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“No.”
“Oh, come on Seungmin!”
“No, Chan. I’m not joining you guys. I refuse to face Jeongin again, so no.” Seungmin huffs. He was just trying to read his book when along came Bang Chan, the man who used to sit at the top of Seungmin’s annoying people list (the number one position was now firmly held by his ex-boyfriend, Yang Jeongin).
“So you’re gonna let him win?” Chan says, a teasing lilt to his voice, and Seungmin tenses. Chan always knows how to taunt Seungmin and push his buttons. Seungmin lowers his book with a glare.
“Fine. I’ll come to yours, but if you pull any tricks, I’ll make you regret it Chan.” Seungmin glares once more before turning back to his book and Chan just laughs.
“Sure Minnie.”
*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*
Jeongin knocks on the door to Chan’s flat, his bag containing clothes for the next week slung over his shoulders whilst a plastic bag of snacks sits locked in his right hand. He hears the tell-tale sound of the door handle being pulled down and the door opens to reveal…
Kim Seungmin.
Seungmin scowls upon seeing him, but steps aside to let Jeongin through, the younger quickly stepping through the doorway. His heart clenches at the reaction but he swallows down his tears, focusing on Chan who has rushed to greet him.
“Innie, hi! Come with me, I’ll help you with your things.” Chan says, very obviously trying to get Jeongin away from Seungmin, but Jeongin doesn’t care, glad that the older boy had come to diffuse the awkward tension that was slowly building in the hallway.
Chan rushes them upstairs, into a room that contains two beds, one of them already claimed by Changbin. The older boy looks up from his phone when Chan and Jeongin enter, and he gasps when he sees them, throwing his phone to the side and rushing over to hug Jeongin.
“I got Innie as a roomie! Let’s go!” Changbin giggles excitedly and Jeongin just huffs playfully, allowing the older boy to cling to him.
“Changbin let go of him, you clingy baby.” Chan laughs and Changbin just playfully huffs, letting go of Jeongin before skipping off to his bed again. He unlocks his phone before typing away. Jeongin and Chan share a look before they both start laughing, startling Changbin.
“You texting someone over there, Binnie?” Chan asks and Changbin rolls his eyes.
“No.” Is Changbin’s reply and Jeongin and Chan share a look again before Jeongin shrugs and drags his bags over to the spare bed, dropping them down.
“Changbin, you want some snacks?” Jeongin asks, smiling when the older boy perks up, making his way over to Jeongin.
“What ya got?” Changbin asks, putting on his baby voice and Jeongin cringes lightly.
“Nothing if you use that voice again.” Jeongin says flatly, and Changbin pouts, slumping onto Jeongin’s bed and riffling through the small bag. He finds a bag of crisps and stare up at Jeongin with wide yes. “Go ahead.” Changbin giggles, thanking him, before skipping off to his bed again, quickly becoming enraptured in his texting once more.
Jeongin thinks he’ll have to ask Changbin who he’s texting later, but for now he grabs some gummy candies and settles against his pillows, chewing away as he scrolls through his twitter feed.
“Innie…” Changbin says, voice trailing off. Jeongin looks up, tilting his head to signal for Changbin to continue. “Why did you and Minnie break up?” The question is quiet and Jeongin knows that Changbin lowered his voice to make the question hurt less, but he really wishes Changbin hadn’t asked at all.
“I wanted to focus on university. Plus, he didn’t, he didn’t seem like he cared.” Jeongin mutters and he feels tears prick at the corner of his eyes. Changbin stands up and makes his way over, crawling into Jeongin’s bed with him. Jeongin cuddles into Changbin’s side as the emotions within him start to flood his brain, drowning any chances of happiness below a tidal wave of misery.
“I’m sorry, Innie.” Changbin whispers. “I shouldn’t have asked.” He continues and Jeongin nods his head, the skin of his cheek brushing against the soft material of Changbin’s shirt.
“No you shouldn’t have. But I don’t care about him anymore so…it’s whatever.” Jeongin says, a yawn following shortly after the end of his sentence. “I’m gonna nap.” He says, voice starting to get misty in his sleepiness.
“Can I nap with you? With cuddles?” Changbin asks and Jeongin just laughs.
“Sure.” Jeongin moves the bag of snacks off of his bedsheets, placing them on the floor alongside his bag that is stuffed full of clothes, and Changbin snuggles into the sheets, slinging his arm over Jeongin’s waist when the younger gets under the covers too.
“Sleep well Innie.” Changbin whispers and Jeongin smiles, closing his eyes and letting sleep pull him under.
--
Changbin had genuinely wanted to nap with Jeongin but now he finds himself unable to sleep. He huffs, shuffling around and grabbing his phone from where he’d buried it under the pillows. He unlocks it, quickly loading up his text chat with his friend, Ace, greeting them again.
Binnie🐖: Can’t sleep now :(((
Ace💜: oof that sucks dude
Binnie🐖: Yeah :((
Ace💜: idk what to suggest, soz dude
Changbin goes to respond again when Jeongin, fast asleep, shuffles next to him, mumbling words that Changbin can barely make out.
“I love you Seungmin.” Changbin just manages to stop himself from squealing before turning to his phone again, immediately telling Ace about his new discovery.
Binnie🐖: OMFG. So I’m in my friend’s bed, right? He just said he loves his ex in his sleep. OMFG.
Ace💜: no fucking way…
Ace💜: u gonna do anything bout it?
Binnie🐖: Mhm! I’m gonna flirt with his ex, make him jealous, ya know?
Ace💜: bin, ur aroace…?
Binnie🐖: And closeted :D
Ace💜: pffft good luck bestie
Binnie🐖: Thank you, thank you
Binnie🐖: Okay, I’m gonna try sleep again now
Binnie🐖: Talk later?
Ace💜: yah, sleep well dude
Ace💜: if u can ofc
Changbin laughs at that, locking his phone after shooting a simple purple heart emoji Ace’s way. He snuggles into Jeongin’s side once more and focuses on sleeping. It takes a while for sleep to seep into his mind, but before too long, he does fall asleep and goes off to dreamland.
*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*
Seungmin stares at the time on his phone before yawning. It’s 7.34am and he’d been woken up by a nightmare, and so he’d reluctantly rolled over to grab his phone. He lets his screen go black, a sigh leaving his lips, before adjusting and getting out of bed. Seungmin appreciates that he has the solo room – he didn’t want to share with anyone, unless it was Jeongin. Okay, so maybe he still had feelings for the younger, but he couldn’t focus on it. The younger had broken up with him after all, so Seungmin just brushes off the feelings and makes his way downstairs.
No one else is awake yet, so Seungmin sets about making himself a cup of coffee. He doesn’t register someone coming downstairs until he feels arms link around his middle, and he tenses up.
“Just me Minnie.” It’s Changbin, his voice still laced with sleep, and Seungmin is pretty sure that if he turns around to face Changbin, the older boy’s eyes would be milky with sleep too.
“You okay?” Seungmin asks, voice gentle as he carefully reaches up to grab another mug. He knows Changbin will want coffee so he makes it before the older can ask. “Here drink up.” Seungmin says, Changbin’s arms finally uncinching from Seungmin’s waist as he takes the mug with a small ‘thank you’. It’s quiet as Seungmin sips his coffee, Changbin just holding the mug and enjoying the warmth. It’s normal for Changbin to wait until his drink is cooled down significantly before drinking it, so Seungmin doesn’t say anything, choosing to focus on his own drink instead.
Both boys turn to look at the stairs as they hear footsteps, only to see Felix, his blonde hair sticking out in tuffs here and there. Changbin giggles at that, hiding the sound in his coffee cup. Felix stumbles in, tiredly greeting them, before turning to make his own coffee. Felix sips a few times before humming.
“Seungmin always mixes the coffee well, doesn’t he Lix?” Changbin asks, cup still as full as when Seungmin first poured it.
“Yeah, he does.” Felix asks, confusion lightly illuminating his face. Seungmin shares the look before focusing back on Changbin. The older boy is staring at his mug, eyes wide and twinkling and Seungmin huffs, shrugging it off. Changbin was confusing sometimes. Steps on the stairs are audible again and Seungmin, upon seeing the newcomer is Jeongin, shrinks into the corner he’s in. Jeongin’s soft peach hair is sticking out and messy (in a cute way), and Seungmin just wants to reach out and run his hands through the strands, and leave a little kiss on Jeongin’s forehead, like they used to do the morning after a spending the night at each other’s houses.
Seungmin looks up briefly, locking eyes with Changbin. He tilts his head in confusion and Changbin steps closer, way too close in Seungmin’s opinion, wrapping his free arm around Seungmin’s waist and cuddling into him. Seungmin flushes then, a vicious streak of heat burning up his spine, but he still wraps his own free arm around Changbin.
“You okay?” Seungmin whispers and Changbin nods, mumbling a small ‘cold’ into Seungmin’s chest, the sound muffled by the hoodie that Seungmin is wearing. The younger boy hums in understanding, free hand moving to rub up and down Changbin’s back. Changbin doesn’t feel cold, but Seungmin shrugs it off, trusting in the older boy.
Felix drains the last dregs of his mug before mixing up two more cups – one for Hyunjin, one for Jisung – and leaving the kitchen. Now it’s just Seungmin, Changbin and Jeongin in the kitchen and as Seungmin spares a glance at the younger, he notices Jeongin is glaring at Changbin, digging holes in the older boy’s back. Seungmin feels confusion seep into him once more.
Why was Innie glaring at Changbin?
*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*
Jeongin is glaring at Changbin again, he’s aware of that, but he can’t help it. Changbin had been practically glued to Seungmin’s side all day and it was driving Jeongin crazy. Why was he being so clingy? What point was he trying to make?
Was him asking that question yesterday part of his plan to…get with Seungmin or something? Jeongin gags and has to stand up to leave the room. He enters the kitchen, and grabs a glass, filling it with water before downing the entire thing rapidly. He needs to calm the fuck down. Changbin has always been a clingy person, this is no different right? He’ll probably be clinging to someone else tomorrow, right?
Jeongin settles on that with a sigh, filling his glass up and downing it again before making his way back into the living room. He has to clench his fist to stop himself from acting recklessly at the new sight that plays out before him. Changbin is hovering above Seungmin as he tickles the younger, and Jeongin hates it. He sits back on the couch, pulling out his phone and earbuds again, deciding to watch something to distract himself.
The sick feeling sits in his stomach for ages, rotting away his already weak mental state.
*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*
As Seungmin is mixing up his coffee the next morning, watching the snowflakes falling gently outside, he feels arms wrap around his waist, just like the day before.
It’s Changbin. Again. The older boy mumbles indecipherable sentences sleepily against Seungmin’s back and Seungmin huffs, copying his routine from yesterday by grabbing a second mug for Changbin and making him a coffee too. Once both mugs are done, he alerts Changbin and the older boy moves, keeping his arm around Seungmin’s waist and staying pressed into his side, but his free hand grabs his mug, and he hums at the warmth.
“Why are you clinging to me so much Binnie?” Seungmin asks and Changbin just hums, nuzzling his head against the top of Seungmin’s arms.
“Warm.” Is all Changbin mutters and Seungmin snorts, the sound loud in the silence of the house, and Changbin giggles with him.
Chan enters the kitchen, his quiet steps going unheard by the giggly pair, and he stares at them before shaking his head fondly.
“You two have gotten closer recently.” Chan comments absentmindedly, not aware of the peach-haired boy frozen by the kitchen’s door frame, out of view of the kitchen’s inhabitants.
“It’s cuz I love Minnie.” Changbin giggles, dragging out the ‘e’ sound in the word love. Seungmin tenses at that before laughing awkwardly. What was Changbin saying?
The sound of rapid footsteps running on the stairs have all three boys turning to look, Seungmin just vaguely recognising Jeongin’s form going upstairs, and he winces. Great.
“Uh, is he okay?” Chan asks, hand paused in the act of pouring a glass of water. Seungmin huffs.
“I’ll go check.” Changbin says, detangling himself from Seungmin’s side, before making Jeongin a cup of coffee. With both mugs in his hand, he leaves the kitchen, Seungmin watching after him with a frown on his lips.
“Something tells me I’m missing some details here…” Chan says after a few seconds of silence. Seungmin huffs.
“Yeah, a few.”
--
Changbin gently nudges the door to his and Jeongin’s temporary room open, careful not to spill the coffee still in his hands. The younger is sat on his bed, face tucked into his knees, and if he heard Changbin come in, he doesn’t show it, unmoving as he sniffles.
“Innie. We need to talk.” Changbin whispers gently, placing the two mugs on the table before sitting on the edge of Jeongin’s bed. The younger flinches away from him.
“Stay away from me.” Jeongin bites out, harsh words softened by the way his voice cracks.
“Jeongin, I’m sorry. Let me be honest with you.” Changbin says, voice still low and quiet and Jeongin looks up at him then, eyes rimmed red and dripping with tears, and Changbin hates himself for ever upsetting his younger friend.
“Honest?” Jeongin’s voice is still shaky as he tilts his head and Changbin nods, curt and firm, before running a hand through his hair. He grabs Jeongin’s mug and passes it to him before grabbing his own and taking a sip, the cooled liquid tasting perfect on his tongue. He hums in content, his eyes slipping closed for a brief moment.
“Yes, honest. I was flirting with Seungmin to make you jealous.” Changbin says, tracing his finger round the rim of his cup. He sighs, looking up at Jeongin briefly, before continuing. “When, when we took that nap together, you said ‘I love you Seungmin’ in your sleep.” It’s quiet, quieter than it needs to be, but Changbin still feels like he should’ve been quieter, should’ve delivered it in a way that’s less painful. But it’s out there now and the hitch in Jeongin’s breathing tells Changbin that the younger heard him.
“I did?” Jeongin questioned, whispery tone still strained from his crying. Changbin nods his head, taking another sip from his mug. Jeongin’s hands are clenched tight about his mug, the skin around his knuckles taunt and white, and Changbin reaches his free hand out to brush at the skin of Jeongin’s wrist. The younger’s grip loosens, the redness of his skin rushing back, and Changbin smiles into his mug.
“I think, I think you need to talk to him, Jeongin.” Changbin says, and Jeongin huffs, hiding his emotions behind his mug. He downs half the cup in one go, wincing at the heat of the drink as it scalds his tongue. Changbin giggles at that and Jeongin huffs in playful annoyance.
“What do I say?” Jeongin continues on with their conversation, calmer than he’d been previously.
“The truth. It’s what you both deserve.” Changbin says, taking another sip of his coffee, coldness starting to seep into the few final remaining dregs of the drink. Jeongin hums in thought, looking down at his cup, the dark liquid swirling as it stares up at him. He sighs and looks up at Changbin.
“Fine. I’ll talk to him. Just, please stop flirting with him.” Jeongin says, wincing at how desperate he sounds. Changbin giggles.
“I will. I’m not interested in him like that, at all.” Changbin says, fake gagging and Jeongin laughs, the sound bright and cheerful once more.
“Be careful with how you talk about my man.” Jeongin says, playfully puffing his chest out and Changbin laughs, loud and unrestrained, head falling back as he loses himself in the joy.
“You’re whipped, Innie.”
*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*
Seungmin looks down at his phone with a sigh. Changbin had texted him, asking him to go to his room that he shared with Jeongin, and Seungmin really didn’t wanna go just in case he ran into said boy. With a huff, he stands up, locking his phone and pocketing it, before making his way upstairs.
Seungmin hesitates outside of the door before knocking gently. He hears rushed steps before Changbin is flinging the door open and dragging Seungmin inside, before ducking out the door.
“Good luck!” Changbin yells through the wood and Seungmin barely registers the words, eyes slitted as he glares at Jeongin.
“What is he doing?” Seungmin grits out and Jeongin huffs and swallows before sighing.
“We need to talk. He’s helping.” Jeongin says, eyes still stuck on the floor below him.
“About what?” Seungmin bites and Jeongin looks up then, a sadness twinkling in his eyes.
“About us.”
“We broke up.” Seungmin deadpans. “In fact, if I’m remembering correctly, you broke up with me.” Seungmin crosses his arms over his chest. He’s frustrated and he just wants to be away from Jeongin already.
“And I shouldn’t have. I, I should’ve told you about my issues. Instead, I ran away like a coward.” Jeongin says. Seungmin can tell the words are hard for the younger to get out, but he still eeks them out and something within Seungmin softens then. He crosses the space between the door and Jeongin’s bed, sitting next to him, still keeping his distance as he does so.
“What issues?” Seungmin prompts and Jeongin takes a deep breath before finally looking up at Seungmin’s face.
“I felt like you didn’t like me anymore, so I thought maybe I should break up with you. Save me from getting broken up with. And I regret that so much.” Jeongin says, voice quieting down as he continues talking and Seungmin feels his heart break.
“Why? Why did you think that? What did I do?” Seungmin asks and Jeongin winces at all the questions. “I never stopped liking you Jeongin. You need to tell me what I did wrong so I can fix it because, if you’ll give me the chance, I’d like to be your boyfriend again.” Seungmin finishes, picking at the skin on his left thumb.
“You never paid attention to me, and when I tried to be more affection with you, you started to shrug it off more and more.” Jeongin whispers and Seungmin’s heart is definitely shattered now, a hollow space with a heap of glass in its place instead.
“I, I’m sorry…I didn’t even realise.” Seungmin says, words trailing off. Jeongin scoffs from beside him and something jolts within him. “Not that that excuses what I did, of course.” Seungmin says, voice quiet. He feels awful, and he knows he should feel that way too.
It’s quiet then, the room simmering with an uneasy tension, and Seungmin knows he or Jeongin could easily stand up and walk out right now, but he also knows neither of them will. They’ll stay in this suffocating situation until one of them says something stupid, or one of their friends barges in and interrupts. It shocks Seungmin when Jeongin is the one to say something stupid after not even two minutes of silence.
“I love you, Seungmin.” It’s barely audible in the room but Seungmin hears it loud and clear, the words ringing through his head.
“Why?” Seungmin says, insecurity swelling in the space between his heart and his ribcage and the awkward noise Jeongin makes tingles in his brain.
“Because you’re Kim Seungmin. Insufferable and annoying, but still somehow the person my heart decided I was gonna love.” Jeongin says, lightly laughing at himself and Seungmin loses all self-control. He stands up, coming to rest in front of Jeongin, before grabbing the younger’s face and kissing him, intense and fiery and passionate and everything that it should’ve been when him and Jeongin kissed before. Jeongin kisses him back, the awkward angle restricting the kiss, but they don’t care, they just continue getting lost in the feeling of kissing each other.
Seungmin eventually pulls back, resting his forehead against Jeongin’s.
“I love you too, Jeongin. And I promise I’ll never hurt you, ever again.” Seungmin whispers and Jeongin giggles, the laughter overtaking his body.
“Good.”
*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*
Changbin looks up from his phone, mid-text convo with Ace, when Seungmin and Jeongin walk in. Jeongin is practically hanging off of Seungmin and the older of the two doesn’t seem to mind. The rest of their friend group notice this and it takes Chan speaking up for the pair to finally stop being entangled in only each other.
“Are you two a thing again?” Chan says, finger flicking back and forth between their forms as he points. Seungmin nods his head, a bright puppy-like smile of pride his face, and Jeongin just hums, snuggling into Seungmin’s side. “Cute!” Chan practically squeals. Felix actually does squeal, the sound loud from where he sits smushed in between his boyfriends. Hyunjin and Jisung both giggle at the sound before sharing their similar sentiments. Minho, who had previously been in the kitchen, settles onto the couch next to Chan and makes a sarcastic comment that Changbin doesn’t register in his head, mind too focused on the way Chan’s hand gripped Minho’s thigh the minute the younger boy had sat down.
“The real question is what is happening with you two?” Changbin says, eyes still very pointedly fixed on Minho’s leg, Chan’s grip quickly loosening as he pulls away. Everyone bursts into laughter at that, Chan’s cheeks flushing a shade of crimson but Minho just huffs, a smirk settling onto his lips.
“We’re dating. Don’t be sad that you’re the only single one, Binnie.” Minho snarks and Changbin just laughs.
“I’m not sad.” Changbin shrugs, eyes flicking back to his phone as he tries to type up a response to Ace’s question. He can tell that everyone is looking at him and he ignores them, checking over his texts to confirm their perfection before hitting send. Ace reads it almost immediately and Changbin looks up from his phone at that.
“You’re literally always texting Changbin. So the real question,” Jeongin says, enunciation highlighting the word ‘real’. “Is who are you dating?” Jeongin giggles as he finishes his sentence.
“No one. I’m talking to a friend.” Changbin says, a simple smile settling on his face. A flash of movement on the screen of his phone has him looking back at the chat, a new message from Ace displayed there. He types up his response as his friends stare at him more, before finally turning to them with a huff. “Stop staring.”
“Tell us the truth.” It’s Jisung, half hanging off of the couch as he leans forward to smirk at Changbin.
“I’m aroace. That’s the truth.” Changbin shrugs. His mind is abuzz with thoughts of how his friends will react, but the buzz is drowned out by Felix squealing.
“No way! Aww, thank you for telling us Binnie!” Felix says, positivity laced into his wide smile and Changbin flushes.
“Go back to focusing on the new couple.” Changbin whines and everyone laughs at that.
As everyone finally relaxes, attentions turning to the movie on the TV, Changbin smiles as he types out two messages to Ace. Their response makes him giddy too.
Binnie🐖: I got my two friends back together!
Binnie🐖: And I may or may not have come out…😅
Ace💜: look at you go! proud of u binnie!