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Maki had first realized he likes Jo right after their debut showcase.
They had gotten home to their dorm (it was still strange to call it theirs then - it was a new and exciting thing to be living together, even months in, and sometimes it still felt like a big sleepover with friends to him), and they had all cuddled up on the floor together surrounded by blankets and pillows and stuffed animals. Maki had curled up with Harua and was dozing off when he’d felt a sudden pressure against his side. When he’d looked up, he’d met eyes with Jo, who quietly asked if it was ok that he joined them. It had surprised him then, but he’d enthusiastically agreed and pulled Jo down to his non-Harua-occupied side. They’d all fallen asleep pretty quick, and by the time Maki was waking up, it was just him and Jo tangled together in the blankets. He’d felt so warm and soft tucked into Jo, and Jo (still asleep) had only pulled him closer when he’d shifted slightly, and that was when it all clicked into place.
Maki’s realization of his attraction to Jo doesn’t come as any surprise to him, really. He’s always been one that loves quickly and easily, evidenced by how he’d attached himself so thoroughly to Harua, and well. This is Jo. Sweet, lovely, kind Jo. How could he not? It just becomes another fact of life: dogs bark, the earth’s axis is on a 23.4 degree angle, Maki really likes Jo. It just makes sense.
He never says anything about it though. It’s not that he never wanted to say anything - he just… hasn’t. He’s absolutely certain the rest of the group would be fine with it, since the foundations of it are built around Euijoo, Nicholas and Kei, who all have some convoluted romantic thing going on that Fuma is a part of too. If asked, he’d say it’s just that he never really felt the need to say anything. At first it was just to let the dust of debuting settle, then they’d had the sudden explosion of fame with their first comeback, and after all that the timing has just never quite felt right. He’s seen that some Luné have caught on, whether they were being serious with their Twitter posts or not; in some strange way it makes him feel seen, even though he’s been keeping it more-or-less hidden for the sake of normalcy. It makes it feel that much less like a secret.
Jo is an enigma of a person, as young Maki comes to find out. He has this personal image that he contradicts in small ways all the time. So Maki had started a list, when they were still working out the rough edges of living together, of things that he shouldn’t let catch him off guard when it comes to Jo. Just to make things a little easier, and to hopefully help Jo feel comfortable around him. The list had looked like this:
- Jo is quiet, soft-spoken when he does talk, and super gentle. So: always be prepared for when that shifts in practice and on stage, and his image becomes sharper and more intimidating. Don’t shy away from it or be weird about it.
- Jo is slower to show his emotions and shows them quieter than the others, especially to the public eye. So: when it comes to time at the dorms and when the cameras are off, always be ready to welcome and embrace a rawer version of Jo if he shows it. Listen and be nice.
- Sometimes Jo might step out of his comfort zone or show a new side of himself for the sake of the shoot. Be ready and always be supportive!!!
It was a basic list, but he'd also been a young teenager when he’d made it, and they had still somewhat been getting to know each other outside of the survival show environment. At some point, Maki dropped the list entirely and stopped keeping track of Jo’s more enigmatic traits because he stopped needing to. It became a natural part of life to see them and encourage them, mostly because he really likes all of them. He likes everything about Jo, something he acts on frequently through casual words and small actions, even if he’s never actually said anything about his crush.
Recently, though, Maki has been feeling extra drawn to Jo. Like, more than usual. In the procession of their seasonal releases, he’d noticed Jo gaining more confidence on camera and on stage, crescendoing into now and their preparations for Go In Blind. For some of their concept materials they had filmed acting segments, and Jo had gotten a shot that Maki thought was really cool. He’d executed it so well, too, leaving Maki with that strange fluttery feeling he’d been experiencing more frequently lately. Is he biased? Maybe a little, but it’s totally fine. He can continue to be normal about Jo, surely.
Currently, they’re just getting ready to film the performance sections for the music videos. Apparently they’re doing it in two parts, with two different outfits. The first outfits are similar to the ones they’d been wearing for their concept photos, all cool silhouettes and formal looking fabrics broken up by chains and belts. According to the directors these would be the outfits for the later half of the performance, including the blindfold part, and they wanted to get that out of the way first. It goes quickly thanks to just how much practice they’ve been putting in, and soon enough they’re being whooshed away by the stylists so they can get ready to do the first part of the song.
The second outfit they’re given is pretty grungy and cool, in Maki’s opinion - Kei and Fuma have sheer shirts, from what he can see, and Nicholas has a crop top, all layered with jackets in the same pattern as the vest they gave him for on top of the hoodie. The rest of the members trickle back out to the filming space, with Jo leaving the stylist station last.
Now, Maki hasn’t thought about his Jo-list in a really long time. It’s really out of date and they’ve all grown and changed as people over time, and in hindsight it had been kind of silly anyways. But here in this filming location, a good couple years after he’d stopped using it, he’s suddenly trying to keep that third point in the list at the front of his mind. Because Jo? Jo just came out of the styling area with hair extensions . It looks like a decision none of them were expecting, judging by the surprised exclamations from the others and the way Jo himself is standing awkwardly, fidgeting with the long ends shyly. It’s so attention grabbing that Maki comes close to missing that Jo is also wearing sheer - something he simply cannot be thinking about right now. At this new length, his hair is falling into his eyes and comes close to brushing at the tops of his shoulders, and Maki feels a little faint at how immediately obsessed with the look of it he is. He looks like a J-rock star. Emo even, when paired with the clothes. It’s a perfect fit for the concept, but Maki thinks it’s even just a perfect fit for Jo himself.
Even though he knows a good deal of it isn’t Jo’s real hair, he suddenly really, really wants to run his hands through it and feel it between his fingers. Does that make him a little crazy? He kind of feels like it does, but he isn’t given enough time to dwell on it before they’re being directed to their places for filming.
For the rest of the shoot, Maki’s every thought is consumed by Jo’s long hair and how pretty it is on him. He thinks he’s concentrating fine at first, but they totally have to reshoot the part that has Jo’s first line because he was too distracted looking at Jo and the way his hair moved and he ended up coming into part of the choreography late. Eventually he manages to get his head in the zone enough that he looks focused on camera, even though he was still thinking about Jo, and everyone seems happy enough with the results to call it a wrap. So with only a couple more minor retakes the shoot finishes, finally, and the members say their thanks to the staff and start getting ready to go. Maki takes the chance while he can. He slips his way to Jo’s side and bumps shoulders with him, trying to give an air of nonchalance.
“Hey, Jojo-kun, what’s it like with the hair extensions?”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“Well, you know, I’ve never had them before. What’s it like? Is it weird?”
Jo hums softly. “Well sort of, I almost didn’t recognize myself at first,” he laughs, and Maki joins in too. “It’s very… flippy? It moves a lot.”
“It’s kinda crazy though,” Maki remarks, “it looks so real. Like it could really be your hair. Could I feel it?”
Jo stops to look at him, and his expression is unreadable. Silence stretches between them, and Maki almost gets cold feet, when Jo breaks it with a quiet laugh and a bemused smile and tells him to go ahead. He even tilts his head forward in anticipation, which definitely does not have Maki flustering. Not even a little.
The extensions are surprisingly soft and natural feeling, Maki notices when he brushes at the strands settled around his neck; but as he combs his fingers through and brings his hand up higher to do it again, the extensions have nothing on how silky Jo’s actual hair feels. Even despite the sweatiness from all the dancing they’d done it feels so soft. He brings up his other hand so that both are alternating strokes, like petting a cat.
Maki looks down from Jo’s hair to meet his eyes, only to snap his eyes right back up as heat crawls all the way up his neck. Jo’s eyes had just been so lovely and endeared and Maki isn’t sure how to handle it without making an absolute fool of himself. Wordlessly holding on to his crush for this long was starting to seriously backfire.
“Can I try something?” Jo asks, just a low whisper between them. His fingers are brushing over his sweatshirt just hard enough that Maki can barely feel the fabric pressing into his side. Maki nods, feeling flushed as red as their debut single. Then Jo starts leaning in.
He presses his lips against Maki’s carefully. Jo. Jo is kissing him. His eyes have fluttered closed and Maki squeezes his shut as well, feeling for all the world like he might just explode into a pile of smoldering ashes. It’s a little bit awkward and clumsy as Maki kisses back, but they both start leaning into it more and they eventually find a comfortable rhythm. One of Maki’s hands curls into Jo’s hair again and the other slides down to rest at the crook of his neck, just to where his thumb can rub soft circles over his pulse point.
Every few strokes through his hair, Maki scratches lightly at Jo’s scalp, earning him the sound of Jo’s quiet sighs and the feeling of his lips quirking upward sweetly. Maki startles slightly when the hand grazing at his hip suddenly tugs him closer, then promptly melts when Jo’s other hand comes up to trace at his jawline and cheek with warm fingertips.
They break apart soon to catch their breaths. The kiss had been simple and sweet, but even so it had Maki feeling a touch lightheaded even though it couldn’t have been more than a couple dozen seconds long. He keeps his fingers woven into the ends of Jo’s hair.
“You should grow it out for real,” Maki murmurs once he’s caught his breath, tugging his fingers through the long strands. Jo gives him a coy look, cheeks flushing softly under makeup.
“You think so?”
“I do.” Maki nods with earnest. “It suits you, like, really well. Plus I can play with it like this more often if you do.” It’s a bolder confession than Maki was meaning, and he wonders for a microsecond if he’d been too bold; but Jo’s eyes go all crinkly from the force of his smile, and with another gentle stroke Maki tucks his hair behind his ears, revealing that they’ve ripened into strawberries while they were hidden away. How he can be so cute while also looking like this, Maki has no clue.
Jo leans back in and presses another lingering ghost of a kiss to Maki’s lips. He looks like he’s about to say something else, but Euijoo’s voice echoes through the building, beckoning them to quit hiding and get changed because everyone else is done now. Maki pouts a bit, but reluctantly pulls away, making sure to drop a quick kiss to Jo’s cheek just by the corner of his lips before he does.
Maki’s changing is much faster than Jo’s because of the extensions, so he reaches the vans first. Well, van singular. One of them has already headed back to the dorms it looks like, and Yuma leans out of the remaining one with his tongue stuck out teasingly, telling him that he and Jo are exiled to the backseat since they took too long getting ready. He pretends to be affronted, but this is actually exactly what he’d been hoping for. Once he slides in and gets buckled up, it’s only another handful of minutes spent scrolling on his phone before Jo settles in next to him and they’re ready to get back to their dorm.
Jo’s hair is back to its normal length now. Maki mourns it, but only for a moment - Jo takes advantage of their backseat time to rest his head on Maki’s shoulder and he loosely intertwines their fingers together, and suddenly Maki has other things to think about. Like squeezing Jo’s hand, and tilting his head down just enough to press his face into the top of his head.
Maki makes a mental note to thank the stylists somehow. Some chocolates or something, maybe. Because he never would have expected for the push he needed to take that next step with Jo would be surprise hair extensions.