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“I have an idea! you two should go out to dinner” said Nano, pointing at Jun and Dylan.
“Me? with him?” Dylan asked, incredulous.
Nano nodded with a smile.
“Ew,” Dylan exclaimed with a disgusted face.
Jun looked at him, clearly displeased.
“You say that, but the person next to you doesn’t feel the same…” murmured Nano under his breath.
“What are you talking about, Nano?” Dylan snapped.
“Yeah, what are you saying?” Jun jumped in, already defensive.
“Nothing… just that the ghostshipp fame went through the roof after a certain someone started staring a bit too much at someone else,” said Nano, feigning innocence but gesturing at Jun with his head.
“What? What the hell are you talking about?! That’s not true!” Jun shouted, flustered.
Dylan watched them argue, trying to hide his laugh.
“If you think I’m lying, check twitter. Right, Thame?” he turned to their leader, who was busy texting on his phone.
Thame looked up when he heard his name, confused by the situation and by all three of them staring at him waiting for an answer.
“Uuuh, I don’t know! P’Po’s waiting for me, bye!” Thame said nervously, running off to his boyfriend.
“See? even Thame knows.”
“He didn’t even answer, Nano…”
they kept arguing about who was right, starting to annoy Dylan.
“God, shut up already! let’s all just go eat, I’m starving!” Dylan snapped, both hungry and annoyed.
the other two went quiet and nodded, but not without one last nasty glance at each other.
---
dinner was quiet. Nano was happily eating, doing a little dance with every bite. Jun was silent, focused on his plate. And Dylan… Dylan had almost finished already, staring at his phone like nothing was going on.
but really, he was checking out what Nano had said. and yeah, it was true: tons of edits, hashtags and memes about the way Jun looked at him. he blushed all the way to his ears as he scrolled through the pics and videos.
Jun glanced at him from the side.
“Hey, what’s up with you?”
Dylan almost dropped his phone, completely thrown off and even more nervous.
“What do you want?” he snapped, gripping his phone tight and noticing Nano staring at him too.
“Why are you red?” Jun asked, casually curious.
“Uhh… um…” Dylan couldn’t form a proper sentence— “Nothing, mind your own business!” he shouted, way too loud and defensive.
“Okay… just asking,” Jun said, going back to his food. Nano also looked away. they knew when Dylan answered like that, it was better not to push.
---
later that night, the three of them got home. Thame was with Po, Pepper with Gam, so it was just the three of them.
they got out of the car and walked in. Nano went straight to his room, leaving the other two exchanging a “what’s up with him?” glance.
when he came back, he was dressed up head to toe. Jun and Dylan looked him up and down from opposite ends of the couch, pretending to watch TV.
“Where are you going?” Jun asked.
“I’m going out with some friends, won’t be back till tomorrow, I’m crashing at their place. Don’t worry, P’s,” Nano said, grabbing his keys and putting on his shoes.
he left them alone. on the couch. with the air kind of thick. and a tension the TV couldn’t cover.
---
the silence grew heavy. the TV was still on, but neither was really watching. Dylan was lying on his side, one leg draped over the backrest. Jun sat more upright, arms crossed, eyes fixed on the screen.
“Hey…” Dylan said suddenly, not looking at him, “do you seriously like this crap?”
Jun glanced at him sideways.
“better than listening to you talk.”
Dylan let out a short laugh.
“look who’s talking, the king of bad moods.”
“and you’re the king of cringe, so we’re even.”
“you gonna start now?”
“does it surprise you?”
Dylan threw a cushion at him without much force, and Jun threw it back harder. in seconds they were pushing each other like bored kids. until Dylan stopped and looked at him, more serious.
“Hey… why are you looking at me like that?”
Jun frowned, confused.
“like what?”
“like… what people say on twitter,” Dylan said, pulling out his phone. “Look.”
he showed him the screen: an edit of the two of them, with Jun staring at Dylan with a kind of intensity even he couldn’t deny, and a weird sparkle in his eyes. the caption read: “when you hate him but still wanna kiss him.” the likes were insane.
Jun went quiet. he looked at the image, then at Dylan, then back again.
“You see that? I hadn’t even noticed…”
“Well, now you know,” Dylan said, lowering the phone. “Do you look at everyone like that or just me?”
the air shifted. Jun looked at him with something in his eyes even he couldn’t explain.
“I don’t know, Dylan. maybe I do. maybe I don’t. maybe I look at you like that because I can’t understand how someone can be so annoying and so…”
he trailed off. Dylan didn’t break eye contact.
“So… what?”
“Forget it,” Jun said, getting off the couch.
but Dylan, without thinking much, grabbed his wrist and pulled him back.
“Wait. tell me.”
Jun looked at him. they were close. way too close. Jun looked at him. said nothing. didn’t move. just stared.
Dylan loosened his grip a bit, but didn’t let go.
“If you’re gonna say you look at me like that because you hate me… I already know that,” Dylan said, lowering his eyes. “But there’s something weird about that, isn’t there?”
“Yeah,” Jun said softly. “everything about this is weird.”
“So?” Dylan asked, looking up again. “Why can’t you say it?”
Jun hesitated. tried to brush it off with a smile, but couldn’t.
“Because I don’t know what it is. because I don’t like not understanding what I feel. and with you… I don’t get anything.”
the silence came back. but it felt different now, heavier. like any more words would break something.
“Look…” Dylan said quietly, still holding his wrist. “If you don’t wanna say anything, that’s fine. but stop looking at me like that if you’re not gonna do anything.”
Jun swallowed. his eyes locked on Dylan’s.
“What if I do wanna do something?” he asked, barely audible.
Dylan blinked. his heart thumped hard. and for once, he didn’t know what to say.
then he looked away and let go.
“Do whatever you want, Jun. I don’t get anything either anymore.”
he turned and walked to the kitchen, leaving Jun in the living room.
Jun stayed there. still feeling the heat of Dylan’s hand on his wrist.
and wanting to go after him.
he didn’t move at first. he heard Dylan’s footsteps moving away. he heard the clink of the glass, the fridge door. and something inside him clicked.
he didn’t think too hard. he walked to the kitchen and found Dylan leaning against the counter, drinking water like it was nothing—or like he was running away.
“Hey…” Jun said, stopping at the doorway.
Dylan didn’t answer. didn’t even look at him.
“I suck at this,” Jun kept going. “At feeling stuff for someone, even more if it’s someone like you.”
Dylan put down the glass but still didn’t turn.
“Someone like me?”
“Yeah,” Jun said, stepping closer. “someone that drives me crazy, that argues with me about everything, that makes me wanna curse him out and…”
he stopped. Dylan turned his head a bit, curious.
“And?”
“And that makes me wanna stare at him like an idiot every time he laughs, even when I didn’t find it funny.”
Dylan looked at him now. eyes glossy, breath held.
“Are you saying that…?”
“I don’t know what I’m saying,” Jun admitted, a bit tired. “But I wanna stop overthinking and know if you feel this too.”
he stepped even closer. there was barely space between them now.
“If you don’t feel anything, just say so and I’ll leave.”
Dylan swallowed. his hand still rested on the counter, tense. the other one, dangling at his side, twitched a bit.
“I do feel something,” he said. “Of course I do, but I thought you didn’t.”
Jun lowered his gaze for a second. then looked up, eyes steady.
“Then stop thinking like me and do something.”
Dylan hesitated for a beat. but then, without saying another word, grabbed Jun by the shirt and kissed him.
the kiss was fast at first. clumsy, a bit messy, like neither knew what to do with their hands or their breath.
but they didn’t let go.
Dylan loosened his grip on Jun’s shirt and tangled his fingers in his hair. Jun placed his hands on Dylan’s waist, like he was afraid he’d pull away.
when they pulled back, both had flushed cheeks and their eyes on the floor.
“Was that weird?” Dylan asked, still not looking at him.
“Yeah,” Jun said, then looked at him. “But it was nice.”
Dylan chuckled softly and looked at him again. Jun leaned in and gave him another quick kiss, like he was getting braver.
Dylan held his face and this time the kiss was deeper. more sure. more “I wanna stay like this a bit longer.”
when they separated, their breath was still close.
“Okay,” Dylan said. “That was more than nice.”
they both smiled at the same time like they couldn’t help it.
after that, they didn’t talk much. they went up to Jun’s room in silence, unsure of what they were now. but knowing they wanted to stay close.
Dylan lay on his side on the bed. Jun turned off the light, took off his hoodie, and climbed in next to him.
in the dark, their arms brushed.
“Hey,” Dylan whispered. “If I regret this tomorrow, you can hit me.”
“Sure,” Jun replied, barely smiling. “And if you regret it, no breakfast for you.”
“Sadist.”
“Idiot.”
they laughed quietly. and then Dylan turned, kissed Jun’s neck, and rested his head on his chest.
Jun ran his fingers through his hair without a word. just closed his eyes and stayed.
and that’s how they fell asleep. curled up. peaceful. together.
---
when they got to the kitchen, the chaos was already served
thame, pepper, nano and po were sitting there, having breakfast, all talking over each other
but the second they saw them walk in together —messy clothes, faces screaming “i slept cuddling my archenemy last night”— silence
nano squinted
pepper froze mid-toast
thame blinked several times
po just smiled and took a sip of his coffee
“oh no,” pepper finally said, “you two? together?”
“did you hook up?” nano asked, no filter
“NANO!” thame yelled, scandalized
“what? i’m just asking what everyone’s thinking!”
jun crossed his arms, awkward
dylan scratched the back of his neck, red as hell
“nothing weird happened,” jun said
“we just slept,” dylan added
“together?” pepper asked
“same bed?” nano kept going
“cuddling?” thame jumped in, now fully part of the joke
they both wanted to vanish into thin air
but dylan grabbed a piece of toast and threw it at nano
“shut up already!”
everyone laughed, and in the middle of the noise, jun turned and gave dylan a quick kiss on the lips
just like that, no warning
“there. now you’ve got proof,” he said, like it was nothing
dylan froze for two seconds
then, with a half-smile, grabbed jun’s face and kissed him back —longer this time
“alright, i’m leaving, this is full-on cinema,” said pepper
“shut up and pass the dulce de leche,” thame laughed
and just like that...
in the middle of breakfast, between jokes, biscuits and stolen kisses, jun and dylan weren’t archenemies anymore
or well...
maybe they still were
but now with benefits
“ugh they’re so cute,” pepper said, a bit emotional
“they finally stopped hating each other,” thame added
“nah, we still hate each other,” jun said, stealing a sip of his coffee
“we just make out between insults now,” dylan said, chewing
everyone laughed
and even if they pretended to be tough
they both knew something had changed between them