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Cold water shocked Gyuvin into consciousness. The shower head was turned up to the highest pressure setting, but the lowest heat, and Ricky had his hand on the shower valve. Of course it was Ricky.
“What the hell! What-” He spluttered from the onslaught of water in his face. “Ricky, stop it!”
Ricky turned the valve again so that the water warmed up, only slightly though and it wasn't really the temperature that was bothering Gyuvin. But at least Ricky was showing a sign of remorse, even if it was in his own weird little way. The porcelain of the bathtub made Gyuvin's hands slip as he tried to push himself up into a sitting position - half a failed attempt later and Gyuvin gave in to grabbing at the shower curtain. His clothes were soaked through now. Nothing, and he meant nothing, felt worse than wet socks.
“Turn the Goddamn shower off!”
“Not until you sober up.” Ricky didn't smile, he didn't laugh like Gyuvin would've expected him to.
“Well I'm sure I'm sober enough now, all thanks to you.”
“No.” Ah, there it was, the typical Ricky smirk. “You're just awake.”
The faint thumping of music from the next room pretty much radiated the bathroom, echoing off the tiles and mimicking the thumping of Gyuvin's headache. He recognised the song from that new Linkin Park album - an assumption he should've jumped to sooner knowing that Matthew was dictating the music tonight. Gyuvin didn't need to sober up at all, he just needed to get away from music that ran at too loud of a volume.
“C'mon, Ricky, turn off the fucking shower.”
He reached up to grab at the valve, to turn it off himself, but Ricky's hand swatted his away. The guy was protective over the smallest of things, which apparently included a shower that wasn't either of theirs.
It was Hanbin’s idea to show their faces at Gunwook's party. Equally, it was Gyuvin who knew about the party in the first place - Gunwook sent out a mass email at 4.45am one night and Gyuvin was the only one stupid enough to be awake at that time. Once Hanbin caught sight of Hao with his feet up on the coffee table and his hands clasped around a gaming controller it was over for Gyuvin's chances of sticking around for a good time, meaning the only entertainment left was Gunwook's beer and Gunwook's weed. It seemed like a good idea at the time. A great idea until he wound up passed out in a bathtub and Ricky was finally given an excuse to waterboard him.
Gyuvin never got high often - between his college classes and his job, there was never a good time to relax in any sort of way. It wasn't peer pressure either, Gunwook nor Taerae held any bargaining power over him. No, Gyuvin did this of his own volition and now it seemed these were the consequences of those actions. And here Ricky was as this cruel guardian angel.
“I'm not going home with you high.” Ricky said.
“You won't go home with me soaked through either!” Gyuvin retorted.
“Matthew's got spare clothes you can borrow.”
The back of his head hit the porcelain, leaning back with a sigh of giving up. There is no winning against Ricky; everyone learned this upon meeting him for the first time. Though no one ever factored in Gyuvin's ability to counter the impenetrable force that was Shen Quanrui. If the shower valve was out of reach then Gyuvin had to think further out of the box - more like thinking inside the box, or bathtub - as an idea shot into his head. He grabbed at Ricky's hand on the valve, pulling it away and towards himself.
Ricky mustn't have expected Gyuvin to fight back. Abruptly, all too suddenly, Ricky was pulled into the bathtub and under the water spray. He yelped, either at the shower's still too cold temperature or the impact of his knees against the tub.
Bad idea, actually. Maybe Gyuvin was still high, because this was not his best judgement call.
Bathtubs were small, and Ricky was way too close. His hands were on either side of Gyuvin's shoulders, his knees bracketed Gyuvin's ankles causing his legs to curl up further into his chest, and worst of all Ricky's face was only inches from Gyuvin's. The only benefit to this position was the umbrella Ricky became, now shielding him from the water.
“I guess we'll have to see if Matthew has enough spare t-shirts for the both of us.” Gyuvin joked.
God, Ricky was so close. Too close. All Gyuvin had to do was move forward just slightly and he'd be kissing Ricky. One swift movement of his hand and Gyuvin could hold Ricky's face closer, could kiss him oh so easily. Too easily. They could be kissing right now if Gyuvin found the power to do anything.
Weed had two prominent effects on him. One, it made him insanely tired - hence falling asleep in not just a bathroom, but a bathtub - and two, made him horny. Gyuvin could feel himself growing hard with every long second Ricky spent so close to him, with the pressured feeling of having someone else's weight half on top of him.
“When we get home…” Ricky trailed off, his eyes dropping to Gyuvin's lips. Jesus, where was this going? “I'm going to crack an egg into a frying pan and tell you ‘this is what your brain looks like on drugs.’ And I won't let you eat it afterwards.”
The weight was gone all of a sudden, Ricky having pushed himself up and away now kneeling at the opposite end of the tub. He looked taller now, higher up than Gyuvin, which was a hard feat at the best of times. Gyuvin didn't know if he missed the lack of space between them, but he for sure wanted Ricky close enough to kiss. But damn, Ricky looked nice with his hair like that. All bleach blond and haloed by the shower head.
“When I was fourteen my mom made me memorise every drug and all their effects on the human body.” Ricky said.
“Bit excessive, isn't it?”
“She's a nurse,” Ricky smiled down at him. “Your eyes are red, you keep swallowing after every word so I know your mouth is dry. And your heart rate is so fast I can hear it from up here.”
Something about this medical talk made Gyuvin even more enamoured with Ricky. Or maybe it was the drug use he was explicitly being told not to continue. This wasn't a new conversation between them; Ricky ran through a variety of ‘I'm disappointed in you’ with different words every time Gyuvin came home high, and really it was just a formality between them at this point. Ricky cared, he cared too much, but in the end they both arrived at the final conclusion that Ricky didn't mind if he couldn't stop Gyuvin's antics completely.
“I don't think the heart rate is because of the weed…” Gyuvin trailed off as Ricky kept talking.
“When I'm done with you I'll track down Gunwook and I'll kill him with my bare hands.”
“If I were him I'd start running.” Gyuvin replied. “Not his fault though, can't blame him for the full mile.”
“If it takes a village to raise a child, then the same applies to getting you high. It's a group effort when it comes to you, Gyuvin.”
He liked when Ricky said his name; this wasn't a ‘heightened senses’ thing, it was always like this. They'd be walking to class in the morning and Gyuvin would get so giddy from a casual conversation. Late night coffee runs where Ricky would give their names to the barista and Gyuvin would just become so overwhelmed by the sound of his own name being spoken so… domestic. He blushed at the sound of it now, like he did every time.
“Just think back to this cold shower every time someone offers you cannabis.” Ricky smiled like he was talking about anything other than this.
“Oh, Ricky, you really know how to turn me on.” Gyuvin joked back.
It was a joke. Mostly. Ricky didn't need to know if it wasn't a joke. And he wouldn't know, especially if Gyuvin maintained enough autonomy to control himself. This attempt to sober him up was successful enough at least.
“Of course I do, I'm your best friend.”
The shower was finally turned off - at some point Gunwook or Matthew would come screaming at them about the water bill, but today was not that day - and it felt no different. Gyuvin thought it would be a welcomed relief, like breathing air for the first time after almost drowning, but instead he felt all too consumed by Ricky. His focus was trained entirely on what it would feel like to kiss Ricky. This wasn't even the weed talking anymore, Gyuvin felt like this always.
“We should get going, Gyu.” Ricky held out his hand to help Gyuvin stand up.
“I love it when you take me home.” Gyuvin said, walking the line between joking and genuinely flirting.
———
Gyuvin woke up in Ricky's bed. This wasn't the first time, he'd found himself curled around these pillows many times before. Sometimes Ricky was there with him, other times he wasn't. Tonight was one of the lucky times in which Gyuvin was able to watch the rise and fall of his best friend's chest as he slept right there. Right next to him without any care in the world.
His headache was worse now than it had been back in that bathtub. If Ricky was awake he'd make a snarky comment about headaches being better than a weed induced high. Gyuvin would disagree.
There was a quiet groaning - Gyuvin quickly realised it was Ricky - and a hand curled into Gyuvin's shirt. In his sleep, Ricky had rolled closer into Gyuvin's chest. Close, too close, but this time not as overwhelming. He ran his hands through Ricky's hair.
This was normal, this was something friends did. If Gyuvin didn't want to be here, he would only have to take two minutes of his life to escape to his own bedroom.
“What time is it?” Ricky's voice was muffled, Gyuvin hadn't realised he'd woken up.
“Early. Too early.”
“Why're you awake?”
Ricky didn't seem to care that his face was pretty much pressed up against Gyuvin's collarbone. He didn't seem to have any issue with waking up half clinging to Gyuvin. Would anyone else have an issue with it?
“I sobered up.” It was half an unspoken insult. “It fucks with my body clock, might as well be 2pm for all I know.”
Gyuvin closed his eyes briefly, and in that time Ricky took the opportunity to push himself up onto his elbows. There still wasn't any distance between them.
“Another reason added to the list of why you need to start saying no to weed.” Ricky laughed.
“You've got a list?”
“Yeah. Point four is really motivating.”
Gyuvin would've asked what ‘point four’ was but he figured what Ricky did next was the answer. It surprised him, really, he wouldn't have expected it at all in a million years. Blame it on ignorance or the stupidity of a regular college kid but Gyuvin did not see this one coming.
Ricky kissed him. He leaned closer, not moving his elbows where he rested, and kissed Gyuvin. It was just as Gyuvin thought it would be like - soft, warm, calming in that weird way that still felt like a panic attack - but also entirely different. There was no way Gyuvin could've known how Ricky kissed and yet this was so much better than anything imaginable. It was only chaste at first until Ricky decided to deepen the second kiss. That was… so much better.
“You just kissed me.” Gyuvin whispered in disbelief when they broke apart for a small moment.
Instead of replying Ricky kissed him again.
“You- Hang on.” Gyuvin held Ricky's face just gently enough to hold him back. “You kissed me?”
“I'm perfectly aware of my actions, Gyuvin.”
When Ricky kissed him again Gyuvin decided to just give in. This was a better result than anything he thought could happen. Showing up at Gunwook's party earlier in the night hadn't given any inclination that it would end up this way, not that Gyuvin wanted to be spoiled on the ending.
All of this was unpredictable, so Gyuvin took a risk on a long shot.
“I feel like asking this means we're doing this all in the wrong order, because we live together and all-”
“We're roommates, it doesn't count.” Ricky cut him off, seemingly to already know what the question was.
“Do you wanna go out some time? On a date. Coffee, but not study date coffee. Or a restaurant? You'd probably like a restaurant more.”
“I'd love to.” Ricky kissed Gyuvin again, this time just to stop him talking.
“Which part are you agreeing to?”
Sober Gyuvin tended to overthink too much. Call it his fatal flaw or something. This wasn't anything weed could fix though and he already took twenty years to grow used to it. If babbling his thoughts out without a filter meant Ricky kept kissing him then Gyuvin supposed overthinking was a vital life skill.
“All of it.” Ricky replied.