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niki giggled, the breath of his neighbor tickling his ear. he shivered, but that might have just been the lingering cold air of the summer night.
"-let's get you to bed," sunghoon whispered, leaning down to talk to the boy.
but the boy pouted, upset that he had to end the fun.
all the lights in niki's house were off. it seemed the world was asleep, but he wasn't. and he didn't want to be.
the two had just returned from another one of their nightly escapades. this time, they rode their bicycles around the neighborhood, blasting their favorite songs and dancing energetically to the beat. well, as well as they could on a bike, anyway.
the familiar glow of the convenience store attracted them, and as they switched off their music, the gentle hum of the store sign's staticky, neon lights helped them to sober up, so they would look less like rowdy teenagers and maybe a little more like kids running late, last minute errands for their parents.
sunghoon had opened the door for niki, dramatically bowing as if to a prince and savoring the sound of niki's laughs that followed.
they waved a greeting to the employee, who, recognizing them from previous nights, offered a smile before returning to wipe the already clean shelves.
"what flavor are you feeling today?" niki asked, eagerly dragging the older to where the large refrigerator of ice creams were, hidden in the back like a box of treasure.
sunghoon pretended to think. niki's hands were leaning against the glass as he peered down to observe the various selection of sweets. the concentrated look on his face was horribly endearing, and sunghoon itched to smooth out the crease of the boy's eyebrows. sunghoon made to lift his hand, but only to slide open the freezer, regretting it slightly when niki was then forced to take his hands off the glass because now niki's hands found themselves on him.
gentle hands played with sunghoon's fingers. it was one of niki's habits, fidgeting with anything he can. sunghoon knew the gesture was subconscious, but that didn't stop his heart from beating faster any less.
breathing deeply to ground himself back in reality, he closed his eyes and reached into the cold freezer box. with the hand niki wasn't playing with, sunghoon grabbed the first thing he felt.
"this!" he said, smiling. he brandished the ice cream out in front of him, like a child presenting his mother with a drawing. opening his eyes, he continued to say, "a... spongebob popsicle?"
niki laughed. "not again. i'll bet you ten his face comes out all wrong."
sunghoon glared at niki, though there wasn't any actual heat to his gaze. "don't bargain with my bad luck. but i'll bet you a hundred he looks a little wrong."
"whatever," niki said good-naturedly. he was already reaching down to grab his ice cream of choice, a red bean popsicle.
"not up for chance this time?" sunghoon asked.
"i'm craving this tonight."
what niki didn't say, and what he really meant, was that he knew sunghoon didn't like the sour flavor of his spongebob popsicle, and that red bean was his favorite. and he knew sunghoon would pretend to like it, eating all of it, without the slightest trace of a grimace tainting his unfairly pretty features.
niki didn't mind the taste of mr. squarepants. it wasn't his favorite, sure, but he knew how their silly games worked. if sunghoon had blindly pulled that popsicle, he was going to buy it no matter what. but there was nothing against doing a little trading though, right?
in the dead of the night, there was little sound besides the whir of the refrigerators and gentle humming coming from the worker, so their footsteps echoed loudly as they made their way to self-checkout, not wanting to bother the employee with more work.
sunghoon gently pried the red bean popsicle from niki, relieving his hands of the cold radiating off the sweet treat.
he scanned the barcode once, then twice, before reaching into his pocket for the familiar shape of his wallet.
niki put out a hand to stop him. his other hand took out his own wallet. "i've got it."
"my treat," sunghoon argued, lightly pushing his hand away.
niki huffed, unhappy with the situation. "but you payed last time!" he was about two seconds away from stomping his feet like an angry toddler. he tried to tap his card again.
but sunghoon's faster. a disapproving frown spread across his face as he caught niki's wrist. in his rush to prevent the younger, he failed to notice the light pink flush overtaking niki's features. "come on, niki," he scolded, "let me pay for you. our ice cream will melt if we keep arguing."
oh, the thought of sunghoon's precious red bean ice cream melting was almost persuasive enough to convince the younger, but he didn't want to give up.
sunghoon saw the conflicted look on his face and really drove his point home. "if you don't let me pay, i'll be mad at you."
niki folded his arms together. "fine," he said, lips sealed together in an adorable pout.
sunghoon couldn't help the soft smile that broke across his face, and his hand reached over to ruffle niki's soft hair.
niki grumbled, clearly displeased with the outcome, but he felt himself chasing the older's touch anyway, leaning into it and preening under the attention. sunghoon laughed, messing his hair up one last time before grabbing niki's hand, sweet treats in his other, and forcefully dragging the boy out the door.
"come on! more adventures await us, my prince."
"oh quit it with that already!"
niki wasn't blushing, he told himself. it was just the light breezes making the air a little chilly.
he was definitely blushing.
and so, they had taken their ice cream and biked all the way to the town's park, where niki swore he saw a guy talking to the raccoons- and the raccoons were talking back- and they laughed and giggled in only the way carefree teenagers can in the summer, their reprieve from the stress of school forcing them to maintain ridiculous standards.
how exactly they ended up back at his house, niki's unsure. he's still high off the adrenaline of the night, his blood pumping faster and faster as his heart refused to stop racing.
he didn't want this night to end. it couldn't. he needed to savor this moment forever. a sweet syrupy taste was still on the tip of his tongue, his sugar high far from falling, complimenting the sweetness he knew this memory would become.
"-niki. stop pouting," sunghoon teased, somehow still cognizant of the boy's grumpy face, even in the dark.
the younger shifted on his feet so that the moon cast a quiet shine over his delicate features, and sunghoon could see him clearer.
he reached out to pinch the younger's cheeks before squishing them together. "aw, is niki pouting? niki's pouting."
niki swatted his hands away. "hey! i'm only a year younger than you."
"ah," sunghoon said disapprovingly. he tutted. "but that's still a whole year difference. plus," he added, smirking, "i'm your senior now."
niki scoffed, incredulous at his neighbor's audacity. "yeah, senior citizen."
sunghoon gasped, pretending to be aghast. he wagged a finger dangerously close to niki's face, causing the boy's vision to grow blurry as he tried to follow the hand. "watch yourself, little sophomore. that's no way to treat your upperclassman." there was a faux look of disappoint on sunghoon's face that eerily resembled niki's grandmother when he had accidentally broken her window playing baseball. he bit down on his lip to stop himself from laughing. sunghoon was a senior citizen, indeed.
"okay, first of all," niki said, ready to go on a tangent, "you're not even a senior yet. second of all, if we are going to go based off that, then i'm a junior!" his voice grew sounder with indignation. "calling yourself a senior, but you haven't even started any of the seniors' summer homework yet. and-"
sunghoon cut him off, slapping one hand over the boy's mouth and wrapping the other around his waist to pull the younger flush to his own body. "are you trying to get us caught?" he whisper-shouted. "stop being so loud!"
niki made a noise of protest behind sunghoon's mouth before grabbing the tall boy's hand to free himself enough to talk. "well, maybe if someone wasn't so insistent on calling themselves a senior..." he trailed off. niki pointedly ignored how sunghoon hadn't let him go, and he was still pressed to the older's body. the heat from the closeness made him dizzy, feverish.
sunghoon argued, "the school year ended, so i'm not a junior anymore."
"then i'm not a sophomore anymore."
sunghoon glared.
niki glared back.
but the two were still too close to each other, sunghoon thought, finally noticing the comforting weight on his hand left resting on niki's back. the intensity of their stare was too much for him. his eyes widened, his breath sped up, and he let go with an almost flinch.
niki laughed, not realizing his friend's inner turmoil. "am i really that intimidating? i always knew i was."
sunghoon rolled his eyes. "yeah, yeah, sure. just go to bed now, baby." he didn't catch niki with his mouth open wide in shock at the use of the pet name, nor did he see the pinkish tint around the younger's ears. niki knew sunghoon was joking, but it didn't stop the little skip his heart endured. "or... do you need me to tuck you in?" sunghoon added cheekily.
niki realized what sunghoon was trying to do and decided to fan the flames a little. if sunghoon was going to compare niki to a baby, he'd be annoying like one, too. "oh, but won't you also give niki a goodnight kiss, hoon?" he asked with a, in his humble opinion, terrifying baby voice. he was experiencing instant regret, the cringe settling in immediately.
sunghoon went red. not for the voice, though. he hoped to god he would never have to hear that screechy noise that was only vaguely human-like ever again, but it was just that niki looked so cute doing it. he also couldn't deny the soft flutter in his heart upon hearing the younger's new nickname. sunghoon was thankful he wasn't the one caught in the moon's path because he was hopelessly endeared to the way it gazed down at niki like a spotlight, highlighting his natural beauty and casting a soft white glow around him, as if the boy were an angel.
he was staring too long, taking his time to admire the boy in front of him. niki shifted uncomfortably at sunghoon's lack of response, afraid he'd taken it too far and embarrassed himself. the cold wooden floor beneath his feet started to bother him now that sunghoon wasn't acting as a distraction, and he wished he'd listened to the older the first time and gone right to bed.
thankfully, sunghoon noticed his discomfort and immediately stepped in. it seemed that although he struggled with social cues sometimes (niki often scolded him for rejecting girls so harshly), he was always in tune with niki's emotions, being able to read his friend like his favorite book.
"hoon?" sunghoon asked, chuckling. "that's a new one."
niki let out a sigh of relief, happy sunghoon was still playing along. some things rarely changed, and it seemed the easygoing rhythm between the two of them was one.
upping the intensity now that he knew it was fine, niki said sweetly, "yup. only the best for hoon." he grinned, batting his eyelashes.
sunghoon laughed, the gentle lilt of the sound sending butterflies straight to niki's stomach. he'd buy a jar and trap the butterflies in there if it meant he could keep on hearing sunghoon's laughter.
but then niki let out a yawn, and sunghoon took it as a sign to actually call it a day. ("you mean night." he can hear niki's retort.)
"bed," sunghoon said simply.
niki crossed his arms. it really was like dealing with a toddler sometimes. the younger pleaded, "hot chocolate first?"
it was another one of their traditions, and both niki and sunghoon knew he would cave.
"fine," sunghoon said exasperatedly. he headed to niki's kitchen, knowing his way around by heart, with niki trailing behind him.
sunghoon prepared the hot chocolate for the two of them, reaching up to their designated shelf with their initials childishly carved into the wood, courtesy of a seven year old niki way more into wood-shop than a kid ought to be.
he filled the kettle with water, turned on the stove, placed the kettle on, and waited. he'd done this same exact thing so many times it'd become routine, and he didn't even have to think about it, the motions kicking in like muscle memory. he tried to remember when this happened, when it became so natural, but couldn't find a starting point.
when he looked over to niki, sunghoon found him leaning against the counter, head resting in the palm of his hand, dead asleep.
sunghoon sighed, knowing niki well enough to acknowledge he probably should've gone to bed as soon as they'd gotten back. niki was naturally energetic, but also the first, and probably last, person sunghoon'd ever met who genuinely experienced sugar highs. so, when he crashed, he crashed hard.
sunghoon tapped his shoulder. how the boy even managed to fall asleep standing up was a mystery beyond him. "niki."
niki opened his eyes blearily. "wha-?"
"you'll hurt your neck like that. at least sit in a chair. and hot chocolate's almost ready."
niki obediently listened to sunghoon, pulling up the island chair to plop himself into. it was a testament to how tired he was; he didn't protest or call out sunghoon's bossy commands. niki was always less combative when sleepy. it was kind of cute, sunghoon thought.
he watched as niki fell back to a slumber, body sagging and sagging until sunghoon was worried he'd just fall over, before jolting awake to quickly catch himself.
okay, maybe a sleepy niki was absolutely cute.
the whistling sound from the kettle forced him to pull his gaze away from the boy, who seemed off in his own world. sunghoon grabbed two mugs, again from their "N+S" shelf, gently pouring the hot water into the cups. he wondered how old the cups were. it'd been since the fifth grade at least, when he'd first made them in pottery class.
opening a single packet of hot chocolate, because he knew that was all they needed, sunghoon poured in the dark powder, making sure he'd give niki most of it. he didn't like the intense sweetness anyway, preferring to dilute the drink.
deciding firmly against marshmallows, mostly out of fear niki would somehow wake up again, sunghoon slid into the seat beside his friend, placing niki's mug in front of him.
"drink. then sleep."
the silence was peaceful. sunghoon appreciated how they could share moments like these, where just the other's presence was comfort enough.
when both had finished drinking, sunghoon quickly rinsed the cups out. niki was standing beside him the entire time, insisting on helping, but he seemed to be having more trouble just staying upright.
drying his hands and gently guiding niki up the stairs, he took the turn into the boy's bedroom, grabbing niki's pajamas and his own, tucked away in a drawer full of sunghoon's various other belongings, before leading the sleepy teen into the bathroom. he waited outside for niki to give the okay, which sounded closer to just some noise of affirmation than anything else, before opening the door and letting himself in, shutting it behind him. without words, niki turned to face the door, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against the hard wood, allowing sunghoon the privacy to change.
once done, sunghoon forced the toothbrush into niki's hand and brushed his own teeth, picking up both their clothes while doing so. he left niki alone for a brief moment, trusting him to not pass out, so that he could gently toss the dirty clothes into niki's hamper.
he came back to niki almost face planting into the sink, but at least the two were now clean.
after making niki patiently wait a few minutes as sunghoon finished up, the two went back to deposit the sleepy niki in his bed.
as sunghoon was about to leave, niki tugged on his shirt sleeve.
"stay," he said. it was the first thing either of them had said since coming upstairs.
sunghoon knew he shouldn't. he hadn't asked permission from niki's parents- or his parents, for that matter- and though that never stopped him before, and they wouldn't have been surprised to see him, sunghoon's never been one to overstep boundaries.
"please."
sunghoon's always been one to give into niki though.
he climbed into bed, and niki immediately slotted himself in to fit with sunghoon. niki moved his head so that it rested against the older's chest, snuggling close in a manner sunghoon can only describe as nuzzling.
out of habit, sunghoon's hand found itself in niki's hair, gently playing with it to sooth the other into a slumber. he refused to acknowledge that it was for him, too, bringing him a sense of comfort in knowing that the other was content.
he listened to niki's breathing slow before smiling softly to himself. he couldn't resist the urge to press a soft kiss to the boy's forehead, and so he did, parting niki's soft bangs in the process.
sunghoon wasn't sure if he'd ever be more than just a neighbor or friend to niki, but seeing the boy resting peacefully on his chest was more than enough. he couldn't ask for more, and he was content with his reality. sunghoon didn't need to be loved back, not when he had so much to give.
he looked down at niki again, his eyes tracing the slope of his neighbor's nose, down to the mole on his chin, up to his pretty lips, and up further to the relaxed manner of his eyes, the aftermath of a long night.
sunghoon gave a soft, satisfying hum before closing his eyes, succumbing to sleep himself.