Chapter Text
Hands begin to cradle Yeojun’s body as they fall into the fluffy sheets of Minwook’s room. Soft fingertips run over his arms, neck and settle gently in his hair. Letting out a content hum, he allows himself to let the exhaustion of the long day wash away.
After today’s packed schedules, both can only close their eyes and lie side by side. To their advantage, the other members went out to eat, giving them a quiet moment to themselves.
Yeojun already dreads getting up tomorrow morning to continue preparations for their new album. Thinking about all the new choreography he has to learn, lines to rehearse and on top of that their weekly mc schedules, he‘s already stressed just thinking about it.
A small peck to his jaw pulls him out of his thoughts.
“Don’t worry too much”, Minwook whispers. “Just focus on me right now”.
Ghosting over his chin, he gently angles Yeojuns face and kisses him.
Lips meet softly at first. Hesitantly, like they’re both still testing the rare calmness that has settled around them.
Yeojun finally sinks into Minwook. All tension slipping from his shoulders as Minwook cups his cheek — slowly and reassuringly brushing his thumb against his skin.
He deepens the kiss slightly. Unhurried and warmed, not demanding or rushed.
He feels himself gradually relax into Minwook. Leaning in without hesitation, his fingers curl loosely into the fabric of Minwook’s drees shirt, as if to anchor himself. Wanting all the worries of today wash away.
Minwook pulls back only enough to let their foreheads rest together, breaths mingling in the small space between them. His hand drifts from Yeojun’s cheek to the back of his his neck, holding him close.
“You’re still thinking”, he murmurs in a low voice.
Yeojun lets chuckles quietly, “I know”.
For a moment, neither of them moves.
The world outside of the rooms feels distant as they stare at each other. No music blaring, no choreography to memorize, no expectations to live up to.
Just them. Just the soft sheets beneath them and the steady presence of the other.
Minwook brushes his thumb along Yeojun’s jaw once more before leaning in again, slower this time, wanting to cherish the warmth. Yeojun finally lets himself melt into it, just for now, letting everything else wait.
Then the door slams open.
“Hyung I forgot my-“, someone begins to shout before abruptly cutting himself off.
They spring apart instantly, scrambling to try and get as much distance from each other as possible. Wide eyed, Yeojun lets his gaze wander from Minwooks equally shocked expression to the source of the sound.
And there it is.
Kyoungbae stands in the door, mirroring their stunned faces. He has his jacket on, shoes clutched in one hand and bag slung over his shoulder as if he never indented to stay longer than a second.
The silence is deafening.
Nobody moves. Nobody speaks.
Kyoungbae’s eyes keep flicking back and forth between the two, like he can’t quite comprehend what he just walked in to.
It makes Yeojun panick, his mind wanders to the worst case scenarios. Kyoungbae is going to hate them for not telling him — hate them for not telling the others. Hell, even worse, he might hate them for being together in the first place.
They never really discussed Minwook’s earlier activities and while they joked about it before in passing, he doesn’t actually know how the members feel about it, or how they were raised regarding those topics.
What if he won’t talk to them anymore?
What if he thinks this will ruins the groups dynamic, affect their work?
Thousands of possibilities race through his head, all making him more anxious, tightening the knot in his chest.
Yeojun’s spiraling comes to a sudden stop when he feels a hand settle over his.
Lifting his head, Minwook’s looking at him with a small, reassuring smile. Gentle and Steady, it eases the pressure on his chest a bit.
Two meters away, Kyoungbae watches the scene astounded.
“You do know you’re both lying on my bed right now”, he deadpans, still not fully grasping what just happened.
For a second, no one reacts.
Then Minwook lets out a long breath that almost sounds like a laugh, though it comes out a bit strained.
His hand doesn’t leave Yeojun’s, fingers still loosely wrapped around his, like it’s the only thing keeping the situation from falling apart.
Yeojun on the other hand, feels like his entire body has frozen. His heart pounds so loudly, he’s sure both can hear it beating out of his chest. He wants to open his mouth but closes it just as fast, words refusing to come out.
Kyoungbae looks at him expectantly, then blinks once. Looks to Munson again. Blinks twice.
“Uhm… I-“, he gestures vaguely around the room with the hand holding his shoes, like he’s trying to piece together a sentence without knowing what to say.
“I just came to get my charger”
And the silence stretches again. More fragile this time.
Munson finally moves, sitting up straight, without pulling his hand away. “Yeah”, he says, voice calm but unsure. “We figured”.
Now that doesn’t help.
Eyes dropping to their hands, Kyoungbae snaps them back up, his expression moving into something unreadable.
He takes a step into the room, then another. Like his body is on autopilot while his brain is still catching up.
It is his room too, after all.
Yeojun swallows hard, wanting to save the situation and break the uncomfortable silence. “It’s not-“, he starts, then stops. Because he doesn’t even know how to finish that sentence.
Not what? Not what it looks like? Not actually serious?
Because it’s exactly that. It’s serious. It’s what it looks like.
He just can’t bring himself to say it out loud.
Minwook’s thumb slitly caresses the back of his hand again, grounding him.
“We were going to tell you”, he starts instead, more firmly than before.
Kyoungbae lets out a short huff, somewhere between disbelief and amusement. He sets his shoes down by the door but doesn’t move any closer.
“You were?”, he asks, eyebrows lifting. “I can see that”.
Another pause.
Yeojum forces himself to sit up too, moving towards Minwooks side. Even if everything in his body told him to just lay down, pull the blanket over his face and ignore everything.
“We just didn’t…”, he begins shakily “We didn’t know how to tell you”.
He feels Kyoungbae studying them for a moment. The tension in the room shifts, not gone but not as loaded.
Suddenly, he exhaled, running a hand through his styled hair.
“Wow, okay”, he mumbles “That’s… uhm yeah, I didn’t expect to find this when I wanted to get my charger”.
Kyoungbae studies them both for a long moment. The tension in the room shifts, not gone, but different—less sharp, more uncertain.
Then, suddenly, he exhales, running a hand through his hair.
“Wow,” he mutters. “Okay. That’s… yeah. Not what I expected when I came back for a charger.”
Despite everything, the corner of Minwook’s mouth twitches.
Yeojun finally lets out a shaky breath, some of that tightness finally loosening a little.
He still feels Kyoungbae glancing between them, like the shock is slowly turning into understanding.
“So…You two.”, he says after nodding to himself. “You’re, like a thing? In a relationship?”.
There’s no anger in his voice. Not rejecting the idea. Maybe… curious?
Yeojun can’t really place it.
And for now, that’s enough to make his heart finally slow down. If only just a little.
“Yeah…we are”, he hushes. “But could you please keep it to yourself for a little while? We want to keep it under wraps for now…maybe tell people after promotions.”, Yeojun’s voice sounds almost pleading, so different from the image that Kyoungbae is used to.
“Oh okay, yeah, I can do that”, he answers quickly. “I just… how did I not notice this? Like seriously, Minwook. We share a room???”, he gestures around, looking expectantly.
“Wait! Don’t tell me that’s why you are always sleeping on the couch and never in our room”, he says accusatory. “Are two secretly meeting there? And omg- please don’t tell me Yeojun comes over when I’m gaming with Seungho in his room-”.
His mouth hangs open while the pieces are falling into place.
Minwook, meanwhile, looks brashly at the worn-down sneakers instead of meeting his face.
“Well…”, he confesses sheepishly “Maybe some of that is true”.
Kyounbae just continues to stare at them.
“Yeah…” he begins “I’m going to pretend I don’t know anything. Definitely better that way. Uhm… let’s deal with this like adults”, their maknae continues.
“But also, I support you. So… uhh… congrats?”
“Thank you”, Minwook chuckles, finding the situation absurd.
He smiles crookedly at them, picks up his shoes and closes the door with a carefulness, seeming out of place.
After a few footsteps follow and they finally hear the front door click into place.
Yeojun lets out a loud groan as he lets himself fall back into the sheets, hiding his face behind his hands.
“I can’t believe this just happened.
More chuckles are the only response. this time tho, they grow into something loud and genuine.
Another body drops down next so him with a dull thump.
“Yes, I can’t say I planned for the evening to go this way”, Minwook laughs. “Let’s be careful from now on”.
Yeojun sighs “I thought we already were”.
Steady hands guide him to the side and he feels soft peck pressed along neck.
“Don’t dwell on it too much, love. We can’t change what already happened”, he tries soothingly. “Let’s be happy, we don’t have to worry about hiding it from Kyoungbae anymore”.
“Okay, yeah you’re right”, Yeojun agrees tiredly, “let’s just rest for a while”.
“Whatever you want”
Strong arms wrap around his middle, embracing him.
Yeojun relaxes into the warmth, letting the rise and fall of Minwook’s breathing ground him.
The chaos still lingers in his mind, but not as prominent as before. More distant— softened and less overwhelming.
Minwooks grip tightens slightly, pulling his body even closer, comfortingly resting his head on the crook of his neck.
In the silence that follows, everything else fades away.
And for now, that’s enough.