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The street is quiet, the arrhythmic sound of Jisu's heels on the pavement the only thing disturbing the calm of the night. Minho takes a quick glance at his phone and notes that it's almost two in the morning. At least at this hour the air is cool and the slight breeze is pleasant on his skin.
Minho knows the streetlamps are about to turn off so he hopes to make it in time to Jisu's apartment before that. He can make the trip in the dark but he'd rather not have to worry for his best friend too.
She's humming something, like she always does, as she walks a few steps ahead of him but it's more faint than usual, lacks the energy she puts into her humming performances when she's sober and bright. Instead, she sways a bit, giggles to herself and takes big breaths before resuming whatever song is floating in her mind. Minho hasn't been able to figure it out and he wonders if it's even one single song or multiple ones mashed together.
Her hair is tousled by the breeze and the instability in her step, brown locks half tied in braids that join in the middle, the rest left down. She had daisies entwined in her braids at the beginning of the night but after her second drink, she got anxious she would lose the hairpins on the dance floor and decided to take them all off. Now they're sitting in the pockets of Minho's pants.
Minho's eyes start trailing down the curve of her exposed back, the dress dipping dangerously low and before he can berate himself for it, his whole body moves forward, arms shooting out to hold at her sides, preventing her from falling as she sways far too much.
His thumbs land on warm skin, the press maybe too forceful but Minho can't think about that right now.
“Jisu-ya, be careful.” He laments, his breath hitching in his throat when her hands find his as she turns her head to him.
“Ah, Minhoring!” She sing songs, perfect teeth on display as she smiles all loopy. “Thank you, thank you. I was about to fall on my ass.”
She pats his hands and Minho gets the hint to let go. He glares at her heels, too high and too thin to be safe.
She falls into step with him, seemingly in less of a hurry now. He glances at her and finds her looking his way, a pensive pout on her rosy lips, shiny with lip tint.
“What?” He asks, a smile blooming on his lips. He can't help it.
She seems to think some more before exploding in a fit of giggles, a hand coming up to cover her mouth.
“Jisu-ya, what? Are you here with me?”
She bumps her shoulder into his arm then, looking up at him with sparkles of joy in her eyes.
“That guy fell into the pool as we were leaving.” She says, another giggle slipping past her lips and Minho sees it on her face that she's trying really hard not to laugh out loud. Seems like she's not drunk enough to cause a ruckus in a residential street.
Minho groans, repressing an evil cackle of his own. “And I missed it? Well, that fucking blows.”
She grins at him, a hand circling around his forearm to steady herself. “That's what he gets for ruining my vibe. Fuck him.”
He agrees. Fuck that guy.
Minho denies it when people bring it to his attention but he tends to keep an eye on anyone who approaches Jisu when they attend parties together. She can take care of herself and she's usually surrounded by her girlfriends but Minho can't help but stay vigilant from a distance despite all that. He had taken note of that guy from the start of the night, eyeing Jisu's group while chatting with his friends and Minho never lost sight of him after that, mostly because Changbin kept him at the bar to rant about his latest job and Minho had a vantage point in the room the whole time. It had taken around an hour for the man to make a move and Minho's not proud of the way his body had visibly reacted when the man had put his hand on Jisu's shoulder to try and get her attention. He had to forcefully sit back and not cause a scene on the spot. From then on, he doesn't remember much, not a single word Changbin told him, just Yeji's voice raising and Jisu's following and more people around them telling the guy to fuck off.
You don't want to know what he said , Jisu told him a bit later and Minho had accepted the fact she just wanted to move on and forget about that asshole. Deserved.
“Hope he drowned.” He says, voice low but not low enough for her to miss it.
Her fingers tighten around his arm and she gasps on the side of too loud. “Minhoring! Don't say that.”
He shrugs and she giggles again, pulling her hand away.
“Say, Jisu-ya.”
She hums to signal she's listening, eyes fixed straight ahead as she sways and gently bumps into Minho every two irregular steps.
“How about taking off those heels? I feel sorry for your ankles. They're going to hurt tomorrow.”
She stops abruptly and Minho finds her looking down at her feet like they just spawned under her, eyebrows pinched and lips pouty again.
“They're pretty, aren't they?” She asks, finding Minho's eyes again and the streetlamp they're under makes hers shine, wide and happy and enhanced by her glittery makeup. Her eyeliner is a little smudged and faded, the apples of her cheeks bunched up because of her big smile, twinkling with fallen glitters. She's so beautiful that it takes Minho's breath away.
“Yeah.” He manages to say, voice half stuck in his throat.
“I can't take them off, Minhoring! I don't have anything to change into.” She pouts and Minho distinctly remembers Yeji telling her to bring some and let him carry them for the night. Jisu had forgotten and Minho had too.
He scratches at his neck, genuinely worried about her legs because she doesn't wear heels often and he knows she has a busy day ahead, albeit starting in the afternoon.
“Unless you want to carry me.” She says, breaking the silence and suddenly the breeze picks up and messes up her hair, pushing it all over her face. She squawks, trying to fix it and Minho is glad she doesn't see the undoubtedly lovesick smile on his face.
“Ugh, fuck this wind. I want to go home.” She groans, stomping her feet and a hiss escapes her immediately.
“Let's find a bench, come on.” He says, making up his mind about what to do.
“No, Minhoring. Home. Now .”
“Nope. Bench. Now. We're taking those heels off.”
“But–”
“No booty, Han Jisu. I'm carrying you home.”
Jisu settles down on the first bench they find. There aren’t that many on this street but they find one a little to the side of a streetlamp, its light flickering. Minho doesn’t know if it’s a sign that they’re about to turn off for the night or if it’s just on this side of broken and in need of being changed.
Jisu leans down, fumbling with the strap of her left shoe but her nails aren't long enough to get it out of its loop, her hands unstable. She tries again and fails, a frustrated whine escaping her. Minho doesn't miss how she sounds more tired than a few moments before, the night and alcohol finally catching up to her, rendering her sluggish.
Minho smiles down at the crown of her head and before she can even say a word, he half kneels in front of her.
“Let me?” He whispers, tone gentle and devoid of teasing. He raises his gaze at her to ask for permission and he's met with glassy half closed eyes, sparkling in the dim lighting, eyelashes fanning over them prettily.
“Go ahead.” She says, a soft smile pulling at her lips.
Minho is a masochist so he doesn't take his eyes off of her face as he circles her ankle and unties the strap carefully. His chest quakes when she exhales quietly at his touch, eyes falling closed for a few moments before they refocus on him.
He rests one shoe next to her on the bench as he proceeds to remove the other, this time looking down.
With these on, Jisu is almost as tall as him and she makes sure to tell him that everytime she wears them, which isn't that often because she's not the biggest fan of them, just wears them on special nights or when all her girlfriends decide on a theme for a night out.
“You know, Minhoring–” She whispers suddenly and Minho hums in reply.
“You look so pretty like this.”
His hands still as he's taking the shoe off, his vision suddenly going unfocused.
Jisu isn't bothered by his silence and continues, “Half in the dark, half in the light. It highlights your feature, this kind of atmosphere.” She explains it like it's the most natural thing, as if she didn't make him stop breathing for a good two seconds.
He removes the other shoe and finally locks eyes with her again and he chuckles softly. “So I'm handsome only when half my face is visible? Sheesh.” He says, like the idiot that he is. Dumb.
Surprise makes Jisu's eyes twinkle in mirth and she smiles her fullest smile at him, lifting a foot and lightly pushing at his shoulder with it. “Dumbass. I said pretty , not handsome. Don't get carried away.”
Minho would argue that pretty is even more devastating, would tell her she can't just call him that and expect him to act normal. ‘Handsome’ is something older ladies, like his mom's friends, call him but ‘pretty’? Pretty sounds precious, delicate. It makes Minho's heart squeeze and his ears burn.
He stands up, trying to regain a speck of composure. He turns around a moment later, lowering himself back again.
“Come on, grab the devil's shoes and hold onto me.”
An incredulous laugh escapes Jisu and he turns slightly to look at her.
“Are you actually carrying me? Are you crazy?”
“Yes and yes.” He smirks and she scoffs, hiding a smile.
“Whatever. Don't come whining at me tomorrow when your back hurts.” She tells him, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck and her legs around his middle.
Minho's hands feel the skin of her bare legs as he holds her up, getting colder with the breeze and he bites his lip to resist the urge to run tiny circles there to warm her up. That's too much, too intimate.
Her perfume tickles his nose when she goes to rest her chin on his shoulder, resuming her humming, now in his ear. She sounds lovely.
“Hold on tight.” He whispers as they make their way to her apartment.
“Yes, my prince.”
Minho is fucked.
✧✧✧
Minho is grateful that Jisu lives only on the first floor of her building. His legs almost give out when they reach her door and he knows he'll feel it for the entirety of tomorrow.
She has fallen asleep in the meantime, her hold on him going slack and making him grab onto her tighter to prevent her from slipping down his back and fall.
Now though, he has to wake her. He should've gotten a hold of her keys beforehand.
“Jisu.” He calls, gently tapping one of her arms, resting their sides against the wall to keep them both upright. She doesn't budge. “Jisu-ya, we're home.” She mumbles then and a shiver runs down Minho's spine when she buries her face into his neck, her breath warm and tingly on his skin. He feels his ears flare up again.
“Hannie, please. I need to get you inside.”
He feels her squeeze him momentarily before she starts moving and he holds onto her until he feels her feet steady on her doormat.
When he turns to look at her, her eyes are closed and her nose scrunched. Cute.
“Keys?” He asks, painfully endeared by her messy and sleepy appearance.
She blindly rummages through her tiny purse and fishes out the keys, a tangerine keychain Minho gifted her dangling from them.
He runs inside to get her slippers and she smiles softly at him when she steps into them. He follows her back in and stands in the doorway, waiting to see if she needs him for something before going to sleep.
She walks half her hallway before turning around and looking at him. “Come on in.”
“Do you need anything?”
She stands there and studies him for a moment, squinting at him in the darkness of her home. “Yes. Sleep here. It's late.”
This has happened before, so many times since they've known each other and yet tonight Minho feels like everything she does or says will chip away at his defenses. His heart might take a beating.
“You're exhausted, Jisu. I should go.” It's weak but he can't find it in himself to do better. Is he even trying?
She huffs at him, amused and so so tired. “Shut up and get in.” With that, she steps into the bathroom and leaves him there, knowing he'll accept the invitation. And she's right.
He sighs as he takes off his shoes and borrows a pair of house slippers, walking to her room.
She comes back some minutes later, makeup removed and changed into sleep clothes. She always prepares them beforehand and leaves them in the bathroom so she can do it all in one sitting.
She seems a little more awake now but her socked feet are dragging on the floor so Minho knows she's close to passing out.
“Here.” She says, opening her closet and throwing clothes at his face. It's a sign of his own tiredness when he doesn't catch them in time.
He studies the clothes and finds one of Jisu's oversized t-shirts that he thinks will be big on him too and his own sweatpants. “That's where these were.” He says in the quiet of the room.
“You left them here last time. Forgot to tell you.” She tells him and he looks up at her and finds her staring out of her window, face glowing in the moonlight.
He tears his eyes away and hurries to change, realizing she's giving him privacy by not turning around. Not that they haven't seen each other without some pieces of clothing missing but that was only on days at the beach and at pool parties and somehow that's considered socially acceptable so nobody ever questions it, Minho included.
Her smell surrounds him as soon as he slips the t-shirt over his head and if he shivers because of it, body both hot and cold at once, it's nobody's business but his.
“I'll take the couch?” He doesn't mean to make it sound like a question but it slips out that way and the look Jisu gives him is full of disbelief.
“What's with you tonight? Why are you so skittish?” She asks as she kneels on the bed and puffs up her many pillows.
He frowns at that. “I'm not.”
“Yes, you are. Come on. Let's sleep, Minhoring.”
He shakes his head but moves to lay down all the same. He's so weak. So stupid.
He thanks all the gods that he's already laying flat because he feels shaky when Jisu tucks herself close to him, a hand resting on his arm, her breath caressing his cheek as she settles in. She's so close. Too close.
“Did you have fun tonight?” She whispers, so softly Minho might've missed it if they weren't this close.
“Yeah. It was alright.” He croaks out, feeling sleep tugging at his limbs and mind but the subtle tingle of nerves under his skin is still there, surely ready to make the night difficult for him.
“No girls?” She asks, adjusting on her pillow beside his. “Or guys?”
He huffs at that. As if he could bring himself to care about anyone else, even for just a night, even for a meaningless hook up in the bathroom. He's never really been the type anyway. He's certainly not now that he has these feelings fluttering in his chest, threatening to make him shake until he shatters.
“No.” He says simply and she hums, tightening her hold on his arm.
“Maybe next time then.” She murmurs and it sounds like she's trying to comfort him but it doesn't quite get there.
Minho chuckles softly at that. “Yeah, sure.”
“Let's sleep, Minho.”
A smile pulls at his lips, so soft he thinks he might die if anyone were to see it. “Goodnight, Jisu.”
It should feel like a shot to the chest when she says goodnight, baby but instead, Minho's heart melts, sinks in it and lets itself drift away in the quiet of the night. He can allow himself to take in it and not panic about it in the darkness, where no one is a witness, Jisu already passed out. It will hurt in the morning, like her ankles and his back, a physical little thing that sticks to him ever since he realized the true nature of his feelings for his best friend. He thinks that if he were to tell her, her gentle rejection would still hurt less than carrying his love and still, he keeps quiet and endures, wanting to protect what they have, too precious to throw away. If he bleeds out in the process, so be it.