Work Text:
"So, any plans for Seollal?"
Kyehoon asked, leaning over his plate as the members crowded around the dorm's small dining table. With the holiday break approaching soon, the air felt lighter; most of them were already mentally halfway to their hometowns.
"I'm hanging out with my middle school friends," Minje said matter-of-factually as his chopsticks snared the last piece of fried chicken. Keiju, who had been zoned out in a post-practice daze, snapped to attention. His head whipped toward Minje in an instant. Since when did his boyfriend have plans he hadn't mentioned?
"Is Woonhak going to be there?" Donghwa chimed in.
"Yeah, he's the one who organised it. He invited me a few days ago, and I figured might as well. It's been a while since we all hung out."
"Sounds fun. What are you guys gonna do?" Donghyeon interjected, swinging his arms around Keiju's shoulder. Minje thought for a moment as he shrugged, returning his focus to his food. "Hmm, the PC bang perhaps. Maybe walk around our old neighbourhood. You know how it is, the plans are pretty loose until we actually get there."
There was a collective hum of agreement that followed Minje's response before the conversation drifted toward something else—them complaining about the new choreo for their upcoming comeback or whose turn was it to do the dishes. Keiju however, still had his attention on the matter. He knew how close his boyfriend was to Woonhak, they were childhood friends after all. It shouldn't be a surprise for him that Minje was hanging out with one of his longest friends. So, why was he acting like this? It was as if he was a jealous and possessive partner. That thought alone made him shivered. Him? Okamoto Keiju? Jealous? No way.
By the time dinner wrapped up, Keiju had gone back to his room. He sank into his bed, a fortress of soft plushies that usually made him feel safe, and tried to distract himself with a round of Brawl Stars. He was in the middle of an intense match when a familiar knock echoed against the wooden door.
"Iju, can I come in?"
Minje's deep voice cut through the quiet of the room. Panic flared in Keiju's chest—he wasn't ready to have the "I'm not upset" tsundere-like conversation yet. He frantically tapped his phone off, shoved it under the pillow, and dove beneath his duvet. He squeezed his eyes shut, pulling the blanket up to his head. The door creaked open as the light from the hallway casted a long, narrow shadow across the floor. Minje stepped in quietly, his footsteps muffled by the rug. He didn't say anything at first, and for a second, Keiju thought he might have actually bought the act and left.
Instead, the mattress dipped.
Keiju felt the weight of his boyfriend sitting on the edge of the bed, right next to the lump where Keiju's hip was. The room was silent, save for the faint sound of Minje's breathing and the ticking of a clock. "I know you're not asleep, Iju," Minje said softly. There was a hint of smile in his voice, but it was grounded in that calm tone he only used when they were alone.
"I can hear the game music muffled under your pillow."
Traitorous technology.
Keiju stayed stubbornly still for a few more heartbeats, his face flushing hot under the layers of wool, before he finally let out a defeated huff and poked his head out. He kept the blanket right above his nose, only the top half of his face was visible. Minje chuckled, brushing the shorter's hair out of his eyes. "Care to share the reason why you're upset tonight?"
"I'm not-" A dere, a tsun-tsundere. The lyrics suddenly bounced around Keiju's brain like an intrusive pop-up ad. Wait, why did he start thinking about this song? Ugh, Choi Minje was messing with his poor head big time! Realising his silence was stretching on long enough to be suspicious, Keiju cleared his throat and pointedly looked at a stuffed cat on his nightstand rather than the boy sitting on his bed.
"Who says I'm upset? I'm just,,, a little tired is all. Practice was tough."
Minje didn't buy it for a second. He leaned in closer, his hand shifting from Keiju's hair to rest on the pillow next to his head. "Tough enough that you forgot how to lie? Usually, when you're tired, you're clingy. Tonight, you're a hermit."
He could see the stubborn glint in Keiju's eyes, the way his lips were pressed into a pout when he lowered his blanket by an inch, the pout that he only ever showed when he was feeling particularly vulnerable. "I don't like your tone, Minje."
The taller one giggled as he reached out to boop Keiju's nose, the touch light and playful. "My tone is just fine. You're just being a prickly little hedgehog tonight." He didn't ask about the dinner conversation or press Keiju to explain the mood. Instead, he just started to move the plushies aside, making a space for himself on the narrow bed. "Move over. If you're tired, you shouldn't be playing games. Let's rest."
"Donghwa's gonna question you in the morning if you stay here," Keiju grumbled under his breath, but he instinctively shuffled toward the wall to make room. Minje slid under the duvet, bringing a rush of cool air with him that was quickly replaced by his warmth. He reached out and pulled Keiju into his chest, his chin resting comfortably on top of Keiju's head.
They lay there in the quiet of the room, the distant sounds of the other members laughing in the living room fading into the background. Minje rubbed slow, soothing circles into Keiju's back, feeling the smaller boy's breathing even out. Keiju let out a long exhale, finally relaxing his muscles and tucking his face into the crook of Minje's neck. His hands found the hem of Minje's shirt and holding onto it tight.
"Have fun with Woonhak. And don't stay out too late," Keiju mumbled sleepily into Minje's chest, his eyes were already drifting shut.
"I won't," Minje promised, kissing the top of Keiju's head. "I'll be back before you even miss me."
Within minutes, the tension that went on between them was forgotten, replaced by the soft breathing of the two of them falling asleep tangled together in a sea of plushies.
Two months later
Practice wrapped up early that day for KickFlip. With their third comeback just days away, they had been pushing themselves twice as hard to ensure everything was perfect. It felt like just yesterday they were nervous rookies, but in the blink of an eye, a year had passed since their debut. Now, they were already preparing to release their fourth mini-album.
After arriving at the dorms, Keiju bypassed the living room and went straight to his room, collapsing onto his bed for a few minutes of peace before the dinner and shower routine began. He took out his phone and started replying to his family's messages before switching over to his burner account on Twitter. The fans were aware that Keiju used to have a public account that he used to post dance covers before he deleted it due to debuting. What they didn't know was that he had a backup account tucked away, a digital shadow he kept specifically for moments like this. It was his window into the world, a away to see everything without being seen. As he scrolled through the flurry of comeback teasers and fan arts, one post stopped him mid-swipe.
"KickFlip Minje was featured in BoyNextDoor Woonhak's recent vlog on YouTube!"
Keiju didn't bother clicking the link to read the comments since the headline was enough to bring the whole day back to him. He already had the behind the scenes version directly from the source (Choi Minje himself).
Minje and his friends went to the PC bang before hitting the bowling alley. Apparently Minje sucked so bad while Woonhak won multiple strikes, causing the senior to mock his unlucky friend. Typical Minje. After the bowling alley, they went to the karaoke and sang their heart out. Minje went home earlier than his friends due to their 'practice schedule'—totally not because the taller kept his promised to Keiju that he'll be back early and they spent the rest of the day together by themselves. That was a detail for him and him alone.
Still, Keiju went over to YouTube and searched the senior group's channel, already finding the vlog at the top of the feed. He skipped through the opening segment—Woonhak celebrating Seollal with his family—and settled in as the scene shifted to a car ride.
It was at the PC bang when Minje first appeared in the video. An involuntary, wide grin spread across Keiju's face, his eyes tracing every familiar expression on his boyfriend's face. The vlog then cut to Minje, Woonhak and their friends playing at the bowling alley. There was a clip of Minje's ball veering helplessly into the gutter, followed immediately by Woonhak landing a solid strike. Without missing a beat, Woonhak broke into the signature choreography of 'My First Love Song' to mock Minje, dancing right in the middle of the alley. Keiju let out a bubbling giggle, shaking his head at their antics. They were such dorks but god were they funny too.
Keiju curled onto his left side, tucking himself toward the wall as the camera angle on his screen shifted. They were in the karaoke room now, the strobe lights flickering wildly over a scene of pure chaos. Minje had hold him they sang through an entire playlist, but the vlog only caught the highlights as they were tearing through BigBang's discography—first Fantastic Baby, then diving straight into Crooked. Keiju felt so mesmerised when he watched Minje on screen singing his heart out with his hair wild and his smile infectious. It did things to the shorter boy's heart that he didn't want to admit out loud. His boyfriend was so handsome it was actually unfair.
Just as he was enjoying the vlog, a notification pinged on his screen and it was a DM from Yushi.
yuyushi [21:20]
dude
r u on twt tn?
catkeiju [21:21]
uh nope
whats up
Yushi sent a link of a Twitter post which made Keiju raised his eyebrows. Since when was Yushi so invested in Twitter drama? And even if he was, what did it had to do with Keiju? He didn't question it though, he just pressed the link which it redirected to a post regarding Woonhak's recent vlog.
The post that greeted him was a viral post with thousands of likes and a dizzying number of quote-retweets. It feature a screenshot from the vlog where Woonhak introduced Minje at the PC bang. The caption read: "WOONHAK, YOUR FRIEND IS A FINE SHYT."
Oh. Thanks for the acknowledgement? Keiju won't deny that his boyfriend is very handsome and dare he say Minje has one of the best visuals within 5th generation groups but he'd save his glazings for later. He scrolled down into the replies, where a flood of curious non fans were asking who this handsome stranger was and what his connection to Woonhak might be. Then he spotted his own fans flooding the comments, dropping teaser links to their upcoming album while giving quick introductions to the visual of KickFlip. Keiju found himself nodding in approval, a proud smile tugging at his lips. He really loved WeFlips; they were professional PR agents in disguise.
As soon as he tapped the like button, the algorithm took note, and his timeline was instantly flooded with more Minje-centric content. It was a goldmine; tweets asking for his name, non fans hyping up Minje's visual and WeFlips dropping links to the group's discography. Watching their group get this kind of explosive traction put a warmth-filled smile on Keiju's face. It was the effortless mood lifter after a gruelling day at practice.
His smile however didn't last long for Keiju's liking. His algorithm shifted gears from fans hyping up his boyfriend to… shipping him with Woonhak? Keiju's brows furrowed as he watched a clip from the karaoke session. The caption beneath it read:
"Did anyone see how wide Minje's smile when Woonhak pulled him up to sing together? I swear that man was smitten."
Keiju's grin vanished instantly. Smitten? He scoffed at the screen. Minje always smiled like that when he was having fun—it was just his face! These people didn't know the first thing about him; they were projecting meaning into simple gestures. Frustrated, he scrolled down to the replies, expecting to see some reality checks. Instead, he was met with a chorus of blind agreement.
"OMG, I SAW! He looked so in love I can see heart shapes coming out of his eyes."
"Okay, but Woonhak tho? The way he was admiring Minje as he sang? Boy, I know what you are."
"The fact that they're childhood friends makes it even cuter guys they were meant to be!"
"I heard Minje got into dancing because Woonhak did it first… #thinking."
Keiju let out a sharp breath, locking his phone and tossing it onto the mattress as he stared at the ceiling. Each comment felt like a jab to his ribs. It was a vicious cycle of projection. So what if Minje started dancing because Woonhak did? God forbid a man be inspired by his own friend. It was really ridiculous to Keiju.
What's even more ridiculous is the hollow ache in his chest. It wasn't that he was worried Minje didn't love him—he knew better—but the sheer volume of the so called proof fans were conjuring out of thin air made his head spin. He lay there in the dark, the silence of his room feeling heavy and it was pressing against his ears. He suddenly felt like an imposter in his own life. He had the actual person, the actual affection, the actual late-night texts. And yet, reading those comments had him feeling a weird and twisted sense of displacement.
Keiju stayed quiet throughout dinner which was very unlike him. Whenever the members tried to pull him into the conversation, his response were short—the bare minimum to be polite. He knew that his frustration had nothing to do with them, so he kept his head down and retreated to being silent as he was unwilling to risk an outburst he'd later regret. He just focused on his food, the chatter of dinner feeling like white noise against the static currently screaming in his own head.
"You okay, Keiju?" Amaru asked, pausing mid-sentence as he saw the younger boy shove his chair back with a scrape against the floor. "You barely touched your kimchi."
"Just tired," Keiju mumbled, not trusting his voice to be anything more than that. He didn't look up, afraid that if he met anyone's eyes, especially Minje's, who was sitting across the table, he'd let the mask slip. "I think I'm gonna go crash early. Enjoy the rest of the dinner."
Before anyone could protest, he was already walking toward his room. The hallway felt too long and it suddenly felt suffocating. He felt ridiculous. He was a professional idol, a performer who commanded stages, and yet here he was, sulking in the corridor because of some strangers on the internet and a vlog he'd seen four times too many. He slipped into his room and locked the door out of desperate need to stop pretending as he dropped onto his bed. The plushies he usually found comforting now had felt like it was mocking witnesses to his jealousy.
It's just some fans, Keiju reminded himself, gripping his phone so hard his knuckles turned white. It's not real. Minje doesn't even know they're shipping him. He slipped his phone under his pillow, not wanting to look at it anymore as he turned his face into his pillow, trying to shut his eyes tight and to blot out the mental image of the vlog.
He wasn't sure how much time passed—maybe ten minutes, maybe an hour—but the quiet was broken by a soft tapping on his door.
"Iju-ya?"
Minje's voice drifted through the wood, low and muffled. Even through the barrier, the sound of his boyfriend's voice made Keiju's chest tighten. It was a confusing mix of relief and renewed sting. "I brought you some snacks," Minje continued, sounding entirely oblivious to the turmoil Keiju was harbouring. "You barely ate anything. Can I come in?"
Keiju stiffened. He wasn't ready to face him. He wasn't ready to act like everything was fine when he felt like his heart was being stretched in two different directions. But, as always, Minje didn't wait for a formal invitation. He heard the doorknob turn—luckily for Keiju, he’d forgotten to actually lock it—and the door swung open, spilling the warm light of the hallway into his dark room. Minje stayed silent at first as he shut the door behind him, his eyes landing on the lump under the duvet. He walked over, setting down the snacks he had prepared on the nightstand.
"Baby," Minje called out softly as he sat on the edge of the bed, the mattress sinking under his weight. "You didn't say a word during dinner, and now you're hiding like a mole rat. What's going on?"
Keiju didn't move from his place, his face was still pressed into his pillow as he mumbled a response. "I told you, I'm tired."
"I can tell from your tone that you're lying," the raven haired boy said bluntly. Minje reached out, his hands hovering over the duvet for a second before he pulled the edge of it down. "Come on, Iju. Did I do something that made you upset?"
Keiju finally rolled over, pulling the blanket up to his chin again. He looked at his boyfriend, really looked at him, and felt that stupid ache again. "Have you… watched Woonhak's vlog yet?"
Minje blinked, looking caught off guard. "No, not yet. Why? What's with the vlog?"
"Everything."
"Everything?"
"Ugh, Choi Minje, don't act like you don't know! It's all over Twitter." Keiju suddenly burst out. His face flushed a deep red and his voice came out louder than he had intended. The silence that followed was deafening. After seeing the genuine shock on Minje's face, Keiju immediately dove back under the blanket, burying his face in the dark safety of his duvet.
The shorter boy thought Minje had left the room when he felt his mattress shifted. Instead, he felt a hand rest gently on top of his head, right over the layer of the blanket. "I don't know what you've been reading about me on Twitter, but if it's something bad, then I'm sorry, Iju," Minje said in a comforting tone as his hand caressed softly over Minje's hair through the fabric.
Keiju felt a sharp ache in his chest. Minje was always like this, always taking the blame for things that weren't his fault. Apologising for the world just because it happened to upset Keiju. He was far too kind, and in moments like this, Keiju was reminded why he loved him so much. It made his behaviour feel even smaller because here he was, sulking over something completely out of Minje's control. Sighing, he finally gathered his rational thoughts and pulled the duvet that was covering his face down.
His face was red from the heat and his hair was a mess from the blankets, but he finally met Minje's gaze. Keiju slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, the plushies around him tumbling to the side as he leaned his back against the headboard. Minje then hovered closer, his expression filled with genuine concern that made Keiju felt both seen and slightly embarrassed. "It wasn't anything bad. The fans didn't say anything mean. It was actually the opposite."
Minje stayed silent, giving Keiju the space he needed to find the words. His hand found Keiju's, his thumb tracing soothing circles against the shorter boy's palm. Keiju then took a deep breath, calming himself before continuing, "They were… starting to ship you and Woonhak together."
"Ship? To where?" Minje deadpanned.
"Minje, you know damn well what shipping in this context means." Keiju snapped, though the bite was gone from his tone.
Minje let out a soft chuckle at his own joke. Keiju let out a fleeting smile, truly his boyfriend was undeniably silly. He looked down at Minje's hoodie, picking at a stray thread. "I know it's just fans being fans. I know they do it to everyone. But the way they were conspiring, saying that you both were—quote unquote—meant to be while I'm sitting here reading everything… it just got to me."
Minje was quiet for a second as Keiju's words settled in. He didn't laugh this time. Instead, he moved closer until their knees were locked together. "Iju, look at me," he prompted. When Keiju finally lifted his chin, Minje's eyes were steady. "The internet can say whatever it wants. They can analyse every frame and invent a thousand stories, but they don't get the parts of me that actually matter. They don't get the tired Minje who wants to cuddle after a twelve hour practice. They don't get the annoying Minje who wants your every attention."
He leaned in, his nose brushing against Keiju's. "And they definitely don't get the version of me that's sitting in this room right now because he'd rather be nowhere else. Woonhak is a good friend, but he is also not the one I'm thinking about when I'm trying to fall asleep at night."
"You think of me before going to sleep?" Keiju chimed with a small scoff, finding it ridiculous.
"Well, obviously! Who wouldn't, when I've got the coolest, most amazing boyfriend on earth?" Minje said proudly, his hands darted out to tickle Keiju's before he could protest the cheesiness of the line.
Keiju doubled over, a bright giggle breaking through his lingering gloom as he tried to swat the hands away. "Stop! Minje, stop it!" He gasped out between laughs, his face turning a faint shade of pink. In the scuffle, his balance gave way and he fell backward onto the mattress, pulling Minje down with him. They landed in a messy heap of limbs and duvet, both of them breathless and laughing. Neither of them made a move to sit back up. The room turned quiet and the air between them turned warm. Keiju stayed pinned beneath Minje's weight for a moment before the taller boy shifted to his side, propping himself up on one elbow to look down at Keiju.
"Better?"
Keiju nodded. "Much better."
He reached out, his fingers tracing the edge of Minje's sleeve before he finally pulled the taller boy closer, inviting him to lie down together. Minje didn't hesitate as he slid under the covers, settling in among the fortress of plushies. They laid down tangled together, the space between them nonexistent as their bodies pressed closed. Minje's hand found its way to Keiju's back, rubbing small circles as Keiju listened to the steady rhythm of his boyfriend's heartbeat.
"I'm sorry. I got upset over something stupid. I know I seemed like a brat acting like that," Keiju murmured softly. The jealousy he felt just an hour ago now felt like an embarrassment, replaced by the weight of Minje's arm around him.
Minje hummed. "Well, you're my brat so I really don't mind."
Keiju rolled his eyes at the teasing comment, but he couldn't hide the smile tugging at his lips.
"In all seriousness, Iju," Minje continued, his voice sounded tender. "Nothing is stupid when it involves you. Just next time, please don't ever hesitate to voice your concerns with me, hm? I'd rather you yell at me than hide under a mountain of plushies alone."
Keiju shifted closer, burying his face in the crook of Minje's neck as he whispered a soft okay, his eyes slowly dozing off to sleep. "Good." Minje pressed a final lingering kiss to the top of Keiju's head before pulling the duvet up to their chins. "Now, go to sleep. We have a comeback to crush in a few days."
Keiju didn't need any more convincing. As his breathing finally synced with Minje's, the digital noise of the fans shipping agenda felt miles away, rendered silent by the reality of the person holding him. The fans could have the screen version of Minje all they wanted. But deep down, Keiju knew he had the better deal. He had the truth, he had the warmth, and most importantly, he had the man himself.
The bedroom fell into a peaceful quiet, lit only by the faint glow of the city outside, leaving the two of them to dream in a world where they didn't have to be a secret.