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Mingyu suddenly stops in front of a salon, subsequently making Seungcheol whose arm is looped around his stop with him, holding up the lines of pedestrians and forcing them to walk around them.
“Yah,” Seungcheol nudges his side, looking annoyed.
Mingyu hums absentmindedly, still staring through the glass windows, watching people get their hair done. He stares at the sign which shows a bunch of different models with colored hair.
Seungcheol peeks out from around his shoulder to scrutinize the salon. “What? You need a haircut or somethin’?” He pinches a lock of Mingyu’s hair. It is a little grown out, reaching the bottom of his neck and hiding his ears. It looks good though, Seungcheol thinks. Doesn’t make Mingyu look any less handsome.
“Hm…” Mingyu starts, slowly turning his head to look down at Seungcheol. “Should I dye my hair?”
Seungcheol goes blank, blinking his eyes a few times to fill in the silence. “Where’d that come from?”
Mingyu shrugs under Seungcheol’s narrowed gaze.
“Is this about your ex’s wedding next week?” When Mingyu doesn’t respond, Seungcheol pulls his head back a little and puts some distance between them to arch an eyebrow. “Seriously? You’re still not over him?”
Mingyu rolls his eyes, slouching down. “I’m over him, like way over him. It’s been six years!”
“Convincing.” Seungcheol deadpans, fingers sliding deeper into Mingyu’s hair and tangling with the strands. He gives it a little tug, making Mingyu hiss and smack his hand away. Seungcheol laughs. “Last time you dyed your hair you were fifteen and impulsive cause the girl you had a crush on was obsessed with Changmin from TVXQ.”
Mingyu pouts, and it’s devastating and Seungcheol kind of wants to pinch his cheeks, so he does, much to Mingyu’s chagrin. “Hey! I looked good with brown hair, you can’t deny.”
Really, Seungcheol can’t. Mingyu did look good, the dark brown complementing his tan skin and bright eyes perfectly. He doesn’t need to deny his best friend the truth either. Seungcheol did have a heart; he understands the need to feed into Mingyu’s ego once in a while. “Yeah, you did.”
Mingyu grins, smug. “So…”
“You wanna dye it brown again?”
Mingyu shrugs. “Dunno…dye your hair too?”
“Hah?!” Seungcheol exclaims, incredulous at the sincerity on Mingyu’s face. “Why should I? The fuck?”
“Cause you're my best friend?” Mingyu says, batting his lashes in a cloying way that has Seungcheol’s insides churning.
“ Ew— !” Seungcheol shoves Mingyu’s face away, only to have the younger lean in persistently.
“ Please ?”
Seungcheol regards him and his ridiculous proposition more seriously. “This is stupid.”
Mingyu’s expression shifts into something more solemn, looking right into Seungcheol’s eyes. “I’m over him, hyung, seriously. It just…doesn’t hurt to look the hottest at your ex’s wedding, does it?”
You already do, Seungcheol thinks. You’re the hottest person alive, what more do you want? Seungcheol doesn’t say.
He swallows thickly as Mingyu holds his eyes, before deflating with a sigh a moment later. “I get to choose the color for you.”
Mingyu pins him with a dubious look. “You’re gonna choose something ridiculous, I can’t trust you!”
“Yah!” Seungcheol cuffs the back of his head and Mingyu yelps.
“What! Am I wrong, though?!”
Seungcheol rolls his eyes. “It’s gonna look great .”
Mingyu gets that look in his face that shows he’s mulling things over, gnawing at his bottom lip.
“...Can I choose your color, too, then?”
“Nope.”
“Hey! That’s not fair!”
Seungcheol dispels an exaggerated huff. “You wanna do this or not?”
“...fine.”
-.-
Seungcheol doesn’t let Mingyu find out what color it is until it’s too late and his hair’s already bleached and the color’s in his hair.
He feels a little guilty when Mingyu looks about a second away from crying, but he knows it’ll fade once he actually sees the final look.
-.-
As expected, Mingyu looks good with red hair.
Good is putting it lightly, Seungcheol thinks. He looks beautiful .
Seungcheol’s too focused on Mingyu to care too much about his own bubblegum pink hair, but surprisingly enough Mingyu seems more interested in Seungcheol’s hair than his own, too.
“Woah…you look good, hyung.”
Seungcheol hopes the burn in his cheeks isn’t visible.
“You do, too. Told you it’d look great.”
Mingyu snaps his head forward to look in the mirror. His hair is shorter and styled up, dyed a vibrant red.
“I look like a fuckin’ tomato.”
Seungcheol barks out a laugh. “A pretty tomato!”
Mingyu whines and punches Seungcheol’s side. “Yah!”
Seungcheol’s about to retaliate but his words die down in his throat at the way Mingyu ducks his face down, golden skin dusted with patches of red and lips arched into something shy and soft.
“C’mon, let’s go get something to eat.”
That gets Mingyu to peek up at Seungcheol through his lashes.
“My treat.” Seungcheol tacks on, grinning at the way Mingyu giggles.
“Bulgogi!”
“Whatever you want.”
Later, when they’re a bit buzzed and stumbling into each other as they talk and laugh while walking back home, Mingyu leans in closer to Seungcheol’s ear and whispers, “Y’know, Cheol-ah, I’m not lying when I say i’m over him.”
“Hm?”
“I’ve moved on. There’s someone I like.”
Seungcheol's heart stutters in his chest but he ignores it in favor of flashing Mingyu an impatient grimace. Mingyu grins, the twinkle in his eyes brighter than the lamp post they’re standing next to. He leans down impossibly close and Seungcheol goes cross-eyed trying to hold eye-contact.
“Who?” Seungcheol asks, and his voice comes out a hoarse whisper, choked out around the sudden lump in his throat.
Mingyu huffs out a breathy laugh and suddenly there’s warmth over Seungcheol’s lips. A soft, pillowy pressure, so gentle yet firm and so very undeniably there that Seungcheol can’t doubt if it’s actually happening.
Seungcheol gasps when Mingyu sucks his top lip between his, and almost whines at the loss when Mingyu pulls back, eyes still gleaming mischievously, the point of his cute canines peeking out as he smiles.
Then, Mingyu shrugs. “Figure it out, yet?” before walking away slowly, leaving Seungcheol behind in a dumbfounded daze.
He makes it five steps away before Seungcheol snaps out of it and runs up to him, pulling him back by his hood. “Kim Mingyu!” he yells, breathless.
Mingyu’s still grinning, but there’s redness on his cheeks that matches his freshly dyed hair.
“Since when?”
Mingyu shrugs. “Not telling.”
Mingyu doubles over in laughter when Seungcheol petulantly smacks his shoulder, but refuses to give in.
Seungcheol is helpless but to join in, since pouting only makes Mingyu lean back in and wipe it away with his smile.
Seungcheol can’t complain.