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Seonghyeon had just returned from an unscheduled dance practice, needing some distance after arguing with the youngest of their group. He realised he had said some harsh words, not in his right mind, and wanted to apologise and make things right between his best friend.
“Martin hyung, is Keonho still here?” He asked, taking off his shoes and placing them on the rack.
Martin, who was seated on the couch, looked up from his phone and shrugged. “Probably. I didn’t see him leave our room after you stormed off earlier.”
Seonghyeon just nodded and went straight to their shared bathroom to take a quick shower. He was sweaty after endless runs of their choreography, and he doubted Keonho would appreciate comfort if there was sweat soaking through his shirt.
As he quickly lathered up some soap and washed himself, Seonghyeon couldn’t help but sigh countless times in the span of minutes. It was a stupid argument, and he regrets yelling at the literal sunshine of their group.
☆☆☆
Seonghyeon had been frustrated all morning. Juhoon took one look at his face and avoided him entirely, as if Seonghyeon was a bomb waiting to be ticked off.
Martin had raised a brow, but ignored him, used to this. James wasn’t even at the dorm, too busy with another schedule, so he didn’t witness Seonghyeon on the verge of a mental breakdown.
And then there was Keonho. Sweet, innocent Kenho, who had finally woken up and wandered out of their shared room. He was wrapped in Seonghyeon’s hoodie, waddling towards him like a penguin, still half-asleep. Keonho, the reason behind Seonghyeon’s growing inner turmoil.
When it came to the younger one, it was all too much. Too many thoughts, too many feelings. Seonghyeon hated it. Well, maybe not hate, but it definitely scared him. He felt too much when it came to Keonho, and he was nowhere near ready to acknowledge what that meant.
The cause of his headache stopped in front of him, then flopped onto the couch, way too close to Seonghyeon. Their arms brushed, their thighs were touching. Too close, too much.
“Seonghyeon?” Keonho asked, voice soft and gentle, barely there. He was leaning into Seonghyeon’s side, and the latter was screaming on the inside.
At the lack of response from the older one, Keonho pushed again, “Hyeon, are you okay? Is something wrong?”
Seonghyeon made the stupid decision of facing Keonho. He was met with the younger’s sparkly eyes and pretty lips, merely centimetres away from his own face. Fuck, he wanted to kiss those lips so bad and see how they would feel.
Something inside Seonghyeon snapped. What the fuck was he thinking? His fellow bandmate and best friend was still looking at him, confused, trying to figure out what problems the other was having, and here he was—thinking about kissing him.
So when Keonho gently prodded again, repeating his questions from earlier, the words left Seonghyeon’s mouth before he could even register them. “Can you shut up and leave me alone? Stop acting like you care so much, you wouldn’t understand anyway.”
Noticing the hurt painted across Keonho’s face, Seonghyeon panicked, and his fight-or-flight response kicked in. He grabbed his phone and jacket from a nearby chair and left without looking back.
☆☆☆
He hadn’t meant to yell at Keonho or say any of those hurtful words to him. His emotions got the best of him, and he exploded. Had directed and taken out his frustrations on Keonho, who did absolutely nothing but look out for him.
Seonghyeon felt like shit, and he wanted nothing more than to apologise and comfort the younger one, reassure him that he didn’t mean anything he had said earlier. He turned off the water and dried himself with his towel, wrapping it around his waist afterwards.
He hesitated before knocking on the door to their room. “Keonho? Are you in there?” He asked, loud enough for someone inside to hear.
Seonghyeon didn’t receive a response, so before entering, he said, “I’m going to come in and grab some clothes, okay?”
As he opened the door, he half-expected Keonho to be asleep, watching something with his Airpods plugged in, or playing a game. But no, the room was empty and completely silent. Weird.
Seonghyeon shrugged it off. Maybe Keonho had gone out, and Martin just didn’t notice. He grabbed a random tee from his closet with some comfortable sweatpants. Seonghyeon’s plan was to possibly scroll on his phone for a little while or take a nap while he waited for Keonho to return.
Grabbing his phone, Seonghyeon was about to jump into his bed when he noticed a strange lump under the sheets. “What the fuck?” He reached out to flatten it out, hoping it was just trapped air. The lump shifted under his hand, soft yet slightly firm.
Seonghyeon flinched back, surprised. “What the actual fuck? I swear to God if our dorm is infested by rodents, I’m going to complain to management.” It was a joke, trying to soothe his nerves, because surely there was no way their dorm was being taken over by rodents.
“Okay, Seonghyeon, it’s okay. Just lift it on the count of three, and you’ll see that it’s nothing. Someone probably just left clothes under your blanket or something.” He knew he sounded insane, talking to himself, but he couldn’t help it. “Ready? One, two, three!”
Seonghyeon pulled the blanket off with an unnecessary amount of strength, stumbling back at the lack of resistance. He peered at his bed to see... a bunny?
“What the fuck.”
Sure, bunnies were cuter than rodents, but why the hell was there one in his bed? It was small, like a ball of fluff with light brown fur and delicate-looking whiskers. The bunny was peering up at him, its eyes bright yet fearful at the sudden exposure from underneath the blanket.
Seonghyeon had to be hallucinating because the bunny almost reminded him of Keonho. This was probably some sick prank one of the members was pulling on him. “Very funny, Ahn Keonho. Come out from where you’re hiding, and take this bunny off my bed.”
Yet, nothing happened. No Keonho and the bunny were still very much staring at him, head slightly tilted. Seonghyeon was on the verge of losing it once again, so he yelled out for Martin.
“What now? Is Keonho not—” he paused mid-step after seeing the ball of fluff. “Eom Seonghyeon, why the fuck do you have a bunny on your bed?” Martin looked at him, concern evident in the scrunch of his eyebrows.
“I—I don’t know. I didn’t bring it in or put it there!”
Martin sighed and rubbed his temples, muttering words that Seonghyeon couldn’t quite catch. “Seriously? So what, you’re telling me this bunny magically appeared? In our dorm. On your bed.”
Ignoring the deadpan look on Martin’s face, Seonghyeon nodded. “Yes. Maybe? I just got here, and it was there. I have no idea how it got in.”
“Okay, fine, sure. Where’s Keonho?” Martin asked, clearly stressed.
Seonghyeon shrugged. “He wasn’t here when I came in.”
At that moment, the door opened, and Juhoon stepped in. Seonghyeon tried ignoring the hint of disappointment that hit him when he saw who it was.
“You two are kind of loud, by the way. What’s going on?” Juhoon questioned, curious.
Martin pointed at Seonghyeon’s bed, where the bunny was now actively trying to hide in his sheets. “There’s a bunny on Seonghyeon’s bed, and we have no clue where Keonho went.”
Juhoon shut the door behind me, carefully walking further into their room. He eyed the bunny with caution before carefully settling down at the foot of Seonghyeon’s bed. He tapped his thighs softly, trying to get the bunny’s attention.
“Jju, what are you doing?” Martin asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know yet, but it looks a little scared.” When the bunny didn’t look up from its mission of digging further into Seonghyeon’s blanket, Juhoon reached over and gently tapped it on the back.
The bunny made a small, adorable noise, quickly squirming around in the sheets and moving further away from Juhoon’s hand. It bumped into one of the pillows, startling itself and searching desperately for an exit.
“You’re right. I think it’s scared of us,” Martin said, testing out his theory by stepping closer to the bed, only to see the bunny flinch away.
Seonghyeon sighed for the nth time that day. “I’ll figure something out. You two can leave. It would be great if you both could try contacting Keonho, though.”
“Okay, but call if you need help.” And with that, those two left Seonghyeon alone. Well, Seonghyeon is alone with the bunny.
His fear had settled, so he carefully lifted the pillow over to the corner to avoid the bunny hurting itself by falling off his bed. Then, Seonghyeon sat down next to it. He wasn’t sure what he would do, but he was drained emotionally, mentally, and physically. All that overthinking and relentless dance practice made everything hurt.
The bunny had paused its actions, staring up at him, nose twitching ever so slightly. Now that he got a better look without being scared, the bunny was honestly pretty cute. Thoughts of Keonho flooded back into his brain, and he shook his head, an attempt to dismiss them.
“Wow. He really takes up every single bit of space in my mind to the point where I can’t even look at a bunny without thinking of him. I am so fucked.” Seonghyeon laughed at his own misery.
The bunny, as if it were listening, shifted closer. “Oh, now you suddenly like me? All because I mentioned Keonho? I can’t even blame you, literally everyone loves him.” The ‘including me’ fell silent.
He couldn’t admit it aloud. Acknowledging it would be a step he couldn’t take back. Even if he was only saying it in front of a random bunny.
“Since you’re probably not going away for a while, I might as well give you a name. How about... Kono?” It was short, cute, simple, and definitely had nothing to do with the fact that the bunny reminded him of Keonho.
He noticed the bunny’s ears lifted from their previously floppy state. “I guess you like that, huh? You’re rather adorable, Kono, but I miss the real Keonho,” Seonghyeon admitted, whispering the last part as if it were a secret he couldn’t afford to share.
Seonghyeon closed his eyes for a moment, the weight of the day tugging his eyelids shut. It was supposed to be a few minutes, a quick nap at most, but sleep took over, and he was too tired to fight it off.
Deep in sleep, Seonghyeon wasn’t aware of the way the bunny slipped into his embrace, tucked between his arms. Soft and cosy, next to his heart that continued to beat at a steady pace, lulling the bunny to sleep too.
☆☆☆
Seonghyeon woke up first the next morning. The curtains weren’t shut the previous night, so golden rays of sunshine flooded the room. He could hear Martin snoring in the other bed, still very much asleep.
His arms felt a little numb, and he was about to stretch when a fluff of hair tickled his chin. Seonghyeon had nearly forgotten that he had fallen asleep with the bunny still on his bed.
Except, it wasn’t the bunny that was safely enveloped in his arms. It was Ahn Keonho.
Seonghyeon froze, his muscles that were previously numb going completely rigid. Keonho was peacefully sleeping against his chest. From how close they were, he could easily count the younger one’s long and beautiful eyelashes.
He attempted to disregard the fact that Keonho fit perfectly in his arms, but all his efforts were ruined when Keonho burrowed closer instinctively. Seonghyeon swore that all the oxygen in his lungs was sucked out at that moment, with the way he could barely breathe. Keonho was so warm, so soft against him.
Ahn Keonho was going to be the sole cause of Eom Seonghyeon’s death.
Seonghyeon’s train of thought vanished when Keonho started to stir. He considered pretending to be asleep, but didn’t have enough time to put his plan into action because Keonho slowly opened his eyes, blinking up at him. The eye contact was too much, and Seonghyeon malfunctioned because how can someone’s eyes be so pretty?
The moment of silence that followed was warm and intimate, tinged with too many words unsaid, and neither of them could look away. Keonho just stared at him until his brain seemed to catch up with the current situation, and he looked around, confused.
It’s adorable, honestly, and Seonghyeon had a strong urge to squish his cheeks, but then Keonho pulled back timidly, no longer looking at him. Seonghyeon’s heart shattered into pieces when he remembered what happened yesterday.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to… fall asleep here,” Keonho said, but his voice is too quiet, too flat, nothing like the sunshine he usually is.
Seonghyeon felt a punch in his chest of guilt, regret, and panic, after he realised that Keonho was still hurt from his words. He sits up quickly, back against the cold frame of his bed, startling Keonho a little at the quick movement, who mirrors him to straighten up too.
The words spill out of his mouth, and he unconsciously grabs Keonho’s hands in his. “I was stressed—I didn’t mean anything that I said yesterday, and I am so sorry, Keonho.” Seonghyeon takes a quick breath before blurting out the rest, “I—I actually love it when you worry about me. I never, ever wanted to hurt you, and I know I said some fucked up things, but I promise none of it was real.”
Keonho nods, taking in the words, as if accepting his apology. But then he quietly replies, his voice wavering a little, “You really scared me yesterday. I thought maybe… maybe you didn’t like me or want me around anymore. That I might have annoyed you too much or that you couldn’t talk to me about your worries because I was too immature or you just didn’t trust me…”
He tries to smile, but it’s so obviously forced, and it breaks something inside of Seonghyeon. He’s about to reassure Keonho when the door suddenly opens, and Martin walks in, a towel hanging around his neck. Shit, Seonghyeon nearly forgot about their roommate. Martin takes one look at dishevelled Seonghyeon, their interlocked hands, and the tousled bedsheets, before slowly backing out of the room.
Grateful for Martin’s swift ability to read the room, Seonghyeon’s ready to turn his attention back to comforting Keonho when a small tuft of fur catches his eye. He carefully picks it off his sheets and notices that Keonho has messy hair, adorably sticking up in different directions, in the same shade.
There was no way. But Seonghyeon remembers how the bunny had behaved like Keonho. It was scared of loud voices, buried itself in his blankets, and its ears had perked up when Seonghyeon had called it Kono. Still, it wouldn’t make any sense.
He looks up at Keonho and whispers, “That’s impossible. Right?”
Keonho looks a little frightened, as if he knows something too, but he gets flustered and says, “I—I should wash up too!” before practically fleeing out of the room. Seonghyeon just stares after him, heart pounding, and mind spiralling.
He’s staring out the door, expression hollow, when Juhoon passes by and casually states, “Oh, by the way, I think the bunny disappeared last night.”
“What?” Seonghyeon asks, shocked.
Juhoon shrugs, clueless to the knot forming in Seonghyeon’s stomach. “Yeah, unless it’s still in your room. I checked everywhere.”
Seonghyeon is sure he’s about to have a heart attack or some form of cardiac arrest. He just sits there, gripping the sheets with an amount of strength he didn’t even know he possessed, making his knuckles turn white. There’s only one thought looping in his head, “I slept holding him… all night… and he let me.”
And then, a second thought. “Holy shit, was Keonho the bunny?”
☆☆☆
Seonghyeon eventually comes out of the room, though he’s still shaken. He spots Keonho at the table, seated between James and Juhoon, avoiding eye contact, solely focused on his breakfast. Seonghyeon decides it’s not the best time to confront the younger one, so he slips into the chair next to Martin.
Martin, who either was traumatised to the point where he forgot what he saw or was polite enough not to bring it up, takes one of the bowls and pours in his cereal. Just as Seonghyeon is about to take a bite out of his pancakes, Martin asks, “James hyung, did you see a bunny when you came back from your schedule yesterday?”
James freezes mid-sip of his tea, nearly choking on the scorching hot liquid. “What?”
“Yeah, it was in Martin, Seonghyeon, and Keonho’s room. We think it disappeared,” Juhoon adds.
“A bunny in our dorm? No, I didn’t see it. That’s weird.” The conversation ends there as everyone resumes eating their breakfast, but Seonghyeon, attentive as always, notices the sharp inhale and the small twitch of James’s hand.
Seonghyeon doesn’t have time to worry about James, though, because his attention returns to Keonho, who has been eating with his head down. He hasn’t spoken at all, which is unlike him.
It hurts. All Seonghyeon can now think about is how Keonho is probably scared of him, doesn’t want to talk to him, or maybe that he regrets waking up in his arms. And worst of all, he most likely doesn’t feel the same way as Seonghyeon… Ah, fuck him and his feelings.
“Keonho-yah,” James says, his tone gentle yet firm, while putting his dishes into the sink. “After you finish your breakfast, come to the balcony with me for a second.”
Keonho looks up a little startled, but nods. There’s no further explanation, and all Seonghyeon can do is watch as Keonho also cleans up his plate and follows James to the balcony. The door is slid shut behind them so Seonghyeon can’t see or hear anything, and it’s killing him.
Best-case scenario, Seonghyeon assumes that he might be in trouble for yelling at Keonho yesterday. Worst case scenario, Keonho is now confiding in James… not him. He knows he has no right to feel jealous. It’s not like Seonghyeon owns Keonho or they’re dating. No, Keonho can talk to and get comforted by whoever he wants.
“Seonghyeon, bro, why do you look like you’re going to punch the nearest wall or have a meltdown any second?” Juhoon asks, a teasing smile stretched across his face.
Seonghyeon rolls his eyes and is about to give back a snarky remark when Keonho and James step back inside. James pats Keonho’s shoulder, which is a normal gesture between them, but it pisses Seonghyeon even more. Keonho turns to walk away, and Seonghyeon hurriedly stands from his seat to reach out for Keonho, but James stands slightly between them.
Seonghyeon watches as Keonho slips into the bathroom, probably to freshen up or brush his teeth. “What was that for?” He asks, a little annoyed that James blocked his way.
James sighs, squeezing Seonghyeon’s arm to try to calm him down a bit. “Seonghyeon-ah, give Keonho some space today, okay? He’s tired.”
Seonghyeon nods, devastated, but his anger mostly disappears. James was just trying to look out for them as the oldest, and he needed to respect that. “Yeah, sure. Sorry.”
The day went by slowly, the hours feeling like decades for Seonghyeon. During dance practice, Keonho barely looked at him and didn’t talk to him except for the one occasion when he asked where Martin was. And their schedule was even worse. Keonho was stuck to Juhoon like glue, not giving Seonghyeon a single opportunity to interact with him, unless it was according to the script while cameras were rolling.
That night, Keonho couldn’t sleep again. Martin passed out the second his head hit his pillow, and Seonghyeon hadn’t said a word to him, going straight to bed. Keonho lies in bed, staring at the ceiling. He keeps replaying the flash of what looked like hurt on Seonghyeon’s face during breakfast, the way he had reached for him.
The guilt inside Keonho builds for hurting Seonghyeon by accident, making James worry, and for craving Seonghyeon's comfort so badly. Keonho blinks, fighting the sting against his eyes, as he whispers into his pillow, “He must hate me.”
His chest tightens and then, “Fuck—” His ears start to flop out. “No, no, no,” Keonho whimpers as he physically tries to hold them down. He had promised himself he would stay in control, but all he can think about is how Seonghyeon is upset at him.
His breathing quickly becomes shaky, his hands tremble, and his tail starts to form. He panics, diving under his sheets, biting his forearm to muffle any sounds because he can feel himself shrinking. He stays awake until he returns to normal form in the morning, restless with anxiety from being discovered, getting less than an hour of sleep.
Keonho wakes up with red-rimmed, puffy eyes and messed-up hair. He tiptoes out of the room, careful not to wake up Martin or Seonghyeon, and heads straight for James’s room. The oldest is already awake, doing his morning skincare routine, when Keonho barges into his room.
“Keonho?” James whispers, carefully placing down a bottle of moisturiser on his bedside table. “Hey, come here.” He pats the space on his bed next to him. “Don’t worry about Juhoon, it’s practically impossible to wake him up.”
Keonho silently settles down, and James knows immediately after one look at his face. “You transformed again, didn’t you?” It doesn’t feel like an accusation, more like a statement. Keonho doesn’t answer, and that’s enough for James to understand.
He rubs his forehead, stressed, “This is getting worse. Do you know what might have triggered it? Keonho, did you think someone was upset with you?” Once again, Keonho’s silence speaks louder than words could have. James lets out a curse under his breath. “Was it Seonghyeon again?”
There’s a slight flinch from Keonho at the mention of Seonghyeon’s name, and everything clicks into place. “Wait. Keonho, have you ever transformed after fighting with Martin?” James asks.
“No… Not that I can remember,” Keonho responds, his voice shaky and slightly strained.
“Keonho-yah, I think your condition is specifically anchored to Seonghyeon.”
The youngest pouts and whines, “Hyung, that can’t be.”
“I’m serious, Keonho. Think about it. The first time you transformed was because Seonghyeon was mad at you after you accidentally deleted his track while playing around on his laptop. But when you and Martin fight, which happens very often, in case you forgot, nothing happens even when he’s upset with you.”
Keonho wanted to deny it, but deep down, he knew what James was saying was the truth. He just didn’t want to admit it because then the reason why he was only affected by Seonghyeon would be revealed too.
Later that day, Keonho was in the kitchen reaching for a glass when his sleeve slipped down, revealing his forearm. Seonghyeon, who had been hovering nearby, pretending to be engrossed in his phone, caught it immediately. There was a strange bruise on Keonho.
“What’s that?” He grabs Keonho’s wrist, gentle to not hurt him, but with enough force that he was able to take a quick look at the mark before Keonho yanked away like he was burned.
“Nothing! I—I bumped into a drawer.” It’s a white lie, and they both know it. Confusion and hurt cloud Seonghyeon’s mind as he watches the younger one pull down his sleeve, running to God knows where, leaving behind the glass on the counter.
☆☆☆
After the lie about the mark on his forearm, Keonho is overwhelmed with shame and can’t bring himself to face Seonghyeon. He moves around the dorm like a quiet ghost, refuses eye contact, runs away whenever Seonghyeon enters the same room as him, or makes the worst excuses possible to avoid being alone with him.
He misses Seonghyeon so much, but he has to look away right after glancing at him every few minutes, otherwise he might not be able to stop himself from running straight into the other’s arms to be embraced.
James constantly expresses his worry for him, so Keonho ends up spending most of his evening in James’s room. Juhoon and Martin had gone out to watch a movie, so it was just them and Seonghyeon at home. James reluctantly goes to take a shower after Keonho reassures him that it's fine.
The loneliness doesn’t help. Keonho tries to sleep, tries to even out his breathing, even wraps himself snug in James’s blanket, but the thoughts overwhelm him. “Seonghyeon must be upset… he saw the mark… he knows I lied… I broke his trust… he must hate me now…”
His breathing gets tight, his chest feels heavy, and the transformation hits him fast and painfully. He tries to stop it, but nothing works. A soft, broken sound escapes him, and he curls up under the blanket, shaking.
In the other room down the hallway, Seonghyeon couldn’t sleep either. His mind keeps replaying Keonho yanking his arm away, the lying, the bruise on his arm, and the way Keonho looks at everyone except for him. Seonghyeon grudgingly gets out of bed to go and get a glass of water, hoping it will help soothe his building headache.
As Seonghyeon passes James’s room, he hears a soft, tiny noise coming from James’s room. However, he can hear that James is still in the shower and the lights are off, which makes no sense. Seonghyeon frowns and carefully opens the door, switching on the lights.
Juhoon’s bed is empty, but then he sees it—a small, trembling lump on James’s blankets.
“...Is that Kono?” At the sound of his voice, the bunny lifts its head.
It’s the same shade, the same ears, and more than anything, those eyes. Keonho’s eyes.
The bunny flinches away, terrified, trying to back into James’s pillows, but Seonghyeon slowly walks over and kneels beside the bed. Careful, controlled movements to not scare the bunny even further.
“Keonho?”
Seonghyeon reaches out, not to grab or corner the bunny, just to offer his hand. The bunny clearly hesitates, but then, very slowly, steps into his palm. He’s trembling so much it hurts to watch. Seonghyeon lifts him gently, close to his chest. The bunny curls in on itself, its head dropped low, whiskers downturned.
And that’s when every memory hits Seonghyeon like a punch to his gut. The way Keonho avoids him after arguments, the way he acts when he thinks Seonghyeon is upset with him, and how he’s only encountered the bunny when there was tension between them. Every moment of silence and avoidance.
Seonghyeon’s voice shakes when he speaks, “Keonho.” He presses his cheek gently against the soft fur. “I’m not upset with you. I never was.”
The bunny squeezes its eyes shut, and a tiny, pitiful sound escapes its mouth as its small paws reach for Seonghyeon’s shirt. And then—still in Seonghyeon’s hands, the bunny starts to glow. Slowly and softly. Transforming back, right there, in Seonghyeon’s arms.
He tightens his hold on Keonho’s waist, stabilising the younger one, who actively avoids eye contact, instead stuffing his face into Seonghyeon’s shirt. The cute action makes Seonghyeon laugh, finding him adorable.
“Ahn Keonho, what am I going to do with you?” Seonghyeon asks mostly to himself, placing a soft kiss on the crown of Keonho’s head. The other lets out a sound similar to a squeak that ends up making Seonghyeon burst into a fit of giggles.
Seonghyeon shifts back against the headboard, pulling a pouty Keonho gently into his lap. Keonho is still half-hiding in his shirt, embarrassed, and trembling a little from the transformation. Seonghyeon holds him carefully, his thumbs rubbing soothing circles into his waist.
Seonghyeon’s voice is soft when he talks, “Keonho, please tell me what happened. I need to know, so I don’t hurt you again.”
Keonho lifts his head, but he hesitates, unable to look at Seonghyeon. The older one waits, patient, as always. Eventually, Keonho nods and starts explaining.
“It’s only happened a few times. I—I don’t really know, but I guess it feels like I get overwhelmed when I think that I’ve upset you or something and then… I panic, and I shrink into, umm, a bunny.” Keonho plays with Seonghyeon’s shirt, his grip tight as if he’s scared the other might disappear.
Seonghyeon felt guilt gnaw at his stomach, but he didn’t interrupt, as Keonho continued explaining, “I didn’t tell you because it’s really embarrassing and honestly, I had no idea why it was happening until James hyung figured it out this morning.”
Keonho remained focused on his shirt as it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen, not looking up at him, so Seonghyeon gently cups his face, thumbs brushing the soft skin of his cheeks.
“No, Keonho, I could never hate you. I…” Seonghyeon trails off, nerves getting the best of him.
Keonho’s brows furrowed, his deep, brown eyes finally meeting Seonghyeon’s. “What is it, Hyeon? You can tell me.” Seonghyeon lets out a shaky sigh, his hands returning to their place back on Keonho’s waist as if he needed to ground himself.
“...I like you, Keonho. I’ve liked you for a long time. Maybe too much. I avoided it because I didn’t want to ruin what we had. But, then you turned into a bunny because of me and,” he laughs a little helplessly, “Keonho, I’m so in love with you, it’s kind of embarrassing.”
A wave of heat painted Keonho’s cheeks pink, his eyes going wide. “Really? I—I like you too! Actually, I think I liked you first. I thought you would think it’s weird, and I didn’t want to scare you away because you hate when things get awkward and—” Keonho rambles, and Seonghyeon just stares at him, stunned and amused.
Seeing that the younger one had no plans on shutting up, Seonghyeon leans forward and places a small peck on his lips. Just a brush, barely there, but it’s enough that Keonho stops mid-sentence. His hand subconsciously comes to touch his lips as if he can’t believe that just happened.
“You—You just kissed me—You can’t do that!” Keonho whines, trying to cool down his overheated, blushing cheeks.
Seonghyeon just laughs and holds him closer. “I’ve always wanted to kiss away your pout, you know.” Keonho chooses to ignore those words, as he doesn’t think he would survive thinking about that, and melts into Seonghyeon’s embrace.
Keonho’s voice is quiet, calmer when he asks, “Can we stay like this for a little while?”
“For as long as you want.” Seonghyeon replies, whispering into Keonho’s hair.
James enters the room with a water bottle, tired and ready to sleep, when he spots the two wrapped around each other like koalas. He stares at them for a moment. Blinks once, then twice, and turns around wordlessly.
“I’m too tired for this shit,” he says to himself, before going straight to Keonho’s bed and pulling the blankets over him, leaving the two lovesick idiots to themselves.