seungmin was beside the oldest, with Felix seated across him.

Doubt started to creep in regarding the other two’s compatibility when it turned out that, surprisingly, Seungmin apparently had yet to discover that Felix could not handle his spicy food well. 

However, in peak Felix fashion, the freckled blonde didn’t even have the heart to inform Seungmin of that fact, after their group decided to let Seungmin order for them, since they chose the restaurant at his recommendation.

Jisung was annoyed at how Felix just nervously chuckled when he realized that the main course was spicy. So he gave his best friend a long look in which he waited a few moments for Felix to speak up, but the younger didn’t, probably not wanting to seem like he expected everyone to adjust to his taste.

“Lix?” Jisung prompted the youngest to speak up, after the waitress had repeated their order and asked if it was final.

Felix knew what his best friend was trying to do and he only shook his head vehemently, widening his eyes at Jisung.

“Seriously?” Jisung deadpanned.

“What is it?” Seungmin asked, detecting the secret signals the two best friends were exchanging with their eyes.

“Is there something you want or do not want, Yongbok-ah?” Minho asked kindly and Seungmin just tilted his head at Felix in confusion.

Flustered, Felix just felt his cheeks redden at the heat of everyone’s attention on him, and Jisung could only sigh.

“Lix can’t eat spicy food,” Jisung decided to just tell Seungmin upfront, making the latter look at Felix first with curiosity, giving him a chance to deny, before it softened to a tender smile that Felix shied away from.

When the waitress had left after Seungmin has tweaked their order, Seungmin was just rewarded with a toothy smile.

“Thanks, Seungmin.”

Jisung fought the urge to frown.

Once food was served, Minho took it upon himself to neatly fill Jisung’s plate with a portion of each dish that they ordered while the two younger males scarfed down their food in silence.

“So,” Minho began, making polite conversation, “When’s the inter-district competition?”

“Next week, actually,” Felix clued in, cheeks full and lips forming the biggest of pouts as he swallowed down his food. “You should come watch, Minho hyung!”

“Felix choreographed our routine,” Seungmin proudly said, eyes shining as he looked over at Felix who bristled in awkwardness at once again being put in the spotlight.

“No,” he waved it off as if his ears were not visibly burning, “Dino and Jeno helped here and there.”

“You’re probably just being modest,” Jisung said, priding himself at knowing his best friend the best among everyone seated in the table.

“Yeah, actually,” Seungmin seconded.

Minho, who was more aware of what was happening than Seungmin and Jisung were letting on, chose to ignore the other two’s silent competition on who knew Felix better and chose to just naturally proceed.

“We’d love to,” he said with genuine enthusiasm. “As long as you could get me and Jisung free tickets,” he added with a laugh as a different waitress served them their desserts - a slice of cake for each one - and taking the dirtied plates with her also.

“Of course! Thre crew’s alumni would definitely get comp tickets!” Felix cheered, starry eyes gazing up at Minho with a little bit of admiration.

Conversation lulled to asking how each other’s studies were going and as Felix talked about his, Jisung realized how long it’s been since he actually had any idea what his best friend had been up to. Just like what Seungmin implied the previous night.

But sooner than anyone expected, it was nearly time to go.

“Well,” Seungmin began as he put his napkin down on the table and pushed away from the table to stand, “Felix and I will be going ahead. We also wouldn't want to interrupt any further plans for the night you may have.”

“We don’t have any further plans,” Minho laughed, the sound tinkling, light, and airy. “It’s late.”

Seungmin just nodded. “I see,” he muttered, “Well, I’ll be bringing Felix home.”

Felix had gotten up on his feet also and was about to bid goodbye also but Jisung suddenly offered, “I’ll bring us all home. I drove my brother’s car today.”

“No, Jisung,” Seungmin declined politely, casting an indecipherable glance at Felix’s way, “I’m the opposite way of your & Felix’s dorm.”

“Yeah, it’s okay, Hannie,” Felix easily waved the offer off absentmindedly as he shrugged on his coat.

“So is Minho,” Jisung clued in, rising from his seat as well, refusing to take no for an answer. “Come on, before it gets too late.” (He didn't miss the appalled look on his best friend’s face when he insisted.)

Needless to say, he was not surprised that Felix gave him the silent treatment on the way home and even when they got home.

He wasn’t quite sure what exactly his best friend was mad about. But Felix was not petty.

Jisung knew he must have pushed the younger to his limits for his best friend to not talk to him, not make him breakfast, not even text him or give him the one single knock for days since the spontaneous double date with the other two.

It broke his heart. 

And Minho caught on it quickly.

“Are you even listening?” was the only thing that Jisung caught from what Minho was talking about.

He shook his head and laughed self-deprecatingly, but also in apology for spacing out.

“So you’re not,” Minho observed with a sigh. “You can talk to me about it if you want, you know?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Must be Felix then,” the older male quipped, effectively making Jisung’s eyes shoot to meet his in alarm. “I’m not stupid, Jisung. I know you like Felix.”

The older’s eyebrows met. He was thinking about Felix, but not because he liked him. His best friend was the kindest, cutest, most adorable person in the world but “I don’t like Felix .”

“Sure you don’t,” Minho snorted, eyes dancing in amusement as if he didn’t believe the younger one bit, and as if he knew something that Jisung didn’t. He sighed and gave the other a long hard look.

Minho knew what he had to do. It may be long overdue but there was no sense dragging it out.

“Who do you like, Jisung?” he asked softly, playing with the straw in his drink. He knew the true answer. And he knew how to wring it out of Jisung. But he also knew it wouldn’t be easy. He knew Jisung would deny.

The guy in question looked at Minho in front of him both with curiosity & alarm. He sat up straight. He didn’t plan on confessing to Minho so soon but he guessed it was imperative given the situation. He didn’t want the older to misunderstand his sentiments.

“If it wasn’t obvious,” Jisung mumbled, “I like you.”

“I figured as much.”

“You knew?”

“I knew that you were not going to answer me truthfully.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean this is me letting you down gently,” Minho sighed. “Because you are confessing to the wrong person. Because you are not being honest to yourself.”

Jisung slowly gathered all the little clues that Minho had been dropping since he pulled him out of his trance, and realized he’d been clearly misunderstood.

“I don’t like my best friend,” Jisung denied firmly.

“And if I told you that I knew someone other than Seungmin that liked him?”

“Who the hell?!”

Minho just laughed, shaking his head, entertained despite the other’s emotional turmoil. “You say you like me yet you just but sighed at my rejection. But when I make up stuff about someone else liking Felix, you look like you’re ready to fight.”

Well, that wasn’t untrue but “It’s not the same thing.”

“You’re right. It’s not. Because you’re in love with your best friend, not me.”

*

It was the day of the competition and Jisung wondered if the invitation still stood. 

It had been almost a week of his cold, silent spell of some sort with Felix.

The younger had been busy with rehearsals and the older had been busy coming to terms with the realization that he was, in fact, in love with his best friend.

He was in love with Lee Felix Yongbok.

And it could have been hilarious had the realization not come from the person he thought he liked - Lee Minho. And if the younger would just talk to him and give him the opening to confess.

If he wasn’t aware of his feelings, Jisung was sure he would have already whined, acted cute, apologized, cuddled up his way to reconciling with Felix - like the usual.

But things were not the same.

He was in love with Felix.

But so was Kim Seungmin, it seemed.

And Felix wasn’t talking to him.

He did try to initiate a conversation earlier though, when the younger was getting ready to leave.

“Are you not grabbing breakfast, at least?” Jisung asked as he hovered around the kitchen. “You have a full day ahead. You can’t start on an empty stomach. I can cook for you,” he offered, wringing his hands together and hoping Felix would, at least, look at him.

“The crew will grab breakfast together before heading to the venue,” was Felix’s clipped answer as he straightened up from tying his shoes, grabbing his duffel and heading out the door.

Jisung damn nearly cried.

How was he supposed to fix it?

He thought about the way Felix would not even look at his direction, and he felt discouraged. Perhaps he should just bury his feelings until they no longer existed.

But could he do it?

Because he also thought about the way Felix takes care of him - takes care of everyone around him and puts them first before himself. He thought about the way they could understand each other without words. (Until now, that was.) He thought about Felix and his toothy smile - different when he’s genuinely happy from when he was intentionally trying to be cute; usually when he wants to get his way.  He thought about Felix’s love for his family, his sisters, and his crewmates; how beautiful & graceful Felix was when he danced, how insecure he was of his singing voice which, by the way, Jisung loved; how cute he looked when he’d just woken up.

Shit. How did he miss a huge, glaring neon sign that’d been right in front of him all along. With how many hours it would take for Jisung to wax lyrical on all the things he found endearing & attractive in his best friend, it should have been obvious. It should have been obvious by how affronted he was just by the mere thought that someone could matter more to Felix than him, the best friend.

Jisung should have known by how much he loved the feeling of being in Felix’s embrace, and how, if it were up to him, he would have the younger in his embrace every night if he had the excuse to, that he was head over heels in love with Lee Felix Yongbok.

Lee Felix Yongbok had been making him feel so much for so long, he’d really gotten used to it so much so that he’d never considered it to be anything more than fondness towards a best friend.

Even being with Minho didn’t make him feel as fluttery and dizzy with attraction as just thinking about Felix walking around their flat with just a plain white beater on. Or looking so flawless after he’d just showered.

Jisung blushed by himself, bursting at the seams with this newfound discovery of feelings for Felix, now recognizing that he, in fact, was jealous of Seungmin.

He wasn’t threatened of Seungmin stealing his best friend - he was terrified of Seungmin calling Felix’s his.

Jisung wanted Felix to be his. And in the same way, he needed to be Felix’s.

He looked at the time. If he was not mistaken, Felix and their crew should have arrived at the venue by now. Perhaps he should get ready to leave also. After all, despite their current situation & his own current predicament, he still wanted to support his best friend.

He was on his way to the shower when he noticed that Minho left him a few messages. Curious, since Minho never double-texted, Jisung chose to open the messages first, surprised that they were links, actually. Links to articles to be exact, posted some minutes ago, all of which had headlines about a dance crew that was on their way to the same exact competition Felix’s crew was joining. The dance crew apparently encountered a traffic accident resulting in two casualties - both members of the crew. The bodies were still being identified, and other wounded survivors were being transported to the nearest hospital.

For a minute, Jisung couldn’t believe his eyes as fear, like vines, started crawling up from his tummy to his chest until it was hard to breathe.

God, no. Please.

Jisung opened his mouth but no sound came out as the worst possible case scenario played in his head like a horror film so terrifying, it could make you cry. Perhaps he felt a lone tear escape his eye but that didn’t stop him from galloping to his room to grab a jacket. And in less than a minute, he hwas out the door, finally having half the mind to try and call Felix himself as he pressed the back of his free hand to his mouth, muffling his silent sobs.

His eyes switched to tunnel vision as his legs ate up distance, rushing down the hallway as Felix’s phone rang and rang and-

“Hannie?”

Jisung gasped as he pressed the Down button in the elevator about ten times, then pressed his phone closer to his ear. He restlessly turned this way and that waiting for the telltale ding sound of the elevator.

“Lix?! Where are you?!” he almost shouted, his free hand shaking where he was running it through his hair. Relief whooshed out of him in a loud sigh, thankful that his friend was, at least, well enough to answer his phone.

“Uhm-”

“Where are you, dammit! Are you okay?! It’s not your crew, right?! Seungmin is safe, too? Are you hurt?!”

The elevator finally dinged open and the younger’s answer of “Calm down, Hannie, I’m right here,” didn’t sound through the receiver.

The older whipped around and true enough, his best friend was there, fine, stepping out of the elevator with a solemn look on his face. His knees almost gave out under him but Felix was here. In front of him. Alive and well.

Jisung wasted no time wrapping his arms around the younger, if only to prove to himself that his best friend was really okay. And it was when Felix’s arms came tentatively around only him did Jisung finally break down crying - onto the younger’s neck nonetheless.

“I seriously thought something happened to you…”

“Sssshh,” the younger cooed, calming him down with a hand running comfortingly up and down the older’s back. “I’m here, am I not?”

The other just wailed louder, burying his face deeper onto the younger’s neck and tightening his arms. “I was so scared.”

“I’m sure you must be,” Felix chuckled softly, “You’re gonna be so sad without me, I bet.”

For a moment, the both of them forgot about the cold war of some sort that they had going on until this morning. Jisung was just relieved. And Felix was just delighted to have his best friend hugging him so tightly.

“It’s not funny,” Jisung whined, uncaring that they were in the hallway and that he was getting his tears and snot on Felix.

“I know. The competition was postponed. We’ve competed against them before. Who knows if those who made it will even be able to still dance after this…”

The older nodded, unrelenting in his embrace, although his sobs were quieting down.

Felix was patient with Jisung. As always. Shaken as he, too, might be, and indifferent as they might have been towards each other recently, he’d always been weak for the older, too. It came along with the feelings, he was sure.

“You okay now?” Felix asked, nudging with his shoulder so that the older lifted his head and disentangled his arms from around him.

Jisung complied and muttered, “No.”

The younger just snorted.

“I thought I’ve lost my best friend forever and you’re laughing at me,” Jisung sniffled, wondering if he should be annoyed that Felix was taking his misery very lightheartedly or thankful that the younger seemed to have forgotten the silent treatment he was giving him until now.

“Aigooya,” Felix singsonged, pinching Jisung’s nose, and looking at the other with a fondness so obvious, the older wanted to squirm. Or just straight out blurt out that he liked - no, loved him. 

“Lix.”

“Hmmm?”

“I’m about to tell you something really crazy,” Jisung confessed, fisting at the remnants of his tears and then fiddling with the hem of his shirt, effectively avoiding the younger’s eyes also. “But it’s totally crazy and it might weird you out. But I don’t know. Maybe it won’t. I hope it doesn’t-”

“Let’s talk inside, Hannie?” the younger cut off his ramble with the invitation, seizing his hand.

“O-okay,” Jisung nodded, letting Felix lead him back to their place by the hand.

Once inside, Felix refused to let go of his best friend’s hand, pulling him to sit down on the couch with him. “What is it, Hannie?” he asked with a frown.

The older looked at his best friend through tear-stained eyes. Closely and intently; committing to memory Felix’s kind eyes, slightly upturned nose, and perfect, full lips. He might not ever have the chance to gaze upon them again should this not go well.

He wrung his hands together on his lap, then averted Felix’s gaze. “Are you still mad?”

“I was never mad. I could never get mad at you, Hannie.”

“But you’ve been avoiding me.”

“That, I have,” Felix chuckled bitterly, unable to deny. “I just have some things to sort out with myself after that night.”

Jisung knew exactly which night he was talking about. “You were disappointed in me. Something I did. How I acted. Don’t lie to me, Lix.”

“Perhaps,” Felix assented. “But it was disappointment born out of confusion, really. You were trying to prove something. And I still don’t know why you feel like you had to.”

Lifting his head, to watch confusion crumple Felix’s face, Jisung wanted to back out. But after the minutes of hell he’d experienced earlier today thinking he’d lost his chance with - no, thinking he’d lost Felix forever, he knew better than to keep on denying himself and his best friend of the truth of his feelings.

“I’m sorry.” It was the first reasonable thing Jisung knew he had to get out of the way.

“For what?”

“For how shitty of a best friend I’d been since Minho hyung and I had started getting close.”

Felix met his eyes and just nodded.

“And I’m sorry for being jealous of Seungmin.”

The younger blinked, lips half-parted in surprise and Jisung feared that Felix would reject him any second now. But a moment passed and the younger seemed to make sense of Jisung’s declaration and he replied with the ghost of a sad smile. “If you’re afraid of being dethroned from being my best friend, you don’t-”

Ah, he misunderstood. “No, Lix,” Jisung interrupted to talk more slowly, carefully, and meaningfully in hopes that his best friend would finally get it. “You don’t understand.”

“What do I not understand?”

“Seungmin likes you.”

“I know.”

“And I am jealous of Seungmin. Even if I wasn’t your best friend, I would still be jealous of Seungmin.”

This time, Felix gasped. But his cheeks also darkened and the tips of his ears turned red.

Jisung took these as a sign that he’d finally gotten his message across. And it made him hella nervous and scared.

Felix floundered. “B-But you like Minho hyung…”

Jisung shook his head and licked his lips, watching emotions play in Felix’s eyes in succession.

“No,” he denied softly. “I’m pretty sure I like you. Lee Felix Yongbok.”

“Hannie…” Realization came to Felix almost with a subtlety that Jisung wasn’t sure he was patient enough for, except Jisung watched it happen before his very eyes. In the very face of the very man he loved very much. “I-”

“No, I need to get this off my chest before I chicken out,” Jisung chuckled nervously. But it was now or never. “I like you. And as much as I don’t want this to change anything between us, it inevitably will. Because best friends don’t just fall in love with - oof .”

He didn’t even see Felix surge forward, practically throwing himself onto the older’s chest and throwing his arms around his neck. “I like you, too, Hannie,” the younger whispered.

Jisung blinked once. Twice. He wasn’t sure if what he thought was happening, was really happening. It was all too good to be true.

“No,” the other corrected himself before Jisung could even process his feelings & attraction towards his best friend being reciprocated. Before he could even get a word out. “No, I actually think I love you, Hannie.”

Jisung let his body sag in relief inside Felix’s embrace and he felt like wanting to cry again. If Felix was just messing with him, he swears to God he will-

“I have loved you so much and for so long, you have no idea how devastated I was when we started drifting apart.”

Jisung might be mistaken but it sounded like Felix, too, was on the verge of crying. He wanted to look at Felix’s eyes when he made his feelings clear but when he tried to make the younger let go, Felix was adamant to, only tightening his arms around him. So the older gave up trying, and let his own arms come around Felix, too; even tugging gently to signal him to climb onto his lap. “Lix…”

The younger complied with no hesitation, straddling Jisung in the couch, unashamed of how tightly & closely they were pressed together. He buried his face onto the older’s neck and continued, “I only avoided you these days because you and Minho hyung were practically dating yet you were making it seem like you do not approve of my friendship with Seungmin. I was missing you while at the same time trying to get over you but you were being so confusing and I just - I never ever thought you would see me that way. Never.”

“Ssssh,” Jisung shushed the younger’s worries softly. “Hannie is sorry. I was being an idiot. I didn’t know how to deal with his jealousy.” He felt the younger nod while a small and an almost petulant whine escaped him as Jisung smoothed a hand up and down his back soothingly. 

They remained in the embrace a minute longer until Felix sat back and looked at his best friend. With so much awe & wonder swimming in his eyes, one would think he was looking at something so precious or magnificent. But it was just Han Jisungo.

“What about Minho hyung?”

Jisung just beamed at Felix and shook his head.

Felix nodded thoughtfully, self-consciously biting down on his bottom lip as he pondered on something. Then he admitted, “Seungmin actually confessed to me the night before we went to the movies. And I turned him down.”

“Yeah?” Jisung asked barely containing the giddiness that had gradually replaced the nerves, holding Felix by the waist. “Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“Then that means I was jealous that entire night for nothing?”

“Kind of,” Felix nodded, covering up his giggles with a fist, the picture of pure, youthful bliss despite the shimmer in his eyes that were from brimming tears.

“I’m so stupid.” This time it was Jisung who whined, resting his forehead against Felix’s chest in embarrassment, prompting the younger to pet his head playfully while cooing.

“Mm-hmm. That, you are…”

“Wait. Don’t say it .”

Felix laughed and said it anyway. “But, Hannie, you are my stupid.” Then he made gagging noises at the cheesiness of his own cliche statement, making laughter bubble up from Jisung’s chest as well.

“Nooooooooo. Ewwwwww.”

*

“You know,” Jisung began, turning in the younger’s embrace to face him.

Now that they were face to face, he couldn't have prevented his heart from doing a one-two-skip at Felix’s devastatingly handsome face being so near his own. “I always loved falling asleep with you.”

Felix smiled sleepily at him, perhaps already half-asleep. Yet he raised his free hand to the older’s cheek and rubbed his thumb tenderly over Jisung’s squishy cheek while his other arm was being pillowed by Jisung’s head.

“And I don’t even care if I was little spoon or big spoon,” Jisung continued, inching closer and closing his eyes contentedly at the warmth from his best friend’s palm. “You’re just so warm and snuggly. I just get the best sleep when I’m beside you.”

“I guess there will be more of these from now on then,” Felix murmured, letting his hand fall from Jisung’s cheek in favor of pulling his frame closer against his chest, their legs tangled.

“More of these? No, there will only be these from now on!”

A deep chuckle rumbled in Felix’s chest and the nonverbal response made the other pout. So Jisung drew back a little to look up at Felix who still had his eyes closed, to wring words out of his best friend, “Right? We will be sleeping beside each other every night from now on?”

Cracking open an eye, the younger peered down at him playfully and teased, “And if I said ‘No’?”

Jisung’s pout intensified.

Felix laughed now - the sound rich and deep, making Jisung feel all possible kinds of tingly & fluttery from head to toe, combined with the striking features in the other’s face that were softened by his charming smile. “Every night,” the younger relented as if it was a chore, but he secured Jisung’s head back under his chin with a hand. “Whatever you want.”

Like magic, a small smile began to pull up the corners of Jisung’s lips from the pout. So he indulged himself to a lungful of Felix’s body wash scent that seeped through his clothes before he pulled away for a second and pressed his lips onto Felix’s in a stolen kiss. “I love you. Good night.”

And because that was their first kiss, Felix’s eyes flew open at the sensation and he found himself staring at Jisung’s innocent, yet expectant face. 

After a moment passed and Felix had yet to say something, the older began to think that perhaps he may have overdone it with both the kiss and the L-bomb. But then again, Felix wasn’t pushing him away, was he?

“Did you just kiss me?” the younger asked incredulously, eyes now wide open while his brain tried to make sense of the previous sensation of someone else’s lips on his.

“Maybe?” Jisung squeaked sheepishly, avoiding the rejection or disgust that he feared he might see in his best friend’s eyes by turning onto his other side. Not without pulling Felix’s arm so that it was slung around his waist though.

And for a moment, Felix did and said nothing. But before Jisung’s worries could deepen, the younger was pulling him back around by the shoulder and kissing him.

Yes. Lee Felix Yongbok - in his thinly dressed, mint-breathed, freshly-showered glory - was hovering over him with elbows bracketing his head and kissing him senseless. 

And Han Jisung could only smile against the other’s mouth, keeping up with the pushing & gliding of their lips together with his hands intertwined behind the other’s neck, pulling him closer and closer until they were breathless.

Jisung had half the mind to think that he may be coming across as eager and needy with the way he was chasing Felix’s lips with his own everytime they so much as part for a blinking second. But Felix was kissing him so tenderly yet so thoroughly, his whole system was short circuiting. And it was so addictive - the way the younger’s lips were so plump and soft and skilled and just perfect. He simply couldn’t get enough.

It was Felix who pulled away; chest heaving in exertion from having come up for air just now. In amusement, he watched Jisung slowly regain his bearings after their first real kiss seemed to have all sense flying out the older’s proverbial window. Pride blossomed in the younger’s chest from the realization that he had quite literally kissed the older into oblivion so that now, Jisung was still panting; eyes unfocused & hooded, lips glistening.

“I love you, too, Hannie,” Felix huffed once Jisung was looking up at him again, breath fanning over the older’s face. “Now, we sleep.”

And the older could only nod dazedly, blinking dumbly at the ceiling as Felix laid back down beside him and spooned him again; his back to Felix's chest, and the younger's face buried in his mop of hair.

In the dark, they both smiled. They just knew this night was just the first among many more sweet, or otherwise many more intimate nights to come.