Archive of Our Own ^beta

Taehyun likes the feeling of cold wind hitting his warm skin. He took a second to close his eyes and breathe in, enjoying the moment. 

His legs were still a little shaky from the routine he did minutes ago at the gym, his tank top was moving around with the wind, the adrenaline was still rushing through him. 

As he opened his eyes, Taehyun was met with two things; firstly, a glimpse of something twinkling in the sky, and secondly, a tall man standing not far away from him. 

“Ah, I wish I was that tall.” Taehyun thought as he glanced up at the sky again, wishing that whatever he saw was a shooting star that would hear him. 

Taehyun looked at the man again, who probably didn’t realize how obviously he was staring up and down Taehyun’s body. 

Did the man also wish to have his body or is it a gay up and down stare? 

Taehyun scoffed at that. Sure, he could find out with a simple comment or something of the sorts. He could’ve smirked and raised an eyebrow and use what energy he had left in his body that night with that man. 

The guy wasn’t just tall, he was handsome. He wasn’t only blessed with long legs that make his pants look good, he had broad shoulders and a pretty face too. Gorgeous. 

Taehyun just kept walking. He walked past the tall guy, they made eye contact but nobody said anything. 

He started to regret his decision once he got home to an empty apartment. I mean, what are the chances of finding someone that hot that’s clearly into him too? 

It’s not like he sees guys like him every day. 

He doesn’t want to date anybody, no, he just wants to have some fun. That’s all men want from him anyways. They don’t want to get caught up in feelings. 

As soon as they’re done getting what they want, they would just get rid of him, as usual.

Still, Taehyun couldn’t stop thinking about the gorgeous (and tall) man.

“Ugh, I should’ve said something.”

Surprisingly, Taehyun woke up before his alarm, which almost never happens. 

It took him a second before opening his eyes and he immediately knew something was wrong. This wasn’t his bedroom. It wasn’t even a room that he recognized. 

He sat up on the bed and looked around. It sure didn’t look like he’d been kidnapped but he can’t remember going anywhere last night. Did he sleepwalk into one of his neighbor’s apartments? Did he black out at a party?

At his right, on the bedside table, he saw a phone that wasn’t his, he reached for it but he froze once he saw his own arm. A lanky and pale arm. 

He stared at it, looked at his other arm and then ripped the sheets off his body. The shorts he was now wearing revealed a pair of long white legs that obviously didn’t belong to him, yet they were still attached to his torso. 

Standing up and trying not to lose balance, he walked up to the mirror hanging on the wall and gasped as he saw his own reflection. Except, the reflection wasn’t him. 

He saw the man from last night staring back at him. Taehyun moved around, watching as the reflection did exactly what he did. 

“This is a dream.” 

Taehyun pinched his own face, where the squishy cheek began to hurt. 

“This has to be a dream.”

Taehyun ran back to the bed, he put his head on the pillow and closed his eyes. He had to go back to sleep. Once he could do that, he would wake up in his room and in his own body. 

His heart is beating way too fast against his chest. Raising his head again, he reached for the phone on the bedside table once more and unblocked it with his new face. 

Dialing his own number, he got out of bed again and stared in the mirror. 

“This can’t be real.” 

The call went to voicemail and he cursed. 

He noticed a pair of jeans on the floor and picked them up to get changed. He was going to go to his own house and see if someone else was living in his body. 

He ran through the apartment, not wanting to see if someone else lived here with this person as he went outside to check where he was right now. 

It wasn’t that far. Right, he saw this dude walking close to where he lives. He could run there. 

After a few moments of sprinting, he was already too tired. He put his hands on his knees and breathed in. 

What the hell? He often runs for at least one hour. Maybe this person isn’t used to a lot of exercise… But one block?

Fine. He can walk. 

He tried to call his own number again, waiting and waiting until it reached his voicemail. 

What if there is nobody living in his body? What if he gets to his place and it’s empty? What if this person was so shocked that he ran away?

Taehyun stopped walking as he snooped through the notifications on this phone. His friend sent him some memes and he got other game notifications. Nothing interesting. 

Once he pressed the numbers into the lock to his own apartment, Taehyun could even hear his blood pumping anxiously to his head. 

He walked in, feeling a weird sense of unfamiliarity in the place where he lives. 

What would happen once he got to his room? What if he saw himself? Will the world explode?

Taehyun got to his bedroom door, opening it slowly to be met with darkness. He switched the lights on and saw something move under the sheets. 

Well, at least he wasn’t dead. 

Whoever was on his bed groaned. Taehyun walked up to it and ripped the sheets away. 

Nothing will truly prepare you for seeing your body from another person’s perspective. 

“Five more.” He brought his knees to his chest. 

“Who the fuck are you?” Taehyun spoke in a voice that wasn’t his. 

The other man snapped his eyes open, staring at him for a second before blinking. “What the—“

“Who are you?” 

“Why–? How? What are you?” The man sat up, he brought a hand to his throat. “What is happening? Is this a dream?”

“I wish.” Taehyun sighed out. “This isn’t my body, clearly, and you’re in my body. Who are you?”

“I’m what?” The man stood from the bed, Taehyun wanted to rip his hair out as he looked for a mirror. 

“Answer my question.”

“It’s you.” He said as he stared at his reflection against the wall. 

“Yes. We saw each other yesterday.” Taehyun approached him, towering over his own frame. “What the fuck happened?”

“How would I know? I just woke up.”

The man seemed way calmer than Taehyun, who was about to drop to the floor and lay in a fetal position. “Answer me. Who. Are. You?”

“I’m Soobin, that’s my body.” He frowned as he started to walk around Taehyun, looking at his frame. “This is insane.”

“I’m Taehyun. We need to figure out what happened and fix it.”

“It’s a dream, right?”

“It’s not.” Taehyun grabbed him from his shoulders and shook him. “We have to fix this now.”

“Punch me.”

“What?”

“Prove that this isn’t a dream.” The man put a cheek forward. “Punch me.” 

With a scoff, Taehyun hesitated. Will that affect him? There is only one way to find out. 

“I didn’t think that you’d give your face a black eye.”

“You asked for it.”

The man trapped in Taehyun’s body held an ice pack to his cheekbone as he laughed. They were seated at the dinner table. 

“You seem… scarily calm.”

“I was shocked, then I got punched in the face, kinda cleared my mind.”

“So, Soobin,” Taehyun put his elbows on the table and he clasped his (big) hands, “Did you do anything weird last night?”

“If you’re expecting me to say that I was practicing some witchcraft, you’d be disappointed. I ate a late night ramen, watched netflix and then passed out. Woke up to this.” He motioned to his body. 

“We saw each other.” Taehyun gulped. He looked away, he had enough of staring at his own face. “Last night.”

“I was buying the ramen.” Soobin gasped. “Was it magic ramen?” 

Taehyun rolled his eyes. “No it has to–“ He gasped, standing up from his chair and Soobin did the same. 

“What happened?”

Staring down at himself, it clicked. “I wished to be as tall as you.” 

Soobin put down the ice pack and gasped, he looked down and put a hand on his chest. “I wished I had this body.”

“Okay.” Taehyun nodded, ignoring how Soobin squeezed his pecs. “I wish to have my height back.”

“I wish…” Soobin looked up at his own body in front of him. “I wish to have my body back.”

“What was that?” Taehyun frowned. 

“What?”

“You didn’t mean it.”

“Well…” Soobin shrugged. “I do wish I had these muscles.”

“No.” Taehyun groaned as he turned away. “You have to mean it, change back.”

“I wish to have my body back.” Soobin stared at him blankly. “Nothing happened.”

Taehyun was getting stressed again. He grabbed his phone from the table. “I think I saw a shooting star yesterday.” 

“You think?”

“It might be our only clue.” Taehyun searched for any sightings but found nothing. “I guess we’re stargazing tonight.”

“What if we never change back?”

“We will.” Taehyun tried to calm himself down. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

“With my body?” 

“You’d rather I give yourself a kidney problem?” Taehyun furrowed his brows. “It would be even weirder if you came to help.”

“Okay, go ahead.”

Once Taehyun washed his hands and got out, he found Soobin rummaging through his kitchen cabinets. 

“Hungry?”

“You don’t have food.”

Taehyun pointed to the cabinets. “It’s literally full of food.”

“I mean, those are ingredients .” Soobin glared at him, the bruise under his eye got darker. 

“Ingredients make food.”

“Don’t you have anything ready?”

With a sigh, Taehyun pushed him away. “I’ll cook. I have to make sure you take good care of my body.”

“Oh, uhm, do you have work or classes?” 

“Fuck.” Taehyun almost dropped the bottle of oil in his hand. “You’re right. I’m a trainer at the gym.”

“What do we do?”

“I can’t go like this, you can’t go like that.” He bit his lower lip as he thought. “I’ll tell my boss I broke my leg or something.”

“I’m unemployed so…” Soobin shrugged. “You can go to my classes and take notes for me, I don’t think I have any tests soon.” 

“We will figure everything out.”

The pair went back to Soobin’s place, they had to get his stuff and the two would stay at Taehyun’s until they got this fixed. 

Soobin put his passcode in before whispering. “I hope he’s not awake.” 

“Who?”

“My roommate.” Soobin looked up. “You should enter first, you’re in my body.”

“Right.”

Taehyun stepped inside slowly, he saw the empty apartment and rushed in. 

“Go, go, go.”

Once in Soobin’s bedroom, he began putting stuff in a backpack while Taehyun took that time to snoop around the room that he couldn’t see before. 

“Are we going to wear our own clothes?” Soobin frowned as he held his shirt. “You’re smaller.” 

Taehyun clicked his tongue as he saw a collection of Soobin’s polaroid pictures on the wall. “It’s not that big of a difference, just wear whatever you want.” 

A few moments later, Soobin zipped up his bag. “Let’s go.”

It was Soobin (in Taehyun’s body) leading the way this time, that’s why they embarrassed themselves when he found his roommate in the kitchen and tried to run away just to walk into a confused Taehyun (in Soobin’s body), almost falling over as they crashed. 

“Hey.”

Both of them look terrified at each other. ‘Soobin’ should talk, but ‘Soobin’ has no idea how Soobin talks to his roommate. 

Taehyun looked at the man in the kitchen again. Fuck. 

“There is no shaming here.” He laughed. “Long time no see Taehyun. What happened to your eye?”

Soobin looked up, absolutely horrified, before looking back at him. “Hey, yeah…”

Of course Taehyun knows Yeonjun, you can’t just be gay in this part of the city and not know Yeonjun, but it wasn’t just that; Yeonjun is also a regular at the gym. 

Yeonjun looked at ‘Soobin’ and called him over with his hand. “Can I speak to you?”

“Uhh…” Taehyun hesitated before walking towards him. 

Yeonjun put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in to whisper; “Good job.”

“We didn’t… Do anything.”

“Sure. After all you said about him?”

“What did I say?” Taehyun frowned. 

“You know what I’m talking about.” Yeonjun hit his shoulder. “Now go, he’s waiting for you. Text me everything later.”

Taehyun stumbled ahead, reaching a scared Soobin before the two left the apartment and closed the door behind them before they could let out a sigh. 

“What did he say?”

“Did you know who I was before this?” Taehyun frowned. 

“What did he say?” He repeated. 

“That you talked about me.”

Soobin stopped in the middle of the hallway. “Yes, I went to your gym once. That doesn’t mean I caused this.”

“I never said you–“

“Can’t we just go? I hate looking at myself like this.”

Taehyun took a second to look at Soobin inside his body, it is extremely weird. 

They stay silent for a while as Taehyun starts cooking.

“Are you allergic to anything?” 

“Don’t think so.”

Soobin has been avoiding looking at him, he kept looking out the window, barely speaking. 

“This is weird for me too, okay?” Taehyun frowned as he cut some tomatoes. 

His phone started ringing before he could go on. Groaning at the name on display, Taehyun picked up the call. 

“Hello?”

“… Who’s this?”

“Taee…Hyun’s friend.” He gasped as he realized he didn’t have his own voice as he spoke to the phone. 

“ What are you doing with his phone?”

“He’s in the bathroom, do you want to say anything to him?”

“ Tell him to call me later.” 

Taehyun sighed, he almost fucked up. He sent a quick text to his friend Beomgyu to let him know that he’s with someone and he can’t take calls right now, getting a bunch of confused texts back and ignoring them. 

“What if we never go back?” Soobin turned around. 

“Oh my God.” 

“What about my career? What about our families? Our lives?” 

“Be positive, this happened because we wished for it. Keep thinking we will go back.” 

“It’s not that easy.”

“I know it’s not, fuck.” Taehyun closed his eyes. “I’m also freaking out, I also think it’s weird. But I can’t do anything except wishing to be myself again.” 

He kept on chopping his ingredients angrily, ignoring the movement around him as Soobin walked around the kitchen. 

Taehyun froze when two arms wrapped around his waist into a hug. “What are you doing?”

“I love back hugs, they help me relax. Thought it would help now that you’re me.” Soobin rested his head against his shoulder blades. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, it’s a crazy day.” 

They eat, watch Freaky Friday (it seemed fitting) and then spend the day in different rooms. 

The day goes by slowly, Taehyun can’t wait for nighttime as he scrolls through his social media and makes a few more searches on body swapping without finding anything useful. 

Taehyun found himself looking into the mirror, staring at Choi Soobin in the reflection. He’s handsome. He’d noticed that the first time he saw Soobin, but it was different now that he could see every angle and every expression of Soobin’s face. 

Taehyun frowned, raised his brows, pursed his lips, all while watching Soobin’s face in his reflection before looking at the dark oversized shirt hanging on the skinny frame. 

He raised the fabric enough to show the skin on his flat stomach, Taehyun saw a hint of abs and traced them with his fingers. He turned sideways and gasped at the view. What a nice ass. 

“Yeonjun says it’s very soft.” 

Taehyun jumped as he heard himself, Soobin was standing on the doorframe as he watched Taehyun’s movements. 

“It wasn’t– I was just looking because–“

“Aha.”

Taehyun shut his mouth, Soobin entered the room and walked towards him, standing in front of the mirror to look at the two bodies. 

“You have a nice body.” Taehyun blushed in Soobin’s pale skin as he awkwardly stepped away from the mirror. 

“You too.” Soobin chuckled. “Chest.”

Soobin places both hands on his chest, feeling the muscles under the shirt. Taehyun laughed, staring down at the floor. 

“Come to the gym when we switch back.”

“Can’t you just work out in my body?” Soobin pouted. “We can switch once a week, then you could work out for me.”

“Once a week? You won’t get these results like that.”

“You have to work out more than once a week?” Soobin looked at the mirror again. “I don’t want it anymore.”

Taehyun shrugged. “You have a naturally nice body, anyways.”

Soobin looked up at him. “Huh, my face turns red very easily.”

Taehyun scrunched his nose. “Am I red?”

“Yes. But I like hearing compliments, go on.”

“No.” Taehyun stepped back and rested his hip against his desk. “But I want to hear something else.”

“What?” 

“Yeonjun said you talked about me before.” 

“I told you.” Soobin turned around to scan the room. “I went to your gym once.”

“And? What did you say about me?”

“Don’t remember.”

“I’ll ask him.”

“Don’t.”

“Why?” Taehyun smirked. 

“Ugh.” Soobin scowled as he turned his face away again. “What time is it? Can’t we just ask the stars to change us back again?”

Taehyun clasps his hands together. “Please,” He closed his eyes, “Dear stars, give me my body back.”

With a scoff, Soobin continued to look around Taehyun’s room. Taehyun took the time to watch himself from the back, how it looked with Soobin’s slouched posture, how he needed a haircut because the hair on his nape is already too long. 

Soobin glances at him before looking away once more. “What?”

“Just looking at myself.” 

“I get so weirded out when I do that.”

“It is weird.” Taehyun hummed in acknowledgment. “Still doesn’t feel real.” 

Watching himself turn around and look into his own eyes, Taehyun felt the weird feeling that Soobin was talking about. 

“Let’s go stargazing.”

They order pizza and listen to Soobin’s playlist as they sit on the rooftop. 

“But, you know,” Soobin chewed on his pizza, “I don’t think I’ve learned anything from this.”

“What do you mean?” 

“When people switch back to their bodies… They do it  once they’ve learned something.”

“Don’t jinx it, I swear.” Taehyun groaned. “You’re talking like people do this normally.”

“Wanna change the subject in case I’m jinxing it?” Soobin shrugged. 

“Sure, tell me about you.”

“What would you like to know?” 

Taehyun pointed at Soobin’s phone. “You have a lot of kpop in your playlist.”

“Yeah?” 

“Are you a big kpop fan?”

“I am.” 

“Nice talk.” Taehyun nodded as he took another bite from the pizza slice. 

“Wait, sorry.” Soobin laughed. “I’m just shy, I don’t know how to stop being awkward.” 

“It’s okay, we can just–“ Taehyun’s phone started ringing, he checked the caller before sighing. “I need you to do me a favor.”

“What is it?”

Taehyun showed the incoming videocall to him. “Answer this, say you’re on a date and end the call.”

“Just like that?”

The call stopped just for Taehyun to get another incoming call again. “He won’t stop.”

Soobin took the phone and answered it, staring nervously at the screen as it showed a close up of Beomgyu. 

“ Oh God, Taehyun, what happened to your face?”

“Uh, I can’t talk now, I’m on a date.”

“Huh? A date? Are you cheating on me?”

Soobin looked up at Taehyun, who shook his head and mouthed. “Ignore him.”

“I can’t talk–“

“ Who is your date? Hm?”

Taehyun took the phone and ended the call. Soobin was still frowning. “Cheating on him?”

“He likes to tease me like that.” 

“Are we on a date?” 

“No?” Taehyun chuckled. “Does this feel like a date?”

“If we weren’t in each other’s bodies the whole time.”

“Right, a date should just end inside the other.” 

“What?”

“What?”

Soobin cocked his head to the side. “I didn’t understand that.”

“It’s just– Well– A joke.”

“I didn’t understand the joke.”

Taehyun shook his head as he bit the inside of his cheek. “Nevermind.”

“Explain it to me.”

“No, moving on.”

“What is it?”

“Damn, a sex joke, alright?” Taehyun huffed. “It’s awkward if you have to explain it.”

Soobin nodded while he looked around the rooftop. “Would you have sex with yourself? Like, a clone?”

Almost choking on the pizza, Taehyun scooted back. “No. Never.”

“Really?”

“Would you?” Taehyun gasped as Soobin just shrugged. “We’re not going to fuck like this.”

Soobin turned to him, mouth open for a second. “I didn’t– I’m not saying that. I don’t want that.”

“Anyways.” Taehyun gulped, he looked up at the dark sky. “Back to the date.”

“I thought we weren’t on a date.”

“We’re not.” Taehyun put a finger up. “Is this your kind of date?”

“Dinner, music, a nice and quiet place.” Soobin nodded. “It’s exactly my type.”

“Huh.” Taehyun thought for a second. “I guess so.”

“What’s your type?” 

“Not sure, haven’t been asked out a lot.”

“That can’t be true.” Soobin frowned before pointing at his face. “Looking like this?”

“Thanks.” Taehyun chuckled. “I know, it’s crazy. I’ve had some dinner dates, I had brunch once.”

“How was it?” 

Taehyun shrugged as he huffed out a breath. “Most of them are just a polite way of having a one night stand.” 

“If you had to plan a date, what would you do?” 

Taehyun laughed, he had a sip of his Sprite before continuing. “Don’t know, it could be as simple as just having dinner. It could be like this too, it’s nice.”

“Taking the ‘take yourself out on a date’ a little too seriously.” Soobin laughed. “Sorry, not a date.”

“Fuck it, it’s a date.”

“Really?” 

“I wanted to take you out when I first saw you, I guess this works.” Taehyun shrugged. 

Soobin played with the tab on his can for a moment, he licked his lips before looking at Taehyun again. “Last night?”

“Yes.”

“Huh.” Soobin looked up at the sky. 

Taehyun laid back on his chair and watched the dark sky above them, waiting for a shooting star. They can barely see the stars in the city, tonight was no different, there wasn’t a lot to look at. 

Maybe Taehyun should’ve kept that small confession to himself. The atmosphere was now a little awkward and they were back to being silent. 

He wished he could just turn to the side and look at Soobin in his own body so he could check him out without having to look in the mirror. 

Soobin scrolled through his phone for a minute, choosing another song before he also laid back on the chair to look up. “Come on stars, change us back.” 

“Do you think people will believe this happened?”

“I would never believe it.” Soobin put his hands behind his head. “I still can’t believe it.”

“What if it really was just a dream.”

“I hope it is.” 

“Me too, I want to wake up in my body.” 

They stay there for two more hours until Soobin can’t stop yawning. Taehyun noticed that he looked on the brink of falling asleep and considered trying to carry his body downstairs, but he’s not sure if Soobin’s body can handle that. 

“Wanna head down?”

“What about the shooting star?” Soobin rubbed his eye. 

“We can try again tomorrow.”

Soobin thinks about it for a while, zoning out in his sleepy state. “Okay.”

They silently head back down to Taehyun’s apartment, feeling a little frustrated that their only plan didn’t work. 

“It’s okay, we’ll find another solution.” Soobin gave him a sleepy smile. 

“Today wasn’t so bad, right?” Taehyun tried to be positive as he entered the passcode to his apartment. 

Once inside, he got a pillow and a blanket for Soobin who insisted sleeping on the couch and Taehyun wasn’t going to force him to sleep on his bed. 

Soobin stopped him before he could go. “Wait.” 

“What?”

“Brushing our teeth.”

“Oh, yeah, go ahead.” Taehyun motioned to the bathroom door. 

“No, but… Which toothbrush should I use? Mine or yours?” 

“Huh… Mine? I guess. It’s my body that you’re using.”

They both walk into the bathroom and give each other their toothbrushes before they start brushing their teeth together. 

Taehyun can stare in the mirror again and watch Soobin’s body in front of him. They will change back. They have to. 

Taehyun woke up to a noise, he stretched his legs and fell to the floor. It took him a second to blink and notice that he was laying on the carpet of his living room. He’s back to his body. 

His front door closed, Taehyun turned around and got to his feet. “Soobin?” 

Despite being a little dizzy, Taehyun rushed to the door, finding Soobin trying to run away. 

“Soobin!” 

The taller turned around like a deer in headlights. “Sorry.”

“Why? Where are you going?”

Soobin had his bag hanging on his shoulder, he almost made it to the stairs. “What else is there to do? Have breakfast together?”

Taehyun frowned. “Why not?” 

He didn’t think of what would happen once they got switched back, but Taehyun thought that he and Soobin had a nice time together. Weird, of course, but nice. 

Soobin stared at him for a moment, actually taking the time to look at Taehyun’s face who did the same. 

“Fine,” Taehyun took a step back, “Go.”

It felt odd, hearing as Soobin whispered a farewell and walked down the stairs. Taehyun was living in that body just hours ago, now Soobin is walking away like any other stranger. 

Just as Soobin was done disappearing down the stairs, another head popped up. 

“For fucks sake.” 

Beomgyu made a face and pointed at where Soobin was going as he finished climbing the last steps. “Was that your date?”

“Yeah.” Taehyun just turned around, he knew Beomgyu was going to follow him to his apartment anyways. 

“Why are you grumpy? Was it bad?” Beomgyu scrunched his nose as he closed the door behind him. “Did he not want to cuddle and stay after sex? We talked about it, some men just–“

“I’m not grumpy.”

“You are. See? You look like you want to kill me.”

Taehyun glared at Beomgyu. “That’s always the case.”

“Love you too.” He blew a kiss with his hand. “Got into a fight?” Beomgyu pointed at the black eye, Taehyun had already forgotten about it. 

“Someone threw a ball to my face. Did you need anything? Why did you come here?” 

“I wanted to see my best friend.” Beomgyu smiled. “And ask if I can borrow a jacket for my date tonight.”

Taehyun sighed before unloading the leg press machine. Was it so hard to put away the plates once they finished? 

“What’s up?” Someone patted his back as they walked by. 

“ ’Sup? Oh,” Taehyun raised his brows as he recognized the person, “Hey, Yeonjun.”

Yeonjun winked at him. “Soobin, huh?”

Taehyun huffed out a laugh. “I didn’t expect to see you there.”

“I didn’t expect you either.” Yeonjun put a hand on his hip, shaking his head to move the sweaty bangs away from his forehead. “Happy to see that Soobin finally made a move.”

“Did he, uhm, mention me before?”

“Shit, I’m saying something I shouldn’t have. Right?” He laughed. “No, yeah. He’s been saying you’re cute for months.” 

Taehyun decided to play along, even if all this was new information to him. “He came here once.”

“The time he embarrassed himself. I told him you wouldn’t remember it.”

“I don’t.”

Yeonjun put a hand over his mouth. “You don’t remember that?”

“He won’t tell me.” Taehyun whined. “Was it that bad?”

“I don’t think so, but he was super ashamed of it.”

“Tell me.” 

“Ask him yourself.” 

Taehyun almost rolled his eyes. “Did you see him today? He’s not answering my texts.”

That was a lie. Taehyun hasn’t tried to contact Soobin yet. He doesn’t know if he should. 

“Yeah, he went straight to his bedroom.”

“He’s probably sleeping.” Taehyun waved his hand dismissively, keeping up with his little act. “See you around.”

What was he supposed to do? They didn’t exchange phone numbers. He could find Soobin on social media, but even then, what would he say? “ Hey, yesterday was too weird to ignore. Wanna hang out? ” 

He walks mindlessly around the gym, making sure everyone has the right form and all the equipment is handled correctly. 

The hours go by slowly. Too slowly. Once they’re almost at closing time and just a couple of people are left, he does his own routine. 

He checked the time and opted to skip his shower before leaving. Taking the same walk as the day before, he kept alert in case he crossed paths with Soobin again. 

What if Soobin was used to seeing him on his way back for work, but he’d never noticed Soobin? Is that even possible? 

Taehyun got home without seeing Soobin. 

Taehyun watched YouTube videos as he ate his lunch. He was extra tired today after Beomgyu insisted on going out for ‘just one’ drink last night, catching Taehyun in a vulnerable, bummed out moment. 

Barely getting any sleep and the gym being almost empty after lunch hours, Taehyun wasn’t really paying attention as he strolled through the machines. 

“You’ll get hurt like this.”

“I’m doing it like you showed me.” 

Now, that was unexpected. 

Taehyun turned around to find Yeonjun rolling his eyes to none other than Choi Soobin, who was trying to do some standing cable rows. 

He reacted a little slow, licking his lips to moisture them as Yeonjun already spotted him and smiled. Walking over, he stood to the side of the machine. 

“Need help?”

He flinched as the weights were suddenly dropped, making a loud noise as they hit each other. 

“Dude,” Yeonjun gasped, “Don’t do that.”

“Sorry, I–“ Soobin glanced between his roommate and Taehyun. “He surprised me.”

“Please help him.” Yeonjun pleaded. “He won’t listen to me.”

“I am listening, you’re making it impossible. Butt out, in, chest out, straight back.” 

Taehyun chuckled, he reached down to lower the weight before leaning to adjust the pulley a little higher. “I’ll show you.”

“Good, I’m gonna go do my cardio.” Yeonjun pointed behind him.

“Don’t.” Soobin watched him with big eyes and Taehyun pretended not to notice the way Yeonjun stuck his tongue out before walking away. 

Taehyun picked up the handled ropes from the floor. “Start at a low weight, you can add more once you get your form down.”

Hello, Soobin. How have you been? I’ve been thinking about you all week. 

He demonstrated the movement and then handed it over to Soobin. They made eye contact for a second, time seemed to have stopped, or maybe Taehyun just froze on the spot for a moment. 

This is so random. Taehyun didn’t think he would find Soobin working out at his job a week later like nothing had happened. 

Don’t you think it’s weird? Don’t you feel like we owe each other closure after something only we know happened here?

“Here,” Taehyun stopped his hand mid-air, “Can I touch you?”

“Yes.” 

Taehyun pressed his hand between Soobin’s shoulder blades. “Don’t slouch forward, can you feel it on your back?” 

“Yep.”

“Good, do three sets of fifteen.” 

Taehyun took a step back, sighing as he pretended to look out for the other people in the gym. He scanned the room as he walked away, but he then kept his eye on Soobin. 

How can you come in here like nothing happened? 

Once he was done with all the sets, Soobin turned to search for Taehyun, who took him to the free weights. 

“Let’s work on that chest.” Taehyun chuckled to ease the tension, he picked up two dumbbells and motioned Soobin to sit on a bench. 

“I can lift more than this.” Soobin raised an eyebrow at the three kilograms on each hand. 

“This is more than enough.” He handed them over to Soobin. “You’ll do it once you get the proper form.”

“But I won’t grow like this.”

“You won’t grow on a single day, no.” Taehyun shook his head as he placed his hands on his hips. “You’ll get hurt if you try too hard.”

“I know.”

“Lay down. Back on the bench, feet flat on the floor. Just like a bench press with a bar.”

Soobin frowned but laid down as told, Taehyun walked up to help him put his arms out straight. “This is too light.”

“Do two sets with some rest in between, we’ll go heavier later.”

Taehyun stayed there with him, fixing small details as he watched Soobin’s furrowed brows from above. He gave him heavier dumbbells for the last two sets, noticing that Soobin’s arms were already shaky, but he was the one complaining about weight. 

And he worked like always, like Soobin was just another member working out. 

Taehyun gave him a routine and smiled at him. “Hope to see you around.” 

“I’ll try.” Soobin smiled back, passing his water bottle from one hand to the other. “See you around?”

“Can we–?”

Taehyun is interrupted by Yeonjun walking up to them and slapping Soobin’s ass. “Ready to go?”

“Stop doing that.” Soobin pushed him away. “Were you saying something?”

“I’ll prepare more exercises for you.” Taehyun bit his lower lip. “You better come back.” 

It was Tuesday when Soobin came back, he wasn’t with Yeonjun this time, but he had another guy with him. 

“This way we keep each other motivated.” Soobin nodded his head. 

I could be the one motivating you. 

“Of course.” Taehyun smiled at the new guy. “Welcome.” 

“Thanks.” He gave Taehyun a lopsided smile. “I’m Kai.”

“Do you usually workout, Kai?” 

“No, never.” He laughs. “Does dancing count?”

“Of course it does.”

“Oh, Soobin and I do–“

Soobin bumped his shoulder. “We should start.”

“Okay.” Taehyun eyed the two before pointing at the treadmills at their side. “Start with a ten minute walk.” 

He left the two to go help a woman who was struggling with her leg extensions. Totally not bitter about the fact that Soobin got himself a gym buddy and now they couldn’t have any alone time. 

“Start with regular squats, let's add weight later.” Taehyun instructed the two, going in between them to watch their form as they looked ahead to the mirror. 

“Agh, I’m already tired.” Kai joked as he bent his knees. 

“Can I help you?” Taehyun came closer to him, putting a hand on Kai’s lower back. “Try to push your butt back instead of bringing your knees forward, exactly, keep your back straight and pretend you’re about to sit on a chair.” 

He looked at Soobin, catching him already staring before he looked at the mirror again. “Good job, Soobin.” 

“Is it okay?”

“Can you go lower?” Taehyun nodded, told them the amount of sets and pretended to be busy with someone else to avoid getting blushed as he felt like a high schooler watching his crush do some exercise. 

It just went like that, Taehyun had no idea how to strike up some conversation with Soobin that could lead into something else, he could just watch him with stolen glances or under the excuse of correcting his form. 

“Once you’re done here you’re free to go.” 

“Okay, thank you.” Soobin huffed out, all blushed and tired. 

And they were done. And they left. And Taehyun just stood there. 

“That’s the fifth time you’ve sighed dramatically. What’s wrong?” Beomgyu put his chopsticks down. 

Taehyun dragged his food around the plate. “I like someone.”

“That guy from last time?”

“Yes.” Taehyun pouted. “And his friend said that he used to like me, but I think he stopped.”

“Why?” Beomgyu opened another beer. 

Taehyun was in the mood for something delicious, that’s how they ended up eating so much meat that Taehyun knows it will not only hurt his stomach, but his wallet too. 

“He avoids me.” Taehyun whined. “And he won’t talk to me in private.”

“And texts?”

“I don’t have his number.” Taehyun rested his head on his hand. “And I don’t want to seem desperate and request to follow him on Instagram.”

“But you are desperate.”

“He doesn’t need to know.”

“And what is the plan?”

“There is no plan, I just want to see him again.”

Taehyun stretched as he rubbed his eyes, he reached for his phone but was met by a wall. 

“What the–“

He put on some sweatpants and ran out, ignoring Yeonjun in the kitchen. “Soobin?” 

“Shit, shit, shit.” Taehyun rushed through the streets on his way back to his apartment. 

He breathed heavily as he opened the door, he tried to calm himself down as he headed to his room. 

“Soobin, we switched again.” 

“You have to go.”

Soobin chewed his breakfast as he glared at Taehyun. “How? I literally started working out this week.”

“I can’t take a day off all the time, I’ll go with you and tell you what to do.” 

“And you don’t think people will notice something weird is going on?” Soobin put his spoon back on the bowl. 

“We’ll find a way.” 

Soobin survived the first hour at the gym, Taehyun took the time to run on the treadmill and do some cardio before fulfilling Soobin’s dream of working out for him. 

“That girl.” Taehyun whispered as he leaned down closer to Soobin. “She’s not engaging her core, her toes are lifting off the ground–“

“Am I supposed to help her?”

“ Taehyun is supposed to help her.” 

With a sigh, Soobin nodded his head before turning that way. Taehyun followed Soobin, listening as he picked up two dumbbells from the rack. 

“Engage your core.” Soobin looked between the mirror and the girl. “Don’t lift your toes and don’t let your knees go past your toes.”

Taehyun smirked when Soobin came back to the bench where he sat. “The knees? Nice.”

“You mentioned that to Kai.”

“You remember that? You’re on your way to be my star student.” 

Soobin looked to the floor. “Don’t know if I can keep this up.”

Taehyun positioned both legs at either side of the bench as he thought. “Pretend to be sick.”

“I’ll come up with something.”

“I’ll leave before you.” Taehyun laid back on the bench, bringing the dumbbells to his chest. “That way it’s not that obvious.” 

Soobin nodded, he walked away, not before correcting someone doing leg presses. “Hey, hands off.” 

Taehyun chuckled and continued the workout, feeling the difference in strength as he started the movement. Soobin will be so sore once he’s back into his body. 

“You can do it.” Taehyun mumbled under his breath as he waited outside. He’d walked away just enough so people couldn’t see him standing in front of the building. 

He jumped when he felt something hit him, taking less than a second to realize it was a spank on his ass. Taehyun turned around, fist ready to punch a harasser when he found Yeonjun smiling at him. 

“What are you doing here?” Yeonjun seemed happy at the startled reaction he got from ‘Soobin.’ 

“Waiting.” Taehyun cleared his throat and composed himself. 

“For… Taehyun?” Yeonjun smirked. “You’re at it again, huh?”

“It’s just friendly.” 

“Sure it is.” Yeonjun jabbed his side, trying to tickle Taehyun but he pushed his hands away. “Tell me about it later, yeah?” 

Taehyun just nodded as Yeonjun started walking towards the gym. He waited a few more minutes before Soobin finally came out. 

“How did it go?”

“The other trainers think you have explosive diarrhea.” 

Taehyun cringed, but quickly got over it and started speed walking with Soobin. “I can live with that. Yeonjun saw me waiting for you. Or saw you waiting for me, you know.” 

Soobin sighed, he ran his fingers through his hair as he looked straight ahead. “I just want this to end.”

“Me too.”

“What did we do to switch again?” He clicked his tongue. “What did you do last night?”

“I… Went out drinking.” Taehyun frowned. 

“And did you do something?”

“I don’t remember.”

Taehyun took his phone out quickly, looking through his chat with Beomgyu. It didn’t seem like he said anything weird. 

“Fuck, okay.” Soobin stopped as the two waited to cross the street at a stop light. “You know what? It goes away when we sleep. Let’s just take a nap.”

“Can I take a shower?”

“Huh?” Soobin scrunched his nose at the sudden question. 

Taehyun closed the door behind him. “I sweated, can I take a shower in your body or would you rather I nap like this?” 

Soobin took a second to stare at his own body. “No, change your shirt or something. I don’t want that.”

“Okay.” With a nod, Taehyun pointed to the bathroom door. “You can shower if you want, I don’t mind.” 

Soobin squinted his eyes. “Are you trying to seduce me?”

“What? With my naked body?” Taehyun laughed. 

“Yeah.”

“No, I’ll do that once we switch back.”

“Sure. Whatever.” Soobin whispered as he walked towards the bedroom. 

They got changed and Soobin got invited to lay in bed with Taehyun instead of going to the couch. 

Minutes passed as the two laid with their backs to each other. Maybe Soobin’s theory was right, it changed when they woke up, so they could just nap and it would be a quick fix. 

They just had to sleep. 

Soobin turned, sighing loudly before changing his position again. “Taehyun?” He whispered. 

“I’m awake.” 

“I can’t fall asleep. I am too stressed out.” 

Taehyun thought for a moment, then he got up and searched for the candle that Beomgyu once gifted him. “Lavender is supposed to help you sleep.” 

“Okay?” 

He went to the kitchen, got a lighter and came back to place the lit candle on the nightstand next to Soobin. He turned off the lights and climbed into bed once more. 

Thanks to the light from the candle, Taehyun caught Soobin biting the skin on his finger. “Don’t fuck up my cuticles.”

Soobin chuckled and put his hand down. “Sorry.”

A memory popped up in his head. “You… Back hugs helped you relax.” 

“You wanna cuddle now?” 

“If you want.” Taehyun cleared his throat. “Just saying.”

Soobin turned once more, facing the other way. He spoke so quietly that Taehyun almost didn’t hear it. “Okay.”

Sneaking a hand around his waist, Taehyun scooted closer to him. He imagined what it would be like if they were switched back. The size difference wasn’t huge, but it was there. 

“Promise me something.” Taehyun spoke, he could smell his own shampoo with his head behind Soobin. 

“What?”

“Don’t run away if we go back to normal. Stay.”

Soobin just hummed before breathing in deeply. 

The first thing Taehyun saw when he woke up was a candle. 

He blinked, finally turning his head to watch over his shoulder as Soobin slept behind him. 

Staying like that a little longer was tempting. Soobin’s arm was still around him and he looked so peaceful when he slept, but Taehyun knew that they still had boundaries. That Soobin had boundaries. 

“Soobin you’re a genius.” Taehyun put a hand over Soobin’s arm and shook it. 

Soobin frowned, he let out a small groan and opened one eye. “It worked.” 

Soobin smiled, he stared at Taehyun for a moment before closing his eyes again and pulling Taehyun closer to his chest. 

Taehyun wasn’t expecting that, but he was pleasantly surprised. “You’re staying for dinner, right? You promised.”

Soobin just hummed, he opened his eyes to find Taehyun looking at him. “Hi.”

“Hi.” 

“What time is it?”

“It’s–“ Taehyun reached for his phone and saw the time. “Oh, we slept a few hours. It’s five already.”

“Woah.” Soobin exhaled through his nose. “I know I promised to stay but…”

“You’re leaving?” 

“I will come back, after a shower and a change of clothes.” 

Taehyun turned his body around, Soobin moved his arm away from Taehyun’s waist but stayed in place. “Do you want to go somewhere else or should we have dinner here?”

“We owe each other that pizza date.”

Taehyun raised his brows. “Really?”

Soobin nodded. “Unless…”

“No, no. You already said it.” 

“What? Oh, fuck.” Taehyun grabbed a rag to clean the flour off his hands and headed to the doorbell monitor to see Soobin standing outside his apartment. 

Soobin smiled when he opened the door. “Hello again.”

“Hi.” Taehyun exhaled. “That was quick, I didn’t get ready.” 

Soobin stared at him for a second. “Can I come in–?”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry.” Taehyun cringed at himself and let Soobin into the apartment, waiting for him to take off his shoes. 

“Were you cooking? I thought we were ordering pizza.”

“I was making the pizza.”

“Really?” Soobin gasped. “Wow, that’s so– Wait a minute.”

“What?”

Soobin narrowed his eyes as he glanced towards the kitchen. “You’re not trying to make some fit protein pizza, are you?”

“Huh? No.” Taehyun shook his head. “I just thought it would be nice. Let me change, then I will finish that.”

“You look good, but sure.”

Taehyun had a cotton shirt with sweatpants while Soobin wore an oversized button down with jeans, they weren’t on the same page right now. 

He rushed through his wardrobe and pulled a trusty black shirt and blue jeans, got dressed and sprayed a tiny bit of cologne. That will have to do. 

“Okay, I’m back.” Taehyun clasped his hands in front of him. 

Soobin was sitting on the couch, scrolling through his phone. He looked up with a smile and stood from his seat to walk over. “Should we make the pizza?”

“I can do that–“

“I want to help you.” Soobin pouted, he went around the kitchen counter and scanned the toppings that Taehyun had prepared. “So much meat. It is a protein pizza?” 

“Trust me, if I wanted a healthy pizza, it would’ve been much different.” 

“Like… Oatmeal crust?”

“Dark times.” Taehyun shook his head, he reached into a drawer and took out an apron. “Wear this, your shirt is too nice.”

“Thank you.” Soobin grabbed it and put it over his head, he frowned as he started tying it at the back. “You’re wearing black, the flour will get all over you.”

“Shit, you’re right. Let me–“ The only other apron he had was a joke gift (yes, from Beomgyu); a frilly pink apron with a heart cutout on the chest. 

Taehyun stared at it for a moment, he heard Soobin chuckle at the sight. “That’s pretty.”

“Let’s pretend it’s normal.”

“Is that how you prepare breakfast?” 

Taehyun tied the back of the apron as he smirked at the taller. “Maybe. You’ll have to find out.” 

He picked up the bowl with the dough that had been resting up until that moment. He divided it into three, giving Soobin a ball of dough and taking one himself. 

“Do I just roll it?”

“Yeah.”

“What about spinning it?” Soobin lifted the dough in his hand and motioned a spin. He tried to throw the dough, stumbling and dropping it on the counter again. “Maybe not.”

“Do you only order food? Or does Yeonjun cook for you?”

“Hey, I know the basics.” Soobin said as he started rolling the pin over the dough. “I also have frozen stuff, so it’s easier than going through all the hustle of cooking.” 

Taehyun grabbed a wine bottle from the side and used that as a rolling pin, making Soobin giggle. “Is that why you don’t cook? Too much work?”

“Kind of.” Soobin pursed his lips. “I never really learned, it was always my mom or my sister who took care of it. Even my brother would cook, but nobody taught me.”

“Are you the youngest in your family?”

“I am.” Soobin nodded. “And you?” 

“I’m also the youngest.” Taehyun noticed Soobin was done rolling so he turned around and picked up two pans. “Let’s bake this for five minutes, then we add the toppings.”

“Cool, okay.” Soobin looked at the stove as Taehyun bent down to put the pans into the oven. “No way, did you make the sauce?”

“Of course.”

“You’re amazing.”

Taehyun bit his lip, looking at the pot on the stove. “Wanna try?”

“Hell yes.”

Laughing, he got a piece of bread and gave it to Soobin to dip it in the tomato sauce. “How is it?”

Soobin opened his eyes wide and hummed as he tried it, he covered his mouth and his dimple popped as he chewed on the bread. “Love it.”

It’s small things like these. 

The details Taehyun can only see when Soobin’s body has Soobin’s soul. 

They were going to watch a movie but got sidetracked with the conversation, they didn’t even get to choose a movie to start as they ate the pizzas while sitting on the couch. 

Soobin, who seemed a little cold before this, was actually such a nice guy. He had so many stories to tell and was so expressive with his hands and face as he talked. 

It was like a lid had opened once he got over the initial shyness. He was still a little awkward and clumsy, he’d burnt his mouth while trying to eat a pizza that was too hot and somehow managed to get sauce all over his chin. 

“Sorry.” He chuckled as he wiped his face with a napkin. “I’m rambling.” 

“Don’t worry, I’m having a good time hearing you talk.”

Soobin gave him a tight, dimpled smile. “Did, uh, anyone from the gym ask you about today?”

“They did.” Taehyun nodded. “I won’t get into trouble, don’t worry.” 

“Okay.”

Taehyun eyed him as Soobin put away the used napkin. “Aren’t you sore?” 

“Ah,” Soobin touched his bicep, “I wasn’t going to mention it, but…”

“A promise is a promise.” Taehyun shrugged as he reached for his sprite on the table. “You asked me to workout for you. I’ll give you a muscle relaxer for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“It’s going to hurt like hell.” 

Soobin grimaced. “Thanks?”

“Want this body or not?” Taehyun motioned at himself, flexing purposely. 

Soobin’s eyes wandered down to his chest and arms, the tight fabric of his shirt hugged his muscles nicely. He finally looked up at Taehyun’s eyes before he looked at the ceiling above them. 

“Dear stars,” He brought his hands together, “Don’t listen to him, I want to be in my own body.” 

“It’s a nice body.”

“You say that all the time.”

“Because it’s a really nice body.” 

“Ooh.” Soobin tried to act unbothered as he reached for another cold pizza slice, but his ears were bright red. “You want me so bad.”

A million answers passed through Taehyun’s mind. Straight up confessing ‘ I do ,’ teasing ‘ what if I do?’ and joking ‘ as if you don’t want me.’

It was obvious that Soobin wasn’t the flirty type, every compliment or tease would get an awkward reply. What Taehyun thought was rejection ended up being Soobin’s lack of rizz. 

“It’s late.” Soobin acknowledged as he peeked at his phone. “I have classes tomorrow.”

“Don’t you get in trouble for skipping class when we switch?” 

“Not yet.” He shrugged, finishing the crust of his slice. “Maybe I’ll force you to go next time.”

“No.” Taehyun took a sharp breath. “Don’t say it.”

“Did I jinx it? Sorry. No next time. Never.” 

“Just in case, let’s stay on the watch out for any shooting stars.”

“Yeah.” Soobin sighed. “Uhm, would you be mad if I went home now?”

“Why would I be mad? Of course, you have to wake up early tomorrow.”

Taehyun looked at his watch, it was already one in the morning. They’ve been talking nonstop for almost five hours now. 

“I don’t know, maybe…” Soobin looked at him with shiny eyes before looking away. “Maybe you were expecting something else.”

Taehyun shook his head and smiled. “Nope, I’m happy to end the date like this.”

“Good.” Soobin exhaled. “Because you mentioned one night stands before and… Yeah.”

“I get it.” Taehyun started picking up their plates. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t expecting anything like that. I’d rather have it this way.” 

“So everything’s okay?”

“Of course.”

“Sorry for making the mood all uncomfortable.”

Taehyun looked into his eyes. “I’m not uncomfortable at all. I like having these conversations, making sure we’re on the same page.” 

Soobin nodded, he stood up and helped take the dishes to the kitchen. He started cleaning but Taehyun stopped him. “Let me help you.”

“I’ll take care of it, don’t worry.”

“But it’s my mess too.”

“I have a dishwasher, trust me.” 

Soobin pursed his lips as he stepped away. “Fine, I’ll take care of everything next time.”

“On our next date?” 

“Maybe.” Soobin shrugged, biting his lip as he tried not to smile. “If you want.”

“I’d like that.”

“Cool.” Soobin nodded again. “This is weird, I should go.”

Taehyun giggled as he walked him to the door, he waited for Soobin to put on his shoes and opened the door for him. 

“This is arguably the least weird interaction we’ve ever had.”

“Still.” Soobin stepped outside. “Thank you for today.”

“Thank you for coming.”

“See you at your job, probably.”

Taehyun rested the side of his head against his door. “Text me when you get home.” 

“Will do, goodnight.”

“Soobin can barely move.” Yeonjun loaded another plate to his bar. “He’s so dramatic. He almost made me feed him today.”

“Oh, right. I didn’t give him a muscle relaxer.” Taehyun bit his lip. 

“I can’t believe he’s actually exercising.” Yeonjun shook his head as he walked to the other side of the bar. “The power of love.”

Taehyun looked away, feeling embarrassed. He watched Yeonjun for a bit and walked away when he made sure he didn’t need any help. 

“Taehyun.” One of his coworkers nodded at him. “Feeling good today?”

“Yeah. Sorry for leaving yesterday.”

“We noticed you were acting strange. Are you sure you’re all better now?”

“I think so, yes, I’ll let you know if anything happens.” 

“Sure thing.”

“Thanks.” Taehyun nodded and walked away, hurrying to find something else to do. He frowned as he spotted someone at the ellipticals. 

“Oh, hey.” Beomgyu smiled out of breath as he looked down at Taehyun. “What’s up?”

“You never come in the morning.”

“Aha,” Beomgyu panted, “But I noticed that Choi Yeonjun does.”

“Are you–“ Taehyun glared at him. “What happened with your other date? Did you come here to flirt with him?”

“Is that against the rules or something?” Beomgyu stuck his tongue out at him. “But no, I’m not going to talk to Yeonjun or anything.”

“You’re just going to stalk him? That’s wrong.”

“Not stalking . I’m just appreciating his beauty.”

“You’re being a creep and I can kick you out.”

“Hey.” Beomgyu stopped looking at Yeonjun to look back at Taehyun. “I’m telepathically calling him over so he asks me out. I’m not harassing him in any way.”

“Stop. I’m dating his roommate and I don’t need you to be weird–“

“Woah-hoh.” Beomgyu stopped his exercise to lean down closer. “Dating? Like, something serious?”

“We’ve been on two dates. I don’t know if it’s serious.”

“Were those date dates? Or…” He tilted his head to the side. “Charming you into his bed?”

Taehyun glared at him, contemplating pulling him down from the elliptical and kicking him out of the building. “Dates.”

“Cute.”  

“You’re on thin ice right now.” Taehyun pointed a finger. “If you’re being weird and a stalker, I’ll kick you out.”

Beomgyu gave him a thumbs up and started moving again. Taehyun sighed and strode around the machines. 

After helping some people, he noticed Yeonjun heading to the lockers. 

“Hey, Yeonjun,” Taehyun caught up to him, “Can I maybe give you something for Soobin?” 

“Sure.”

“One second.” Taehyun ran to the staff room, where he grabbed a box of pills from his bag before running back. “Here.”

“Oh, for the pain?” Yeonjun read the box. “I’ll give it to him, don’t worry.”

“Thank you.” 

“So gross.” Yeonjun said with a laugh. “You guys make me feel so lonely. Do you have any fit friends I can date?”

“Uhh…” Taehyun glanced towards Beomgyu. “I can’t think of any, actually.”

“I thought you’d say no.”

“Why?” 

Taehyun made a swift move and successfully flipped the pancake, smiling proudly at his job before looking up and noticing that Soobin was smiling at him. 

“Because it’s eight p.m.” Soobin reached for the strawberries, messily cutting them. “And it’s time for, you know, a real dinner.”

“I guess, but…” Taehyun watched as Soobin put the strawberries on the first pancake they made a few minutes ago. “You can have a fun snack as dinner every once in a while.”

Soobin then grabbed the honey (a substitute for syrup, since Taehyun didn’t have any) and covered the fruit and pancake with it. 

Taehyun slid the new pancake onto the plate. “Bananas?”

“Yes.”

He let Soobin make a mess on his kitchen counter as he prepared a new pancake, waiting for him to finish cutting a banana and carefully placing it on top before picking up his fork. 

Soobin cut out a good piece with enough honey and some strawberry to try it. “Hmm…”

“Is it bad?”

“It needs less honey.”

“Let me taste it.” 

Taehyun was ready to grab the fork coming towards him, realizing that Soobin was trying to feed him almost too late. He took a bite, not without getting honey on his chin. 

Soobin put the fork down and sucked his thumb to clean it as he looked expectantly at Taehyun. “So?”

“Oh, yeah. Too much.” 

He flipped the pancake, took a napkin to clean his face and watched as Soobin decorated the second one as he took small bites in between. 

Why were they doing pancakes?

Soobin said he wanted to eat pancakes and Taehyun was too whipped to say no. 

“Okay, try this one.” Soobin raised the fork towards him again. 

“Mhm.” Taehyun gave him a thumbs up. “Much better.”

All these pancakes were too sweet for Taehyun, who had a protein pancake mix with no added sugars hidden in his cabinet. 

“Good.” Soobin smiled. “How was work today?”

“It was fine, nothing new. How were your classes?” 

“Nothing new.” Soobin laughed as he ate another piece before offering to feed another one to Taehyun. 

They prepared a few of them before moving to the table and sitting down to eat. 

“When will you work out with me again?”

“Soon, I promise. I won’t give up so easily again.”

“Can you tell me what happened that first time you went–?”

“No.”

“But you met me and something happened and I can’t remember.” Taehyun pouted. 

“Yes, it was embarrassing. I don’t want you to remember.” 

Taehyun ate in silence, watching as Soobin stared down at his pancake. “How did you meet Yeonjun?” 

Soobin perked up at the question and the mood changed in the room. “At uni, he dropped out but we stayed friends. Yeonjun needed a roommate and I wanted to move out of my parents’ house.” 

“You’re in your last semester, right?”

“Yeah, I thought it would be way harder.” 

“Don’t jinx it.” Taehyun giggled. “Wanna watch a movie?”

“Okay, I won’t stay too late though.”

It was almost midnight when Soobin got hungry again, Taehyun prepared some ramen and they sat on the floor with their backs to the couch. 

Taehyun pretended to eat slowly, so Soobin could have more of the shared noodles. 

“I will take you out next time.” Soobin shook his head. “I just noticed you keep cooking for me.” 

“It’s okay.”

“What would you like to eat? No, wait, should it be a surprise?”

“Whatever you like is fine.”

“Seafood?”

“Sure.”

Soobin scrunched his nose. “I don’t know…”

“Anything will be good, I’m not very picky.”

“I will think about it.” 

“I really enjoy cooking, you know.” Taehyun shrugged. “So it doesn’t bother me at all.”

“Yes, but… Let me take you out.”

“Of course, just tell me when and where.” 

With a small nod, Soobin smiled as he looked down at his nails. He chuckled. “I don’t believe you.”

“What?” Taehyun laughed. “That I like cooking? I took nutrition courses, so I naturally started to–“

“No, when you said you didn’t go on many dates.”

“Oh… Why?” 

“Told you already.” Soobin picked the skin on his thumb. “You’re too good looking. I bet you have so many people chasing you.”

Taehyun scratched his head. “No, I’m usually the one chasing.”

“Sure. How many partners have you had?”

“Like, boyfriends or like…”

“Yeah. Boyfriends.”

His first reaction was to laugh awkwardly. “Uhm…”

“I won’t judge.” 

“No, I– I’ve never had one.” Taehyun gulped. 

“Why? Wait, no, sorry.” Soobin closed his eyes. “I’m sure you have your reasons.”

“It’s okay. Like I said, I’m the one that’s usually chasing.” 

Taehyun waited a second for an answer before he started tidying the table in front of them, stacking their plates on top of each other. 

Soobin furrowed his brows. “Did I make things awkward?”

“Not at all.” Taehyun left what he was doing. “I’m just not sure where to take the conversation from here.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know if it’s okay to ask how you feel about me not being in a serious relationship before, I don’t want you to feel pressured.”

“Why would I feel pressured? No, I don’t think–“ Soobin took a second to look away and gather his thoughts. “I don’t think it’s bad. Everyone is different and all. What kind of pressure would that be for me?”

“Because…” Taehyun rubbed his hand on the carpet under them. “I don’t know about your expectations about us, so if I bring up the serious relationship scenario between us…” Taehyun trailed off. 

Soobin looked at him. “Why would I ask you out on a date, if not to hopefully get to the point of being in a relationship?” 

“Don’t know.” Taehyun shrugged. “Nobody’s wanted that before… With me.”

Soobin shifted his weight, sitting against the couch behind them with a sigh. He licked his lips before turning back to Taehyun. “And what do you want with me?” 

“At first– The night of the star. I just thought you were hot, honestly, and I thought you hated me after that first shift.” Taehyun laughed. “But then we became closer and I noticed… More than just your body, more than just sex, it was your soul I was interested in.”

“My soul?”

“Yes. You. Like, real you. Learning your story, watching you move, listening to the way you speak. It's the you that lives in your body that I care about.” 

“So what does that mean?”

“That I think I really like you.” 

“So you don’t do any exercise outside the gym.” Taehyun watched as Soobin and Kai struggled to catch their breaths on the floor. 

They just started the routine. 

“Just dancing.” Kai laughed. 

Taehyun glanced between the two. “You both dance?”

“We don’t dance.” Soobin raised his hand. 

“What is it? Keeping secrets?” Kai elbowed Soobin’s side. “We do it for fun.”

“I’m not keeping any secrets. We aren’t dancers.”

“I’ve never said we were dancers or that we were good at it.” Kai turned to Taehyun again. “We just follow Kpop dances for fun.” 

“Movement is movement.” Taehyun noticed that Soobin looked a little irritated with the conversation theme. “Enough rest, get up.”

It would be good to use this angry energy to motivate him to use some strength. 

“You’re doing false advertising to make sure Taehyun falls into your trap.” 

“Dude, seriously.” Soobin groaned. 

Taehyun placed his hands on his hips, not sure if he should speak up about it or drop the topic before Soobin gets pissed. “There isn’t much he can do to change my feelings now. Let’s start.”

“Agh.” Soobin covered his mouth as he turned away. 

“Oh, I should’ve gotten you flowers.” Soobin whined as he received a single rose from Taehyun. “Wait.”

He rushed to the other side of the table and scooted the chair for Taehyun to sit, making him laugh a little and sit down with a soft “Thank you.”

“How are you?” Soobin sat in front of him. 

“Good, good. You?”

“Amazing.” Soobin smiled. 

Taehyun couldn’t help it, he felt nervous butterflies in his belly as he watched Soobin talk about his day. 

Gosh, I’m so smitten. 

They got the menus and Soobin reminded him that he would be paying for tonight’s dinner. (He doesn’t know that Taehyun will insist on splitting the check at the end.) 

“You look great today, by the way.”

Soobin looked up at him. He was wearing another oversized button down, his hair was now parted in a new style, rather than just having his bangs covering his eyebrows. 

“I was going to mention, you look good in a blazer and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear something so formal before.”

Taehyun chuckled. “Alright, it’s not a competition.”

“I’m just complimenting you back.”

“Okay.” He nodded. “You look very handsome, Soobin.”

Stuttering, Soobin looked down at the menu in his hands again. “Back at you.”

They ordered the food and made some small talk before the appetizers started coming. 

“I feel like we got very different life experiences as the little brothers.”

“Really? Huh.” Soobin thought about it. “Maybe it’s the age gap, since my siblings are so much older than me.”

“But you’re so close.” Taehyun laughed. “I don’t even know if my sister is alive.”

“If you think we’re close you should see Kai.” 

“Oh, right.” Taehyun put his fork down. “Did you get mad at Kai the other day because of the dancing thing?”

Soobin chewed as he glanced up at him, he nodded his head before swallowing his food to speak again. “I know it’s silly, but I want to do things my way.”

“I don’t think dancing is weird or anything, it’s all good.”

“Still.” Soobin sighed. “If I say I don’t want to talk about it, it means I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay, so… Back to relationships between siblings.”

“Sounds incestuous.” 

“Why would you say that?” Taehyun closed his eyes and giggled. “Okay, then, back to the way our family dynamics affected us.” 

Soobin furrowed his brows. “I was so loved growing up, but was treated like shit in my past relationships.”

“Wanna talk about it?” 

Soobin shrugged. “There is not much to say. I had a girlfriend in highschool and a boyfriend over a year ago. They were both just… Mean.” 

Taehyun hummed, he hoped he wasn’t being mean to Soobin unknowingly. “Why did you start a relationship with them?”

“When someone makes you believe you’re worthless, you’re kind of thankful to be in a relationship with them, because you feel like nobody else will love you.”

“Ah, gotcha.” Taehyun nodded. 

“I don’t know, I know my worth now and learned from those mistakes, but there are things that were said or done that I still can’t get over.”

“It’s not an easy thing to do.”

“No, it’s not.” Soobin acknowledged as he picked up a ravioli from his plate. “I want to break down that wall, but it feels like I’m taking one brick at a time.”

Hopefully, I can help take some bricks. 

Soobin looked at him for a moment. “What about you?”

“I guess I have my own bricks. I need to take things slower, I had a crush turn me down once for, uh, being too easy.”

“What?”

“I know I am but–“

“No, stop. Don’t talk about yourself like that.” Soobin frowned. “You’re being mean to yourself.”

“You’re right.” Taehyun chuckled. “He was also right, to an extent, I did use to throw myself at men.”

“No. Are you holding back?”

“Hm?”

“With me. I asked you to take it slow. Are you holding back?”

“Maybe.”

“Don’t.” Soobin reached for his glass. “I don’t think you’re easy, I don’t think you’re throwing yourself at me, I don’t think you should be thinking like that about yourself.”

Taehyun scratched his neck. “Thank you.”

“I say all that like I’m not even worse to myself.” Soobin smiled over his drink. “But we are working on that.”

“We are.”

“We will help each other.” Soobin put his glass down to put his hand between them on the table, palm up and waiting. 

“Yes.” Taehyun smiled as he placed his hand on top of his. “In that case, tell me how I can help you.”

“Everything you’ve been doing helps me.” 

“There has to be something else.”

“Um, well,” Soobin rubbed his thumb on Taehyun’s hand, “You have more experience– Not because you're easy or something like that– But it adds to the pressure.”

“Pressure? Nah.”

“Yeah. I don’t want you to have high expectations.”

“I’ll take care of it when the time comes, if you let me.” Taehyun reassured him. 

“Won’t you get frustrated?”

“I was doing too much and you are worried you’ll do too little.” Taehyun shrugged. “We will work on it until we’re equal. Although, I love being in control.”

Soobin stuttered as he looked at the other people eating around them. “We can talk more about it in private.”

“Of course. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“It’s not that.” Soobin shook his head. “There is a lot more I want to say, I just don’t want others to hear.”

Taehyun smirked. “Naughty.”

Soobin chuckled and slapped Taehyun’s hand. “Anyways, are you done with your food?”

“Yup.” Taehyun looked down at his plate. “It was delicious.”

“Dessert?”

Taehyun isn’t much of a dessert person, but Soobin looked at him excitedly as he waited for a reply. 

“Okay, sure.”

Soobin smiled as he whispered a victorious “Yes!”

“I told you not to walk me home.”

Soobin shushed him. “This is still part of the date.”

“Alright, Romeo.” Taehyun rolled his eyes playfully. “Got any other plans for the weekend?”

“Hmm… Cutting my hair, maybe going to the gym to have you torture me another day.”

“You can stop going there if it was just an excuse to see me.”

“It started as an excuse to see you.”

“Really?”

“But I’m kinda getting into it.” 

“That’s nice.” Taehyun smiled as they approached his apartment. “Thank you for today.” 

“Did you have a good time?”

“Very good time.”

“Are you tired?”

“Not at all.” 

He was somehow full of energy, even if he’s used to sleeping early, but being with Soobin filled him with excitement. 

“Me neither.” Soobin glanced up to the building beside them. 

“Oh… Oh! Do you want to go in?” 

With a low chuckle, Soobin raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“Since we’re not tired, I mean, we can still talk and maybe drink something.” 

“I’d like that.”

Taehyun exhaled before turning towards the entrance. Did he leave everything in order back there? Soobin had already been there unplanned and he’s seen his messy room before, but the situation was completely different. 

As soon as they stepped inside, Taehyun scanned his living room in case he found something out of place. 

Soobin was still holding onto the flower that Taehyun gave to him, he placed it on the coffee table before sitting down on the couch. 

“Wanna drink anything?”

“I’m good, I won’t be staying until late.” 

“Okie.” Taehyun stood for a moment, hesitating before sitting next to Soobin. The moment he dared to look at him, Soobin was already staring back. “What?”

“Nothing. You’re pretty.”

He felt a funny feeling on his stomach, laughing nervously at the unexpected compliment. 

Soobin sat back on the couch and played with his own hair, still looking at Taehyun. He asked about a movie that was mentioned during dinner and Taehyun used that to distract himself, talking about it to fill in the silence. 

Extending his arm so it rested behind Taehyun, Soobin nodded along. His hand slowly sneaked to fix Taehyun’s collar, then the hair on his nape. 

Taehyun looked directly at his own hands tucked between his knees as he talked. “I feel like they knew what they wanted for the plot but made the ending as the story continued, so it felt very disconnected.” 

“Taehyun.” 

“Yeah?”

“Are you nervous?”

”No.”

“Look at me.”

He complied, looking at Soobin shyly. “What’s up?” 

Soobin laughed at that. “What’s up with you?”

“Hm?”

“You’re suddenly shy.” Soobin laughed. “It’s like we switched again.”

And you’re suddenly confident. 

“Don’t jinx it.” Taehyun pointed a finger at him. “I don’t know, I’m just trying not to cross any boundaries.”

“There are no boundaries, we said we had some things to talk about.” Soobin leaned forward, towering over Taehyun. 

“Did you switch bodies with someone else?” Taehyun frowned at the sudden straightforwardness. 

“Don’t jinx it.” Soobin mocked him. “I only ever want to switch with you.”

“That’s… So weird but cute.” 

With a chuckle, Soobin placed a hand on Taehyun’s knee. “Told you to stop holding back.”

“I know.” 

“You’re actually hard to get.” 

Taehyun brought his hands to his chest to fiddle with his fingers. “You wanted to talk about it?”

“About the way you said you’ll lead me and how you like being in control?” 

“And I will do that, but I’ve always made the first move.” Taehyun shrugged. “It would be nice if someone else took care of that.” 

Soobin raised his brows. “Yeah?” 

“Yes. Also, you said you wanted to take it slow.” 

“I wasn’t implying we take it all the way tonight. Dirty mind.”

Taehyun gasped dramatically. “I never said that.” 

With a hum, Soobin leaned even closer. “Good, we’re on the same page.”

There is a reason why Taehyun almost always does the first move; He doesn’t have any patience for this. 

His favorite trick? Taehyun slowly looked down from Soobin’s eyes to his mouth before slightly parting his own lips. 

Soobin’s hand left Taehyun’s knee, he placed two fingers under his chin and tilted his head up. “What a tease.”

Taehyun could smirk before Soobin leaned down to finally kiss him. He didn’t let it be a short one, he kissed Soobin back and grabbed him by the shoulders. 

After some small kisses, Taehyun licked into Soobin’s mouth, letting him know his intention before scooting his body closer so their legs touched. 

Soobin’s hand went back to Taehyun’s leg, this time he let it slide to his inner thigh before tugging on it to put Taehyun’s leg over his, bringing him closer. 

The kiss was both desperate and patient. The two knew they were holding back, slowing things down when they escalated. 

Soobin kissed the corner of his mouth after Taehyun bit his bottom lip, Taehyun giggled when Soobin’s hand went up his inner thigh. They kept it playful so it wouldn’t be serious. 

“Your lips are so red.” Taehyun giggled as he moved so both his legs were over Soobin’s to fully face him. 

“Because you keep biting them.” 

“But it’s so fun.” 

Soobin smiled against his lips, giving him another peck before leaning back to look at his face. “Pretty.” 

“Stop.” Taehyun hid his face against the crook of Soobin’s neck. “You can stay the night, I won’t do anything.”

“Can’t really promise the same.” Soobin hugged Taehyun, resting his chin against his shoulder as he sighed. “I should go.”

“Now?”

“Not yet, I want more cuddles.” 

“Gimme a kiss and I’ll finish the set.”

“Go home then.”

“Taehyun.” Soobin whined. 

“I told you I have to be professional here. What if someone sees me kiss my clients?” Taehyun whispered. He pointed to the bar on the floor. “Last set, come on.”

“I have no motivation and I hate working out my legs.”

“You hate leg days because your legs are weak.” 

“And if we go to the changing rooms?” 

“No.”

“The sauna?”

“Soobin.” Taehyun frowned. “You can come to my place tonight, but no kisses at work.” 

“Okay.” Soobin gave up and reached down for the barbell, it was a very light one so he could easily pull it up to place it on his shoulders. “Twelve squats?”

“Go for fifteen.” Taehyun walked around him. “You can go home after that.”

Soobin placed his feet correctly before he started the exercise, he looked at Taehyun through the mirror. “Stop staring at my ass.”

“This is literally my job.”

“You’re doing it on purpose.”

Taehyun also looked at the mirror before crossing his arms. “And you’re wearing tight shorts for leg day on purpose.” 

Soobin stops his movement with an exhale. “I lost count.”

“That was five, go.”

“Six– So you’re admitting that you were staring at my ass. Seven. My thighs are burning.”

“Good.” Taehyun placed himself behind Soobin. 

“Eight. You’re staring again.”

Taehyun chuckled. “It’s my job, come on.”

By eleven, Soobin was struggling to get up. “Can’t I just do twelve?” 

“I know you can get to fifteen.” Taehyun took a step closer to put his hands under the bar, without lifting it yet. 

“You do this to your other clients?”

“Of course, but some prefer this-“ Taehyun placed his hands on Soobin’s waist and helped him up on his last repetition. He took the barbell from Soobin’s shoulders and stepped away. 

“Oh God.” Soobin took some shaky steps. “I should get a reward for this.” 

“Yeah? I can make that happen.” Taehyun glanced up as he took care of re-racking. “What do you want?”

Of course Soobin would choose this as his reward. Taehyun shook his head as he scrolled through the delivery app. “Chicken?”

Soobin laughed beside him on the couch. “You’re my nutritionist, Taehyun, you tell me.”

“You know I would just cook something healthy.” 

“Which has more protein, fried chicken or burgers?”

Taehyun glared at him. “Are those your only sources of protein?”

“Let’s go for chicken.” Soobin laughed as he clicked the option on the app. 

“Or I could cook for you.”

“No. You’re always cooking.”

“Do you not like it?” 

“Wait.” Soobin turned to him. “No, I like your cooking. But you just came from work.”

Soobin had the time to go home, take a shower and finish some work before heading to Taehyun’s place just to meet him on the way there. 

“Okay, sure.” Taehyun laughed. “Order whatever you want, I’m good with anything.”

“Chicken it is.” 

“Do you mind if I take a shower?”

“Go, you stinky.” Soobin pushed him away. “I’ll take care of it.”

“I will still pay for it.”

“Taehyun?”

“Yeah?” Taehyun finished drying his hair with a towel and turned to the closed door. 

“Food is here, I can pay and–“

“No, wait.” Taehyun reached for his shorts and put them on before opening the door. He rushed to his gym bag and took his wallet out. “Here, pay with my card.”

“Umm…” 

“What? Take it.” Pushing his card forward, he noticed that Soobin’s gaze wasn’t on the card. “My eyes are up here.”

“Sorry, shit, yes.” Soobin looked up from the exposed torso in front of him, he snatched the card before running to the front door. 

“You good?” Taehyun chuckled as he waited for Soobin. Before he could finish paying for the food, Taehyun went back to his room to put on a shirt. 

They met again in the living room as Soobin put the food down. “Oh, you’re dressed.”

“Sorry about that.”

“No worries, I thought it was part of my prize.” 

Taehyun walked around the table. “You couldn’t even look me in my eye.” 

“I was just…” Soobin walked up to him. “Enjoying the view?” 

“Aha?” Taehyun smiled before Soobin leaned down to kiss him. 

“Let’s eat.”

“I still can’t read you.”

“What do you mean?” Soobin started taking out the food from the bag and putting it on the table. 

“You’re shy and then you’re all confident.”

Soobin chuckled, he shook his head before looking up again. He grabbed one of Taehyun’s hands and pulled him closer. “You always make me feel all… Soft and giddy and- and dumb. Sometimes I want to make you feel like that too.”

“You want to make me feel dumb?”

“Stop.” Soobin pouted. “You know what I mean.”

“I do, baby.” Taehyun threw his arms around Soobin’s shoulders and brought him down for another kiss. “You make me feel like that too, you know.”

“Good, good.” Soobin kissed his forehead before stepping away. “Let’s eat now, before it gets cold.”

“See? That forehead kiss made my heart flutter.”

“Did it?”

“Like crazy.” Taehyun giggled as he sat down on the table. 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Soobin opened the box in front of them and took a piece of fried chicken, doing the same for Taehyun before sitting down. 

They ate before moving back to the couch, where Soobin put both legs on Taehyun’s lap. The shorter had a hand on Soobin’s back, drawing circles mindlessly. 

“My legs hurt.”

“Do they?” Taehyun pouted, he put another hand on Soobin’s thigh and squeezed it lightly. 

“Hey, uhm, before I forget–“

“What is it?”

“Kai’s birthday party is this weekend. Are you free on Friday?” 

“Yeah. Am I invited?” Taehyun looked down at Soobin’s legs, continuing the massage without getting close to the hem of his shorts. 

Soobin put an arm around Taehyun’s shoulders, making him look up again and left a kiss on his lips. “Of course you are invited, you’re my boyfriend.” 

Taehyun froze. 

“Huh?”

Soobin’s eyes widened, he took his arm away. “Is that not–?”

Slowly, Taehyun smiled. “Your boyfriend?”

“Is that okay?”

Taehyun grabbed Soobin’s hand and pulled it to his chest, he placed it on top of his heart and hoped he could feel what he just caused. “My heart is beating like crazy.”

Soobin looked at Taehyun’s chest for a moment. “In a good way?”

“Yes.” Taehyun let out a breathy laugh. “Yes, in a good way.”

“Agh.” Soobin whined, using the hand on Taehyun’s chest to push him softly. “You scared me.”

“I like you so much.” Taehyun leaned in to kiss him again. “Thank you.”

“Why?”

“Don’t know. For giving me a chance.”

With a frown, Soobin shifted to put a hand on Taehyun’s jaw. “Nonsense.”

Taehyun gave him another kiss, then another. “You’ve been my boyfriend this whole time and you didn’t tell me?”

“I thought it was a given once we started dating?”

“No? You need to make things official.”

“But… We’ve been exclusive this whole time. Yeah?”

“Yes! A hundred percent.” Taehyun almost jumped, he tried to pull Soobin closer by the legs. “Emotionally and physically, all yours, nobody else.” 

“Sorry, it’s just…” He trailed off, biting the inside of his cheek. 

“I get it. You’ve been treated so wrongly, I will be the best boyfriend ever, I’ll prove it to you.”

Soobin laughed. “Prove what?”

“That it’s all worth it.”

He had time. 

Soobin told him that he was already on his way to Kai’s place, he was going to help him with the party preparations. 

Taehyun had been tired from the minute he woke up this morning, so he just wanted a quick nap before the party. Soobin stayed the night and the two were too busy to sleep. 

First, he made sure he had an outfit prepared, he then sent a quick message to Soobin and lastly climbed into bed to finally catch some sleep. 

His nap was cut short, his head bumped into something hard before Taehyun opened his eyes and tried to orient himself. 

“Oh, fuck.” 

Taehyun blinked as he looked around at his surroundings. He was on a bus and he fell asleep. 

Well, Soobin did. Before they switched. 

Taehyun sighed, reaching for Soobin’s phone in his pants’ pocket, he dialed his own number and hoped that Soobin would pick up the call. 

He almost gave up, already accepting that Soobin was a heavy sleeper and that he couldn’t wake him up like this when he picked up the call. 

“Soobin.” Taehyun perked up. 

“Hey. Beomgyu is here.” Soobin whispered on the other end of the call. 

Taehyun froze. Beomgyu was in his apartment while Soobin was trapped in his body. “What do we do? Wait, I’ll get off.”

Ge stood up, walked through the crowded bus and waited until they got to the next stop. 

“And what do I do in the meantime? I don’t know what to say.”

“What is he doing?”

“I don’t know, I was asleep and he came here screaming and now he’s going through your fridge.”

Taehyun nodded. “He’s acting normal.”

“Normal?” 

“Just– Say you have a party tonight and hop in the shower.”

“I’m not going to shower like this.”

“Soobin, I don’t care, turn the shower on and wait there. I’ll be there in a minute.” Taehyun hopped off the bus as soon as it opened the doors. “Shit, you were already far.”

“I promised Kai I would get there early.”

“Everything will be alright.” 

“I’ll do the shower thing.”

“Just ignore Beomgyu, he’s used to it.” 

After a taxi ride, Taehyun ran up the stairs to his apartment, he didn’t even think twice before inserting the password to his lock and rushing in when he found a startled Beomgyu inside. 

Oh, yeah, he’s Soobin now. Soobin who just ran inside Taehyun’s apartment. 

“Hey.” Taehyun tried to act natural. 

“Hello? Uhm…” Beomgyu frowned. “Do you not knock?”

“Ah, I do.” Taehyun scratched his neck. “It’s just that we have to be somewhere else and Taehyun isn’t answering his calls.”

“So you just walk in like that?”

Soobin walked out of Taehyun's bedroom, he already had the outfit that Taehyun prepared on. “I told him he could do that.”

Beomgyu turned to him. “Can we talk for a second?”

“We are in a hurry.”

“Taehyun.” Beomgyu grabbed his arm, he leaned closer to whisper. “You’ve been dating for like, what? Two months?” 

There has been one lesson that Soobin had learned when it came to dealing with Beomgyu. He just looked at him for a second before ignoring him to turn towards Taehyun. “Ready to go?” 

Taehyund couldn't be more proud. 

“Yes, Kai is waiting.”

“Taehyun, I won’t let you go like this.” Beomgyu glared at ‘Soobin.’  “I don’t trust him.” 

“Okay, you can come to the party.” Soobin shrugged. “Kai said we could invite more people.”

“Why would I go to a lame party of some stranger with your weird boyfriend?”

“Choi Yeonjun will be there.”

Beomgyu pursed his lips, he slowly crossed his arms as his eyes narrowed. “Text me the address.”

“Let’s just pretend to be a clingy couple, people will naturally leave us alone.” Soobin nodded to himself. “Just help with whatever Kai tells you to do.”

“Can’t we just nap somewhere?” Taehyun whined. 

“I wish we could.” 

“Don’t leave my side, we will meet all your friends and I have no idea how you interact with them.”

“Don’t worry.” 

They got to Kai’s house and waited for him to open the door, Taehyun took the time to fix his hair the way he liked it. Kai opened the door and cooed at them. 

“Sorry, we’re late.” Taehyun grimaced. “Taehyun is here to help too.”

“Of course, come in.” Kai smiled. “We still have some time.”

After putting up a “picture corner” and preparing a lot of plastic cups, the two were in charge of placing chairs in the backyard. 

“There is no way we can nap before the party.” Soobin placed down another chair. 

“If we pretend we’re fucking? We just lock the door.”

“Kai would kill me if we used his bedroom like that.” Soobin shook his head. He looked around at the small place before looking up at the sky. “Please, please, please, stars.” 

Taehyun did the same. “Please, stars, give me back my body.” 

Nothing happened, obviously. They went inside and waited for people to arrive. The plan of the annoying new couple could work, Kai was too busy taking care of everything to even notice that his supposed best friend could barely hold a conversation with him. 

Yeonjun got there and greeted the two. “Good to see you here, man.” 

Soobin laughed. “Yeah, same.” 

Taehyun just remembered that they invited Beomgyu, he should be here any moment now to stare at Yeonjun and call him telepathically again. 

Taehyun put a hand around Soobin’s waist, enjoying the current size difference as he pulled him closer to whisper in his ear. “How’s your alcohol tolerance?”

“Pretty good, I think. You wanna drink something?” 

“Not really, but having a drink with us could be a good excuse for acting weird.” 

“You’re a genius.”

They walked to the table full of drinks, Taehyun reached for a beer out of habit. 

“Woah, Soobin, finally drinking beer?” Someone, who Taehyun guessed it’s Soobin’s friend, raised his eyebrows at the drink. 

“This is for Taehyun.” He said, glancing to his side for any hints. 

“Yeah.” Soobin took the can. “I know, Soobin is a cocktail or whiskey guy. Weird, right?”

Taehyun can do whiskey, he found the bottle and poured it into a cup. “Right.”

Kai suddenly grabbed his arm. “Soobin, I need help.”

“Uh, yes, okay.” 

“Come with me.”

He was being dragged through the house, all the way to the kitchen. Kai opened the freezer and showed the insides with a pout. 

“Shit.”

“The beer exploded.” Kai cried out. 

The forgotten bottles of beer that stayed for too long in the freezer exploded, spilling frozen beer over everything inside. 

“You still have more beer.” Taehyun scrunched his nose at the sight. 

“What if it’s not enough?”

“We can buy more later if your– our friends want more.” 

“Help me clean this?”

Taehyun nodded, he can do that, no problem. “Sure.”

“Pass me the trash bag?” 

Trash bag. Yeah. 

Taehyun looked around the kitchen, he couldn’t even find a trash can. “Uh…”

“You know where it is, come on.”

Taehyun chuckled. “Wait, let’s– You hold the bag while I take these out.” He walked towards the freezer. “What if you spill frozen beer on your birthday outfit?”

“You're right.” Kai nodded, he let Taehyun grab the broken beer bottles while he opened a drawer and took out a bag. 

“Don’t worry about this, if you want more beer I’ll go with, uh, Taehyun.”

“Right.” Kai watched as the bottles were being thrown in the bag. “How’s Taehyun?”

“Good, good.”

“What about that problem you told me?”

Problem?

Did Soobin have a problem with Taehyun?

“Come again?”

“You know… That thing.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Why are you playing dumb? Is it because it’s embarrassing?”

Taehyun blinked. “Maybe?”

Kai rolled his eyes and closed the bag after Taehyun was done. “About you and him and his past relationships.”

Taehyun walked towards the sink to wash his hands to pretend that he wasn’t freaking out. “What about that?”

Yeonjun walked into the kitchen with them, looking at the two before coming closer. “You’re here.”

Kai showed him the trash bag. “Beers exploded.”

“Bummer. What are you gossiping about?”

“Soobin’s sex life.”

“I know it was me who asked, but I don’t want details.”

Kai chuckled. “That’s so not true.”

Yeonjun smirked. “You’re right. I want all the details. You didn’t come home last night, this isn’t the first time you stayed over.” 

“I asked Taehyun to take it slow and he respects my wishes.” 

“So nothing happened?”

“Why would I tell you?”

“Come on, you said a lot about him and his experience. Don’t leave me hanging. I know something happened.” 

Ouch . Taehyun didn’t think Soobin would talk about his ’experience’ with his friends. 

Was this a problem for Soobin? Even to the point of complaining about it with his friends? The same friends that know Taehyun and go to his job?

Yeonjun pushed him. “You’re even blushing, come on.”

“I shouldn’t tell you this kind of stuff.” Taehyun crossed his arms. “It is none of your business.”

“Is this because we still tease you about that time you met him? We won’t tease you if you did something wrong last night, it’s different.”

“I did nothing wrong, I did great and Taehyun is very satisfied with me!” Taehyun could feel the blush coming up his neck as Kai and Yeonjun laughed. “And Taehyun can’t remember what happened the first time we met.”

“It wasn’t that bad.” Kai shrugged. 

“It kinda was, though.” Yeonjun shrugged. 

“Why?” Taehyun bit the inside of his cheek, this conversation was so confusing. He only had half the context for it. 

“I can talk about it now? Okay. You wanted to get Taehyun’s attention so you purposely did the wrong moves and pulled a muscle, we had to carry you out like a big baby.”

Taehyun paused for a moment. That’s it? That is Soobin’s big embarrassing mistake? Pulling a muscle? 

“That’s not so bad.”

“Oh, by the way.” Yeonjun pointed back at the door. “I came here to tell you that your friends are talking to Taehyun.”

Taehyun wanted to stay here and ask why did Soobin say that he had a problem with Taehyun’s past, he wanted to know why Soobin would hide something as simple as pulling a muscle. 

But he left, they promised each other they would stay together the whole night and now Soobin is alone. 

Taehyun spotted himself easily. Cornered against a wall as a tall man leaned over to talk to him. 

“Hey.” Taehyun slid his hand around Soobin’s waist again, ignoring the man at his side. “Sorry, I was helping Kai with some stuff.”

The man wouldn’t leave them alone and Soobin looked at him for a second before he seemed to finally react, looking up at Taehyun. “What happened with Kai?”

“Just some broken bottles in the kitchen.”

Soobin was pouting, touching Taehyun’s chest as he got closer to him. “Sorry, I should’ve gone with you two.” 

“Don’t worry.” Taehyun smiled as he felt the man walking away. “He left.”

Soobin leaned closer to whisper with a laugh, “The gross couple thing works.”

They got past the stage of being grossed out by seeing their own bodies in front of them, it seemed. Soobin was a lot more relaxed now, he couldn’t even see his own face the first day they switched. 

“What did he say?” Taehyun glanced back to see if Soobin’s friend was still around. 

“He, uh, flirted with me.”

“And you told him you have a wonderful, handsome and sexy boyfriend?”

“No, I said I was with Soobin.”

“Same thing.” Taehyun shrugged. “And then?”

Soobin looked down, he almost brought his thumb to his mouth again to bite the skin but stopped midway and sighed. “He laughed.”

“You should’ve punched him. Is that really your friend?”

”I don’t really know him that well, he’s friends with my friends.”

“I would’ve broken his nose.”

Taehyun crossed his arms. He was still mad at Soobin, he was still hurt about what he just heard in the kitchen, but Soobin was still his priority here. 

“Just proved my point that people do ask you out.”

“Who cares? Remember when I saw you on the street and thought you were so drop dead gorgeous?” 

Soobin laughed. “I want to switch. I want to see you, hold you.”

“Should we go to sleep?”

“I can’t do that to Kai. Let’s stay for a little longer.” 

“Okay, come here.” Taehyun took his hand and started walking towards a hallway he saw earlier. 

“Ah, smart, a mirror.”

The two stared at their reflections as Taehyun placed himself behind Soobin, wrapping his arms around his waist and resting his chin on his shoulder. 

“There he is, my pretty boyfriend.” Taehyun smiled as he stared at Soobin’s soft features in the mirror. 

Relaxing against the back hug, Soobin smiled. “I’m so sleepy.”

“Oh, right, I was so tired today.” 

With a sigh, Soobin placed his hands on top of Taehyun’s now bigger habds. “I wonder what we would be doing if we hadn’t switched tonight.” 

“I would still be clinging to you.” 

And Taehyun wouldn’t have to be thinking about what Soobin’s friends were talking about in the kitchen. 

When Taehyun woke up, he could hear the rain outside. He was laying in Soobin’s arms, just how they fell asleep a few hours ago. 

He turned around. “You’re awake.”

Soobin smiled, leaning closer to put their foreheads together since they were facing each other now. “Morning.”

“Good morning.”

They left the party a little early, Kai seemed to be having fun without them and the annoying couple's plan worked really well on keeping people away. 

“I don’t want to get up.” Taehyun stretched his legs under the blanket. 

“We don’t have to.” Soobin grabbed Taehyun’s face to kiss him. 

This was perfect. This was so perfect. 

But Taehyun couldn’t let go of the ugly feeling in his chest whenever he thought of that conversation with Yeonjun and Kai. 

Soobin continued kissing him, turning both of them so Taehyun stayed under him as his hands went towards the end of Taehyun’s shirt. 

“Stop.” Taehyun frowned as Soobin tried to take off his clothes. “Soobin, stop.”

Soobin sat up immediately, he looked down at Taehyun with a startled look. “What happened?”

“Why did you–“ Taehyun covered his face with both hands. He really didn’t want to cry. 

“Did I do something wrong? Are you okay?” 

With a hand on Soobin’s thigh, Taehyun pushed him off his lap. “Kai and Yeonjun talked to me.” 

Soobin sat on the mattress with furrowed brows. “What do you mean?”

Taehyun took a second to breathe, he felt like his heart was hammering against his ribcage as he sat against the bedframe. “Listen, I don’t want to start a fight or anything like that.”

“Of course not.”

“They brought up something that I just can’t comprehend.”

“You’re making me anxious.”

That makes two of them. Taehyun hesitated, maybe he should think about it some more before confronting Soobin. He feels like he’s about to cry just thinking about it. 

Right. He should swallow his pride just a little longer and bring this up when he isn’t so sensitive. 

“Why didn’t you tell me that you pulled a muscle the first time you went to my job?”

Soobin looked taken aback, he opened his mouth and blinked. “That’s… Was that bothering you?”

No. 

“Yes.”

Rubbing one eye, Soobin sighed. “I told you I don’t like it when other people say things about me before I do.”

“I know.”

“It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it was embarrassing for me.” 

“I know.”

“But… Yeah.” Soobin smiled, he got closer to Taehyun again. “Were you feeling guilty about it, baby?” 

Accepting the hand that was being offered in front of him, Taehyun just nodded. He might feel the slightest bit of guilt for getting that information from Soobin’s friends when he said he didn’t want to talk about it, yeah, but his mind was somewhere else. 

“Hm?” Soobin raised his brows as he crawled in between his legs again. “Were you scared that I might get angry at you?”

No. 

“ Yes.” 

“I am mad, but I know how you can make it up for me, come here.” 

Taehyun was caged against the bed frame and Soobin as he kissed him again. He closed his eyes and tried to turn his mind off, just how he used to do so many times. 

Again. Why is he like this? 

It felt suffocating as Soobin kissed down his neck, his hands went inside his shirt once more, touching Taehyun’s waist. His hands burned on Taehyun’s skin and he just let him roam through his back and chest. 

He gulped the bad feelings down and tried to relax under him. 

Why is he like this?

Why is he so… Easy?

“Stop!” 

Taehyun pushed him off, letting a sob break out. 

Soobin tried to hold himself up, almost being sent flying by the amount of force used against him. His face went from shocked to worried in a second as he stared at Taehyun. 

He lifted a hand to wipe the tears on his face. “Tae–“

“Don’t touch me.” Taehyun struggled to get out of bed as fast as he could. “Fuck.”

He couldn’t stop sobbing now that he started, heading straight for the bathroom as Soobin followed behind. 

“I’m so sorry, really, Taehyun.” 

The door closed between them, Taehyun locked it before stepping away slowly. “Fuck. Shit.”

“It wasn’t my intention.” Soobin said at the other side of the door. “I should’ve stopped, you weren’t in the mood, I’m so sorry.” A soft thud against the door meant that Soobin pressed his head against it. “I pushed you, I’m sorry.” 

Taehyun covered his mouth so Soobin wouldn’t hear him sobbing. 

Closing his eyes and opening them again to see everything in a blur, Taehyun just cried. He was shaking with each sob as he turned around, going towards the wall at the other end of the bathroom. 

He just needed to calm down. Uncovering his mouth to try and breathe properly as he felt that oxygen was running out. 

His skin was still burning from Soobin’s lips and hands and he considered taking a shower to wash the feeling off. 

Not now. 

He just washed his face, pressing it against the towel for a while before pulling it away just for the tears to wet his face again. 

His shoulders shook with a quiet sob every now and then, his eyes felt heavy. Taehyun doesn’t know how long he’s been standing in his bathroom, he doesn’t know if Soobin already left. 

Light headed, Taehyun opened the door slowly. 

Soobin stood up from the floor. “Are you okay?”

Shaking his head, Taehyun took one last shaky breath. 

“Why did you tell your friends that?”

Soobin furrowed his brows. “What?” 

“Why did you have to tell your friends that I used to sleep around?“

“Woah, no, I never said that.”

“Don’t fucking dare.” Taehyun pointed a finger at him. “They told me to my face.” 

“What did you talk about?” 

“That you had a problem.” Taehyun laughed sourly. “That your boyfriend was a slut!” 

He stormed off again, this time going back to his bedroom to sit at the edge of the bed and cry. 

Soobin approached him slowly before kneeling down on the floor in front of him. “Please, tell me what happened.”

Taehyun grabbed the corner of his bedsheet and used it to dry his eyes. “They asked about your problem with me, okay? And they asked if we already fucked, since you told them how I have so much experience with so many more men.” 

“But–“

“Don’t try to deny it, they literally told me that.” 

Soobin gulped. “I don’t have a problem with you or your past.”

“Yeah, right.” Taehyun spat sarcastically. 

“I was scared. I don’t have any experience, that’s the problem. Alright? I am the problem, me, not you.”

Taehyun softened his glare. “You sure?”

“A hundred percent.” He nodded. “I just want to be enough for you.”

“You are.” Taehyun sighed, still a little shaky from the sobs as he wiped his eyes again. “I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t think– You spoke so freely about your one night stands that it didn’t occur to me that it would bother you. I should’ve been more careful.”

“I jumped to conclusions.” Taehyun reached out a hand and Soobin took it. 

“That’s fair.”

“I should’ve put myself in your shoes.” He laughed. “I even was in your shoes yesterday.”

Taehyun dropped himself on the floor in front of Soobin, scooting closer to throw his arms around Soobin’s shoulders. The taller wrapped his arms around Taehyun’s waist, hiding his face on the crook of his neck. 

“I’ve also been living in your body, but I still need to learn a lot about your thoughts.” Soobin squeezed him. 

Everything was too physical. They had so much time to be in each others bodies that they didn’t have much time to try and get each other’s minds. 

Taehyun played with the short hairs on Soobin’s nape.  “I wish we could just be normal, meeting under normal circumstances and setting our own pace.”

“I wish I was confident enough to talk to you before.”

Taehyun closed his eyes, letting the stars help ease the pain inside him. 

Taehyun likes the feeling of cold wind hitting his warm skin. His legs were still a little shaky from the routine he did minutes ago at the gym, his tank top was moving around with the wind, the adrenaline was still rushing through him. 

As he opened his eyes, Taehyun was met with two things; firstly, a glimpse of something twinkling in the sky, and secondly, a tall man standing not far away from him. 

A sense of déjà vu made his thoughts stop for a second as Taehyun grounded himself before he started to walk again. 

Taehyun looked at the man once more, who probably didn’t realize how obviously he was staring up and down Taehyun’s body. 

Maybe the twinkle in the sky was a shooting star that could help him with his new wish as he took in the view in front of him. 

The guy wasn’t just tall, he was handsome. He wasn’t only blessed with long legs that make his pants look good, he had broad shoulders and a pretty face too. Gorgeous. 

Taehyun just kept walking. He walked past the tall guy, they made eye contact but nobody said anything. 

He doesn’t want to date anybody, no, he just wants to have some fun. That’s all men want from him anyways. They don’t want to get caught up in feelings. They want to use him and get rid of him once they’re done with getting what they want. 

“Hey.” 

Taehyun froze before he turned around. Sure enough, the tall man was looking at him, making his heart flutter as he smiled at Taehyun. 

“Hello?”

“You work at the gym, right?” The man pointed at the building behind him. 

“Yeah.” 

“I’m Soobin, nice to see you again.”