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Minghao isn’t friends with Seungcheol.
The closest thing Minghao can use to describe the relationship (or lack thereof) he has with Seungcheol is “seatmate”. Outside of being the boy who coincidentally sits beside him during one of his classes, Seungcheol doesn’t have any special connection with Minghao. They just sit beside each other, listen to the lecture, and leave the classroom once it's done. Nothing more, nothing less.
Well, that is, until something happened to change all that.
Minghao was taking note of the terms that were currently being discussed when he noticed his seatmate out of the corner of his eye.
Seungcheol had both his hands squeezed between his thighs, arms stiff and head hung low. Although it was difficult to capture his facial expression from where Minghao was, he could clearly see his eyes squeezed shut in what can only be interpreted as discomfort.
The reason behind this could be anything, but only one seemed reasonable enough.
Lacking any kind of filter, Minghao leans close and plainly asks, “Do you need to pee?”
Seungcheol immediately raises his head to look at Minghao. His eyes are wide and his brows are furrowed.
Not really seeing the issue, Minghao continues, “If you’re worried about missing some parts of the lecture, I can lend you my notes. It’s no problem.”
Seungcheol shakes his head so much that it causes his hair to flop all over his face. And with one backward flick of his head, the hair remains a mess, but thankfully returns his eyesight. “I don’t need to pee,” he says, his body language saying otherwise. “I just— I forgot my jacket…”
Minghao blinks. Realization takes its sweet, sweet time to slap him in the face, but it eventually gets there as his mouth opens to release a prolonged “Ooooh”. With the explanation and the way he’s trying his very best to bury his exposed skin in some kind of warmth, it all makes better sense now. Also doesn’t help that their side of the room is where the air conditioning is directly pointed towards. If he had worn something with long sleeves from the get-go, he would have survived longer.
“You’d think experiencing how cold this spot is would make me never forget it,” Seungcheol pouts, “but I guess this proves just how much of a dumbass I can be.”
Minghao doesn’t respond to that. Instead, he shrugs his own jacket off and hands it over to Seungcheol. “Put this on then.”
It was Seungcheol’s turn to blink this time. “What?”
A brow is raised as Minghao looks at him, stretching his arm out more. “Take this.”
Suddenly embarrassed, Seungcheol tries to push the offered article of clothing away. “No!” He squeaks out. “You need it more!”
Minghao deadpans, eyes narrowing in slight annoyance that this is going on longer than he wanted it to. “I’m not going to freeze to death from a little cold air, so take it. Please.”
Seungcheol immediately notices the irritation. Despite the embarrassment, he felt as though refusing it one more time would only make things worse. So he gingerly takes the article of clothing, bows his head in gratitude, then slips it on. It’s surprisingly bigger than he expected. Thankfully, the large size made it warmer and cozier, so he wasn’t going to complain.
Minghao tries to pay attention for the rest of the period, but whenever he sneaks a glance to his seatmate— the stare lingers a few seconds longer.
He would catch Seungcheol copying what’s written on the professor’s presentation. His head lifts and lowers in an endless loop as his hand doesn’t stop scribbling on a notebook. When Minghao shifts his eyes, he finds that Seungcheol’s hands were barely exposed, and, instead, slightly peeking from the long sleeves of the hoodie.
Cute, Minghao subconsciously thinks. Before any other subconscious thoughts decide to plague his mind, he returns his focus to the discussion.
Minghao wasn’t friends with Seungcheol at first, but it eventually came to a point where it was weird to not call him one.
The main reason as to why their relationship had taken this sudden turn is because Seungcheol wearing his jacket during the class they share has become a routine. Every single time Seungcheol shows the slightest indication that he’s cold, Minghao offers his jacket. Seungcheol would still refuse it at first, but as time passed, it went from “ No, I’m fine, really!” to “Thanks again!”
Minghao doesn’t mind. If anything, he was the one to be blamed for enabling Seungcheol in the first place.
As Seungcheol slips into Minghao’s jacket for the umpteenth time, Minghao stares at him longer than what Seungcheol is comfortable with.
“Uh, what’s— why are you staring?” He asks, suddenly shy.
Minghao continues to stare wordlessly before he goes back to booting up his laptop, acting as though he wasn’t doing anything of the sort. “Nothing.”
Seungcheol frowns in disappointment as he goes back to taking his notebook out of his bag.
“You look small.”
Seungcheol hears the comment despite the way Minghao mutters it to himself. It causes him to turn, eyes wide and round with curiosity. “I look small?”
Minghao doesn’t glance up as he answers. “You shrink whenever you wear my jacket.” It comes off like a fragment rather than a full sentence; like he was about to say something else after.
Even so, Seungcheol doesn’t push for it. The response he got was enough to make him bite back a smile as he whips his head back to not focus on his notebook. “Not my fault the owner always buys them large.”
Minghao takes note of the snarky reply and snickers, deciding to continue the fragment he dropped. “Then I’m glad the owner does that, because it makes you look really cute and small whenever you shrink into them.”
Later that day, Seungcheol barely looks Minghao in the eye when he gives back the jacket. Minghao thought he might have made a mistake, but then he notices the red tips of Seungcheol’s ears as he ducks away and leaves the classroom in haste.
Minghao smiles to himself and thinks: Really cute.
Once Minghao returns to the classroom after his visit to the restroom, he finds Seungcheol already wearing his jacket.
Instead of pure rage, bafflement and confusion coats Minghao's features as he slowly approaches his seat and the culprit.
“Did you just take my jacket off my chair and wore it?” Minghao asks, tone clearly indicating that this scenario was something he wasn't expecting.
Seungcheol has the audacity to look flustered, instantly scrambling to get up before straightening his back like a drill sergeant who has been caught slacking off. “Sorry! I just— Well, I mean—” He rubs the back of his neck, shoots random glances around the room, then looks back at Minghao with round apologetic eyes. “You were gonna give it to me anyways… right?”
... Huh.
Minghao doesn’t know how to respond to that.
What was there to say? What was the point when he's already presented with the truth?
Dumfounded at how he easily lost that argument, Minghao just silently takes his seat before Seungcheol hesitantly does the same.
“I can give it ba—”
“No, keep it,” Minghao cuts in, making sure his voice is soft and not passive aggressive. “You’re right, I was going to give it to you anyway.”
Seungcheol tries not to giggle. He fails, obviously. “I’m starting to think I’m your favorite person, Hao.”
Minghao rolls his eyes but smiles either way.
Minghao and Seungcheol have grown really close for the past few months.
Their interactions have gone beyond class hours as they’re often seen either eating lunch or walking home together. They spend so much time with each other that they’re practically considered best friends to some people. Minghao didn't seem to mind. Whenever people called Seungcheol his best friend in front of his face, he didn't bother to correct or deny it. What was there to deny anyway? They were practically inseparable at this point, so trying to paint it as anything else would just look stupid.
On the other hand, other people think Seungcheol and Minghao are actually dating.
The only evidence they have is that Seungcheol always wears Minghao’s jackets. He’s worn it during class countless times before, sure, but now he also does so outside of class hours. Hell, he even arrives to school wearing it! One can only assume that Minghao must have already allowed Seungcheol to keep the jacket for himself.
It’s horribly cheesy for someone like Minghao, but Seungcheol managed to make it happen anyway.
"Minghao!" Seungcheol loudly calls after him as he ran across the field. His hair is wet from the shower he took after attending the soccer practice that ended half an hour ago. Minghao watched the entire thing despite his total disinterest in sports. It's what best friends do, right?
When Seungcheol arrives in front of him, Minghao offers the plastic bag he's been clutching onto since the game ended. "I got you snacks," He explains, smiling at the sight of Seungcheol beaming with utter excitement.
"You didn't have to!" Seungcheol replies, hands tearing the plastic off the onigiri with an urgency that tells Minghao the opposite. No, Seungcheol, he really should have.
Minghao isn't complaining though. He'd always buy Seungcheol food after practices and games. I mean, it's only because someone as big as him gets hungry easily! No other reason.
And right on cue, Minghao is snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of a loud sneeze. Glancing over at the big guy in question, Seungcheol is frowning and grumbling to himself.
"The shower I chose didn't have hot water," he says, like he read the other's thoughts.
Minghao's brows furrow, worry growing inside him far faster than he was used to. "And you still showered there?" Without warning, he immediately places his palm on Seungcheol's forehead to check if a fever had already occurred. Seungcheol is an idiot, he knows this by now, but he didn't think he'd be this stubborn. "You could have just waited for your other teammates to be finished so you can take a turn, dumbass."
No answer comes out of Seungcheol. Minghao was at least expecting a whine, telling him that he wasn't a dumbass and that there was a logical explanation why he tolerated a cold shower when it's almost winter— but none of that comes out of him. Seungcheol just stands there, plastic bag in hand and eyes glued to the grass beneath their feet. Although the silence was enough to worsen Minghao's concern, he doesn't remove his hand nor does he say anything to break it. It honestly feels like their current position is the reason why his best friend wasn't saying anything, but he still couldn't bring himself to move.
"... I wanted to see you," Seungcheol finally says after minutes that felt like hours passed. He still refuses to look at him, but Minghao is already taking a mental note of how Seungcheol manages to look smaller in this moment, even without his jacket. "If I waited for them to finish, it would take longer to see you."
Nothing could describe the emotion Minghao felt after hearing those words. Seungcheol's skin underneath his palm suddenly turns hot but he's convinced that it was his fault that it is. He felt warm— so indescribably warm to the point that he found it overwhelming.
You see, Minghao isn't used to this. He doesn't usually experience this kind of emotion that only Seungcheol makes him feel with dumb words about braving the cold just because he wanted to see him. It's probably why he couldn't even put a label on it.
So rather than properly responding, Minghao removes his hand, shrugs his jacket off, and hands it over to Seungcheol. Seungcheol glances at it with wide eyes before shooting a panicked look to the taller boy.
"I got a spare one," Minghao replies coolly. "And you obviously need it more. You're literally going to die out here and catch a fever."
Seungcheol wants to refuse, just like he did before they had become so close, but he already notices the determination in Minghao's eyes. He wasn't going to take no for an answer. So Seungcheol takes it, puts it on, and pouts up at the other. His bottom lip is jutted out and his eyes are bigger than usual. It's torture for Minghao, his heart literally couldn't take it.
"You wanna sleep at my place tonight?" Minghao asks, trying to compensate.
And just like that, Seungcheol is smiling so wide that it makes Minghao's heart burst altogether. God, Seungcheol really is a dumbass.
The moment Minghao enters the room, he finds Seungcheol not wearing his jacket at all.
It isn’t the first time this sort of thing happened, especially since Seungcheol has made it a point to show that he is incredibly forgetful. However, the weird part about it was that Seungcheol was wearing something else.
He was wearing a different jacket.
Seungcheol flashes a gummy smile once Minghao takes his seat beside him, somehow oblivious to the different atmosphere. “Thank god you’re here. I thought you were going to let me suffer a whole day without you—”
“What are you wearing?”
Seungcheol blinks and looks down at the black hoodie he currently has on. He knows what he's wearing, but he just wanted to make sure that Minghao wasn't referring to another thing entirely. As he glances back up at Minghao, he briefly parts his lips to speak. He knows the answer, he wasn't that forgetful to have it slip his mind so quickly— but at the very last second he suddenly finds himself sucking back in his bottom lip. It was like he was assessing whether he should answer Minghao’s question with the truth or a lie.
It made Minghao impatient and slightly irritated.
“I left your jacket at home," Seungcheol finally says, avoiding eye contact at all costs. "I forgot.”
Minghao stands his ground, the frustration inside him only getting worse when he can't seem to figure out why he's pissed in the first place. “Yeah, I get that. Not my question though.”
Seungcheol notices the tone. Normally, he wouldn't ever want to be the reason why Minghao sounds the way he currently does— but what did he do to make him sound so angry? It's not like he burned his jacket and chose to never wear anything he gives him.
"It's— It's Mingyu's jacket..." Seungcheol mumbles, eyebrows stitched together.
"I have a jacket, Cheol," Minghao immediately says, like it's a fact that Seungcheol should have known. "You could have just waited for me to come to school." Minghao really doesn't understand. He doesn't understand why his skin itches, why his stomach is tied up in knots, and why seeing Seungcheol wear someone else's jacket annoys him more than anything.
It's just a jacket.
A jacket that isn't his.
On Seungcheol's body.
Fuck, thinking about it is just making it worse.
"Is it a rule that I have to wear your jacket all the time?" Now it's Seungcheol's turn to sound annoyed yet Minghao doesn't blame him. He would probably act the same way if he were in his shoes.
"No, it's not, but you could have just worn—"
"I don't have to wear anything, Hao!" Seungcheol cries out, causing a few heads in the classroom to turn. "You don't have to always lend me your jacket whenever I forget to bring one!"
Before Minghao could even put a word in, Seungcheol angrily takes his jacket off, gives it back to a bewildered Mingyu, and storms out of the classroom.
He was wrong last time, Minghao suddenly realizes. He's the real dumbass between them after all.
Minghao finds Seungcheol on a bench in the school's garden that day.
He's hugging his knees to his chest while his forehead is resting against them. Minghao was worried that he might have made his best friend cry, but he thankfully doesn't hear any sniffling as he slowly approaches the crime scene.
"Hey," Minghao starts, noticing right off the bat that he has never sounded this nervous before. "Is this seat taken?"
Instead of a verbal response, Seungcheol shakes his head.
Minghao sits himself down, his heart heavy and his brain constantly stuck on berating himself non-stop about how stupid he was for acting the way he did. Something inside him already knows why, but he wasn't brave enough to look into it just yet. But he knows that despite his current situation, he had to make things right.
"Look, Cheollie, I— I'm sorry for making it seem like you had no right to wear anything else." Wow, saying it out loud makes Minghao feel even dumber than he already did.
As much as Minghao wanted something else to replace the very dumb thing he just admitted, Seungcheol doesn't say anything. He just sits there, face still hiding from the world. From Minghao. It makes Minghao want to bury himself ten feet underground because how dare he make Seungcheol sad? How dare he make the sweet and compassionate Seungcheol curl up into a ball in the garden?
And just when Minghao was about to elaborate his apology, Seungcheol finally says something.
"Why do you always give me your jacket even when you need it?"
Minghao didn't expect to hear that question, and he surely wasn't prepared to give the full truth behind it either.
"Because I'm a nice person? Isn't that what nice people do?" There's a hint of a teasing tone somewhere in there. Seungcheol, fortunately, picks it up, lifting his head to look at his best friend with his famous adorable pout. Minghao briefly thinks about squishing his face.
"Then stop being so nice to me! You'll end up getting a cold or dying of hypothermia if you keep being nice!"
The concept of chilly weather being enough to cause hypothermia elicits laughter from Minghao. "But whenever I'm mean to you, you get all sulky and whine until I surrender. You're giving me mixed signals here, buddy."
Seungcheol wants to argue with that but he realizes a second later that he couldn't exactly deny it. Sulking until Minghao stops teasing him is a commonly known habit of his. It doesn't help that it works every time either. Minghao could barely resist him after hearing one little whine from Seungcheol. It's an embarrassing weakness, honestly.
"Shut up, you know what I'm trying to say! I just—" Seungcheol places his feet down on the grass so he can cross his arms properly while lowering his gaze. "I just feel bad whenever you don't have a jacket anymore. It's always like— I'd forget mine at home, you'll give me yours, then you'll sit in class without one the entire time."
Then his shoulders shoot upward, the tension in his voice rising with them. "It makes me feel bad, Hao! Super bad! What if you— like, what if you suddenly don't come to class because you got a fever from sitting in the cold all those times before? What then, huh? Then I made you sick! And I don't—" His shoulders sag as he glances back at his best friend, frown so deep and pitiful that Minghao instantly wants to cheer him up. "I don't want you to get sick because of me, Hao."
That's when Minghao decides to impulsively take Seungcheol's hand. He takes it, squeezes it, and makes sure that he looks straight at him when he speaks. "Cheollie, I get your concern. It honestly overwhelms me to know that you care for me this much because, well, I'm not used to it. Used to people caring. But honestly, the jacket thing—" He wants to come up with an explanation that makes sense, but he eventually comes to the conclusion that perhaps the truth is better. "I just like taking care of you, hyung. Whenever you're dealing with a problem, I like it when I'm the one who is able to give you the solution. Taking care of you and seeing how much you like it when I do— I dunno, it just makes me happy."
A solid pressure forms in his throat, but he thankfully manages to swallow it down, eyes shifting away. "I— I'm just sometimes scared that you'd prefer someone else to—"
Before he could even finish the sentence, Seungcheol cuts him off by tackling him into a hug. The hug is tight and filled with so much emotion that Minghao couldn't stop himself from wrapping his arms around Seungcheol in return.
"No, I don't want someone else," Seungcheol states firmly, sounding so sure of himself as his face is buried in Minghao's shoulder. "Just you."
Minghao will face the feelings he has buried deep inside him one day— but for now? For now, he at least has this to fall back to.
He at least knows that Seungcheol only wants him.
“God, it’s freezing out here,” Seungcheol mutters as white mist escapes his lips with each syllable. He already has a fairly thick jacket on top of two layers of clothing, but judging from the way his arms can’t seem to uncoil themselves around his own body—
“Wow, is anything you’re wearing right now not enough?” Minghao asks, bundled in his own fair share of layers. It’s honestly a mystery how Seungcheol is the one complaining considering their body types.
Seungcheol whines in response, waddling behind as best as he could. “I guess? Fuck, I don’t know! How about you blame the weather instead, huh?”
A loud genuine laugh erupts out of Minghao and Seungcheol hates how he couldn’t even bring himself to be pissed. He loves making Minghao laugh. It’s unfair.
“The weather doesn’t give me cute reactions,” Minghao teases, removing the jacket he’s currently wearing in the process.
Seungcheol immediately notices. “What are you doing?”
Minghao looks, offers a small fond smile, then approaches him to hand over the jacket. “You can have mine. You look better in it.”
The bright color red tinges Seungcheol's already flushed cheeks and he tries his best to hide it by lifting his scarf a little. "You always give me your jackets," He mumbles, thinking of a way to stop his heart from pounding so much.
"I do, don't I?" Minghao retorts, making it sound like it's the most obvious and normal thing in the world. "You know, I'd probably stop if you didn't constantly make me want to to take care of you."
Seungcheol doesn’t know what comes over him after that. Instead of taking the jacket like any normal person would, he steps forward, grabs Minghao’s face, and suddenly leans in.
Minghao, on the other hand, freezes the moment his face is encased within Seungcheol’s woollen gloves. When Seungcheol leaned in, all Minghao could do was stand there. He was paralyzed, unsure of what he’s supposed to do in situations like this; situations where your best friend takes your face and decides to kiss it.
But instead of Seungcheol’s lips on his, Minghao is met with nothing. Seungcheol’s lips are hovering over Minghao’s by a few mere inches and it has caused the latter to assume that maybe Seungcheol realized that he doesn’t want it. That he doesn’t want the kiss, he doesn’t want Minghao’s jacket— that, perhaps, he doesn’t want Minghao altogether.
Before disappointment can settle completely in Minghao’s stomach, Seungcheol finally speaks. “C-Can I kiss you?”
No response. Just Minghao blinking owlishly.
Panicked, Seungcheol tries again. “O-Or, uhm, can you… kiss me? Shit, I don’t know, I just— I’ve always wanted us to but I never knew how! You were so nice to me, you always were. You’d give me your jacket every single time, even if you didn’t have to, and I thought that maybe— maybe you were just nice and I liked that you were. But then you let me keep one of them. You know, I wear it all the time. Even during the weekends. I’d find myself wearing it and thinking about how it’s big, cozy, and— and yours. The jacket was yours, Hao, and I liked that it was. I like wearing what’s yours and I sometimes feel like I can’t… wear anything else.”
After the ramble, Minghao still couldn’t bring himself to move or speak. He stood there, stiff as a board with eyes never leaving Seungcheol’s. It makes Seungcheol nervous, hands slowly removing themselves from Minghao’s face.
“I’m sorry, forget I said anythi—”
Without warning, Minghao’s hands are clutching onto Seungcheol’s jacket, tugging it off his shoulders. The action catches Seungcheol off guard, but he doesn’t say a word about it. If he says something now, he knows it's going to ruin it; ruin whatever the hell this is supposed to be. So instead, he just lets him carefully remove his jacket for him, slipping his arms out of each sleeve as Minghao carefully pulls them off.
Once the entire thing has been removed, Minghao tosses it over his shoulder before presenting his own jacket to the other. He doesn’t hand it over like he usually does, though. This time, he’s holding it up with two hands, spreading it out and revealing the inside of the jacket.
Oh, Seungcheol thinks after a while, he wants to put it on me.
Seungcheol is convinced that Minghao's goal in life is to kill him. Every single time he offers to do things like this, they never fail to make his chest grow painfully tight and his face overheat to inhuman temperatures. A fever combined with a heart attack is probably a symptom for some terrible disease, right?
As much as he wants to scream into the high heavens, Seungcheol just chooses to wordlessly comply by turning his back to his best friend. He wants to protest and say that he is very much capable of doing these things on his own, but the part of him that so desperately wants to be taken care of simply allows Minghao to insert his arm into one of the sleeves. It feels oddly intimate. Even if it might mean nothing to Minghao himself.
As soon as the oversized jacket was finally on him and his doubts of reciprocation begin to appear, Seungcheol turns around to face Minghao once more— only to be suddenly met with his lips on his.
They’re warm as opposed to the snowy state of their climate. It makes Seungcheol’s knees go weak as his arms automatically wrap around Minghao’s neck, returning the kiss with utmost desperation. He wants to chase after that warmth, wants Minghao to hold him and kiss him like this until it isn't cold anymore.
It has always been that way with Minghao, hasn't it?
It's just a fact that everyone knows by now: whenever Seungcheol is cold, Minghao always cares that he is.
Once they pull away, Minghao finds it in himself to grin, somehow smug and filled with pride. “You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted to make a joke about boyfriend shirts. About damn time.”