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minseo was exhausted.
and that’s putting it lightly.
he groaned as he flopped down onto his bed, muscles aching and legs sore. he’d already been tired – due to his inadequate 5 hours of sleep – and the endless re-runs of dance practice did not help.
(on the bright side, 5 hours was actually a lot compared to what he got back at pocketdol. small victories!)
most of the other teams were still practicing, and his teammates had all gone into other rooms to chat with their friends; which left minseo, undoubtedly, sort of lonely.
minseo loved ‘closer’ team, he really did. it’d only been a few mere days, but they already became close, had inside jokes, and genuinely enjoyed practicing together.
besides his fatigue, the only issue was minseo’s constant deja vu.
he kept seeing glimpses of hyeontae when he looked at kyoungbae. aom kept reminding him of ling qi.
he was away now, so why did his mind keep going back to the members?
as much as he tried to push the thoughts to the back of his head, the efforts were futile.
“why does this feel so off?”, he’d often thing to himself, “this is what i want to do.
and it is. it really is. he wanted to be successful, to finally achieve his dreams which were never quite there while he was with fantasy boys.
but what would happen to the others? would they get left behind?
the thoughts kept berating him, never seeming to give him a break unless he forcefully changed the topic on his mind.
he wishes he could call the members, at least. maybe that’d give him a little closure.
just as he was rolling over, longing for his phone, there was a light tap-tap-tap on the door.
minseo recognized it right away. it was easy to tell, after knowing him for so long. “come in,” he called out, his lips upturning out of habit.
the door opened rather quickly, and there stood lee hanbin, pajamas on and awkward smile intact. (minseo smiled back. you know, out of habit.)
“come on, come on!” minseo beckoned, sitting up at the edge of the bed and patting the space beside him.
“alright, coming,” hanbin waved him off, slowly walking towards the bed.
“what’s got you so tired?” minseo asked with a laugh.
“practice.”
“you don’t even have to dance. be thankful, will ‘ya?”
hanbin landed a light slap onto minseo’s arm as he sat down, “you try building harmonies for 4 hours straight, then.”
“no thanks!”
hanbin laughed, putting an arm around minseo’s shoulder.
they just sat there for a moment. when hanbin was there, minseo’s mind calmed down a little.
because at least hanbin was there.
“so, how was practice?” hanbin asked, tilting his head as he looked at minseo (he couldn’t lie, hanbin was pretty cute when he did that.)
“we went over formations, details, all that jazz,” minseo listed off, as he shifted to lean back against the bedframe. hanbin followed, and due to the bed’s narowness, they were in pretty close proximity.
“sounds thrilling,” hanbin exaggerated, “we didn’t do anything special. we heard some arguing coming from the next room over, though.”
minseo gasped, “oh my god, did you hear all the gossip about love team?”
“i didn’t pay good attention, honestly,” hanbin replied.
“well, apparently eunsuh keeps asking for more parts, and everyone’s getting all mad at him because he has enough. the editing crew’s gonna have a field day with this one.”
“that premise sounds kinda familiar, huh? like someone we know.”
they both laughed, but it fizzled out quickly (because as funny as fantasy boys, the show, was, it was not the most fun to experience first-hand).
“whatever, at least that means they’ll get more screentime,” minseo lamented. hanbin nodded in agreement, before sitting up straighter and bringing his eyes to minseo’s.
he seemed to be scanning him or something.
it made minseo feel nervous, for some reason.
“you look tense,” hanbin commented.
“when am i not?”
“i mean, more than usual. want a massage?”
“what?”
“dumbass,” hanbin muttered lovingly, before gently pressing his fingers into minseo’s shoulders.
minseo threw his head back, letting out a sound that hanbin couldn’t help but quirk an eyebrow out, “people are gonna think we’re doing something else.”
“no, no, no,” minseo denied, almost too quickly, “why would we do that?”
“we kissed in the sofan dorm many times, you know. not impossible.”
minseo’s cheeks began to tinge the slightest bit pink, “shut up.”
it’s not that minseo was embarrassed, per say. their dynamic was just a little strange, that’s all. (if you could make out in your dorm room 6 seperate times without things becoming awkward, that meant you were true friends. minseo thinks.)
as hanbin continued to massage out minseo’s shoulders, he decided to ask further, “everything’s okay, right?”
minseo would’ve debated telling the details if it were anyone else. but it was lee hanbin, and he could tell anything to lee hanbin, no judgement.
“it’s just…” minseo trailed off, “how do you think the others are doing?”
hanbin’s quiet for a second, before softly replying, “i don’t know. good, i hope.”
“i wish i could text them, at least. see what they’re up to, you know?”
“yeah,” hanbin agreed, “you think they’re doing a good job babysitting?”
minseo laughed, “wooseok is, definitely. hikaru’s probably still going through sungmin withdrawal.”
sungmin and hikaru were a thing. they had been, for a while, and minseo was pretty sure he hadn’t seen hikaru smiling at all since the moment sungmin was accepted into starlight boys.
hopefully he felt better now. there was no way for minseo to know.
“well,” hanbin started, but he never finished.
but minseo was curious, and pried, “well, what?”
minseo couldn’t see it, but hanbin gulped, subconciously slowing his hands over minseo’s shoulders.
“well… at least we’re still together. that makes it better.”
minseo smiled softly, looking back at hanbin, “yeah. it’s nice.”
hanbin, seeming to feel more sure of himself now, said, “that’s most important to me, you know. at least i got you.”
minseo’s heart broke a little. in a good way. “oh, come here,” he gushed, forcefully pulling hanbin into his arms despite his protests.
“come on, dude, don’t make me get all sentimental and stuff,” hanbin groans.
“you already are, might as well,” minseo teased.
hanbin’s arms ended up around minseo’s middle, their bodies pressed together in a familiar way. they fit together well; not in a puzzle piece way, not in a peanut butter and jelly way. just a kang minseo and lee hanbin way.
(but if they had to choose, hanbin would be peanut butter, and minseo would be jelly.)
it was comfortable. both physically, mentally. in general.
minseo pulled up a blanket, messily throwing it over the two of them.
“minseo,” hanbin mumbled, “do you think… that we’ll debut?”
automatically, minseo’s lips moved forward in a slight pout. “i don’t know, honestly.”
hanbin sighed, his grip on minseo’s waist tightening, “what if we don’t? what if it’s not enough?”
minseo shrugged, “i just think… whatever happens, we’ll be okay.”
hanbin met his gaze, and after a few seconds, the two of them were smiling (it didn’t quite reach their eyes, though).
minseo decided to continue, “we either have to both debut, or both go back. okay? can’t do it without you,” he confessed, his words getting quieter as he went on.
hanbin nodded, bringing over his hand to hold out a pinky. “you promise?”
minseo mirrored the gesture, locking their fingers and pressing their thumbs together, “promise.”
when he looked up at hanbin, his eyes looked a little teary. “ah, bini, don’t…”
hanbin laughed. he brought his hand up to wipe his eyes, before minseo moved it, replacing it with his own.
minseo’s fingers swiped under hanbin’s eye, gently, before bringing it to hold hanbin’s chin. “cute.”
“i’m not a baby,” hanbin protested.
“you’re my baby,” minseo joked. or flirted, he wasn’t quite sure.
hanbin rolled his eyes so hard, they could’ve gotten stuck. he did feel a slight heat coming to his ears, though, which he decided to ignore out of embarrassment.
minseo looked at him again, and thought to himself,
good god, hanbin, why are you cute?
he suddenly decided he wanted to touch hanbin’s hair, so he did. hanbin moved his head closer, which also led him to move further into minseo’s arms.
it was so comfortable. minseo could’ve fallen asleep right then and there.
hanbin must’ve felt the same way, as he suddenly, drowsily took hold of minseo’s face.
before minseo could even ask “what,” hanbin planted his lips on the corner of minseo’s. softly, sweetly, swiftly.
minseo blinked a few times before stuttering, “what– what was that for?”
hanbin replied, “just wanted to.”
minseo, in a teasing tone, said, “you missed, though.”
“oh, i’ll get it right in the morning.”
“is that a threat?”
“yes!”
“alright, grandpa, let’s get you to bed.”
they both giggle, shifting around in bed once again.
neither of them thought of hanbin’s words as a threat.
minseo actually looked forward to it. a lot more than he should’ve, probably.
so as hanbin’s eyes finally shut, minseo brushed hanbin’s hair aside, held the back of his head and left a kiss on hanbin’s forehead.
and just before minseo fell asleep, he whispered drearily,
“let’s stay together.”