Work Text:
Keeho subconsciously tapped his pencil on the paper in front of him, his eyes diligently scanning the paper, much too focused on the task to care about the noise. It wasn’t until the pencil flung out of his hand that he noticed he had been fiddling with it at all. The pencil landed across the table, directly onto Jiung’s paper, who was sitting only a few feet in front of Keeho.
Keeho’s eyes flicked up to Jiung’s face, expecting him to have that classically annoyed look on his face as he always did when Keeho bothered him. Though much to his surprise, Jiung’s eyes weren’t on him, because they weren’t even open. Keeho raises his brow, at first he thinks Jiung might have fallen asleep, but he’s so stiff that it can’t be the case. Keeho peeks under the table, seeing Jiung’s hand planted on either knee, he almost wants to laugh. Keeho pops back up, Jiung’s eyes still clamped shut. “Jiung, isn’t the point of meditating to be, like… non-tense?” Keeho teases.
Jiung’s eyes began to flutter open, and then there was that annoyed glare Keeho had been waiting for earlier. Jiung sighs, “Hey, can’t you see I am in the middle of something?”
Keeho nods, “Well, can you hand me my pencil? It flew out of my hand,” Keeho points at Jiung’s paper. Jiung rolls his eyes, then picks up the pencil and puts it down onto Keeho’s paper. The pencil clanks against the paper, Jiung’s agitation transferring through the motion. Keeho shakes it off, picking back up the pencil, then resuming his own studying. He understood finals were stressful, so he let Jiung off the hook despite the hostility.
Zoning back in on his note reviewing, Keeho’s taken right back out of study mode when Jiung interrupts apprehensively with, “Can you stop clicking your fucking pencil?” Keeho sets his pencil down entirely at that. A bit bewildered by Jiung’s aggressiveness, Keeho stares at him for a moment. Jiung’s stress is all over his face, manifesting through his messy hair and the sweat on his temple.
“You need to chill out,” Keeho states.
“Sorry,” running a hand through his hair quickly before he continues, “I just…” he sighs, “that noise is all I can hear.”
Keeho purses his lips and nods in understanding. “I’m not doing it on purpose. Sorry. I’ll try to stop,” Keeho says. Jiung just nods. Keeho attempts to return to his study once more, but this time he feels himself tense up, too. Keeho reaches into his pocket and quickly takes a hit from his cart in his pocket, then refocuses. It’s smooth sailing from there until Jiung pulls him back out of his zone one more time.
Jiung groans, putting his head into his hands, “Fucking. Oh. My. God.” Jiung’s head lands onto his paper with a thud, completely defeated. Keeho watches, not even wanting to laugh, just feeling bad for the guy at this point. Jiung peers up at Keeho from his place on the table, looking so hopeless that Keeho feels as if he had done something wrong suddenly.
“Don’t feel pressured to say yes, but… Do you want to hit this?” Keeho offers, presenting his cart to Jiung. Jiung peels himself off the table, analyzing the object in Keeho’s hand. Much like anything else, Jiung seems to consider the offer too seriously. “Don’t say yes if you have to convince yourself. I don’t wanna make you do something you don’t want to, I just want you to calm down,” Keeho says.
“I’ve never smoked weed before,” Jiung explains.
“I figured,” Keeho replies. Jiung thinks for a few more moments before ultimately nodding awkwardly. Keeho didn’t anticipate this possibility; he had offered out of the obligation to at least attempt to mend Jiung’s stress. His eyes widen a bit, and he then begins to worry about if he wants to be the first person to introduce anyone to drugs. Keeho pauses, an idea clicking in his head suddenly, he nods, “Ok, but I don’t think you should take a direct hit,” he informs. “Let’s shotgun it,” Keeho proposes. Jiung tilts his head, clearly unfamiliar with the phrase. “Like, so…” Keeho pauses, “I take the hit, then I pass it to you, mouth-to-mouth style,” he explains. Jiung’s eyebrows rise immediately. “I don’t want you to get overwhelmed since it’s your first time,” Keeho says.
“So we have to like… kiss?” Jiung questions.
Keeho nods, “Well, I mean yeah.” he tilts his head, “Don’t wanna kiss me?”
“It's…” Jiung shakes his head, flustered, “...that’s fine.”
Keeho can’t help but smile at that. “Come here then,” he gestures with his head for Jiung to sit next to him. Jiung stands up from his side of the table and shamefully plops down as told. “Ready?” Keeho asks. Jiung nods shyly.
Keeho stares straight into Jiung’s eyes as he takes the hit, carefully looking for any signal that Jiung might want to back out. There’s nothing, though, so Keeho inches closer, then closer. Keeho grabs onto Jiung’s jaw, gently pulling on it to encourage him to open up, then exhaling the smoke into Jiung’s mouth, their lips touching ever so slightly. Both of their eyes stayed open throughout the process, and Keeho didn’t miss the flinch of Jiung’s body when their lips made that slight contact. Keeho smiles as he deposits the smoke, then pulls back with that unchanged expression. “See? We barely kissed,” Keeho says. Jiung swallows, then coughs a bit. As to be expected for a first timer.
“When does it set in?” Jiung questions.
“Just wait,” Keeho answers simply. They’re still a bit too close, and Keeho had forgotten to let go of Jiung’s jaw. Keeho starts to slip his hand away, but Jiung grabs onto it, preventing him. Keeho raises a brow.
“You want another hit?” Keeho asks. Jiung’s eyes frantically trace over Keeho’s face, and he begins to lean forward a tad too. Keeho places his free hand on Jiung’s chest before the gap is closed completely. “I didn’t take the hit yet,” he says.
Jiung blinks blankly. “Right…”
Keeho promptly does so, then they resume the motion that had been in action previously. Their lips make a bit more contact than needed this time, practically a full kiss this time. Jiung inhales the smoke; this time, he’s able to suppress the cough afterwards.
“Do you feel any different?” Keeho asks.
“I think so,” Jiung affirms.
“A good or bad type of different?” he investigates.
Jiung nods, “It’s good, good.”
“We totally kissed that second time, huh?” Keeho’s hand drops from Jiung’s face to shove his shoulder. Normally, Jiung might awkwardly smile and step back a bit after a comment like that, but this Jiung doesn’t move at all. He stays still, calm and collected. Keeho, being his playful self, decides to test it. He leans forward a bit, but is surprised when Jiung leans forward then too, and they end up meeting in the middle. Keeho’s eyes are still open, so he watches Jiung’s shut and knows it wasn’t by mistake. Keeho accepts it, closing his own eyes, then shortly after. Keeho pulls back after a few moments, inspecting Jiung’s reaction to make sure what had happened was real.
“Do you think we kissed that time?” Jiung asks. The weed had certainly set in now. Keeho’s bewildered by the effect.
“We’re supposed to be studying, right?” Keeho reminds.
“Ah,” Jiung sighs, “That’s right…” he trails off. He begins to stand up, presumably to return to his seat and study, but Keeho stops him mid-movement. Keeho grabs onto the back of Jiung’s neck, pulling him down into a kiss, a real kiss this time. No smoke, no excuses or rationalizations. Just pure connection. It wasn’t anything too intense, just enough to send a clear message to Jiung. When they split apart, Keeho searches Jiung’s eyes for that mutual understanding. Jiung nods, and though they don’t say it aloud, something has most definitely shifted in the air, something beyond the smoke that filled the room.