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The plot of this day reads like the script of a poorly executed romcom. Seokmin is, unfortunately, cornered in the practice room, back against the mirror with a hand over his mouth. It isn’t even his own hand. The boy of his dreams has him pinned against the wall, his stupidly large palm warm against Seokmin’s lips. Normally, for Seokmin, this is exactly where he wants to be, pressed close against his favourite person in the world, touching him, consuming him, where no one can watch. Except that they are in fact, probably being watched.
Jisoo is also aware of this. In fact, Jisoo is clamping his hand over his mouth too hard. He might leave a hand-shaped mark on his face and then Seokmin will have to endure the “Oh, was it a lovers’ squabble?” and “Wow, Seokmin-ah, I didn’t think you were into that…” from Seungkwan and Mingyu all week. Not that Jisoo would stop them. He’s weird and possessive.
But right now, they’re entangled in each other, curled into a ball in the corner of the dark practice room. Jisoo has his hand over his mouth and they’re trying to keep quiet. Emphasis on “trying”. Seokmin almost has to physically shoo the thought of licking Jisoo’s hand away. Maybe he can do it later, you know, when the threat of Yoon Jeonghan isn’t ten meters from them, fumbling in the dark to look for some infernal thing, like his pet rock. At 10pm.
The curves and edges of Jisoo’s body are pressed all up against Seokmin right now. He swears the arcs of Jisoo’s ribs slot into the dips and valleys between his own. Jisoo’s pulse, heavy and dizzying against the heart of his lips. Jisoo’s perfume falls over him like a warm blanket. The only unpleasant thing about this is how he would really, really like for Jisoo to remove his hand so they can get back to making out, and the way the mirror is digging into the knots of his spine. That’s actually two things. Never mind.
Jisoo’s eyes are blown big as he watches Jeonghan’s lanky silhouette shuffle toward the hallway, shutting the door with a click. They freeze, holding their breath until the sound of his footsteps tapers off into the distant hallway.
When they’re absolutely sure he’s left for the dorms for good, Jisoo slumps against him, taking the opportunity to bury his face into Seokmin’s broad chest. This earns him a shove from the other man, who peels Jisoo’s hand off his face. He’s not licking that, it’s all sweaty now.
Jisoo seems to have a knack for reading minds because he pretends to lick his own hand and swipe it right down the center of Seokmin’s shirt. Weirdo. Seokmin loves him so bad, even if he has a stripe of hand-sweat down his front. Now that Jeonghan’s gone, he’s all light and smiley in Seokmin’s arms, bouncing as he wraps his arms around Seokmin’s neck and leaning in.
“Shall we get back to business, darling?” Jisoo pronounces the endearment with a flourish, the accent curling off his tongue. God, Seokmin loves his Californian accent. He wishes they were in the backyard of Jisoo’s house in LA, making out under the sticky summer night instead of being pressed against the mirror in the dark, cold practice room.
But Jisoo’s content just to have him here, alone in the room, where he can press his lips to the dip of Seokmin’s collarbones, the shell of his ear, the corner of his eye. The thing about Jisoo is that he’s easily content. With anything and everything that Seokmin gives him. He’s sure to express his thanks tenfold. Just like now, Jisoo maps out the landscape that is Seokmin with his mouth, making and unmaking him at the same time. He’s meticulous, and endlessly patient, taking his time. Seokmin understands. The kind of love Jisoo has for others, especially for him, takes a lifetime to experience.
His hands stroke down the curve of Seokmin’s back, fingers falling over every knot. Jisoo’s thumbs are twin flames of warmth, caressing the bone of his hip, just as he smiles against Seokmin’s lips. In the dark of the practice room, Jisoo is free of spotlights, cameras and millions of watchful eyes. He remembers, and keeps remembering that when fame dies down, and when the river of life quiets to a trickle instead of a roar, Seokmin will be there. He’ll have lived a good life.
Seokmin, on the other hand, is not so patient. When Jisoo is kissing down the column of his neck, grazing his Adam’s apple with hints of his teeth, Seokmin’s been kissed long enough to feel like he’s moving through honey. He sneaks a hand into Jisoo’s hair, and tugs him gently upwards, so he can kiss Jisoo properly on the mouth. He leans in to wipe that stupid endearing grin off Jisoo’s face. The approving hum that Jisoo gives buzzes against his lips, spurring him on. He tilts his head, leaning in, inhaling his scent, and the feeling of Jisoo, a veritable sun, around him, on his tongue, in the air. Jisoo tastes like strawberries and americano, the bittersweet notes swirling across the roof of Seokmin’s mouth as he moves to lick into Jisoo’s mouth, coaxing pleased little gasps and moans.
Jisoo’s floral perfume lingers whenever he moves to straddle Seokmin from where he’s slid down the mirror, climbing into his lap, closer, always closer. His thighs cage Seokmin in, who’s a willing prisoner of the encouraging squeeze Jisoo gives whenever Seokmin whispers praises in between kisses. The breathless gasps that fall out of Jisoo’s mouth sound like heaven and Seokmin presses in, again and again just to find god.
God has his hands fisted in Seokmin’s shirt while Seokmin sins, fitting his hands around Jisoo’s waist to pull him onto himself, so he can feel the hardness in the front of Jisoo’s pants rub against his own. This pulls a whine from Jisoo, which Seokmin swallows up greedily. When it comes to Jisoo, Seokmin has no qualms about being a sinner.
For now, Jisoo consumes all other thoughts with his existence. He is very good at it; after all, he was born for this. Seokmin shifts a little, to press the bulge in his pants against Jisoo’s ass, and the resounding moan is so beguiling that Seokmin wants to scoop Jisoo up and lay him down, to worship him properly, every inch of him.
His fantasy is rudely interrupted by the very unwelcome reappearance of Yoon Jeonghan, who, unlike Jisoo, cannot read minds, and has returned to interrupt their intimate makeout session. Party pooper.
He bursts into the practice room, holding his phone in his hand like he’s filming an expose and yells, startling them apart.
“Aha! I caught you guys!” Jeonghan brandishes his phone, wagging his index finger.
“Idiot, we’re over here.” Jisoo rolls his eyes from the other corner of the room, moving to get off Seokmin’s lap. Seokmin frowns. This is not great.
Jeonghan whirls on them (in the right direction this time) and flicks on the light. “I knew that.”
“Hyung, could you like, turn off the light and pretend we aren’t here? Please.” Seokmin drags that last word out, thanking god for the oversized shirt he’s wearing to cover the obvious tent in his pants. He just wants to go back to making out, and the light is not helping. Jisoo’s hair is tousled, his lips are swollen cherry and there’s a blush across the bridge of his nose that is begging for Seokmin’s lips right now. He can’t do this, he’s not strong enough. Especially not when it comes to his lover’s petulant attitude. Jisoo is dusting off his jeans and stalking towards Jeonghan like he’s going to pick him up and shove him out forcefully for interrupting them. He could. Seokmin would find that very hot.
“Ah ah ah!” Jeonghan grins the moment Jisoo gets close enough to strangle him and ducks away, toward the door. He waves his phone menacingly.
“You know you two aren’t supposed to be here right?”
“Yoon Jeonghan, delete those photos!”
“Nuh-uh, this is evidence. I’m sending it to the group chat. You’re violating the public display of affection rules.”
“We were doing private displays of affection until you arrived.” Seokmin points out.
Jeonghan sticks his tongue out. “In a public area.”
Jisoo moves closer to attempt a second strangling. “Not if there’s no more public.”
Unfortunately, Jisoo misses, and Jeonghan shuts the door on them both. “Remember the penalty, lovebirds! You got caught!” He sings from behind the door, and cackles. Jisoo flings the door open and is about to follow him in relentless pursuit, when Seokmin stumbles forward to catch his hand.
He boxes Jisoo in against the door, hands on either side of his head. Jisoo’s mouth gapes open a little with his shock, and the depth of the look that Seokmin gives him.
“Let’s make the most of it while we can, darling.” The other man hooks a finger under Jisoo’s chin to tilt it upward into a searing kiss. The last of them, for quite a while. Internally, Seokmin sighs. Distraction really is the best tactic for preventing murder. Even if Jeonghan deserves it.
~
Seokmin and Jisoo are sentenced to a month of no kissing. When this sinks in, Jisoo falls to his knees dramatically in his bedroom, and proceeds to drape himself over the edge of the bed like in Cinderella. Unfortunately, Seokmin is not a fairy godmother so he has to settle for patting his boyfriend’s head while he wails about being separated from Seokmin, his one and only true love. Loud enough for the dorms to hear.
The punishment for not serving the kiss ban is to mop the practice room floor for a month. Truly tragic. Jisoo wails about that too. And kicks his feet. He’s making a mess of the duvet and Seokmin is not having it much better. Jisoo is acting all cute again and it’s not funny how badly Seokmin wants to kiss that pout off his face. This is going to be torture.
Jisoo kicks him accidentally and Seokmin just lies down on the bed next to him, accepting his fate. He wriggles his feet when Jisoo catches his ankle and lays across both his shins. He whines, a heartbreaking sound. “Jisoo-ya”, he calls from the head of the bed. Jisoo stops his dramatic tantrum in time to lift his head to glance at Seokmin. Seokmin blows him a kiss and Jisoo catches it and presses it to his chest, frowning exaggeratedly.
“I’m going to die”, he informs Jisoo. His boyfriend responds by pinching his calf in retaliation and Seokmin yelps.
“You can’t die before me.” Jisoo says, with halting sincerity and ah, there it is. Jisoo is so serious about the silliest things, and strikes at the randomest times. It’s endearing. Seokmin wants to eat him up and momentarily forgets about pinching him back.
“I don’t wanna mop the floor.” Seokmin pinches Jisoo’s cheek gently, which is very unrepresentative of his frustrations.
“Me neither.” Jisoo pouts.
If they break the ban, they have to mop. But then there’ll be no more ban, There’s a moment of mutual silence until they both leap up in realisation.
“You’re gonna kiss me first!” Seokmin threatens, racing out of the doorway before Jisoo can yell “No you!”.
“Lee Seokmin, you best watch out! You’re gonna lose!” Jisoo shouts from the hallway and Seokmin is already escaping.
It’s so on.
~
Within a few hours, Jisoo’s already sick of the kiss ban. He’s started counting all the kisses he’s missed. No good morning kiss. No “you did well” kiss even though he sang, very well, he might add, in practice today. No “hi baby you look good” kiss. Nothing!
But if there’s anything he isn’t sick of, it’s getting what he wants. And he can play the long game.
Jisoo knows Seokmin. He knows how much toothpaste Seokmin puts on his toothbrush, the order in which he wears his clothes, and his favourite food. He also knows exactly how to tempt Seokmin and like every other thing in his life, Jisoo endeavours to do it to perfection.
Today, they’re filming for Going Seventeen and the person who gets a whole shirt of grape stickers wins first. They have to complete challenges assigned by the other members, who will give them the grape stickers. Everyone is going on side quests. Jeonghan is making kimchi in the kitchen island, Seungcheol carries Minghao around and Jisoo has to make an acrostic poem based on grapes.
Everyone is seated and waiting for him to start his poem, eagerly listening when Jisoo clambers onto a chair backwards.
“First syllable! Gr!” Chan announces, gesturing grandly at him to start.
Jisoo is prepared for this. He’s already thought it out.
“Give me a kiss!” He sings in a squeaky voice, blowing a kiss in Seokmin’s direction. Everyone bursts into hysterics. Hansol squawks, slapping his back. Mingyu practically almost falls off the baby scooter he’s riding. Even Jihoon cracks a grin from his beanbag. Oh, they absolutely know the game he’s playing. Jisoo’s going to play it well.
“Second syllable! Ap!”
“Dokyeom-ah! Give me a kiss!” Jisoo taps his cheek insistently.
Seokmin whirls around from the kitchen counter so quickly that Jisoo thinks he probably gave himself whiplash. Junhui looks over at him in concern for the speed of his reaction. They exchange shocked looks while Jisoo giggles hard. Seokmin mutters some obscenity, eyes wide with Jisoo’s audacity while Jisoo grins and rocks from his position on the backward chair. It’s working. More clapping ensues.
“Last syllable! E!”
“I love you!” Jisoo breaks out the big guns, smiling saccharine sweet, mimicking a hug around himself as Seokmin sputters in the corner. All the members clap excitedly while falling over themselves to congratulate Jisoo for doing such a clever poem. His boyfriend’s ears are painted a lovely rose red and his lips are pressed tightly together as he regards Jisoo from several metres away. His fists are clenched at his sides as if he doesn’t know whether to grab Jisoo to fulfil his wish or punch him for such a backward trick. Jisoo knows which one it is though.
Jisoo tousles his own hair back and accepts more applause for his effort. Chan slaps a bunch of grapes into his palm. This is all going swimmingly. Even if Seokmin is still cursing him out mentally. He’s going to get lots of grapes (and kisses) by the end of this mission.
~
Seokmin was not prepared for Jisoo to be so bold-faced in front of everyone else. Isn’t that like the opposite of the point of the kiss ban? He’d spent an hour pestering Jeonghan about whether that counted as a violation and if Jisoo has to mop the floor and had went back to his room with tips on how to look after a pet rock (if he even had one) and too much (unnecessary) knowledge of how Seungcheol likes to tempt Jeonghan into kissing him instead. He wishes he could wash this information from his brain by throwing it in the wash.
He’s about to give up when Seungkwan announces his grand visit to Seokmin’s room by singing about it in falsetto while opening the door. “Jeonghan sent me!” he explains as he crosses his legs on Seokmin’s (recently nicely folded bedspread and sips his iced coffee. Seokmin raises an eyebrow. Jeonghan doing damage control? Now that’s surprising.
“Listen, Seokmin-ah. You guys shouldn’t have been there.” Seungkwan eyes him from the side.
“You and Hansol kiss all the time! In there too!” Seokmin defends. “Anyway, it was Jisoo’s idea.”
“If you’re gonna kiss at least don’t get caught by Jeonghan, idiot.” Seungkwan flicks condensation from his drink on Seokmin’s face. Rude.
“Fine, fine. We suck. Now what?”
“I’m going to give you a piece of advice so mind-blowing that Jisoo will absolutely kiss you first.”
“What?”
“Shamelessness.” Seungkwan sips at his coffee nonchalantly.
“Jisoo has enough of that for both of us.”
“No! You have to. Be more. Shameless.”
“Are you sure? I’m convinced Jisoo is absolutely immune to this type of shit since he’s so full of it himself.” Seokmin rolls his eyes. This is not helpful.
“Just do it. You’ll thank me.”
He throws his hands up. “I don’t even know if I can be more shameless than Jisoo when he wants something.”
“You can. You can do it. You must.” Seungkwan grabs his shoulders and shakes him as if this is some world-shatteringly important task he must undertake.
Seokmin narrows his eyes at him. “Why do I feel like you guys are plotting something?”
“And that’s my cue. Bye! Lee Seokmin, fighting!”
And just like that, he’s gone. Probably to annoy his own boyfriend, who is probably not paying off a kiss ban. Seokmin has this creeping feeling that some of the members are in on a bet. On who will win first. He should have held Seungkwan hostage and demanded they share the winnings with him if he wins. You know, besides getting the first kiss.
It’s been 2 days since the kiss ban. This sucks. He’s got to up his game though. The sooner he wins, the sooner this is over.
Seokmin bides his time. He knows the parts in the songs, where he and Jisoo are next to each other by heart. Some of them are in the setlist. Next week, when they’re at another concert stop, he's going to go all out.
A week after the kiss ban, they’re performing Darl+ing as part of the setlist for their concert and Seokmin gives no warning as to what he does. He sneaks up on Jisoo slowly as the song goes along, stopping once in a while to interact with their members. Chan ends his part and it’s now Jisoo’s part. The main camera swivels to focus on him and Seokmin goes in for the kill.
Jisoo starts to sing “Kiss me, baby” while giving the brightest smile to the camera and Seokmin’s just in time to lean in, puckering his lips just inches from Jisoo’s cheek. He’s practically shaking, the way he hears the whole stadium roar in cheers as he approaches Jisoo on the big screen. Jisoo though, is unfazed, grinning beautifully for the camera. He offers Seokmin the slightest glance, just to acknowledge his existence, and finishes his line, unshaken, with the same smile.
Seokmin begins to think his attempt was futile until he feels Jisoo’s eyes on him. Jisoo is always looking at him but this time he feels his eyes on him more than usual, even after the concert ends. Jisoo’s gaze burns into his back like the sun, his hand seeking Seokmin’s out like opposite poles of a magnet throughout the whole concert, backstage, on the way home. All while keeping a poker face.
His determination is admirable. It’s cute that he’s trying to convince himself that he doesn’t want to kiss Seokmin. He’s even pretending to be mad, the way he avoids meeting Seokmin’s eyes. When they clamber into the cars to go back to the hotel, Seokmin sits next to him, still holding his hand.
One last move. Seokmin tugs at their intertwined hands. “Kiss me, baby”, he sings.
He’s met with a firm and petty “No” but chuckles. This is fun too, seeing Jisoo act this way.
Jisoo wriggles around in his seat to wrap himself around Seokmin’s arm and closes his eyes, giving Seokmin the back of his head to stare at. To be honest, Seokmin doesn’t mind a bit. It’s a very pretty head. And Jisoo hasn’t let go of his hand at all.
~
Jisoo needs to get revenge. He can still feel his face burning from the concert, like a stubborn sunburn that only gets worse every time Seokmin is within a kilometer’s radius of him. Hong Jisoo, death by intense affection and lack of kisses. He’s going to write that on his obituary.
Seokmin doesn’t even care! Or at least he seems unaffected. He’s still wrapping his arms around Jisoo every opportunity he gets. He’s offering him water during practice and holding his hand in the car. He’s not tilting Jisoo’s chin up into a kiss though! It’s been nearly a week! He misses it! So much!
Everyone’s going about their day as usual and today they have dance practice and filming for a variety show. He whips open the closet and grabs a shirt from Seokmin’s side of the closet. He’s feeling petty. He’s going to make Seokmin regret this.
Jisoo enters the practice room casually, Seokmin’s oversized shirt hanging off his frame. Immediately, like a moth drawn to a flame, Jisoo feels his gaze sweep him up and down. The sunburn on Jisoo’s face spreads into his collarbones. He smirks when he turns his head, meeting Seokmin’s eyes head on.
Jisoo is aware of his effect on Seokmin. Seokmin’s likened it to good wine once. He remembers Seokmin climbing over him, pressing his wine-stained mouth on every valley, every crest. The places he kisses burn like strong alcohol. The juncture of his shoulder, the nook of his arm, the dip of his hips. Seokmin’s devoted to turning every drop of his blood and flesh to wine, moving his lips across his body, like a man starved, drinking up everything. That night, Jisoo drank right out of his lover’s mouth, between cries of his name as Seokmin moved over him, onto him and inside him-
He’s broken out of this reverie by the start of dance practice, flashing Seokmin a confident, coy smile, feigning obliviousness. Seokmin’s serious expression doesn’t budge, a quiet hunger on his face. “Alright, let’s start now!” The dance instructor claps her hands. The tension between them snaps and dissolves as they get into the momentum.
An hour in, Jisoo is so focused, he doesn’t even notice that his shirt is slipping off his shoulders. A strong arm wraps around his waist as he runs through the steps one more time, pulling him back against a broad chest. Jisoo stumbles as Seokmin pulls him in closer, tugging the shirt back over his tank top.
“You’re gonna catch a cold, baby.” He winks.
“It’ll be your fault.” Jisoo aggressively shrugs so the shirt falls off the shoulder Seokmin just covered. Seokmin burns silently, his eyes locking with Jisoo’s again in a soundless struggle. Time seems to drag on. Unstoppable force, meet immovable object. Jisoo is stubborn when he wants something. Seokmin is no better.
“Water break!” Soonyoung yells from the corner of the dance room. Jisoo spins on his heel to stalk towards his water. Seokmin watches as he leaves, following the shape of his figure with the hunger of a predator. If they weren’t in public, and didn’t have anything at stake, Jisoo knows he would be thrown on the bed and consumed whole. Good. Seokmin should know it.
Just when Jisoo bends down to retie his shoelaces, Seokmin is already there, tangling his hands in the laces. Something about the deliberate way the strings fall over his fingers, twisting and looping sets something off in Jisoo. His stomach mirrors the actions.
“You’re playing a very dangerous game, darling.” Seokmin leans up into his space, all warm and tempting, with a hand under his chin to whisper into his ear. His lips are at cut-throat distance, a hair’s breadth away from Jisoo’s cheek. He feels the tip of Seokmin’s nose dimple the skin there and his breath catches in his throat.
Jisoo’s blood roars in his ears. He’s almost done it!
Seokmin’s expression is actually unreadable as he breaks away. Jisoo feels stripped naked by his gaze, as it sweeps him from head to toe, again and again. It feels like an eternity before he remembers he needs a comeback to that.
“Oh, but don’t I play it well?” Jisoo snipes.
“We’ll see, darling.” Seokmin’s facade cracks and a smile blinds Jisoo. The sexual tension dissipates. Terror rises in Jisoo’s throat as he watches Seokmin bound around the room like an excited puppy, like he wasn’t just threatening to bite Jisoo’s face off and eat him alive (very sexily, he might add). He shivers. It is cold in here after all.
He wishes he got a kiss though.
Plan B. If sexy doesn’t work (god curse Lee Seokmin’s incredible self-control), try cute. Jisoo can do cute. He’s amazing at it actually. He’s a normal amount of cute effortlessly. What if he really tries?
He’s going to do his best. He stares down Seokmin from the other end at the variety show. Seokmin surely doesn’t see this coming.
He had climbed into the car beside Jisoo and entwined their fingers like usual, falling asleep in his seat with Jisoo’s hand clutched to his chest. He’s so endearing, Jisoo hesitates a little being a menace.
Jeonghan eyes them from the side again from the front of the car, gaze drifting from their joined hands to Jisoo to Seokmin to their hands again. He raises an eyebrow, smirking. Jisoo mouths “Fuck off” emphatically so he doesn’t wake Seokmin, who has his head pillowed on Jisoo’s shoulder. Never mind. Seokmin is sweet but Jisoo needs this kiss more. Just to spite Jeonghan.
Seokmin and Mingyu are yapping about their new comeback to the host, who looks absolutely thrilled to be bombarded with all this information. Jisoo understands. One must pause in the face of the sun because of how bright it is. Seokmin and Mingyu practically radiate light. Jisoo turns away, hanging off his chair at the corner. He can’t stare at Seokmin for too long or he’ll turn to mush and sweetness and absolutely zero resolve for his plan.
During the break, Junhui hands him iced coffee, and also a handful of sugar syrup and creamer. He looks back down the row, just to be met with another handful of syrups that Jun dumps in his lap.
“Everyone’s taken theirs, hyung. Just take as many as you want.”
Jisoo nods. “Thank you, thank you.” He picks out 2 packets of creamer and sugar syrup each from his lap, throwing them into the large shirt pocket before gathering up the rest of them and offering them back to the staff.
He gets an impulsive thought. The cameras are off anyway, so he acts on it. He peels open a creamer and sugar syrup and drinks them like the tiniest shots ever. Then he takes a long sip of iced coffee.
He doesn’t even have to glance over at Seokmin to know he’s wearing the “That’s my dumbass boyfriend” expression on his face, a mixture of shock and pride and amusement all in one. Jisoo tries not to grin or the coffee is going to spill out. He shakes his head to mix the drink in his mouth before swallowing. It’s surprisingly sweet but he should have expected that, drinking a whole syrup packet.
Minghao stares at him in disbelief, judging silently as Junhui claps his hands enthusiastically and giggles while scrambling for the packets that Jisoo gave to the staff so he can try it too. On the other side of the room, Jihoon has to physically hold Soonyoung from leaping out of his seat to beat Junhui.
Seokmin just peels open a syrup and then copies Jisoo, action for action, all while keeping eye contact. Jisoo leans back in his seat, sipping the coffee, not once faltering. Seokmin’s eyes go wide as he jumps up and exclaims that “Wow Shua-hyung’s way of drinking coffee is honestly really good!”
Jisoo can hear Seungcheol sigh deeply when he realises everyone will be on a sugar high on the way home. It’s Jisoo’s fault really. But Jisoo can’t find it in him to be sorry at all. Especially when Seokmin’s tongue darts out between his lips to catch a little bit of creamer left on the corner of his mouth while he flashes Jisoo a knowing look.
Mission accomplished, even if there’s no kiss.
~
Seokmin’s exhausted. They’ve had a shorter vocal and dance practice today on account that they’ll be splitting into their units to practise. Seokmin’s been let off on account that his ear has been acting up again and leaving his ear monitor in for the most of the day isn’t ideal. His eardrum practically throbs in his ear and his sense of balance is pretty messed up. He knows Soonyoung has been going a little easy on them given the fact that Seokmin’s been on beat all day but just can’t seem to do the spin without getting dizzy. Seungkwan coos at him and fawns over him all day while Jeonghan forces him to sit down during breaks because he looks like he’s on the verge of falling over.
Jisoo watched him like a hawk all day, plying him with water and snacks and holding his hand all throughout vocal practice. He gets ice for his ear without asking, standing near Seokmin like a gentle giant. He takes up all the space in the room just existing. Seokmin feels comforted just by knowing he’s there. Jisoo is extra sweet, encouraging him, and cracking stupid jokes when Seokmin can hear him. He’s like the sunlight through a window. Seokmin feels like lying down next to him, and kissing, kissing, kissing all the love into himself. Jisoo’s got more than enough anyway.
Wait, there’s still the ban. He’d forgotten about it all day but hadn’t seen Jisoo enough with their busy schedules to break it. Lucky? Maybe, but he’s bordering miserable with the way his ear twinges every time he swallows and the constant dizziness that makes his head feel like it’s going to explode.
Seungcheol had firmly scolded him for not taking the day off and weaseling into practice even though his ear hurt. Jeonghan is one more dizzy spell away from tucking him into the bed. Jihoon has banned him from the studio. Seokmin leans back on the couch in the living room. Jisoo’s gone to vocal practice and he’s lonely now.
His eyelids are heavy and his head hurts. Maybe a nap would make him hurt less. Seokmin gives in easily to the tide of sleep that washes over him.
In his sleep, he has dreams of the sun coming down, wrapping him in light, and a weightless airy feeling. The sun has a heart, he thinks faintly. The rhythmic thump has a warm sensation against his cheek too. There’s a melodic hum of a nameless song in the background but everything Seokmin sees is sea blue, sky blue, all blue. Blue is his favourite colour. Blue is Jisoo’s favourite colour too. Seokmin’s like an angel now, but he’s flying while lying down, which is strange. He thinks maybe he’s going to heaven. But he really wants Jisoo instead. To come with him at least. So he struggles. Or at least he tries to.
The sky shakes around him as he flails, managing to move his arms and legs a little. It’s like moving through amber. It isn’t until he hears a “Shhh. My poor aegi. My Seokmin-ah.” that he realises he hasn’t even opened his eyes.
A warm press of lips to his cheek has him climbing slowly out of sleep. The sun strokes his hands through his hair, wrapping a blanket around him as they sink into the comfort of a mattress. Light cups his face to draw it near.
“I missed your voice. Your laugh. I missed you.” A kiss to his temple.
“I’m sorry it hurts so much. I wish I could give you my ears instead.” A kiss to the shell of his ear.
“You’ve been working hard.” A kiss to his nosebridge.
“Sleep well, aein.” A chaste kiss against his lips.
A thumb sweeps across his cheekbone. Kisses against his eyes.
Seokmin knows now. That light is Jisoo. He slips further into sleep as Jisoo wraps around him, holding him close.
~
Jisoo wakes, rubbing the bleariness out of his eyes as he fumbles in the dark for his phone. He checks his face in the front camera before looking for the time. Face is looking good and it’s currently 5.20am. He carried Seokmin to the bed last night at 11 after vocal practice and slept through the night. Seokmin runs hot in his sleep and is currently cuddling Jisoo so tightly from the front, that Jisoo’s actions are quite literally limited to using his phone.
Thank god he’s in a tank and shorts or he would be sweating through the sheets. Not that he would mind. Seokmin is on his side, face buried in Jisoo’s chest, the ear that’s hurting facing upwards. Jisoo had taken care to lay him down this way so he wouldn’t lie on his hurt ear.
He’s so sweet, working so hard and pushing himself even when his ear is in such a condition. Jisoo’s heart hurts with it. Even when unwell, he’s giving his all. This is the man he wants to walk beside forever. Absent-mindedly, he caresses the apple of Seokmin’s cheek. Sweeps his gaze along the plane of his lashes. Looks for heaven in the tiny smile wrinkles at his eyes. He gets so far as the nape of Seokmin’s neck when he stirs.
“You kissed me. First.” is the only thing Seokmin says while blinking the sleep out of his eyes and leaning forward to capture Jisoo’s lips in a slow, sensual kiss as victory. Jisoo freezes, and Seokmin can nearly see the gears turning in his head as he leans back in horror and presses his hand to his mouth.
“I did kiss you first.” He mutters in disbelief while Seokmin rests his chin on the palm on his hand, waiting for Jisoo to come to terms with it. It’s almost amusing, the way Jisoo’s brain moves slowly, like he kissed Seokmin hours ago and is only now realising it.
“Lee Seokmin, you are the worst thing to ever happen to me.” Jisoo announces, finally going through all the stages of grief to acceptance. He has a lot of mopping to do. His arms will feel like noodles. Seokmin laughs as Jisoo climbs over him, sitting on his stomach.
“How will you make it up to me, hmm? For the mopping.” Jisoo folds his arms.
“I’ll do half.” Seokmin offers, hands running up to fit around Jisoo’s waist. There’s a twinkle in Jisoo’s eyes that surfaces when he does.
“Nope. Try again.” Jisoo laughs, leaning down to press Seokmin into the mattress, caging him in with his arms on either side, just as they had in the practice room, 2 weeks ago.
“Three quarters?” Seokmin guesses, purposely being obtuse. Jisoo giggles.
“No.”
Desire pools low in his stomach as Jisoo presses his mouth lightly against his jaw, trailing down to collarbones, over his heart. It starts off ticklish, then lingers, and burns in its wake. Like a true sun. Jisoo smiles proudly from where he lies, happy to be here. Happy to love him.
Seokmin reaches out for the light and pulls it closer, the way he’s always done.
One more guess. “Shall we get back to business, darling?”
Jisoo responds by tossing his top to the floor.
“Kiss me, baby.” Jisoo sings, right before he goes in to do just that. And Seokmin hopes, even more.