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Seungmin lifts his phone up and takes several photos at various angles and poses before putting them down. Jooyeon is sitting across from him and he observes how the other angles the phone, makes a pout or does a V hand sign, and he takes note of these all. He looks at the phone in his hand and opens the camera app. He stares at his face and clicks the shutter. He held it up a little higher, level to his chin and clicks. His other friends are being loud at the other side of the room and he is shy raising his phone higher that might catch their attention. They are severe people that love to tease Jooyeon so he wants to be careful. He changes his expression and does a V when he hears a soft giggle and looks up to see Seungmin having an amusing time watching him struggle. He playfully frowns and says, “Ya, what are you laughing at?” Seungmin holds his hands up and replies, “Nothing, nothing.”
“You’re laughing at my selcas,” Jooyeon brings down his face more and Seungmin loudly laughs at the sulky expression of the other. “Okay, maybe I do. But it was so adorable so I don’t find it bad at all.” Jooyeon feels his face and neck grow hot and he glares at Seungmin, not knowing what to do.
“Come here, I’ll teach you.”
“What?” Seungmin releases a laugh again and Jooyeon’s heart skips a beat. “I’ll teach you. You will learn from the master himself and you’ll be good at this in no time,” he says, patting the seat next to him. Jooyeon slowly walks over and Seungmin grabs his phone, holding it up and continues, “Now, angle is very important. You should know your best angles to portray your best assets.”
Seungmin rambles on and on about the technicalities of taking a good selfie but Jooyeon’s brain just turns to static because he belatedly realizes that they are mere centimeters apart and it sends a nervous wreck in his entire body. He has never been this physically close to Seungmin, even if they are roommates because they have separate beds and they value personal space. But being this close to him, Jooyeon sees the details that make up the entirety of Seungmin’s face. The one that Jooyeon claims to be his favorite is Seungmin’s eyes. They are shaped like a fox’s and he finds himself lost in those beautiful brown circles, like now, Seungmin has stopped talking and Jooyeon forgets what they were doing because he was just staring at the other the whole time. He is about to distance himself when Seungmin whips his head to face him and centimeters lessens to millimeters. Jooyeon stares wide-eyed at the sudden closeness but Seungmin holds his stare and suddenly says in a deep voice, “Are you even listening?”
Jooyeon gulps hard and tries to reply but Seungmin already places back the original distance between them. He clicks on a picture and he shows it to Jooyeon and says, “And now I have a new wallpaper.” It’s the picture where Jooyeon was just lovingly staring at Seungmin’s face and upon seeing it, Jooyeon’s own is now flaming and tomato red. Seungmin chuckles at the other’s embarrassment but he leans closer and kisses his forehead.
“I hope you’ll apply everything you learned today,” he says and leaves Jooyeon to ponder what in the hell just happened. He sits there, dumbfounded, the feel of Seungmin’s lips on his forehead lingers. His mind fails to comprehend the other’s actions but he thinks he did not really know Seungmin that well. He could try to understand him but he will be left surprised and confused because Seungmin is unpredictable. He decides to wait for him to explain everything.
Night comes, Jooyeon is in his pajamas, tossing and turning in his bed, cannot sleep because of the rush of his thoughts running a mile per minute and the cause of his turmoil is just sleeping soundly on the next bed. As though the other heard his mind racing and felt his restlessness, Seungmin gets up from his bed and suddenly lies down next to Jooyeon.
Jooyeon is baffled and pokes the other to wake him up. “Hey, what are you doing here? Don’t you have your own bed?” Seungmin only grunts in reply and without warning, wraps his right arm over Jooyeon’s torso. He tenses and thinks, What in the world is he doing?! What about my sanity?! But Jooyeon finds himself staying still, unconsciously wanting and liking the warmth the other provides. Jooyeon doesn’t know when he started to like his roommate as more than a friend but seeing Seungmin’s actions lately, he can’t help but think that maybe his pining isn’t one-sided after all?
However, most of the time he doesn't know what's going on inside the brain of that roommate of his. He might be pranking him for all Jooyeon knows. This might be a bet between their friends and he is just trapped in between. He wishes Seungmin would just outright tell him the truth, he can't bear overthinking this whole situation. He knows he could approach the other and egg him to spill the beans but Jooyeon despises confrontation. He loathes being the first one to take the step. Especially if it's Seungmin.
Seungmin is a whole other world to discover and travel into. Jooyeon is used to people being straightforward and he can easily decipher others' feelings towards him, thanks to his "reliable observation skills", but when he first met Seungmin, he was immediately an enigma. His whole existence is a big puzzle to Jooyeon and until now he still hasn't solved the mystery that is Oh Seungmin. Maybe that's why he fell in love. His constant puzzling over Seungmin's personality led to Jooyeon admiring everything in his observations. From his very unnecessarily handsome face to his mother-like fussing to all the secrets he doesn't know yet. Seungmin is a conundrum drug and Jooyeon is addicted to him.
"Your eyebrows will fall off if you keep frowning like that," Seungmin mumbles beside him. He lifts his sleep heavy eyes to look at Jooyeon's face.
"I thought you're asleep," he breathes, "I'm just... thinking."
"Yeah, you surely are. A penny for your thoughts?"
Jooyeon can't help but scoff. "You."
Blame it on his sleep-deprived brain or on his suppressed feelings, Jooyeon doesn't really care anymore.
"Hmm, that's interesting," Seungmin hums, and props his arm on the sheets to meet Jooyeon's eyes better. "Why are you thinking about me?"
"That kiss on the forehead when we were taking pictures earlier, what was that about? You never do skinship before," Jooyeon turns to his roommate, "And then you come here in my bed, suddenly clinging to me while trying to go back to sleep. I thought I had you all figured out but then you do things like this and I'm back at square one. What in the name of sanity are you actually doing?"
Jooyeon's frown dips lower when Seungmin starts to laugh. The other clutches his stomach, wipes the tears from his eyes from laughing too much and Jooyeon wants to punch him in the guts.
"You really don't know? Are you really that dense? Oh God, Gunil-hyung was right when he said that a bomb would just explode in front of you and you'll still blame it on an earthquake or something," he continues to laugh and immediately stops when he saw Jooyeon's deadly stare.
"Seriously, I've been sending out hints ever since. Cooking you breakfast every morning, cleaning out your mess in the apartment, taking care of you when you're sick? You had a bad day, I immediately bought you chicken because it cheers you up. You still haven't got those signals?" Seungmin is already sitting up and waving his hands dramatically in the air.
"What signals are you talking about?"
"I like you, you idiot! I have loved you since we started hanging out with Gunil-hyung and the others. I reckon dumping my feelings on you would result in you running away and avoiding me so I showed it subtly. I took care of you and did the things I know you would like. I thought you noticed it when I caught you staring at me and blushing after! But no, I waited for you to make a move but it took you so long so I have to resort to desperate measures which includes not being subtle and finally you confront me about it," Seungmin said in almost one breath.
Jooyeon can't say anything back because he's in too much shock. Now, everything makes sense. He was just so caught up with his own feelings for Seungmin, he failed to see the obvious. His roommate likes him. Like, really like him. What he thought was one-sided was actually reciprocated. This new information makes him giddy. It also made him feel like a complete moron.
"I thought you were just being nice before," Jooyeon could only say in a small voice and Seungmin laughed at him again.
"C'mere," Seungmin pulls him upright and Jooyeon is panicking, his mind racking about what to do. He won't kiss me, would he? It's too early for that! However, he only feels the other's arms around him and Seungmin's face resting on his neck.
"You are the most beautiful person I have ever met and I'm not only talking about your appearance, even if you have terrible fashion sense," Jooyeon feels Seungmin's breaths in his skin and he tries not to shiver, "Your pure heart and passionate mind is so attractive, I just can't help but fall in love. You don't even know how to flirt but here I am, hugging you and telling you that I love you more than as a friend and a kind roommate and hoping that you feel the same."
Jooyeon wraps his arms around Seungmin tighter and breathes in his smell. "Yeah, actually I like you too. I was just hoping you'd sense it without me having to say anything. Like osmosis, you know."
Seungmin bursts into fits of laughter again and Jooyeon joins him as he realizes how idiotic that statement just sounds. They were giggling and Seungmin leaned on Jooyeon the entire time.
"This is nice. We are having a progress here," Seungmin smiles and he yelps as Jooyeon pulls him back to the bed. He adjusts himself closer until they're not even a millimeter apart. Seungmin chuckles over the other's clingy antics and just welcomes it. Their noses are touching and Jooyeon feels his heart is about to burst.
"We're gonna have to endure the guys' teasing tomorrow, though," Seungmin whispers and he sees the smile blossoming from Jooyeon.
"I don't care. Let them be. At least they're not here right at this moment. I'll just worry about that tomorrow."
"Yeah, you're right, they're not here."
Seungmin cups Jooyeon''s cheek and he smiles at the thought that it fits like a puzzle. He brings his face closer and kisses Jooyeon's lips gently and carefully, like a butterfly landing on someone's hand. Jooyeon presses back and they stay like that, until morning and into the future, close and intimate, like they've never known distance.