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“You came?” He asks with a big smile on his face. He’s sweaty and out of breath, but his eyes shine with childlike wonder, as if he were surprised Riwoo would even try to make it there. He’s ridiculous; Riwoo has been coming long before they started dating, why would he stop now that he gets to see him up close?
Riwoo’s nose twitches. “Well, you asked, right? I aim to please.”
Jaehyun's smile drops. “Riwoo-ssi, are you seducing me right now?” He asks with a put-on severe expression.
Riwoo looks at him. Jaehyun recently dyed his hair after letting it grow out a bit, and now it curls around his head in a pretty brown tone that makes everyone go crazy about him, including Riwoo, who, admittedly, also gets jealous about the increasing need everyone seems to have gotten to try and catch his attention. But whatever, he gets it. He’s falling victim to it right now, zoning out of the conversation in favor of running his fingers through Jaehyun’s curls; they’re a mess.
“Do I have to? You seem seduced enough to me.” Riwoo mumbles absentmindedly while Jaehyun leans into his touch. Cute, he thinks.
Jaehyun smiles again and opens his mouth to retort something but before he can, he gets interrupted.
“Myung Jaehyun! Stop wasting our time and get back on the field before I make you run some extra laps!” His coach screams lazily; the humid weather must be getting to him.
“Coming!” He replies with his head turned away from Riwoo; when Jaehyun faces him again, he does it with an exaggerated pout on his face. “Only 15 minutes left, and then we can go, okay? Pay attention; I look really cool playing.” He says, wiggling his eyebrows.
Riwoo snorts. As if he didn’t know that. “Come here.” He tells him while leaning down on the rails, and Jaehyun gets on his tiptoes without question to meet him in the middle. Riwoo gives him a quick and sneaky kiss on the cheek. “Extra motivation to finish well,” he says and Jaehyun has to bite down a whine; he wants more—Riwoo is so lovely. What a tortured soul he is, not being able to reciprocate.
Jaehyun holds one of his hands to his kissed cheek, the other clenching his chest dramatically just where his racing heart sits, holding on as if he had been shot. He walks backwards for a bit, really selling his performance, and he only deems it fair to turn around once he sees Riwoo cracking up; now he can focus.
Riwoo watches him run back, thoroughly entertained by his antics, and goes a couple of seats up on the bleachers to get a better look at the field and ‘pay attention,’ like Jaehyun said. Because it really is a sight to see—the way you can tell how much this matters to him. Every play, every movement, even the way his eyes shift over the field, keeping a careful watch over every player, is charged with intention, focus, and a thirst to win.
It’s really attractive, Riwoo will give him that, in the privacy of his mind, of course.
He doesn’t take his eyes off him once for the remaining time, and sooner rather than later, their coach frees them for the day. Immediately, the team starts to book it out of there before there’s a change of mind. Jaehyun catches his gaze and waves at him, mouthing to give him five minutes before running inside to wash up and pick his stuff up.
He comes out of the dressing room freshened up, his hair a bird's nest—a sign that he rubbed the towel on his hair as hard as possible just so he could come out two seconds faster—bag across his body, and talking excitedly with two others that don’t bother with subtleties when it comes to throwing looks his way, while giving teasing jabs to Jaehyun.
Jaehyun laughs and looks at the ground bashfully, but when his head comes up and their eyes meet, he forces a relaxed attitude, throwing an exaggerated wink his way. Riwoo rolls his eyes, but he can’t force down the smile on his face—though he does try to hide it behind his hand—any more than he can prevent his heartbeat from rising; liking someone is so silly.
With the light of the sunset shining behind him, Jaehyun says goodbye to his friends and approaches the bleachers with hurried steps, barely containing his excitement as he climbs through the seats two by two.
“Yah! Be careful; you’re going to get hurt!” Riwoo exclaims.
Jaehyun doesn’t acknowledge him until he’s standing right in front of him, slightly leaning down with a self-satisfied smile. “Are you worried about me? Are you? Are you, hm?” He asks insistently, moving his face closer and closer with each question, while Riwoo furrows his eyebrows at him.
Of course he’s worried; Jaehyun is clumsy and overexcited, and in two weeks he has a tournament that he’s dying to play in. If he gets hurt and can’t play, it’ll break his heart, and Riwoo won’t be able to do anything.
“I’m not? I just don’t want to deal with your whining.” Riwoo assures him in a game that he already lost because his ears feel too warm and Jaehyun's eyes already shifted to them for a millisecond—so he’s probably blushing and fooling no one.
Jaehyun hums at his response and makes those stupid googly eyes at him like he’s indulging Riwoo and trying to placate him at the same time. The gall of him!
“Sure!” He says animately, catching Riwoo by surprise when he steals a short kiss, a reprise of what Riwoo did to him during practice. Licking his lips, he wonders, “Cherry? It’s sweet; I like it.”
Riwoo tries his hardest not to smile but he can’t help it.
“Mhm, one more, please.” He asks without shame, what’s the point of a boyfriend if you can’t ask for a kiss whenever you want?
Predictably, Jaehyun smiles and leans down again without a second thought, this time holding Riwoo’s face in his hands. Riwoo grabs the neck of his shirt as if to bring him closer—even though it’s impossible—and then, they get lost in it for a while, because why not? They’re alone, they have time, and it feels so good.
Jaehyun’s scent, his soft lips, the way the cherry flavor from Riwoo’s chapstick permeates the kiss and mixes with Jaehyun’s minty breath, the lingering aftertaste… even the spit around their mouth from being too eager and getting the angle wrong or going too fast makes Riwoo’s stomach clench with want, with need, and with a deep desperation for something he doesn’t know how to deal with.
That’s when he gets scared, overwhelmed, like his feelings are too big for his body and they might end up swallowing him whole. It’s a little intense so he leans away slowly, Jaehyun chasing after him for a bit until Riwoo smiles at him with flushed cheeks.
Jaehyun takes him in, biting his lips. Riwoo really is so pretty. But he notices the way his hands are shaking and the way he looks at him, almost apologetic, as if he did something wrong, and that just won’t do. He straightens up to give Riwoo the space he needs, ruffling his hair with one hand before stuffing them in his pockets to keep himself from reaching out until Riwoo calms down.
And Riwoo should be used to it by now, to the way Jaehyun just stops to notice him and adapts without needing any explanations, to the careful way he handles him without bringing attention to it, but he isn’t. It makes him nervous and shy, but he really, really likes it.
“Hey,” Jaehyun says, bringing him out of his musing, “are you up for a movie?”
Riwoo blinks at him and stands up, shaking the invisible dirt off his pants. “Sure, your house?”
Jaehyun shakes his head. “No, no, c’mon, let me take you out on a date.”
“Oho,” Riwoo starts with a teasing tone. “Did someone get paid?”
Jaehyun pouts, taking his hands out of his pockets to cross his arms. “Yes,” he huffs. “So let me spoil you before I use it on new boots or games.”
“Tch,” Riwoo starts walking towards the exit without waiting for him. “Well, c’mon then, I’m getting the biggest set of popcorn there is so get ready.” Suddenly he comes to a stop, looking over his shoulder and narrowing his eyes. “And I’m choosing the movie.”
Jaehyun tilts his head to the side, there’s a beat, and then he starts laughing like he just heard the funniest joke. “Riwoo-ssi! Please be careful of how you look at people. I almost died just now! So scary!”
Riwoo doesn’t say anything; instead, he starts walking again, picking up the pace slowly until he’s fully running. He hears Jaehyun call after him, “Yah! YAH! LET’S GO TOGETHER.” He looks at him from the corner of his eyes and practically guffaws at the way Jaehyun’s gigantic bag flies all around, getting in his way.
“YAH, DO YOU KNOW HOW TIRED I AM? HOW CAN YOU BE SO HEARTLESS TO YOUR BOYFRIEND?” Jaehyun continues to whine behind him.
They run all the way to the entrance, where Jaehyun finally catches up to him, trapping him in a backhug. “I’m not letting you go now; we are walking just like this all the way to the mall. I don’t care how people look at us.” He announces while trying to catch his breath.
Riwoo giggles and sways them in place. “I’ll make you a counteroffer.”
Jaehyun buries his face in the crook of Riwoo’s neck, his lips grazing skin when he talks. “Let’s hear it.” He says with a kiss.
Riwoo wiggles a little in place; his neck is really sensitive. “You can hold my hand all the way there and if you’re nice, I’ll let you kiss me again.”
Jaehyun lets go so fast it gives him whiplash. Offering his hand, he urges, “C’mon! We’re going to be late.”
Riwoo stares at him, a little perplexed about how quickly that worked, but he takes Jaehyun’s hand and interlaces their fingers all the same. “Let’s go.”
They start walking leisurely, swaying their joined hands back and forth and talking about anything and everything.
Jaehyun smiles at him the whole way there.