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Wooyoung was very persuasive. He couldn't take no for an answer and would do anything, from pouting and staring with those big pleading puppy eyes of his to plain shameless threatening. And it worked. Every single time. And he would squeak out of joy, every single time. That's why nobody ever held grudges about Wooyoung's forceful behaviour. Because even if he was a shameless brat, the smile on his face everytime he got what he wanted was priceless.
That is how Yeosang ended up getting pulled into a party with Wooyoung's friends. They had to meet at a bar, get drunk shitless and have fun as they struggled to go to one of them's house. That was the plan. Yeosang didn't like any step of this plan. he didn't drink alcohol, he felt overstimulated in crowded places, he couldn't handle socialising with seven people at once. But again if it made Woo happy, it made him happy too.
When they entered the bar though, it wasn't too... too much of what Yeosang exepted. The shy man took a deep breath. It wasn't that terrible at all for now. The music felt like an appeasing ocean blue, it helped him to breathe, as if it was the pure salty air of the sea.
"Yeo! you're already lost in your thoughts, bad hyung, bad hyung!!" Wooyoung pouted. "Come see my friends instead of wandering in your mind!" he grabbed Yeosang's arm and pulled him between tables and chairs until they found the 'perfect spot', according to Wooyoung.
It was a big table surrounded by comfortable seats and armchairs, there was even pillows.
"Isn't this bar... expensive?" Yeosang asked, fidgeting with his hands.
"Oh it definitely is! Hwa hyung invited all of us to party about Joong's new producer contract!" Wooyoung chirped happily. "I'm so happy you got me to leave early, thank you so much hyung, we had the best spot thanks to you!!" The younger was already overexcited, and it made Yeosang's head spin but his friend's happiness made his own, so it was worth it.
"So... we're the first ones here?" Yeosang thought out loud.
"Of course, dummy!" Wooyoung laughed as he poked his hyung's cheek. "Or I would be hugging all my boys!" he giggled, but Yeosang wasn't listening anymore.
No, he was... analysing. He was feeling. The music was still blue, now more like a summer sky's blue. It was still calm and appeasing, with just a little bit of punch added to make the sound more joyful, solar. The environment wasn't too much either, this wasnt a neglected bar. This was almost too chic for young men in their early 20s. The colours were nudes, from beige to brown with a wall in authentic stone. There was decorations on the wall, golden and bronze forged metal representations of nature. Some posters didn't fit though, an aggressive green ad poster for a concert and a carmine red banner about the opening of their new hotel - just above the bar, in the same building. Maybe the rooms were made in the same nude palette? Yeosang thought it would be great. a neutral yet sweet palette. Oh, even better, what if the rooms were designed with a warmer palette? It would be so comforting...
"Yeosang," Wooyoung called gently as he tapped lightly on the side of Yeosang's thigh.
Surprised, Yeosang crashed back into reality.
Seeing his friend's lost eyes, Wooyoung smiled at him. The soothing smile he reserved just for Yeosang. The smile that meant "It's alright, I will always be there for you."
putting his hand on Yeosang's thigh for support, he smiled.
"Let me introduce you to Yunho, Mingi and Jongho. They are our trio of comfy teddies, the sweetest combo of men you will ever meet!" he smiled.
"I'm glad to meet you all," Yeosang said, bowing deep down. "Can I call you... honorifics? Are you my hyungs?" he asked shyly.
"Yunho is your hyung! but Jjong and Minnie are babies!" Wooyoung giggled. A bickering session started between ɯσσყσυɳɠ and Jongho. "I AM older!", "biologically yes, but you are less responsible!", "being irrresponsible doesn't mean I'm not older!", "you know age is more a question of maturity, and when I see you sticking your tongue like that I don't see the maturity! you're a toddler deep inside your soul!"
Yeosang was trying not to hear the debate, but it was hard. Closing his eyes, focusing on the light music, nothing worked to avoid the noise.
"Just the two of them make a tough crowd, huh?" Yunho said.
"It's fine," Yeosang answered, faking nonchalance. "I live with Wooyoung, I've seen and heard worse," he giggled.
Time passed by, Yeosang was tough to open up, but after Wooyoung and Jongho stopped their debate about adulthood it became calmer again. They talked all together, the 'comfy teddies trio' was actually a bunch of three tall sweet boys. Mingi could be loud without noticing and Yunho had a tendency to fidget around on his seat, but nothing Yeosang couldn't handle. He even talked a little! It wasn't much, but at least he talked once he felt less overstimulated and more comfortable.
That was until San arrived. Wooyoung squeaked, jumped out of his seat and threw himself in the man's arms.
"You're here!" he chanted.
"Of course I am, I wouldn't miss our hyung's party!" he smiled, and Yeosang could only look up and notice the deep dimples carving themselves on San's cheeks. He stared, until San ultimately looked back at him, making Yeosang turn away and blush. "Oh, hello! you are Yeosang, right? Wooyoung told me a little about you," he smiled even wider, sparkly happy eyes looking at Yeosang's. And the latter couldn't think of an appropriate answer, so he just nodded and smiled slightly, looking at his hands.
At the exact same time ʂαɳ sat down, two other men arrived.
"Hyungies!!!" Wooyoung shouted.
"Hi everyone", the taller said as he indulged Wooyoung in a hug. "How are you all?"
And everyone answered except Yeosang, the man noticed him. "Oh! A new pretty head in the family, it's nice to meet you. I'm Seonghwa," he smiled with the most soothing smile on earth.
"And I'm Hongjoong!" the smaller added. "You're the famous Yeosang Woo can't stop talking about?" he asked.
"Probably..." Yeosang blushed.
"He was right, you're a cutie," Hongjoong said as he took a seat beside Yeosang, and Seonghwa soon followed by sitting on the other side of the new boy.
As time flew by, the ambiance became more relaxed, more... familiar. But there was a lot of people, most of them having individual conversations with one another that mixed with the rest of the words. Wooyoung and San joking, Hongjoong talking to Jongho about a song he wanted to produce for him, the waitress coming and leaving every 30 minutes... it was a lot, and Yeosang needed a break. Just a few minutes of nothing before joining the festivities again.
"Going to take some fresh air," he mumbled as he escaped the group a little to quickly to seem normal.
When Yeosang finally stepped outside and closed the door behind him, the silence felt good. The feeling of fresh air, a little cold, just enough to refresh him, was heavenly. Everything felt right again. The sound of silence was a pastel orange, like the very top of a bone fire. The feeling of fresh air on his skin sounded like the greatest melody, a calm piano piece by Ludovico Einaudi probably.
But a false note resonated in it when the sound of the door resonated again in the small alley.
"Are you okay?" a soothing voice asked. Yeosang only nodded, sighing and looking at the night sky.
after a few long minutes, уєσѕαηg talked.
"You are all so nice. it's just hard to handle everything at once," he confessed with a grave tone, as if he was offering his biggest secret.
Seonghwa sat down beside уєσѕαηg on the piles of pallets.
The mere presence of the older triggered Yeosang's synaesthesia enough to make him feel unknown things. He opened his eyes to look at the man.
A few seconds passed, and Seonghwa finally looked back in Yeosang's eyes.
"Are you alright?" he asks, smiling slightly.
"You're so... you're so bronze," Yeosang murmured. When he noticed what he just let out, he covered his mouth with his hand.
"Hey Yeosang," Seonghwa tried to delicately push Yeosang's hand away.
"Don't touch me!" the younger jumped, surprising Seonghwa. Was he that repulsive? "Sorry..." he excused himself. "It's just... it makes me feel things."
"Things?" Seonghwa repeated, curious.
"Things. Bad or good, both... but it's... often too much," Yeosang admitted.
Seonghwa sighed, a sweet smile on his lips.
"I am... bronze, you said?" he asked, intrigued.
The younger blushed, embarrassed.
"Y-yeah. you feel bronze. a very warm colour, you're... comfortable to be around. Like... a fireplace during the coldest day of winter," he smiled shyly.
Seonghwa smiled wide, looking at Yeosang. "That's a very sweet way to describe me. I'm happy I can make you feel... like this," he said.
Yeosang looked down, playing with his thumbs.
"And, may I ask you how my... my touch," Seonghwa hesitated. "My touch made you feel?"
"Weird," Yeosang blurted out, blushing deeply. "I don't really know..."
Seonghwa took a deep breath. This boy in front of him looked so... sweet, kind, even if he was obviously feeling things that he couldn't explain.
"What if..." he gathered all his courage. "What if we try again?" he asked, hesitating a little.
Yeosang didn't answer, just looked up at the man with big, sparkly eyes. As Seonghwa started to feel like he got rejected, the younger shown his hand. It took a few seconds for the taller to understand, but when he figured Yeosang was wordlessly asking him to take his hand, he smiled widely as he looked in the other's eyes.
He took Yeosang's hand in his, and as soon as they touched, he felt the shiver traversing the younger's body from head to toe.
"Warm..." Yeosang murmured, tears gathering under his eyelids as he looked down.
Seonghwa grew braver, using his free hand to cup the other's cheek to delicately pull Yeosang to look at him in the eyes again. As the younger saw Seonghwa again, he found the sweetest, most gentle smile illuminating the man's ethereal face.
Soon, without thinking further, Seonghwa pulled the smaller in his arms. Yeosang took a sharp breath, overwhelmed by the sudden feeling of being engulfed in a warm embrace; but the sensation of warmth, the deep comforting bronze orange feeling of a bonefire in the most freezing day of the coldest winter... it made him let go. Let go fully in this almost stranger's arms. For the first time in months, he felt good under the touch of someone. He wasn't in pain, uncomfortable or overwhelmed. He was... relaxed, happy, warm. And it made him sob out of relief. A cry of relief, but also tinted with early melancholy. What would he do when Seonghwa would let him go? What would he do when he would be cold and disturbed again?
The feeling of Seonghwa's breath against his ear felt like the warmth of a summer sun bathing his skin with its light. The sound of his expirations sang the sweetest song, a delicate piano sonata.
"Don't leave," Yeosang whispered, almost inaudible like a secret no one should hear. Like the most precious confession. Like the Pandora's box of his feelings was being opened.
"I don't plan to," Seonghwa murmured back. "I plan to get to know you, to learn everything about you, to do everything to be able to like you in the right, most perfect way," he breathed out, running his hand in the younger's hair.
A stray tear escaped Yeosang's eye as he smiled wider than ever, tightening his hold.
"Thank you," he murmured, and he felt Seonghwa's smile against his skin as he bathed a little more in their embrace.