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Among the things Kibum did that unexplainably bothered Minho was his habit of wearing those very short shorts, usually paired with a large shirt that covered the pants and made it look like he was wearing nothing underneath. Everytime summer started making its hot temperatures shown and Kibum would sport the tantalizing outfit again, Minho had difficulties existing. But of course he couldn't bring up his malfunctioning to the artificer of it since Minho himself didn't know the godforsaken reason behind it.
The main problem was: it was very distracting. Thankfully those booty shorts didn't exit the door of their dorm or else Minho would've had trouble learning choreos as he did winning fifa matches against Taemin whenever Kibum would show up in the living room.
At his fifth loss, Minho gave up and fell back on the couch while Taeminnie went screaming his victory to the four winds and hopped to the kitchen to grab a snack. Since it was his lucky day, Kibum plopped down on the spot Taemin left on the couch and serenely chose the most uncomfortable looking position to read which, to Minho's great desmayal, involved extending his legs fully.
Minho realized it had been too much time since the last time he got laid, probably, because he had yet to stop ogling at his friend's pretty, pale legs like he had never seen them in his whole life. He needed to get a hold on himself, he decided, and picked up the remote to turn on a random drama.
The attempt lasted exactly 2 minutes (Minho was counting) before he found his eyes averting from the tv back to Kibum's legs. He caught Kibum already looking at him with an unimpressed stare from the back of his eyes and it went directly into Minho's top 3 most embarassing moments of his life. Cool.
Kibum raised a brow.
"I think it's only fair of me to ask why you keep staring at my legs, no?" he said in a sarcastic but also mischievous tone.
It was a reasonable question, an interesting one, in fact; a question worth reflecting upon, Minho reckoned. And as he tried his best to find a proper, friendly answer to it, Kibum decided it was a good time to basically deepthroath the popsicle in his hand. Great, now Minho was definitely not gaping at air like a fish. Where were his annoyi- beloved members when he needed them??
Kibum's face started morphing into an amused expression as he watched Minho having a mental breakdown and he let out a few evil chuckles, the ones which made him sound like a villain, which was pretty much how Minho was picturing him in that moment. Then he returned his attention to the book and nonchalantly said:
"It's okay honey, you can look. Can touch too, if you want."
Minho felt just a little bit dizzy at that.
After a little while where Minho was busy panicking and reconsidering their whole friendship as well as analysing his sexuality for the first time, Kibum got bored of his indecision and decided he might as well take his own advice. While keeping his attention on the book, the fingers of his right hand started fluttering over his knee, first just brushing quickly and carelessly over the skin of his thigh and then putting his whole hand on it, caressing and then starting to grab at it, slowly making his way onto the inside of his thigh and down, down, more down until his hand disapperead into the shorts-
Minho coughed loudly and his hand fell.
Kibum turned to look at him with a devilish grin on his face and a challenging look in his eyes that made Minho burst more into flames than he was before. Fuck, this was gonna be the end of his reputation. He needed to find common ground quickly or else the little respect Kibum had for him was gonna be thrown to the wind.
Or, he could've fled.
And flee he did, which in retrospect made him look more like a coward than anything. Closing the door of his room behind him, he felt like he could hear Kibum's hyena laugh from there. He was never gonna recover from that, Kibum would've made sure of it, plus, it wasn't like he had solved his problem at all: he'd probably made it worse, in fact. And it was all his fault, unbelievable.
For the first time, Minho actually considered moving out from the dorm...just for the summer, y'know. It would've only meant more running, Minho realized shaking his head, and even though he had a great stamina, that too would've run out at some point. But Kibum, Kibum was a temptating demon, and Minho was only human (a very hormonal teenager, to be exact) so it was either learning how to avoid his tricks or falling into his grip.
What would've that meant for Minho? He found himself reflecting upon it as he let the scene from before roll out in his head: Kibum's long, thin fingers playing with his plump thigh, drawing a hellish path to guide Minho right onto- deviation.
"Dog's poop, Jjong's protein milkshakes, trainees spitting on the practice room's floor, dream girl's outfits, Lee So Man..." Minho did his best to think of disgusting things and reverse the flow of his blood that had decided to rush down to his dick. He could not have an erection over his bandmate, he couldn't. - Especially - over Kibum.
But ultimately, God didn't love him.
"Ming? can i come in?"
Minho was startled to his feet by the sudden voice at the door. Had he even knocked? Minho hadn't heard him knock.
"No!" he replied, his voice too tight and high-pitched to sound casual. Minho mentally slapped himself.
Kibum chuckled behind the door, Minho mentally slapped him too.
"Just wanna talk. I swear no more teasing." Oh so now he wanted to talk. Well, no. Minho still had some pride on himself (and also an embarrassing hard on but nevermind). He turned away from the door and strutted down to his bed, making sure to stomp his feet so that Kibum could've heard his absolute indignation. The door's handles cricked open before Minho could stop stomping on place: his humiliation was endless, it seemed.
He froze in place and Kibum burst out laughing, throwing himself on him as he always did, as Minho wasn't two seconds away from self-incineration.
When Kibum recovered from the comedical scene of the century he'd just witnessed, he gripped at Minho's biceps to ground himself and for some reason he didn't let go. Minho turned around and sent him his most convincing death glare, a personal accomplishment from Jjong's lessons, but Kibum reacted by biting his lip and winking at him instead of being terrified for life; what was his problem?
"What do you want Kibum?" Minho sighed, fully turning towards him and casting his eyes on the ground, suddenly realizing he was kinda exhausted of all that ping pong playing.
Kibum must've spotted something in his voice because he mercifully took pity of him and dropped the act. Letting go of his arms, he backed away from Minho and retreated on himself, suddenly looking much more insicure than all his previous cabaret.
"Okay, I'll leave you alone. I-uhm-just wanted to say i'm sorry for..." he flapped a hand around vaguely and didn't finish the apology, he never did. But his voice sounded sincere enough for Minho to believe him, and also a little bit sad, Minho noticed. When Minho raised his eyes on him, he found the usual piercing look gone, Kibum's eyelashes beating fast as to...as to fight back tears or something.
"Wait Kibum I- it's okay you don't- you didn't do anything bad." Minho said, trying to sound as reassuring as he could and reaching to pat his shoulder. As soon as Minho touched him, Kibum's head snapped up and the look he gave Minho was so cold it actually brought shivers to Minho's skin. It was like he had never seen Minho before, when, with a wet laugh, Kibum uttered a tight-lipped "right" and stormed out of the room as quickly as he'd come in, not slamming the door only because it was childish.
Minho found himself again at a loss for words. He was...mad? - Him - ??? Minho was done trying to understand the mechanizations of Kibum's mind for tonight. Tomorrow would've been a wiser day, he told himself as he finally plopped down to bed and closed his eyes on the confusing world outside.
Tomorrow proved to be even odder.
First of all, Kibum had greeted him in the morning with -incredible turn of events- a smile. Before he could've had his second coffee? A day to sign in the calendar. Furthermore, to Minho's great disbelief and the member's suspicious looks, he kept being not only friendly to Minho the whole day but also helpful and encouraging of everything he proposed. That was a first.
"Okay, what did you buy him?" Taemin asked once Kibum had left the practice room, actually going to pick up a water bottle for Minho when he'd asked. Everyone was watching him with a sceptical look. He couldn't blame them for not buying Kibum's sudden spurge of affection.
"Nothing actually. I don't know what has gotten into him lately." Minho admitted, finally able to let out his frustration. Jonghyun looked at him with a side eye.
"Lately? Isn't it just today that he's been acting like this?" he asked. And Minho flinched, turning red as the whole group's attention shifted on him; he could feel their eyes burning on him and he genuinely didn't know how to answer. Maybe trying to put into words his complicated feelings would've helped him understand them but on the other hand the moment from yesterday was too private to share and then what if...what if, Minho realized with terror, he'd been just another one of the victims of Kibum's games?
Thankfully, for once Kibum's timing was perfect, because he entered the room right when Minho's silence was starting to be too long to be innocent. He could've used a huge gulp of water now, Minho reckoned as he sighed in relief seeing everyone's attention on him fall. But Kibum got to him with his own half drank water bottle instead.
"Sorry, water was finished. you can have mine." Kibum offered. Minho looked down at the mouth of the bottle where Kibum's own mouth had been and failed to ignore the implications: really Minho? Very primary school of you. He took it and drank less than he would've liked, leaving some water for Kibum.
"Thanks." He handed back the bottle to him and if the lingering tension between them was a matter they were both playing dumb about, then their reactions when their fingers brushed were definitely enough to expose their pathetic asses. Was this how it was going to be from now on? Minho wondered.
That same night, Minho decided he had had it. Also because Kibum had gone back into the booty shorts as soon as they'd gotten home, which Minho was now sure was a silent signal. He played cool about it, only letting his gaze travel on his legs a very unaffected once or twice during dinner, and if he had done the utmost to casually brush his knuckles over his thighs, that too was part of his aseptic plan. No strings attached. Not like he was dying to actually get his hands on him, not at all. Minho was cool about it all. Zen.
"Come to my room." he whispered into Kibum's ear as he passed behind him while the other was washing the dishes.
Waiting felt like the most excruciatingly longest time of his life. Minho even felt the strange desire to smoke a cigarette (he'd never smoked before) just to relax his unusual nerves. With distaste he realized in the back of his head that he was getting like this for Kibum, but a huge smile painted his lips instead of the disgusted frown he was expecting. Oh well.
"Ming?"
Minho got up like he got pepper on his ass and opened the door too quickly and harshly but Kibum just looked at him with a surprised and amused expression. Cute.
Anyway, Minho cleared his throath and let him in. He had even cleaned the room for Kibum (moved his clothes from the chair to the closet) so he gestured towards the chair for him but the other boy ignored him and sat on his bed instead. Minho scrolled his shoulders and sat on the chair himself.
A pregnant pause followed.
"So-"
"I think-"
They both burst out laughing, shaking away the tension that stiffened their muscles. Minho invited him to speak first.
"I...guess I wanted to apologize. To you. For my behaviour. I went too far yesterday and today uhm, you know how I get when I mess up-" suddenly all kind and cute, yeah, acts of service are his thing, Minho thought with a little smile. "- I just thought you- but, uhm, nevermind. I'll stop wearing these shorts if it bothers you." He finished in a small voice which clutched at Minho's heart. It was rare to see Kibum so fragile and honest like that, and every time he went out of his way to do something for Minho, a warm feeling spread into his chest. But also-
"No, no, no. You don't have to stop wearing anything just because you think it makes me...or anyone, really, uncomfortable. Kibum, you're entitled to wear whatever the fuck you want."
Two adorable dimples showed up on Kibum's cheeks.
"Also, I, well, this time you actualy have nothing to apologize for. It's not your fault. And I'm sorry I ran away." Minho finished, swallowing down the hard knot in his throat and feeling all his cowardice from yesterday coming to beat his ass at last. Deserved.
There was a faint glint of light in Kibum's eyes, something hopeful.
"Why did you run away?" But the way he asked was nothing but serious, sort of sad too. Minho fidgeted nervously with the hands in his lap, avoiding the other's gaze. This was what it all came down to, wasn't it? Well, it had been long overdue.
"I...think I was scared. Of how I was feeling?" it came out more like a question than a proper answer because Minho didn't have the answer for the next question Kibum had on the tip of his tongue..."and how were you feeling?" Kibum sighed, biting his nails and thinking, seemingly discussing something within himself. Minho thought that once again, he was about to be the bravest between them.
"Would you like to understand how you were feeling?" Kibum's voice didn't quiver once, it was Minho that suddendly shuddered. For the first time since a while, he allowed himself to truly consider the boy in front of him, his bandmate, one of his closest friends, and the prettiest boy he'd ever seen in his life. Kibum had offered but now he looked shy of his own proposal, looking at Minho with so much trust in his eyes that it hurt but also pulling at the hem of his shirt anxiously. Minho didn't know what kind of look he had on his face or what had Kibum gathered from his extended silence but there was something that needed to be instantly clarified.
Minho sat beside him on the bed. Reached out his arm, hovered with his hand over Kibum, not touching, not daring without his consent. Kibum covered his hand with his own and guided it on himself, gently putting it on his knee. Minho's breath caught in his throat at the contact, as if it was the first time he touched Kibum, as if Kibum was made of fragile porcelain. The blonde boy kept guiding Minho's hand on his leg, never breaking eye contact as he let him touch his warm and soft skin. Minho felt like he was living in a dream; to be honest it was kinda overwhelming, and he was just touching a leg.
But oh, he longed to wrap his arms around him and run his fingers all over his body, touching wherever he could.
As Kibum got his hand on the inner part of his thigh, Minho felt the absurd need to bite at the warm, pale skin under his hand and his eyes fell on Kibum's lips on command. Kibum caught him.
He let go of his hand and Minho stilled, waiting. But there was nothing to wait for anymore, Kibum had made it clear: you either make a move now or never. And Minho was done with being a coward. He only hesitated a millisecond longer to look at Kibum for consent before pressing his lips on him.
Kissing Kibum felt strangely familiar, like a deja-vu: Minho was sure the gentle press of his lips on Kibum's and the eagerness of his kisses were familiar, like coming back to his parents' home, like eating kimchijjigae at his favorite restaurant, like running on stage whit his band members. And yet he knew he'd never felt something like this before. It was exhilarating, the more he kissed him the more Minho felt like a balloon being filled with helium and about to fly high and away.
For good measure, he kept gently caressing the other's boy thigh, getting him to relax since Kibum was kind of trembling for some reason.
He pulled away first, and Minho couldn't help the huge grin on his lips when he opened his eyes and looked at the other boy.
"You look stupid." Kibum told him, rolling his eyes but unable to hide his own smile.
"You're so pretty." Minho retorted.
This time Kibum actually pushed him lightly, hiding his face behind his hands and letting out a sound of protest that Minho found very endearing.
They quickly fell into their old bickering, pushing and pulling at each other strings for fun and fighting with their hands like children, laughing the remaining tension away until only a comfortable silence lingered in the room and between the two of them. The next look they exchanged was a promise of complicity, a pact based on the trust and love they shared, a silent agreement: if it makes us happy, why not enjoy it? The "no strings attached" part was a given, their unique situation didn't allow for anything different.
In retrospect, they had been nothing but naive and dumb teenagers, but that would've been a consequence for their future selves to resolve.
For now, Minho left another quick kiss on Kibum's lips and whispered "goodnight" before Kibum left his room. His heart beat a little faster than usual, and on his lips was plastered the same satisfied grin when he went to sleep that night.