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Wooyoung had no idea why Hongjoong chose violence that day. Yet, there he was, watching that pocket version of a man happily repeat his dare to Yunho.
“I dare you to kiss Wooyoung.”
Did the alcohol give him that confidence? Was the way Yeosang seemed even happier than him with the proposal, so his whipped ass did that? There was no way to be sure, but Wooyoung forced himself to look at Yunho. His ears were red just like his cheeks, but the cheeks had been like that since his first drink, so Wooyoung didn’t consider them. Was he also blushing? He could feel his cheeks hot.
“Is it ok for you?” Yunho looked at him, waiting for his answer.
“Sure.”
It wasn’t like he never kissed one of his friends before, so neither of them had any reason to make this moment be something more than a dare on a game. Yeah, he would be fine.
Yunho stood up with Wooyoung mirroring the action, the younger watching as he walked until they were face to face. Yunho pulled him closer by the waist, leaving a burning sensation on Wooyoung's chest as he cupped his face. There was a brief pause, a last confirmation floating around before the distance between them finally disappeared.
Being roommates, Wooyoung wouldn't lie and say he'd never checked Yunho out or considered one thing or two, just never going deeper on that road. He sometimes saw him shirtless around the house, stared at him playing games because he was hot when focused (and slightly annoyed), and considered how good it must be to kiss those pretty lips of his. Nothing out of the ordinary, Yunho was the neighborhood heartthrob for a reason, and Wooyoung was occasionally just another victim of his charms.
The reality was better than anything he imagined, though. At first, he assumed Yunho would only peck him and end that stupid dare; it was simple and fast, following the instructions he received without much trouble. But then Yunho kissed him, automatically taking his breath away and making him hold onto his arm to keep balance. Wooyoung could feel himself melting when Yunho gently moved his hands down, caressing his face, only stopping when his fingers touched the skin of his neck, holding it so tenderly as if that tongue inside his mouth wasn't hungry for all the places it could reach. Wooyoung had no idea what gave him more butterflies, so he decided to focus on the taste of wine Yunho had before he short-circuited.
Softly as it started, it ended. Yunho would kill Wooyoung one day with those puppy eyes, scanning his face with a singular trace of worry before he smiled, moving his hands away from Wooyoung.
“He’s about to giggle and kick feet.” Seonghwa took a sip of his drink, staring at Wooyoung returning to his place in their circle.
“Thank God they didn’t start to make out.” Jongho mumbled against his glass, taking a shot as if he tried to clear the mere thought out of his mind.
“Would we really mind if they did?” San sighed, taking the final sip from his cup before realizing everyone was staring at him. “What?”
“Not to kink shame, but I don’t want to see my brother making out.” Jongho sighed, ignoring San’s complaint about how that wasn’t what he meant. Wooyoung also ignored him, his stomach acting weird and the muscles of his face moving on its own, making him smile like an idiot. Making out with Yunho didn’t sound like a bad idea.
Yeosang raised his hand as if he were a kid in class. “Can we move past the voyeurism and keep going? I want to dare Mingi to howl at the moon in the front yard again.”
“I don’t have a voyeur kink!” San cried, a full pout on his lips that made some of them laugh. “At least once a month someone walks in on a make out session. What’s even the difference?”
“Some of us have decorum, unlike Hongjoong. This isn't an excuse for your voyeur kink.” Seonghwa said, reaching to pat San's leg and solely ignoring Hongjoong cursing at him. “It's ok, Sannie, we all have kinks.”
“I’m not howling in the front yard again,” Mingi pouted as he looked at Jongho, hoping he would help him, bringing the focus to the other part of the conversation.
Wooyoung abstracted himself from the cacophony of his friends' voices screaming at each other simultaneously. His eyes stopped on Yunho for a few seconds, looking away fast enough to not be caught in the act by the other. It was ridiculous how he was feeling all bubbly and how a smile never left his face, no matter how many times he tried to suppress it. He knew Yunho was a good kisser, but holy shit, he was a mess. If a little kiss over a dare felt like that, imagine how he would usually kiss?
For fucks sake, he was really about to giggle and kick feet. Wooyoung ignored how his cheeks were extremely hot, hoping it was just the alcohol effect. Taking a deep breath, he stared at the center of the circle. Wooyoung had more things to think about that night, such as trying his best to get that stupid bottle to set him with Hongjoong, who had no other option than to choose to dare since he had already used truth twice in a row.
If that little man could choose violence, so could he!
☼ ☀
The door was barely fully opened when Yunho stormed inside Jongho's apartment, automatically throwing himself on the couch and hiding his face in his hands.
“I think Wooyoung broke me.”
Jongho stopped for a second, unsure if he should follow his plan of being petty and ironic or go straight to the topic his brother brought up. As San once said, he was a nosy little shit, so he swallowed his entire speech of “Hi Yunho, yes I’m good, and I’m not busy right now despite having a date with Mingi in half an hour” and closed his door, moving until he was at the armchair of his living room, staring at Yunho.
“Elaborate, please.”
Yunho looked at him with red ears and big puppy eyes as if it would work on him. He sighed when his brother didn’t seem affected, sitting on the couch but letting his head on the sofa back so he looked at the ceiling.
“I… I can’t stop thinking about Wooyoung.”
“You have a crush on him, we've been knowing. What happened now?”
“I don’t…” Yunho had to look at Jongho in disbelief, but his deadpanned expression made him quiet. Damn, was he that obvious? Did Wooyoung notice and didn’t say anything? Did anyone else besides his brother know?
“You’re worse than Hongjoong on the whipped department. We all know you and Wooyoung have a crush on each other.” Jongho sighed. “Why did he break you? What happened?”
On better days, Yunho would point out how Jongho chose to say “on each other” and what it could mean. However, all he could think was the kiss they shared on the truth or dare the day before. He would be lying if he said kissing Wooyoung never crossed his mind. Yunho did it at least once a week in their shared room because Wooyoung was just like that, and maybe he wanted to see how it would be to peck his lips instead of his cheeks or forehead. But dealing with the fact that they had kissed for real made Yunho blush and smile.
“Don’t tell me it was the truth or dare.” Jongho dramatically rolled his eyes.
Yunho sighed as he stared back at the ceiling, lying on the couch. At that point, he only wanted to scream into a pillow, but his stupid ass had driven all the way from his house to his brother's apartment to talk, so now he needed to do it. “It was.”
Jongho only hummed in response, the sound reverberating in his ears along with the heat.
“I know it sounds dumb, but… Wooyo is so… I know we were a little drunk and that we only kissed because Hongjoong dared me to do it, but… now… I-I just…” Yunho groaned. He could die of embarrassment right there. “I cannot stop thinking about it. It’s ridiculous. I should be cool about it!”
“Did you notice that we look like therapist and patient?”
Yunho threw the first pillow he could get. “Jongho! I’m serious. What if this never leaves my mind? What if this kiss ruins our friendship? This crush was completely normal! I don’t know what is happening.”
Jongho gave his most exhausted deep sigh since Yunho arrived and crossed his legs, staring back at his brother.
“How is Wooyoung reacting?”
“I’m not sure... He is ok, I think? We cuddled last night along with San, then I drove us back home this morning, but he was sleeping in the car. Neither of us stayed around more than a few minutes by lunch today… Do you think he hates me now?”
“It’s incredible how someone so smart can be so stupid because of a cute boy.” Jongho said, changing his position again. Before he could continue, however, a knock on the door caught his attention.
Yunho moved enough to grab the pillow he had previously thrown at Jongho and placed it on his face. Wooyoung hated him, didn’t he? He had noticed his crush and was now trying to find a polite way of saying it wasn’t right. Wooyoung was always considerate of others, so he was probably trying to cut off Yunho in the gentlest way. Would this kiss tarnish their friendship? The simple thought of it made his stomach weird, and it wasn’t like the butterflies he felt before. He couldn’t lose his little kitten and their cuddle sessions to sleep or the chaotic night when they tried to play games together. They were dancing teachers! Their moments of watching dance videos and training the choreography while putting the living room mobile in danger were extremely necessary to his health!
“Snap out of it.”
The voice was too deep to be Jongho’s, but Yunho was even more confused after he took the pillow off his face and saw a worried Mingi towering over him.
“What are you doing here?”
“I have a date with Jongho… What are you doing here?”
“He thinks Wooyoung hates him.” Jongho sat back on the armchair.
“What? Why?”
Mingi pulled Yunho to sit, reserving the new free space for himself, trying to comfort his friend with soft pats on his thighs.
“Because he’s dumb,” Jongho answered before Yunho could even open his mouth, ignoring the pout he made. “Hongjoong gave you that dare because we all are tired of seeing you and Wooyoung being idiots crushing on each other. I would have locked both of you inside a room until you made something about it.”
“A man of classics.” Mingi smiled at Jongho before looking at Yunho. The puppy eyes worked with him, so Mingi cooed and hugged the other. “He’s right, though. You both like each other.”
“That… doesn’t make sense.”
“Dude,” Jongho was exasperated. He knew both he and his brother were kind of oblivious about those things, himself taking a while to fully grasp the situation he had with Mingi, but damn. “Even Hongjoong, who took an entire year to understand he was in love with Yeosang and then proceeded to be a fanfic protagonist until he finally asked for a date, could see you both like each other.”
“You know... This kind of makes Yunho and Wooyoung fanfic protagonists because they are the 'everyone can see they are in love, except them' trope”.
“You are spending too much time with San,” Jongho said, clearly trying not to laugh. He looked at his brother again, clearly using all of his brain capacity to make the connections with the new information he had.
“I'm not really surprised that Yunho happened to be our Hongjoong 2.0.” Mingi sighed, laughing when Yunho pushed him, his arm still around his friend's shoulders.
“Shut up.”
“I hope you open your eyes sooner than Hongjoong,” Jongho said, wishing Yunho could now deal with it on his own so his date night would still be on. “Stop stressing. Wooyoung has a massive crush on you. His eyes sparkle around you and all that. And, even if he does not like you this way, he doesn't hate you. I doubt he ever will.”
Yunho was silent when Mingi started to talk about how he and Jongho were also a fanfic trope couple. Jongho made a funny face, saying something Yunho paid no attention to as he once again stared at the gray-colored ceiling.
So… Wooyoung romantically liked him? It still sounded unreal, but Jongho and Mingi wouldn’t lie like that. However, the sparkling eyes were not a good point because Wooyoung’s eyes always sparkled with his friends. It was endearing how you could easily see the love in his eyes. Besides, Wooyoung never treated him differently, so which proof did they have that Wooyoung was crushing on him?
He would make up to Jongho and Mingi later for crashing their date, but Yunho needed to know more. He could go home right now and kiss Wooyoung again if it was true, but what if it wasn’t? He wouldn’t risk his little sun. Maybe he was, in fact, dumb over a cute boy, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
☼ ☀
“Do you think Yunho hates me?” Wooyoung pouted. “He barely ate today at lunch and went somewhere else when I sat to eat. It’s like he’s avoiding me”.
“I don’t think Yunho has such emotion in his system.” Yeosang chuckled, giving a soft pat on Wooyoung’s exposed forehead. “He probably just had something to do today.”
“What if he doesn’t?”
“What if he does?”
Wooyoung whined, crossing his arms and pouting like a child. Doing that while lying on Yeosang’s lap didn't seem as effective as he wanted, so he turned his head to the side and bit his friend’s knee, ignoring the complaint that came right after. Yeosang had a point, but so did he. Yunho probably didn’t hate him, but that didn’t make things automatically good. What would he do if their friendship suffered because of that kiss? They didn’t have such a weak bond to end over a small thing, but how uncomfortable would it be?
“I’ll kill your boyfriend,” he mumbled, making Yeosang laugh.
“You already tried yesterday when you dared him to eat that cucumber,” he calmly said, skipping through the TV channels until he could find something to watch.
“Deserved.”
Yeosang chuckled, patting Wooyoung’s forehead once again. Wooyoung decided to focus on the TV for a while but ignored it again when the other stopped on a meteorological channel.
“Just confess to him,” Yeosang said after a while, gently caressing Wooyoung’s hair. “Yunho likes you. Hongie made that dare to push you both to face your feelings.”
“That’s rich coming from Hongjoong.”
Yeosang sighed. “None of us are good at feelings. Do you remember how Mingi cried when Jongho first asked him out? And how San is the most hopeless romantic person we know and cannot see when someone flirts with him?”
“… You may have a point.”
“I totally do,” Yeosang smiled. “Confessing or not, talk with Yunho. Live this awkward moment and then move on.”
“Ok our little Oogway in training,” Wooyoung made a proud crying face as he patted Yeosang’s head. “Now give me the remote control. I already know we will have snow this week."
Yeosang let Wooyoung do the battle of finding something to watch. He settled for a random cartoon he had never seen before, but that was enough to distract him for the next hours until he walked back home and had to face whatever was in there — be it an empty space or Yunho. Maybe he should, in fact, talk with his roommate so they could move on from this weird situation they were in. Confessing was definitely out of question, but a talk seemed necessary.
Both of their phones vibrated with a notification from their group chat. Wooyoung would wait for Yeosang tell him what the text was about so he didn't need to get his phone, but his friend knew how to spark his curiosity.
“You better confess before something happens”
jjong bear by stayc
hello everyone i want to share a poem
skitty clone
👀
jjong bear by stayc
apples are red
i break apples with my hands
wooyoung is an apple
princess mangi
👏👏👏👏
baby puppy ❤️
...
yeo-yeoing
😂😂
obi juan kenobi
that's..... an attempt, congrats jongho! keep training!
i didn’t even know you wrote poetry!
woo-wooyoing
first of all bitch do u even know what a poem is????
second of all WHAT DO U MEAN
strawberry short cake
jongho we are all rooting for you
…
Wooyoung had plans for that day, but the universe decided to be like Hongjoong and choose violence. There would be a snowstorm later that week, the warning being reinforced on the meteorology channel Yeosang watched yesterday, but something happened, and said snowstorm arrived earlier. Now, literal meters of snow made it impossible most people to leave their houses, causing trouble on the roads and a few other problems. The bright side was that he and multiple workers loved to skip work on that cold Monday. However, it meant Yunho was also home, and Wooyoung had no idea how to act around him.
After leaving Yeosang's apartment, Wooyoung made an internal speech pointing out everything he could about his friendship with Yunho and how that kiss didn't need to change anything. They were only weird because they had never kissed before, so due to that new experience, neither of them knew how to react, and everything would be fine! It didn’t need to matter all that much. It was a perfect plan until he arrived home and saw Yunho asleep on the couch, with a delivery food bowl on the kitchen table next to a small note saying: “Wooyoung! This is for you in case you haven’t eaten.”
But the night turned into a new day, then night rose again, and no words about the matter appeared. Yunho was solving a few things about his classes on his laptop, so Wooyoung decided to cook a new dinner recipe, hoping it would help his mind and give him the necessary amount of courage to speak.
Nonetheless, the universe was like Hongjoong once again. Seconds after Wooyoung finished the dinner, their power went out. They didn’t have a generator, and the snowstorm made the day darker since the early hours. Great.
He heard Yunho cursing in the living room, probably because he lost the internet connection. Wooyoung found the kitchen counter, fumbling around as he tried to find his phone in the dark. He knew it was in there, so he touched everything his hands could reach, which unfortunately included the knives he had used.
Wooyoung cursed out loud, bringing his hand to his mouth. He would need that stupid lantern on his phone to see how long it was, but the side of his right hand had a new cut. It didn’t feel deep, though, so at least that.
“Wooyo! What happened?”
A blinding light found him before Yunho, who apologetically lowered his hand so the lantern light didn’t hurt his eyes.
“Nothing much, I cut myself trying to find my phone.”
Yunho was suddenly closer, gently holding Wooyoung’s hand to see the cut. “It doesn’t look serious. Let me wash it.”
Wooyoung held Yunho’s phone as he was dragged around the kitchen, the cold water against his hand hurting more from its temperature than the bruise. He could do that on his own now that he had a light, but he let Yunho guide him around the kitchen until a cute Hello Kitty band-aid was on his hand.
“Ok, done.” Yunho smiled at him, still holding his hand.
Wooyoung smiled back, mumbling a thank you before clearing his throat. “The dinner is ready, by the way.”
Two lanterns were better than one, and Yunho took most of the food to the living room, filling their center table with plates and bowls. Dinner passed by smoothly as if they hadn’t been a little weird for the past two days, so Wooyoung relaxed a bit, laughing at Yunho being annoyed at his mobile service barely working.
Dishes would stay for the next day, so they decided to split around the house trying to find candles after Yeosang sent a picture of him and Hongjoong drawing by candlelight. Wooyoung pretended not to see San and Seonghwa’s text saying how romantic the photo was, focusing on Yunho talking about how it would spare their phone battery. A small part of him wished they had thought about it in time for a candlelit dinner so San would see real romance, but that was a mere detail.
Their living room felt cozy with the orange flicking light of all the five candles they placed around. It would be better if Wooyoung was cuddling with Yunho, but obviously, he couldn’t do this now. Yunho was lying on the couch while Wooyoung took the armchair, both staring at the ceiling, unsure about what they could do to spend time — or to deal with the weird feeling in the air that came back along with the silence.
Wooyoung took a deep breath. “Why did your brother threaten me over a bad poem?”
Yunho snorted at the sudden question, probably with the memory of that lame text.
“He was… a little mad at you.”
“Why?”
“Because I ruined his date with Mingi yesterday.”
“And why is he mad at me? You should be the apple he breaks!”
Yunho chuckled, moving on the couch until he was facing Wooyoung. He looked so pretty under the candlelight that Wooyoung wanted to cuddle him even more. And kiss him. But that was a tiny detail — that he needed to talk about since kissing was clearly a topic between them.
“I went to his house to talk about… you.”
Oh. It still wasn't fair that he was the victim of violence when Jongho could easily punch his brother. But, oh.
“He said we have to talk.”
It was Wooyoung’s turn to chuckle. “Yeosang said the same.”
“You first.”
“No, you can go.”
Neither of them spoke for the next minutes until they called each other at the same time, the soft giggle surrounding them with a familiar taste the duo had missed these past two days.
“Ok, I’ll go” Yunho sighed. “It was about the kiss on the truth or dare.”
“Oh... Was it that bad?”
Wooyoung wasn’t sure why that was his first question, but he couldn't take it back now. Instead, he watched Yunho's expression go from confused to offended until he pouted. How could someone so tall be so adorable?
“It was too good… I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I’m still thinking about it and don’t know if I should. We’ve been a little off since it happened, and I’m afraid you don’t want me as your friend anymore while I’m almost dying to kiss you again.”
There was no way he heard it right.
Wooyoung stared at Yunho, trying to find any indicator that it was a joke, feeling his heart race when all he could see was hope with a spark of worry. It was dark, so maybe he was seeing things. Yunho raised his hand towards him, keeping it up until Wooyoung held it, pulling the younger to sit next to him on the couch.
“Wooyoung…” Yunho stared at their hands, intertwining their fingers so softly that Wooyoung could melt right there. “I like you. I’m in love with you, and I think I was in love with you since the week I moved in, and you laughed at my awful impression of the History Channel guy. It is ok if you don’t want to deal with it or if the feeling isn't reciprocated, but I needed to say it. Your friendship is the most important thing to me, and we do not have to do anything about it besides let ourselves move past that dare.”
Yunho stopped for a second to look at Wooyoung and was about to open his mouth and rant again when Wooyoung touched the back of his neck, bringing him closer.
“Please just shut up and kiss me.”
On better days, Wooyoung would tease Yunho for hours — after all, Yunho literally wanted to kiss him so bad — or simply grab that man and kiss him, but right now, he could only thank Yunho for doing something because he wasn’t sure he could say something. He had never been immune to Yunho and definitely wouldn’t be now.
Yunho pulled Wooyoung to his lap, clasping his lips on his so eagerly that Wooyoung lost his breath. He barely had fully registered that he was straddling Yunho when his lower lip was softly bitten. Yunho moved his hands inside Wooyoung’s shirt, squeezing the soft skin underneath his fingers, smiling when Wooyoung moaned against his mouth.
“Don’t do that” Wooyoung was breathless when he separated his lips from Yunho’s.
“Do what?”
Wooyoung could scream at how adorable Yunho looked with the messy hair, puffed lips, and a little frown on his forehead.
“Don’t smile when we kiss! It’s unfair!”
Yunho laughed as he pulled Wooyoung for another kiss, softly tickling him until his complaints turned into giggles. Wooyoung heard a mumbling that he couldn't understand, being busy messing with Yunho’s hair a little more and making a trail of kisses from his mouth to his jawline. Yunho clearly didn’t want him to finish the route because how dare he kiss his neck like that.
They didn’t know how much time had passed, but a little after Yunho moved them around the couch and Wooyoung was beneath him, the power came back, scaring them with all the lights and TV on.
“What if… we stay with the candles?” Yunho asked, placing soft pecks around Wooyoung’s face.
“You’re so romantic” Wooyoung laughed, the sound increasing when Yunho tickled his stomach before getting up. It was cold without him, Wooyoung noticed, but it would be solved soon. The TV was off and soon he was back in the dark, the cozy living room with orange flicking lights seeming more electrified than before.
When Yunho returned, he laughed at Wooyoung's grabby hands, gently kissing the boy as he adjusted himself on top of him again. The candles cast a few shadows on Wooyoung’s face that enchanted a few of his traces, and Yunho was in awe when he took a moment to look at him. Wooyoung was so pretty, his poor little heart clearly never stood a chance.
Wooyoung caressed his face. “What are you thinking?”
“Should we thank Hongjoong?” that wasn’t his first thought and Yunho would change the topic if Wooyoung hadn't groaned, enlacing his neck.
“Don’t ruin the mood” it was all he said before kissing Yunho, complaining only when the other was still smiling.
Yeosang was the only person right in this story. Hongjoong deserved no rights for that stupid truth-or-dare move. Maybe Wooyoung could be convinced later when they talked about it... which wouldn’t happen soon. He had better things to do, such as kissing that stupid and adorable walking tower until his lungs burned.