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Since returning from the North American leg of their world tour in August, Wooyoung found himself spending half of his free time in the Sananbiz dorm. He doesn't think there's a particularly peculiar reason for it. It's just that the evening they touched down in Seoul a few days after wrapping up their final show in the States, they were much less exhausted than they anticipated. So he, San, and Seonghwa hyung had made their way to their favourite marinated crab restaurant directly from the airport.
It has been a while since food truly tasted like comfort and home. And the Imo at the family-run restaurant knew just how they liked their crabs done. Safe to say that while both San and Seonghwa hyung had avoided drinking too much — San being such a lightweight he'd even put a feather to shame, and Seonghwa hyung deciding he'd be the sober one to pack things up if need be — Wooyoung had indulged in some long-awaited soju bombs, and then some soju yakult cocktails.
The night had ended well past 3 am with Wooyoung hanging off of San and Seonghwa hyung's shoulders, situated in the middle of both men, as he giggled and cackled away through silly jokes, attempts at his infamous cheek kisses and lamenting the incoming dreaded performance withdrawal they would soon feel, as they made their way home. The gated apartment community was only a five-minute walk.
Well, Wooyoung had been sloshed enough that by the time they got back, it was just easier to deposit him to share the bed with San instead of trying to send him back into the flat he roomed in with Jongho and Hongjoong hyung, potentially disturbing and waking up the latter two men who were already jetlagged and asleep by then.
So Wooyoung had crashed in San’s bedroom, as he did sometimes anyway, and crawled his way into his lovely boyfriend's arms the second he could before his body fully relaxed and his world went dark.
The following day was, safe to say, a bitch. Thankfully they had a few days off since returning, and he spent the next day and a half not moving more than a few inches on San’s bed, recovering from the unfortunate choices he'd made.
Hangover and jetlag didn't make a good cocktail…
And so, that had just sort of continued. The Eussya Eussya team also kept going strong, which resulted in the three of them, sometimes with the presence of Jongho or Yeosang, hanging out together even more than before, and Wooyoung naturally finding his way into the Sananbiz dorm more often than not.
Hongjoong had told him that at this point he might as well move out and in with San, seeing as Wooyoung's bedroom was just slightly bigger than a matchbox anyway.
So just like most days recently, he's found himself lounging in the living room of San, Seonghwa hyung, and Mingi's shared home. He's finally regained regular breathing after having returned from the gym with his two regular workout buddies.
And currently, Wooyoung is preoccupied with thinking about everything the eight of them have achieved this year.
Number one on Billboard, Coachella, Mawazine, a leg of the world tour, slow but steady recovery from his skin rashes, San’s long hair finally reaching past his nape-
Wait.
Wooyoung gasps and shoots forward in his position, eyes zeroed in on San’s hair as his boyfriend shuffles around the living room, cleaning up some clutter here and there. Glee slowly forms in Wooyoung's chest as he realises that yes, San's hair has finally reached the perfect length for his plans to commence.
Sensing as though he's being stared at, San pauses in the middle of keeping away some books and looks in Wooyoung's direction. His soft, silky strands glide along his cheekbones at the action, and he raises an eyebrow in question as he runs fingers through the curtain bangs to push them out of the way.
Oh. He's absolutely ethereal.
Wooyoung is a man with simple hobbies. Biking, customizing shoes, photography, and admiring his boyfriend's unreal beauty multiple times a day. Just Wooyoung things.
They'll have their last comeback for 2024 in a week’s time, and San has finally been convinced to grow his hair out for this new era. The last time San truly had longer hair, Wooyoung thinks, was during Wonderland era.
Well, now that he had his hands on those soft, luscious locks, he wasn't letting go!
“What are you doing?” San asks, looking more afraid than confused, really. Wooyoung just laughs, making his best attempts to drag San’s form to the sofa, and he points there.
“Just sit down.” San looks at Wooyoung skeptically for a few seconds, before letting out a sigh and sitting down, legs folded crisscrossed. Wooyoung rubs his palms together, objectively looking menacing, probably looking like he's planning his next heist in detail, and he takes a seat on the sofa arm behind San. “You won’t regret this, I swear.”
“Just tell me what you’re doing?” San tilts his neck up to look at him, his ever-present pout deepening, and San’s long, wispy bangs fall off his forehead gracefully. Wooyoung ogles a little, in awe of his boyfriend’s sheer beauty for like, the third time in one day. But that's normal for him. He gloats internally every few business days at having landed — in his very personal opinion — the most beautiful man on earth. And, ever since San got this hairstyle, he has been wanting to braid his hair and see how it looks. He remembers baby Sannie, during Wonderland era. With his nape-length hair, the underside dyed a soft purple, and the braid starting from his temple running down to the back of his ear like a waterfall. He looked majestic then, and Wooyoung just knows that San now, in all his buff muscle glory, will look absolutely otherworldly. Wooyoung might just have to take a breather to preserve his sanity after he's done.
“I’m going to braid your hair,” He grins excitedly, and San just groans and slumps his shoulders down. Wooyoung coos, knowing hair in general is a sensory issue for him. He prefers to keep his hair shorter for this exact reason, but this comeback season he was given an option between dying his hair versus growing it out, and if there's one thing San dislikes more than longer hair, it's globally dying his entire head. He doesn't mind some highlights or streaks and likes to sometimes experiment with those actually, but bleaching all strands of his hair has never been a favored activity for him. “I’ll let you do mine!” Wooyoung exclaims in an attempt at bribery, hoping it will convince San, even though he technically knows that no bribery is needed here.
Has his Sannie ever refused him his seemingly nonsensical whimsies? Wooyoung can't think of a single moment like that. But yet, Wooyoung feels the necessity to put forward his best deal, just to show how much he appreciates that San often agrees to do silly things even though he may be unsure of them, solely because Wooyoung wants to do them.
So, loving and affectionate bribery it is.
San seems to ruminate for a few seconds before a smirk takes over his face, and he nods.
“Deal, but I can do whatever I want to your hair!” He says.
“Okay.” Wooyoung nods giddily, and pats his boyfriend's shoulders, motioning for him to look ahead. And then he gets started on his long-awaited endeavor (he waited months for San’s hair to get to this exact length, and it has surely tested his patience. He's got multiple inquiries from his bandmates about him having set a concerning laser focus on the back of San’s head these days). He is determined to create a masterpiece, take some beautiful photos, and wheedle their stylists into styling San’s hair into what he has in mind for one of their stages!
He sets in motion, beginning to braid the soft, jet-black strands a few centimeters below the hairline. Turns out however, that Wooyoung was too confident in himself, soon realizing that his fingers aren't used to such an activity, and hence not dexterous enough to handle so much hair, causing the fledgling braid to keep slipping out. Wooyoung huffs and pouts, his tongue sticking out in frustration, and San giggles at the predicament.
“You’re too cute.” He chuckles, looking sideways.
“Don’t move! I’m trying!” Wooyoung scolds, and continues on the braid. He will not give up! It takes about twenty more minutes until the braid looks finished. It's a little messy, with a few strands sticking out between sections, but it looks adorable anyway and is secured with a chrome silver star-shaped hairpin Wooyoung swiped from Seonghwa hyung’s dressing table earlier. Fairly satisfied with his handiwork, he nods to himself and gazes at his boyfriend.
His breath catches a little when he catches the look on San’s face and feels his cheeks warming. Wooyoung isn't a stranger to this look- the besotted, adoring way San tends to be gazing at Wooyoung any time of the day like he can't help but be endeared no matter what Wooyoung is saying or doing. He's familiar with that, of course. But he will never get fully used to the fact that that look is directed towards Wooyoung himself, because every time he catches it, it's reinforcing proof of just how much his boyfriend loves him. And seeing visual proof of such a wonderful thing…. Wooyoung never can't blush down to his roots.
“It doesn’t look half bad,” Wooyoung shyly comments, trying to look at the new hairstyle from all angles possible. “I kinda like it, I guess.”
“I love it, Young-ah.”
Wooyoung flushes. “Yah! You haven't even seen it!” He flutters around, trying to pull San up and drag him to the small mirror on the wall towards the hallway.
“You did it, so I love it anyway.” San sounds smug like he knows what he's doing to Wooyoung saying shit like this, and he also sounds like he means it. Wooyoung knows he does. Then San finally looks in the mirror at himself, and his expression shifts from that of surprise to being in pleasant awe. “Woo, I truly, actually love it!”
“You do?” Wooyoung grins, patting himself on the back proudly.
“Yeah, I completely forgot how I look with long hair… it's been so long!” He laughs. “But I like it… and I look so different from then too right? I think I like the longer hair on me better now.”
Wooyoung smiles softly, knowing what San means. His boyfriend is in a stage in life where he's very happy with the way his body feels and looks, and has found a perfect workout routine that suits him, and a healthy balance between working out, eating healthy, and also indulging in snacks and sweets. And consecutively, so has Wooyoung. The both of them have never felt better in their skin, despite Wooyoung still dedicatedly working on his skin rashes. And with this, since they're so comfortable with themselves now- experimenting with hair, makeup, clothes, and accessories comes that much easier.
“Alright, now it’s my turn.” San suddenly grins, turning around.
Wooyoung gulps a little. Funnily enough, Wooyoung's hair is the shortest it has been in a while, especially compared to a few months ago around the time of their American tour leg, so he wonders what San is even gonna do with that. “You go sit outside, till I get my stuff ready.”
…Stuff?
“Wow, someone’s very serious about this,” He teases, and then takes his way to the living room, sitting down on the spot San was on a few minutes ago. Around five minutes later, San walks out of Seonghwa hyung's room, grinning his cat-like smile, squinted eyes and all, holding a comb, a hair iron, heat-protecting spray, a few colourful hair ties, and a few bobby pins in his hands. Wooyoung raises his eyebrows at San, but the older says nothing and takes a place on the sofa behind him.
“Now! You'll see who the real hairstylist here is,” San smiles giddily, almost vibrating in his spot in pure glee, setting the hairstyling tools to aside, but uncaps the spray.
“Okay, now I’m kind of worried.” Wooyoung sticks his tongue out.
“Nah, you’ve got nothing to fret about, I grew up with Haneul in the house. You know how she used to have me experiment with her hair every few days because she couldn't reach a chunk of her hair in the back because of her tiny hands?” San laughs, placing a soft kiss on Wooyoung's forehead, and he slowly nods. He giggles softly- if big, buff San’s hands are seemingly teeny tiny, then beanstalk-like tall Haneul noona’s hands are microscopic. Wooyoung guesses he'll just have to go along with his adorable boyfriend’s whims. “So let’s get started.”
Wooyoung's hair gets coated in a thin spray of heat protectant, and then San is working his magic.
Turns out that world-famous K-Pop idol and pop star, lead singer, and dancer of ATEEZ, Choi San is very good at this. Wooyoung would go as far as to say that it could be an alternate profession for him in another life!
San starts with a bunch of hair on either side near Wooyoung's ear and holds the sections up with bobby pins as the hair iron heats up. Once that's done, he starts twisting sections of Wooyoung's hair with the iron, creating what seems like soft, watery waves. The freshly ironed bangs fall on Wooyoung's forehead feeling butter-soft, smelling like heat-protecting spray and smoke. A smell he oddly always found comforting.
After forming waves with the rest of his hair, San moves on to the two sections he pinned up earlier, doing the same with these as well, and then goes ahead and pulls these sections in two little space buns on the top of his head, secured with two rainbow coloured scrunchies. The whole time, San didn't utter even one word, and Wooyoung had been watching San work on his hair with utmost care. He feels an inexplicable feeling bubble up inside his chest, eyes feeling misty, a little overwhelmed at feeling this emotional because of the simple act of his beloved boyfriend lovingly doing his hair.
In the end, it looks adorable. San shows him his reflection on his phone in selfie mode. Wooyoung loves it. He's reminded of their Eternal Sunshine promotions, when he had his hair tied up in similar pigtails, cosplaying Boo from Monsters Inc. His hairstyle looks almost as nicely and precisely done as their hair noonas’ work, and Wooyoung finds himself being the proudest boyfriend in the world.
His Sannie really is an all-rounder!
“Yah.. now I feel bad because your hair looks ridiculous compared to mine.” Wooyoung chuckles, still admiring his own space buns. He loves it. He looks like one of the queer male fashion influencers he follows from his burner Instagram account to get inspired for his personal fashion and styling. “You didn't have to,” He smiles sweetly, leaning his back against San’s tummy, resting the back of his head on his boyfriend's chest. San sighs happily, rubbing the back of Wooyoung's neck at the nape in comforting circles, a long-standing habit between them.
“I wanted to. You look adorable, baby.”
Wooyoung reddens. “...How did you even come up with this?”
San purses his lips, in the way when he's about to say something silly. “It's a hairstyle I would often do for Haneul…”
They face each other and then burst out in giggles over the entire situation. Moments like these are his absolute favourite. As his giggles die down softly, Wooyoung is once again taken aback by how pretty his Sannie looks in longer hair, and the braid he did is a cherry on top. “KQ, truly get rid of your scissors…”
San cackles, lightly smacking Wooyoung's shoulder.
“Thank you Sannie, but I feel bad because we're going to have to set it loose, we can't head out for lunch like this!”
“Baby,” San sighs. “It really doesn’t look weird and I don’t care if we get spotted eating marinated crab with pigtails and a side braid! I just want to sport my jagiya’s art to the world, is that too much to ask?” The lethal pout is back in full force.
Well, let it be known that Jung Wooyoung is in fact, a weak weak man.
“Alright fine, damn, you got so serious,” He sticks his tongue out, sitting up on the sofa on his knees, and turns around. “When are we going?”
“We’ve got a 2 pm table.”
“We've got time!” Wooyoung gasps, grinning.
“We do, don't we?”
They do. It's only eleven in the morning on their last free day before their comeback schedule takes over their life for the next month. And so, he pulls San over him by the wrists, as he falls back onto the soft cushion of the sofa, and suddenly he has a sweet boyfriend lying on top of him, looking down at him in astonishment.
San is warm and cuddly like always, but also surprisingly lighter than one would expect a man who looks like he moves buildings for a hobby would be.
He reminds Wooyoung of a packing peanut.
Giggling at the sudden analogy his brain has supplied him with, San decides it's time he wants to know what's going on in his silly boyfriend’s head, and leans forward to touch their noses to gain Wooyoung's attention. As Wooyoung's giggles mold into soft smiles, so does San’s questioning gaze, and his pretty dimples- which were expertly crafted to give Wooyoung daily scheduled heart flips- make an appearance. It’s suddenly really warm, even though it's chilly outside.
Saying Wooyoung loves cuddling with San is the understatement of the decade. It might just be truly his favourite thing in the world.
Something Wooyoung often hears from the people he's close to in life is that he tends to look younger when he's with San (which is, admittedly, a whole lot of time, considering they are also bandmates) and he couldn't understand what that might mean for the longest time. But as he feels San’s big arms envelop him as they twist around on the sofa so that Wooyoung's head is tucked into the older’s neck, he's reminded for the millionth time what it is like to feel like he's the safest person in the world, and feel like all the love is for him, he thinks he gets it.
He looks ‘young’ because he feels happy with San. Feels in love, feels cared for, and gets to care for. And happiness is often associated with youth. But Wooyoung thinks there's a different kind of happiness in growing up, growing old with his soulmate.
Does that make them forever young?
He's ruminating again. So he does what he always does- placing his head on San’s chest and listening to the unsteady heartbeat, just like his own.
“Can we not go out?” He barely whispers. “Just wanna lay here with you.”
San is silent for a few seconds before he starts rubbing soft circles on the smooth skin below Wooyoung's ear. “Okay, and maybe I can cook lunch today since you did yesterday.” He says, and Wooyoung feels his smile against his hair. “What would you like?”
“Anything that doesn't require you to use the oven or deep fry ingredients. Last time’s soppy, oily, countertop was warning enough.” Wooyoung purses his lips trying to swallow his giggles as San bites the top of his head as revenge for the playful jab.
“I'm learning slowly.” He practically hears the pout in his boyfriend's voice.
“That will take some time San-ah…” Wooyoung trails off. “But! Right now just stay here.” He tries to pull San in closer, like doing so will make them converge and mesh into one, eternal organism.
“Okay.”
“I do think your hair turned out that good.” Wooyoung cheeses. “Atiny don't know what they have coming for them on Music Core next week!”
Wooyoung thinks if he could get to play with San’s hair and do different hairstyles and cook together and cuddle on the sofa during lunch time a day before they have to start waking up at ungodly hours for schedules like this for a long long time, he will grow to be a very happy and content man.