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“And then Hongjoong-ah and Seonghwa-ya can sleep on the couch, maybe,” Wooyoung’s and Yeosang’s mom finished distributing the eight boys (including her own sons) in three separate rooms. One was Wooyoung’s room, obviously, and he can share his bed with San (also very obvious, they're attached at the hips) with Yunho taking a mattress on the floor. Yeosang will stay in his room, sharing with Jongho and Mingi on the floor.
Yunho grins from the corner of Seonghwa’s eye and he prays Hongjoong doesn’t see it. He glances at him only to find him already looking, easy smile on his face as he says, “Sure, sounds good.”
The couch is soft and definitely big enough for Seonghwa and Hongjoong to comfortably fit onto it. Seonghwa is waiting for Hongjoong to finish in the bathroom, replying to a few messages he had gotten throughout the day and texting his dad to assure him that everything is alright and he’ll be back around lunch the next day. He’s so focused on typing that he doesn’t notice Hongjoong coming back and startles when the couch dips under his weight.
“Your turn~,” he sings and Seonghwa nods, attaching his phone to a charger and taking the sweatpants he’ll change into for sleeping and goes to get ready. While brushing his teeth, every ounce of sleepiness in his body suddenly seems to disappear and he sighs into the sink, spits and washes his face.
It’s not that Seonghwa doesn’t like Hongjoong – he likes him very much – but he is always so nervous around him and is stuck in pure admiration for him. Hongjoong seems to know so much about random things, none of which they’re taught in school. He spends a lot of time online talking to people all around the world and absorbs everything like a sponge, only to turn to Seonghwa and relay all the new information to him.
Wooyoung complained once, when Seonghwa was sick for a whole week and unable to go to school, that Hongjoong had started to do the same with him and his head was already exploding from the eight hours they spend in school every day. Seonghwa had then promised to never become sick again.
Back in the living room, he sees Hongjoong scribbling something down in a notebook; sitting like a shrimp with his knees as a makeshift table and too close to the paper to be able to read his own words with the minimal lighting. Seonghwa turns on the big light and clears his throat, “Your posture, you’ll get back pain.”
“Already… got– got that,” Hongjoong murmurs in reply and doesn’t even look up, just keeps writing. The gel pen scratches over the paper, leaving black ink on stark white. It looks like Hongjoong’s hair when Seonghwa steps behind him to bend over his shoulder, reading the messy handwriting and smiling.
With all that you are
I don’t think anyone could ever come close
You’re shining
Powering the most quiet pieces of land
With just the gentle sound of your voice
I want to drown in you
Want to keep hearing your voice
Want you to feel the same about me???
“I like it,” he says quietly and hears Hongjoong hum noncommittally before he bends his head back until they’re looking at each other spiderman-style. His eyes are red-rimmed and dark circles make him seem more pale, pointy nose pierced and lips dry, skin forced open by the cold winter air outside.
“Wanna know who this is about?”
Seonghwa nods before thinking, watching Hongjoong’s lips to not miss a word as if he wasn’t the world’s worst lip-reader.
“You.”
“Me?”
Hongjoong nods and stretches his neck, the very same neck Seonghwa is staring at right now to process.
“You like my voice?” He asks to make sure and because everything else seems too intimate– too much room for interpretation– but his voice, Hongjoong likes his voice. He said it himself.
“I do, so much.”
Seonghwa rounds the couch, turns off the light and sits down next to him, in the same shrimp position but looking at Hongjoong, watching his face in the almost-dark. The warm light of a nearby lamp reflects on his piercings and his teeth– Seonghwa is looking at his lips and he wants to kiss him– but–
“I like you,” he breathes out and Hongjoong darts his eyes to the door (it’s closed) before they settle on Seonghwa’s lips.
“Can I kiss you?”
“I– I’ve never kissed someone,” Seonghwa admits quietly, not knowing if they’ve ever talked about it and if Hongjoong might know already.
“Not what I asked, silly”, Hongjoong smiles, “but I don’t mind.”
Seonghwa nods, then, and waits with bated breath– Hongjoong kisses him and he’s so gentle and soft. He presses their lips together, puts some distance between them to gauge Seonghwa’s reaction, and leans back in when he only pulls him closer. Their legs bump together and Seonghwa breathes out a laugh, a small ouch when Hongjoong’s knee knocks into his.
“Sorry,” Hongjoong smiles and moves to lie down. Seonghwa follows him, cuddling under the blanket held open for him and completely ignoring the second one right behind him.
He shakes his head and replies belatedly, “Don’t worry about it. Just got a bruise there.”
“How?” Hongjoong giggles and wraps the blanket about both of them, turning on his side and giving Seonghwa his full attention.
He shrugs and smiles, “Don’t know. Was just there one day.”
“Idiot,” Hongjoong huffs without any heat behind it and cups Seonghwa’s face with his cold hand, rings feeling like a freezer burn before they slowly adjust to the temperature of his skin. He blushes with how unashamedly Hongjoong looks at him, pets his forehead, nose, under his eyes, and his jaw with gentle touches and pulls him into another slow kiss.
Having nothing to go off of, Seonghwa still thinks that Hongjoong has the best pair of lips. They’re rough, a bit scratchy but still soft and he finds himself unwilling to ever stop kissing him. Shyly, Seonghwa snakes a hand to his shoulder, to his back and down until he’s holding Hongjoong’s waist.
They share more kisses and exploring, hesitant touches until they yawn too much to keep going and Seonghwa puts an end to it.
“We should sleep.”
Hongjoong hums in agreement and pushes at Seonghwa’s shoulder until he’s flat on his back and gets comfortable on his chest. With an arm wrapped around his waist, Hongjoong sighs contentedly and presses a last kiss to Seonghwa’s jaw.
Hongjoong
want to go for a picnic?
Seonghwa
It’s -8°…
Hongjoong
① Picture
When Seonghwa opens the picture, it’s Hongjoong curled up on a bench under a heated blanket in his mom’s winter garden, holding a half-full-half-empty mug and grinning with all of his teeth. There also is a gem on his left incisor that Seonghwa hasn’t seen yet (the last time they saw each other was yesterday at school and usually Hongjoong tells him about new body modifications, so this must have been a spontaneous decision and done by his mother, the coolest person Seonghwa knows).
Seonghwa
Should I bring something?
Nice gem
Hongjoong
maybe something to kill time
i’m in a co-existing mood
just want you here
thanks :3
His backpack is full of two books Seonghwa has been parallel-reading and is almost finished with and his journal where he tracks all of his read books. It’s been a while since he’s been this excited about reading and actually inhales books again instead of reading one book over the span of months. Their upcoming graduation makes him more relaxed and tense at the same time.
“Seonghwa-ya!” Hongjoong’s mom exclaims happily and pulls him into a hug, “Hongjoong is at the back with some snacks. Do you want tea or hot chocolate? I have to leave in a bit but I could still prepare something for you.”
“Oh, no. Don’t worry about it, I’ll force Hongjoong later,” Seonghwa grins and shoulders his bag again after taking off his shoes and having shuffled in thick slippers, jacket left on the rack.
She grins conspiratorially, “Alright. Will you stay the night?”
“Uh, I don’t know yet? We haven’t talked about it.”
She nods and just asks to let her know if he does and after saying goodbye, Seonghwa makes his way to Hongjoong, marveling at the cute and winter-like decorations in the winter garden.
Hongjoong turns around dramatically in a chair he switched into, their cat on his lap and petting her, “I’ve been expecting you, young traveler.”
Seonghwa snorts, “Getting on the bus to see you is now considered traveling?”
“At one point it is, no?”
He ignores Hongjoong in favor of squatting down in front of him and petting Mouse The Cat, smiling at her purring.
“Oh, I see how it is. Kitties over boyfriends?”
“Have you seen her?” Seonghwa argues and raises his eyebrow in challenge.
“Duh, I live with her,” Hongjoong rolls his eyes and Seonghwa gets up to kiss him. The chaste press of lips that makes tingling spread in his whole body. He cups Hongjoong’s cheek in his hand and tilts his head slightly, allowing Hongjoong to open his lips with his tongue. Seonghwa gasps at the first touch and pulls back with red cheeks, huffing out in embarrassment at the self-satisfied smirk on Hongjoong’s face.
“So, uh–” Seonghwa clears his throat to sound less like a fifteen-year-old, “I was promised a picnic?”
“Mhm, we can make food later but for now I hope you’re in the mood for snacks”, Hongjoong says and nods to a bag next to his feet, his snack stash.
“Sure, sounds nice.”
It’s not long after Seonghwa settled down on the same bench Hongjoong had sat on when he had sent Seonghwa the picture of himself that he joined him again. He leans into Seonghwa’s side, tablet balanced on his thighs and switching back and forth between sketching and petting Mouse The Cat.
Seonghwa’s left arm and leg tingle from how close they are and something nervous-bordering-on-excitement swirls through his stomach. He frowns at a cruel plot twist in his book and whines into Hongjoong’s shoulder; Hongjoong huffs out in frustration when he gets the layers confused and can’t find the one he’s looking for, nuzzling Seonghwa’s neck.
At one point, Hongjoong disappears to prepare a late lunch for them and comes back with his headphones, settling back into his rightful place next to Seonghwa. Seonghwa, who’s too engrossed in the last pages of the story to even notice anything around him.
“Damn, that’s a cliffhanger,” Seonghwa sighs and closes the book, putting it away to attach himself to Hongjoong. With his legs pulled to his chest, he has his arms wrapped around Hongjoong’s left arm and pouts for extra effect when he’s being petted.
“Do you have the next book?”
Seonghwa shakes his head, “No, this is how I found out that there is a second one. I don’t believe in book series.”
Hongjoong snorts and nods, “Whatever you say, honey.”
Seonghwa ends up sleeping over; more by accident than consciously when his body gets heavier and heavier and Hongjoong starts to resemble a mattress for his sleep-addled brain.
“‘N you text mom? Want’d to know,” he yawns and adds, “oh ‘n my dad, please, Joong.”
“On it, sleepyhead.”
He can feel himself being moved, huffing in frustration and whining until Hongjoong shushes and spoons him. Seonghwa falls back asleep with tickling pets to his stomach.