Work Text:
sieun's pen was angrily scratching over the paper in front of him, neat letters appearing as he added more and more to his notes.
his head was hurting, even the noise cancelling of his headphones no longer doing its job of keeping him from getting distracted, but he had to keep going. just a bit longer.
beomseok and juntae had stopped studying around an hour ago, leaning back in their chairs and quietly conversing as to not disturb sieun.
this arrangement— the three of them studying together— had become a routine throughout their first two months at university.
sieun and juntae were roommates, so them studying together had seemed like a normal thing to do. at least after some persuasion from juntae's side; him insisting that it would be fun, dragging sieun with him to the library, as if he wasn't able to go there alone.
and beomseok… well, him and sieun had known each other from school, even if they had had a (now resolved) falling out back then. they had both met here again by coincidence, deciding to talk things out and return to being friends.
it was nice. sieun was grateful for it, even if it might not be obvious. he had missed beomseok a lot.
he sighed as he leaned back on the bench he was sat on, eyes closed in hopes of it being a release from the headache, the throbbing pain in his head.
it was unsuccessful, which he quickly came to realise.
taking off his headphones, the noise sieun had been drowning out over the past few hours hit him like a wave, a slight feeling of being overwhelmed creeping itself under his skin and right inside of his head. it really was getting too much today.
he held back an annoyed groan, one hand rubbing his temple, which did nothing to ease the feeling.
sieun took a deep breath as he gathered his pens and notes, neatly stacking the papers in front of him, before he put everything into the bag next to him.
medicine wasn't difficult for sieun, per se, but it was still a field that took a lot of studying, and even the great yeon sieun wasn’t immune to struggling with those things sometimes.
he understood everything, that was a fact. but oftentimes he simply felt like it was not enough. like he should know things beyond what knowledge had been given to him. so he forced himself to keep going until he tired himself out, until his eyes were closing every few seconds and his body felt like it was about to shut down.
those habits were quite unhealthy for someone who was supposed to be a future doctor, but he really did not care all that much. no patient of his would ever have to know about it, after all.
juntae did psych, and beomseok, to sieun's surprise, was an art student. quite a different direction, compared to the other two.
regardless, sieun had found enjoyment in listening to his friend, whenever beomseok shared what topics he was currently interested in. (at the moment: european paintings. specifically from the netherlands.)
beomseok's father had expected something like medicine from him, but his son had discovered a passion for art once he had started therapy. sieun had been told about it once they had started catching up on the time they hadn't been in each other's life.
he was happy— proud, even— for his friend and how much he had managed to get better over the years.
sieun glanced around the café with tired eyes, trying his best not to make it seem like he was looking for someone. he was keeping it casual. normal. not like some down bad freak. even if he was, in some way.
it took a few minutes for him to step out of the staff room, but sieun could instantly feel his body relaxing.
while he had been ashamed and embarrassed of himself the first few months of their study sessions at the café, sieun was, just like everyone else, a person with needs.
said needs being to watch one and the same stupidly attractive barista three times a week over the past year now.
it brought him comfort, even if he didn't know what exactly made him feel that way. what made watching suho— he had figured out the name after a few weeks— such an important part of his routine.
suho was attractive, but it would be embarrassing if something ad simple as that had such an effect on him.
sieun glanced at his friends, who were still deep in conversation, before his eyes wandered back to the counter, where he was at. he was observing, watching suho's every move as those muscular arms worked the coffee machines, sleeves pushed up to expose the skin underneath the white fabric of his shirt.
it was tight, showing off the build of his body even when he was still dressed, and sieun couldn't help but feel proud of himself for caring enough about his future to not distracted by it. it was obvious that suho worked out.
sieun's teeth sunk into his lips, a reminder not to indulge in the sight for too long. he'd rather avoid getting caught staring.
this was a treat he could only allow himself for a while. a pat on the shoulder for his dedication to studying, but also posed as a reminder that a reward didn't equal never having to do anything ever again.
“— yeah, they sold regular onions to scam people out of their money! it's why it's used as symbolism in some paintings from the netherlands”, beomseok explained to juntae, pulling sieun out of his thoughts as his friends finally looked at him, realising that he was done studying for now.
“ah, sieun-ah!”, juntae smiled at him, the orange light from the outside world reflecting on his glasses, making sieun unable to see his eyes.
“we ordered another coffee for you, since we didn't want to interrupt you while studying”, beomseok explained, pointing somewhere behind him to where he assumed the counter was.
sieun nodded as a small sigh of gratitude, before sighing and leaning back against the wall again.
he was exhausted. not only from those few hours of studying, but from everything in general.
his life had been exceptionally hasty recently, and it wasn't even because of university.
his parents especially had been giving him what felt like brain damage the past few weeks, asking too many questions, demanding too many answers they did not actually care about.
they kept asking about his love life— both of them.
separately.
as if they had talked about it in private, had put aside their differences and come to a common agreement on what invasions of his privacy would bother sieun most.
every time they were done squeezing every last bit of information on his studies out of him, there was a sudden interest in when he would plan on continuing this cycle of people who were not fit for having children, now that he was reaching an age at which some people were already getting married.
sieun did not plan on getting married. sieun also didn’t plan on having children, but the fact that his attraction to women was nonexistent, and his attraction to men was rare was something his parents had not been granted the permission to know anything about.
who he kissed and slept with was none of their business.
well, he didn’t do those things in general, so maybe it wasn't even his own business, considering how his love life was practically dead (which had been his own decision), but still.
his mother had even tried to set him up with the daughter of someone she knew, which had (thank god) ended after a single date of sieun making it obvious that he had no interest.
dating apps were even worse, though.
both of his friends had encouraged him to try them out, not only to get out of his comfort zone some more and meet new people, but also so he had some evidence for his parents that at least he was trying. and after a few weeks, he could simply stop, once they were satisfied enough and lost interest again.
they both knew he wasn't a big fan of them, and either would have been fine with it if sieun had disagreed to their proposal, but once he had started, he was determined to get this right. to win at this. even if he didn't know what there was to win and how that would work.
sieun wasn't someone who gave up easily, even if his idea of a relationship didn't necessarily match other people's views on romance.
but so far, it was just as unsuccessful as any other attempts at dating he had made in the past.
sieun didn't like any of the people whom he had met with, and most of them were more interested in taking off his pants than actually getting to know him.
he had yet to find someone to go on a second date with.
maybe he simply didn't like people enough for this to work out. who knew.
he looked up as someone approached their table, finding himself staring right at suho, who placed a coffee and a piece of cake right in front of him.
sieun looked at his friends with a questioning look, neither of them making it seem like they had been the ones who had ordered the cake.
sieun pointed at it, looking at suho who had a big grin on his face.
“I don't think we ordered that”, he stated bluntly, watching closely how suho's expression changed into something even more joyful.
“I know, it's on the house”, he said, paying no attention to sieun's friends, who apparently didn't deserve any free food.
sieun looked down on the cake, slightly confused.
it was the one he always got whenever he felt like getting something more than an unhealthy amount of coffee.
did suho know his order?
he looked up again, eyeing the other before he nodded, a quiet ‘thank you’, leaving his lips, still confused.
suho winked at him (what the fuck), eventually turning their back towards them and making his way back to the counter.
beomseok lightly kicked him from underneath the table, making him glance at his friend in return.
“sieun-ah.”
“what?”
“yeon sieun”
“what?”
both of his friends sighed, juntae speaking up before sieun had the chance to say anything.
“sieun-ah, you should go get that guy's number”, he grinned, pointing at sieun as if that would help with convincing him.
“uh… why would I?”, sieun asked with a frown, unsure on how they seemed to have both come to that conclusion.
suho was attractive. he liked watching suho, but that didn't mean that he would just admit it to the world and actually ask him for more than just being able to watch.
“he was, like, obviously flirting”, beomseok said, as if it really was something that had been clear for everyone.
sieun's frown deepened even more, the confusion still written on his face, even as he put the pieces of what was happening together, finally understanding what was going on.
“I'm not sure about that”, he said, even if looking back on the situation, maybe his friends were telling the truth.
juntae and beomseok both groaned, frowning at how stubborn sieun was being.
“aren't you watching him all the time?”, juntae eventually asked, making sieun almost choke on his coffee.
so he hadn't been as careful as he had thought he was.
had suho also noticed? he definitely looked like a weirdo now if he had.
“no idea what you're talking about”
“of course”, beomseok laughed, grinning at juntae, whose had a small smile on his face.
“well, we still think you should ask for his number”
yeah. no.
there was no way he would do that. he would not embarrass himself today. not with that headache.
- one
sieun had been dumped before the date had even started. great. great. he was doing amazing.
he had been against this from the beginning, but had foolishly given in after realising that maybe it won't be that bad. that maybe dating people wasn't as much of a disaster as he had always thought it would be.
it was, though. it was that bad.
he was soaked, standing in the rain as he simply stared into the distance, rethinking every choice he had ever made in life, trying to figure out what he had done to deserve something like this.
his clothes were sticking to his body uncomfortably, the feeling of the fabric on his skin starting to overwhelm him, but he did not move. not yet.
sieun closed his eyes for a few seconds, fists clenched before he turned and finally walked away, although it was too late for him to be able to escape from the rain. he was already soaked, after all.
in front of a convenience store was where he stopped— one of the ones that were open all day and night, the light from inside shining onto the street.
he was pissed, and he was hungry, which was never a good combination.
pushing the door open, he stepped inside, awkwardly trying his best to not get the floor to be too wet, water dripping from his clothes as he shivered. his body was still cold, despite the warmth of the inside of the store.
he walked around for a few minutes, eventually just grabbing some snacks and something to drink, before heading to pay. he just wanted to get home.
when he saw who was standing behind the register, sieun paused, eyes widening slightly at the sight in front of him.
suho.
the barista. the hot one.
he ignored the way his shoulders relaxed, and how his mood instantly brightened, instantly favour of staring at his shoes and the way the water dripped from his pants and right onto the floor.
he felt even more sorry, now that he realised who would have to clean up this mess.
suho took a few seconds to notice him, but the grin on his face was quick to appear, the moment his eyes landed on sieun.
sieun stepped closer and put down the snacks in front of him, looking up just to see that the grin that had previously been on suho's face had been replaced by a frown.
“you're soaked”, the man in front of him said, as if that hadn't been obvious.
sieun just nodded at the observation, not feeling like saying anything else right now.
“you have to change clothes—”, suho continued, motioning towards him, before moving towards a door that clearly said ‘employees only’ and nodded at sieun to follow him.
judging by the sign, sieun was not supposed to go in there, but he followed regardless.
he really wanted to get out of those clothes.
suho rummaged through a bag, sieun standing leaned against the door frame, watching the other, as he didn't want to step in any further. he didn't want to make even more of a mess with all the water dripping down his body.
after a while, suho turned to him again, holding up dry clothes for sieun to take.
he accepted them reluctantly, rocking back and forth on the heels of his shoes, as suho stood up against and walked towards him.
it confused sieun— the act of gratitude from someone who didn't know him— but he was too done with everything today to protest against it.
“you can change here and then come back outside”, suho explained with a smile, before gently pushing past sieun, turning around again as he reached the door.
“ah, what's your name?”, he asked, the soft smile still on his face, “I never got to ask”
“yeon sieun”
“sieun..”, suho repeated, as if trying out what the name sounded like in his own voice. it made sieun's heart flutter, despite how simple of an action it was.
“that's a nice name”
sieun gave him a small nod as a thanks, ears turning slightly red.
“you're suho, right?”, he asked quietly.
the other was visibly pleased that sieun knew his name, giving him a thumbs up and a wide grin.
“you're so smart, sieun-ah”, suho laughed, and the sound of it sent a pleasant shiver down sieun's spine.
- two
a library wasn't a bad place for a first date, really.
it was a place sieun was comfortable in, a place he would usually thrive in, surrounded by all the things he was used to. books, silence, other students who were just as eager as he was to learn, absorbing every information they could gather from the words on the pages of their books.
while talking to suho a few days ago had given him hope that not all men were awful people, and that maybe there were normal ones (like suho), that delusion had quickly been shattered.
he had not thought that it was that easy to ruin a place like the library for him forever.
no matter how much he tried, he knew he would always associate the library with this day from now on. with this sorry excuse of a date.
sieun had tried to find a better guy than the one from the last date, really.
he had actually looked for someone from his university, despite so far having been a firm believer of separating his studies from his unsuccessful love life. it had been an attempt at maybe finding someone with common interests and goals— someone who would understand the importance of a library and actually study at a study date.
there were whole study groups here, all focused on their books and notes, so why had sieun been cursed with someone who probably didn't even know how to read?
maybe he should have stopped dating altogether, rather than trying again.
minho, the guy he was on a date with right now, was sitting across from him, chatting— flirting— with a girl who was standing next to him, twirling her hair as they both laughed at some stupid joke he had apparently made.
sieun could deal with rejection when it came to dating, really. he had no actual motivation for finding a partner, after all. but this. this was unacceptable. the volume at which these two were talking was simply not appropriate for a library. a space that sieun usually went to when he was searching for quiet. something he had come to see as sacred.
he got up without a second look at the pair, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he took the book in front of him. he made his way through the shelves before he reached the reception, exhaustion obvious on his face, even after only having endured this for roughly half an hour so far.
the two hadn't noticed that he had left, and sieun was not necessarily sad about it.
he put the book down once he had reached the reception, an annoyed look on his face as he finally looked up to see who was sitting there, only to be met with him.
suho.
the other's eyes widened, before his expression quickly changed into a grin, chin resting on his hand as he eyed sieun.
“what a coincidence!”, he teased, “I'm starting to think we might have been married in a past life, considering how often we see each other”
sieun couldn't help but roll his eyes, although his lips were exposing his own amusement. he ignored the way he could feel his cheeks become slightly warmer, instead tapping his fingers on the book, motioning for suho to scan it, as he took his library card out of his wallet.
“you look exhausted, you okay?”, suho said, now slightly more concerned than before, “is the guy you came in with being too annoying?”
sieun nodded, catching the slight sight of something that almost seemed like triumph in suho's eyes.
“too loud”, sieun simply stated, before taking the book and his card that suho had handed him.
their fingers brushed against each other, both lingering in the position for a few seconds, before sieun eventually pulled away.
“you don't seem like someone who fits into a library”, he blurted out, eyeing suho in somewhat genuine curiosity.
he knew by now that suho had more than one job, but a library seemed almost… too boring for someone like him. they didn't really know each other, but sieun had watched him for long enough now to know that suho was energetic. that a library wasn't really his cup of tea.
god, all that made him sound like a creep.
“the things people do for money, sieun-ah… even I am a victim of capitalism and having to pay my bills”, suho said with an exasperated sigh, leaning back against his chair, arms folded behind his head.
god, those arms would be his downfall one day.
sieun stared at them for a second too long, earning himself a small smirk from suho in return. he didn't defend himself or acknowledged it at all, even if just to keep the slightest bit of dignity he had not yet lost.
he just couldn't help himself. there was no denying that they were simply attractive, so why should he not accept facts for what they are?
sieun turned his head as he heard a familiar voice getting closer, shoulders tensing as he looked at suho.
“don't tell him I was here”, were his last words, before quickly rushing out of the library, away from his date of never ending doom and despair.
- three
sieun liked movies.
it was one of the only pastime activities he allowed himself besides studying, even if watching something on anything other than his laptop was a rare occurrence.
whenever beomseok or juntae— but mainly beomseok, really— wanted to see a movie, he would occasionally let himself be dragged along, but only by them and no one else.
today was the first time he went with someone other than his friends for once.
yujun was handsome, even if not necessarily sieun's type.
he didn't know what his type necessarily was, but not yujun. that he was handsome was simply a fact he could not deny, but that didn't mean that it instantly made him more eager for this.
but he seemed nice so far, although sieun had to admit that there really was no chemistry between them at all. not even enough for sieun to contemplate maybe talking to him in a friendly way after this.
he was nice, but sieun didn't feel anything.
it was better than his other dates so far, but feeling neutral about someone who could be a future partner of his was not necessarily ideal for a date.
as they entered the building, sieun knew that it was him the moment he saw his shoulders. his back turned towards sieun and yujun, as he reached for something in one of the freezers behind the counter, turning around again to hand two bottles to the couple that was standing in front of them.
suho.
the couple in front of them payed and left, making it their turn to order.
a small smile appeared on suho's face as he spotted sieun.
sieun nodded in return, although neither of them directly pointed out that they knew each other. suho probably just didn't want to scare away sieun's date, or whatever reason they had for their mutual agreement of not acknowledging each other much.
yujun got his drink and popcorn, sieun ordering the same but in the smallest size available, handing suho his part of the money, before taking his snacks and water.
sieun had insisted on paying for his own things before he had entered the building, even if it was less ‘romantic’ than someone else paying for him. he didn't understand what about it was even supposed to be, but juntae had seemed very enamoured after he had told sieun that hyuntak had paid for his food on all their dates so far.
yeah, no. he would not let another man pay for his things, until he was sure the other party wasn't plotting to manipulate him into financial dependency.
even as they sat down to wait for the movie to start, things were still okay.
they were also okay during the movie trailers. yujun talked over them, but sieun really didn't mind. he wasn't one to watch trailers anyway, usually just skimming through summaries and ratings before deciding whether a movie was worth his time or not.
the actual issue became apparent when yujun did not stop talking. even after the movie had already started. even when it would be important to shut up, so sieun could hear the characters talk.
sieun could tolerate conversation when a movie was paused. his friends did that sometimes, to exchange their ideas on the plot or the characters. it was fun. but throughout the first watch, he needed everything to be quiet. so he could watch, and then afterwards rewatch if he got the chance to, so he would be able to pick up on everything he had missed the first time. and after that, people could talk over the movie. then it was alright.
his date did not seem to be aware of the social etiquette of shutting the fuck up during movies, though.
sieun took his bag and excused himself, saying that he was just going to the toilet, before hurriedly leaving the room.
it was a lie, of course. the movie wasn't good enough anyway to sit through the entire thing while someone was talking his ears off, so he did not really feel any guilt for it.
he had become a big fan of the block button recently.
as he stepped outside, he could already see suho again, leaned against the counter with his phone out.
there was no one else there, probably because all the other people that had been present earlier were currently enjoying their movies.
suho looked up as he heard footsteps, grinning as sieun rolled his eyes.
“no luck?”, he asked, as if the answer hadn't been obvious already.
sieun sighed as he stopped in front of suho, the counter now the only thing separating them. he wasn't sure why they were even talking to each other, considering that they still weren't friends and barely knew anything about the other, but it was nice regardless.
“won't stop talking”
suho let out an understanding ’ahhh’, before scratching the back of his head.
“so, you're just leaving?”, he asked, still grinning at sieun, elbows now rested on the counter, his head held up by his hands.
in return, sieun nodded, one hand brushing through his hair as he closed his eyes.
“I'm starting to think dating might just not be for me”, he said, exhaustion obvious in his voice.
trying to date was stressful, especially when no one fits your (already low) standards.
“don't say that, sieun-ah”, suho tried to reassure him, a small pout on the man's face, “I'm sure you've got this”
sieun shook his head, sighing again.
“I'll see”
- four
it was an awful experience already, and sieun was barely two hours into the date.
the dating profile he had made with juntae, beomseok and yeongi— another art student— had been clear about his boundaries, clear about what he was looking for.
or rather what he was not looking for. that was probably easier to talk about, considering his list of things he was sure he would dislike in a partner was longer than the list of things he knew he liked.
the other person shouldn't be too overbearing. shouldn't get into his business right from the beginning, should respect his boundaries, shouldbnot talk to him just to fuck, you name it.
well, the guy in front of him obviously had not cared about any of that, judging by the look on his face and the way he eyed sieun.
like he wanted to devour him, which was quite an odd way to feel towards sieun, at least from what he himself thought. he had never deemed himself as someone desirable, and while there were people he agreed were attractive, he felt like wanting to sleep with someone required a bit more of a connection than knowing each other's names.
the whole point of dating kind was that people wanted him, but he felt like that should come after wanting to be friends with him first. the guy— gyeong— obviously had no interest in getting to know anything about him other than maybe what sieun's dick looked like and how he was in bed.
pathetic, really.
they were at a bar— not sieun's ideal idea of a first date— sieun sipping on a drink as gyeong kept babbling about things that were even more irrelevant than what he had talked about five minutes ago. he didn't even give sieun the chance to say anything in return, pointedly ignoring him whenever sieun made an attempt to do so.
he had given up on talking after a while.
sieun sipped on his drink, no longer listening as his eyes wandered around the bar, before stopping on a familiar figure.
suho.
maybe he was hypocritical for thinking this, but he would much rather talk to him right now, even if the two of them didn't know each other all that much either.
but at least suho was fun, and sieun knew that. at least more fun than gyeong, but that wasn't that difficult of an achievement to make, really. it was hardly difficult to not be insufferable.
he watched as suho stood behind the counter, washing glasses and doing his work with the same precision he used when working at the café.
it was no longer as surprising to see him somewhere— they somehow managed to meet on most of sieun's dates so far— but still always somewhat of a relief. like something that grounded him, reminded him that if he was getting too annoyed, at least suho would save him.
and suho's arms were quite a nice distraction from another conversation about ‘deep’ thoughts gyeong had recently had, that sieun had already thought of at the age of twelve.
he really didn't know why he was doing this dating thing, considering sieun had little interest in any of the guys he had talked to so far, especially since his mind simultaneously always drifted back to suho.
the two of them hadn't even interacted much, and he was already so pathetic about all of this.
suho gave him a small wink as he saw him, grinning at the pained look on sieun's face that screamed ’get me out of here'.
sieun suppressed a groan at the thought of how hypocritical he was, basically flirting with someone else while on a date. he forced himself to look away from suho, and instead at the man in front of him, who was supposed to have his attention right now.
this was going to be a long evening.
- five
yeah. this was bad.
sieun was at the bar again, the man in front of him already too drunk to properly comprehend what sieun was even saying.
while he had no issue with drinking, he did not deem it appropriate to end up almost blackout drunk on a date, especially as a first impression.
he had tried to get the other— haneul— to stop drinking a while ago, but it was no use, really. nothing seemed to get between the man and his alcohol consumption.
sieun made another attempt of getting him to at least tone it down or switch to water for a while, carefully placing his hand next to the glass to already prepare haneul that he was about to take it.
“I think you should take a break”, sieun said quietly, fingers brushing the glass as he tried to take it away.
but haneul was quicker, swatting at his hand as he turned towards sieun, brows furrowed in frustration.
“what the fuck do you think you're doing—!”, he said, although it seemed to take him an unusual amount of effort to get the words out.
sieun got up from where he had been sitting and stepped back, ready to simply leave, like he usually would when his dates seemed to be too incompetent to behave. which, so far, had been basically every date he had been on during the past few weeks.
he didn't expect haneul to actually fight him over something like this, but the alcohol had probably managed to dry out any parts of his brain that had previously been responsible for his ability to think.
sieun stepped back further, not necessarily eager to cause a scene in public. he just wanted to go home now, instead of being stuck with this guy for much longer.
he kept walking backwards, step by step before bumping into someone, looking up to see who it was.
of course.
it was suho. it was always suho, for some unknown reason.
maybe they had been married in a past life. who knew.
the shock on the other's face reflected the look sieun probably had on his face, before suho's gaze fixed on a point behind him, frowning as haneul got closer to them.
sieun was capable of fighting, sure, but he was nonetheless relieved that there was someone he knew next to him.
“is there a problem here?”, suho asked, although it was obvious by now that there was, judging by the look haneul had on his face and the grip sieun had on his arm, recently having placed his hand on it for some sort of support.
“that bitch can't mind his own business!”, haneul spat out, words slurred as he pointed at sieun.
it was far from as creative insult, so sieun didn't really take it to heart.
suho, however, stepped in front of him, his broad shoulders now covering sieun's line of sight.
sieun sighed and closed his eyes, both actions not granting him the blessing of drowning out the argument happening in front of him.
he could have handled it, really. sieun would have just.. ran off or something if things got too heated, but he actually quite enjoyed watching suho fight for his honour. or whatever.
the one thing he could have avoided were the punches, though.
suho was quick to react, the moment haneul made an attempt at actually fighting him, punching back quicker than the other could even react.
either suho was incredibly strong, or haneul was incredibly weak, because the argument was solved rather… quickly after that.
suho turned towards him again with a small grin and a thumbs up, and for some reason sieun's heart skipped a beat, even at the thought of how they still had to deal with the aftermath of suho having beaten someone up at his job.
- + one
for someone who was on a date right now, despite having hated every single one he'd been on throughout the past few weeks, sieun was really enjoying himself.
suho was sprawled out next to him on the couch, a tight shirt on that showed way more of his muscles than sieun would like to see right now. it was distracting him from the movie, even if he really couldn't complain all that much, eyes fixed on the small spot where suho's stomach wasn't covered, tan skin exposed for sieun to see.
this wasn't their first date, but sieun was still somewhat nervous whenever they met up, even when it was just to do nothing and order some food.
maybe it was because this was the first time things had actually worked out.
around a month ago, a few days after his… unsuccessful date at the bar, he had come across suho in front of a convenience store— not the one the man usually worked at— and they had quickly fallen into easy conversation, both deciding to get something to eat.
suho had insisted on paying for him, with the argument of trying to make up for his failed date and the scene he had caused.
it hadn't been that big of a deal as sieun had expected at first, but he still shuddered at the thought of that day. he really would not step foot into that place ever again.
for some unknown reason, sieun had agreed to it, though. he had been flustered about it, even if his facial expression didn't show it all that much.
they had walked down the street with no proper destination in mind, sieun occasionally glancing at suho, who was wearing a red windbreaker and another one of those stupid tight shirts.
sieun swore he was doing this on purpose. suho must have put some spell on him in order for sieun to find this attractive. he usually did not bat an eye at what another man wore, but when suho did it, it was simply… different.
he was definitely going crazy.
there was a slight breeze, and sieun pulled his jacket closer to his body, before feeling suho's hand on his back, gently rubbing him to warm him up at least a little bit.
it was nice. he accepted them contact, relaxing into the touch in a way he usually never would.
suho stopped and turned towards him, one arm still around him as he looked down at sieun, something between a smile and an uncertain frown on his face.
“you wanna come over to my place?”, he asked, biting his lower lip as he did so, “it's warmer there”
sieun could have also just went home if he wanted to be somewhere warmer, but he agreed at an embarrassing speed, cheeks heating up as he did so.
he felt like he was being too easy— even if he did like the thought of suho taking him home with him— but today had been exhausting, and being around suho definitely sounded better than anything else he could possibly be doing right now.
it had started with that, and suho asking to take him on a date sometime, once they had arrived at his small apartment.
maybe he had been tired of sieun wasting his time with idiots who obviously did not care for him, and that's why he had decided to shoot his shot. sieun didn't know what specifically had made suho invite him over that day, but he was glad about it.
sieun had almost been embarrassed at how eager he was to say yes to anything suho asked of him, but the moment they had sat down on suho's couch, it was like he had been rid of any shame he might have had left.
and now they were here again. one suho's couch.
sieun's head was rested on the other's chest, as suho gently stroked his head, fingers absentmindedly combing through his hair.
they had never officially decided that the two of them were a thing now, but it was pretty obvious to anyone around them. even without labeling their relationship yet, sieun couldn't deny how drawn towards him he was.
suho pressed a gentle kiss against his temple, eyes still on the TV as he tried to follow the plot of the movie.
he occasionally paused to ask questions, and that alone was enough for sieun to be head over heels with him, really.
okay, he wasn't that easy, but he simply appreciated that suho was considerate enough to do so.
suho was getting restless, though, and sieun could tell.
it wasn't on purpose— suho was not at fault for his poor attention span— and he really tried, but sometimes it was simply too late of a time for him to still be as concentrated as he usually could be, if he genuinely made an attempt at doing so.
another kiss to the cheek made sieun pause the movie, looking up at suho with big eyes.
“if you want to kiss, just say something”, he said bluntly, staring at suho, who had a big grin on his face.
the other hummed in response, gently pushing sieun onto the couch so he laid on his back, before climbing on top of him.
“I didn't want to stop you from watching the movie”, he said, trailing kisses up sieun's neck, before placing one on his mouth.
sieun would be lying if he said he wasn't into kissing. even if he had never thought he would ever enjoy this, he was so into it when it was suho.
he would throw everything he was doing away, if it meant getting a singular kiss from suho, but the other didn't have to know that. they'd probably never stop kissing if he did so, and while sieun liked the idea of it, he hadn't finished his education yet, so it was a distraction he couldn't allow himself at the moment. at least not for too long.
maybe after he finished university, he would think about it, though. kissing suho for the rest of his life seemed like a dream of a job.
“we can always pause it, you know”, sieun said as he pulled suho closer, their lips crashing against each other again, more heated this time.
even sieun had been surprised at first at how eager he was to initiate something like this, but he had quickly realised that suho simply had the ability to turn him into a freak in a matter of seconds.
it was nice, and it was fun. with suho, at least. he doubted that any of his past dates would have been as good at it as suho was.
suho's tongue pushed into his mouth, and sieun obediently parted his lips, granting suho permission to deepen the kiss.
they pulled away after a while, sieun panting as suho grinned above him, pressing another kiss on sieun's neck before he spoke.
“I'm so glad all of your other dates failed”, he laughed, and sieun couldn't help the smile that spread on his face.
“me too, suho-yah”