Chapter Text
It's not so much that Jun hates asking for help, he just doesn't like owing people anything. But he's turned this over a million times in his head and hasn't been able to come up with one of his usual genius plan Bs, so there really is no way around this time.
Still, he lingers in the doorway for a moment, watching Dylan type away on his laptop, one ear covered by his headphones.
Jun can't help but admire his dedication, it's rare to see someone so genuinely in love with their craft in the industry, and more often than not, Jun catches himself thinking that they're actually really lucky to have Dylan in their group- even though he'd never actually admit that out loud of course. Especially not in front of Dylan.
But that's besides the point and if he keeps standing here in quiet admiration for much longer it's gonna get weird.
He sighs, entering the living room and dropping himself onto the couch next to Dylan.
“Whatever it is, immediately no,” Dylan says without even looking at him.
Jun frowns. “Why are you being so harsh, babe?”
Dylan halts typing, leveling Jun with an annoyed glare. “Go bother someone else, Jun. I'm not in the mood for your bullshit today.”
“Why not? What are you working on?” Jun snatches the headphones from Dylan's head, pressing the enter button on the keyboard to hear what he's come up with.
“Give that back,” Dylan says, swatting away Jun's hand from his keyboard, and forcefully ripping back his headphones.
Jun leans back against the couch cushions, letting out a dramatic sigh. “Jeez, so protective.”
Dylan's answer is an unintelligible grunt and Jun struggles to bite back a grin. “What's this for? Are you and Thame already working on our comeback?”
“No, it's a personal project. Can you stop bothering me?”
Jun pretends to think for a moment, “No, actually.”
Dylan clicks his tongue. “Don't you have anything better to do?”
Jun can pick up on the genuine annoyance that's crept his way into Dylan's tone and he knows well enough to stop pushing or he'll never get him to help.
“I actually need your help with something.”
Dylan raises a suspicious eyebrow, gaze raking across Jun's face. “What makes you think I want to help?”
Jun's lips curve up into a smile- he obviously expected this and came prepared.
“I'll introduce you to Benzo.”
Dylan sits up straight at that, eyes immediately widened. Jun can see his resolve slowly crumble- jackpot.
He's lucky he met the producer at one of his red carpet events recently, it turns out he’s great leverage against Dylan, who's idolised him for as long as Jun can remember.
“Okay- what the hell do you want from me to be offering like that?”
Jun actually hesitates for a moment. Because even he thinks this is really weird. Like, super weird. Especially with Dylan. But alas, he's been over it and there really is no other option.
“Hear me out first,” he starts carefully, avoiding Dylan's suspecting gaze.
“I hate it when you start a sentence like that.”
“I need someone to help me practice my lines for my upcoming role,” Jun explains, as he taps his fingers against the armrest of the couch.
Dylan just gives him a questioning look.
“What? This is my first major role, I don’t wanna end up looking stupid,” Jun says, getting unnecessarily defensive.
Dylan scoffs. “You already do.”
“Would it kill you to be a little nicer to me?”
Jun isn’t sure if he’s embarrassed, nervous or just annoyed at Dylan’s constant need to argue with him, but it’s probably a mix of it all. This is exactly why he never asks Dylan of all people for favours; they can’t be in the same room as each other for five minutes without one of them trying to get on the other’s nerves.
Dylan sighs as if Jun is inconveniencing him just by existing. He closes his laptop and sits up straighter, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“Fine, what do you need me to do? What kind of role is this?”
Jun grimaces, “it's a romance.”
“What?” Dylan says again, before bursting out laughing, shaking his head. “Seriously, you just enjoy pissing me off…”
“No, I'm serious,” Jun says, crossing his arms in front of his chest defensively.
If he lets his embarrassment show, that just makes it even more embarrassing. And it's not like he's shy about having to do this with Dylan- he's not. It's just annoying that no one else is home so Dylan's the only option.
“Huh?”
Jun rolls his eyes, and hands Dylan the script he brought, sitting back to watch the realisation slowly settle onto his face. It's kind of comical, actually.
Dylan flips through a few pages, skimming over the highlighted scenes, before giving Jun an incredulous look.
“And why the fuck would you ask me to do this with you? Can't you just ask your costar?”
Jun rolls his eyes, and shakes his head. “No, smartass. She won't be in Thailand until the first day of filming, otherwise I would’ve obviously already asked her.”
Dylan blinks a few times, looks down at the script in his hands, then back at Jun.
“I can't tell if you're just fucking with me.”
“I'll really introduce you two. Benzo’s really chill, I swear. This is really important to me, Dylan, just help me out this once ...”
Dylan seems rendered speechless for a moment, and Jun can't quite decipher the complicated emotions crossing his face. But he sees the moment Dylan gives in.
“Fine… whatever. But you owe me big time.”
Jun rolls his eyes, but relief floods him immediately. “Whatever. Come here,” he says motioning for Dylan to come closer.
Dylan does, and Jun mirrors the action until their legs touch, earning himself another look from Dylan.
“What? Come on, it has to be romantic, otherwise how will I get in character?” Jun teases easily.
He grins, smoothing a stray strand of hair out of Dylan's face. To his surprise (and delight) Dylan flushes a rosy pink at the action, immediately swatting at his hand.
“Just get on with it, will you?”
Jun's grin only widens and he flips to the right page in Dylan's script, putting his own in his lap just in case he needs it. “So impatient, darling~”
“Jun.”
“Alright, alright.”
Dylan’s gaze doesn't meet Jun's for his first few lines, staying on the script to read his own lines that are coming up.
“You're not thinking this through.”
Dylan finally looks up, a short look of surprise crossing his face at the seriousness in Jun's expression.
“... but I can't keep lying to myself like this,” he tries, his tone unsure and still a little annoyed. He glances back down at the script.
“You're saying that there was never anything between us?”
Jun thinks it's a little weird to say all of these things to Dylan. Because he’s probably the last person he’d ever picture when thinking of a romantic interest. But now that they've started, Jun finds it's not actually too unbelievable. Or maybe the exercise worked and he's already in character.
“Yeah,” Dylan says a little quieter, and glances back up at him.
“Liar,” Jun says. The script calls for him to grab Dylan's arm and he hesitates for a moment, before doing so, fingers curling into the surprisingly soft fabric of his sweater.
Dylan's eyes widen for a second, before he seems to recover, and Jun takes that as his go ahead to continue his line.
“Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't have feelings for me. I'll step back.”
Dylan squirms a little, but doesn't move to pull away. He subtly rolls his eyes before speaking. “I…”
“I know you can't,” Jun says, tightening his grip on his arms just slightly.
Dylan glances down at the script, as if he's trying to avoid eye contact, but he quickly looks back up at what he finds, eyes going wide and the rosy flush on his cheeks coming back in full force.
Jun doesn't even know what to do with himself. Why is his heart pounding? It’s not like he's really confessing to Dylan right now- he'd never do that, he doesn't even have feelings for him. But then why…
He licks his lips, voice coming out a little breathless as he speaks. “We can skip the kiss if you're uncomfortable.”
Dylan's eyes zero in on the motion of his tongue, lingering on his lips for a moment, before darting back to the script, then finally up to Jun's.
“I…” he gulps, Adam's apple bobbing as his trembling fingers put down the script.
Jun can't tell if this is actually happening or if he's dreaming.
“No, it's fine,” Dylan finally says, voice timid like Jun has never heard it before. The air feels different now- charged with something he can't seem to grasp.
“What…?” Jun asks, a little breathless. He was fully expecting Dylan to flip him off and tell him to fuck off, not just… agree to kiss him. Jun can’t remember the last time he’s seen Dylan so flustered- it’s kind of satisfying, actually.
“I- I mean it's just for you to practice. Don't make it weird.” Dylan scrambles to say.
Jun hums, unable to form a proper sentence right now. His eyes zero in on Dylan's lips and oh. How has he never noticed how pink and plush and frankly Kissable they look?
He leans in, hand hovering uncertainty for a moment, before settling on Dylan's thigh, the fabric of his jeans rough beneath his palm.
Dylan's breath hitches audibly, and Jun catches himself liking it, his stomach twisting with satisfaction at the knowledge he's the one that brought on that reaction. Very weird…
Dylan's own trembling hand curls into Jun's sleeve, tugging just a little, but it's enough to make Jun snap into action, leaning in until their lips brush each other softly.
Jun suddenly feels stunned, not having expected Dylan's lips to be so soft or to taste so addictingly of vanilla, and his body moves before he can even think about it properly, tilting his head to deepen the kiss.
Dylan makes a soft noise of surprise against his lips, and Jun swallows it with strange determination, his free hand coming up to cradle Dylan's face. His touch is tender, which is weird, because this is Dlyan and he’s being gentle with him…
But Dylan is kissing back so eagerly, trailing his hand up to grasp Jun's shoulder instead, that it almost feels natural.
It should scare him, it should make him want to stop. He really should stop. The script only calls for a peck, and they’ve long moved past that. But he can't bring himself to pull back, so instead he sucks Dylan's lower lip into his mouth, pulling another one of those breathy sounds from him.
Dylan's nails dig into his shoulder, the script tumbling off of Jun's lap as he moves to press impossibly closer.
In the end, Dylan is the one to pull back first, one hand pressed flat to Jun's chest to put some distance between them, pupils blown wide and his face flushed an even deeper shade of red now.
“Shit…” Jun breathes dumbly, running a hand through his hair.
“I…” Dylan trails off, wide eyes frantically searching Jun's face. It seems like he finds whatever it is he's looking for as some of the uncertainty leaves his eyes.
Jun opens his mouth to speak, but he can’t seem to find anything to say, so he closes it again. The air between them somehow still feels charged, and Jun's fingers twitch at his sides, still yearning to touch.
The script lay long forgotten on the carpet beneath the couch, and all Jun can focus on is the way Dylan's lips look now- red and a little swollen.
Dylan seems to catch where his gaze lingers, and he takes a shaky breath, hand still lingering against his chest.
They stare at each other for a long, tense moment. Jun knows that if he doesn't hold back now, there's definitely going to be consequences and he’ll need to confront whatever feelings for Dylan this whole ordeal has apparently unearthed. But God…
He surges forward to claim Dylan's lips in another kiss, this one a lot less tentative and a lot more… real.
Dylan kisses back with an amount of desperation Jun isn't prepared for, a low sound of his own rumbling in the back of his throat.
There's something about kissing Dylan that makes Jun wonder why he ever bothered with anyone else. How has Dylan been there this entire time yet Jun has never had the bright idea to kiss him breathless like this? It just seems like a waste…
Jun can’t believe himself right now… he knows deep down that there's no way to justify this other than admitting he wants Dylan. Which should be enough to give him pause, but he just can't bring himself to stop or even slow down.
Instead, the longer he's kissing Dylan, the more insatiable he feels. He pushes at Dylan's chest until his back hits the couch cushion, moving in to hover above him, and slides his hands just slightly underneath the hem of his shirt.
Dylan gasps, both hands coming up to grasp Jun’s arms, his nails digging into the muscle there.
They jump apart frantically at the sound of a car pulling into the driveway, chests still heaving with heavy breaths. Dylan looks up at him with wide, glassy eyes and Jun quickly sits back, allowing Dylan to do the same.
He glances outside and groans as he sees Thame's car outside. He looks back at Dylan, and his heart leaps. Dylan’s face is flushed, his hair tousled and lips kiss swollen. Jun has half a mind to ignore Thame and go back to kissing Dylan, but he knows that’s unreasonable, so he doesn’t do that, instead smoothing down his shirt to make himself look more presentable.
Dylan fumbles to look busy, fingers hovering over the keyboard of his laptop again, just in time as Thame and Po enter the house, passing the living room and greeting them.
Jun can see the shit eating grin on Thame's face, but he thankfully has enough grace to keep his mouth shut. Or maybe Jun's warning glare says enough.