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Hanjin is sitting on his bed when he first thinks of bringing up the topic. It’s a cool winter afternoon, and Kyungmin is moving the last few of his boxes into their new shared room. The sound of everyone unpacking and chatting contrasts with the usual calm atmosphere that comes with being a group of all introverts, but Hanjin thinks it feels warm.
Even above the noise, his head stays focused — maybe not on the right thing, since he should be more concerned about what decorations he’s going to put up on his side of the room, but there’s something that has had him curious for a while, even with the debut preparations.
Hanjin’s thoughts are cut short when he hears the sound of the door closing and turns to look at Kyungmin, whose hand is still holding the doorknob.
“The hyungs are being a bit loud, I thought we might want some quiet while we unpack,” Kyungmin explains as he lets go of the door, lighting up when Hanjin nods and gives him a brief smile in response.
As he sees Kyungmin lift one of the boxes to set it on his own bed and open it, Hanjin thinks it might be the perfect time to get rid of his curiosity.
“Kyungmin-ah,” he calls, and the boy’s head shoots up to look at him. Hanjin has to hold back a smile at his cuteness before continuing, “do you know if any of the members has… dated? Before?”
There’s two important things Hanjin knows about Kyungmin: the first is that he’s known most of the members for much longer than Hanjin has, and the second (and more important one) is that he absolutely loves being involved in everything — which includes the members’ personal lives. If there’s anyone willing to gossip in this group it has to be Kyungmin.
When Kyungmin’s waiting expression turns into a mischievous grin, Hanjin knows he’s made the best choice by asking him.
“Hyung, you definitely came to the right person!” He exclaims, maybe more excited than he should be for a topic like this. He completely straightens up before leaning forward so that Hanjin can hear him clearly even as he whispers the next part: “Dohoon-hyung actually has a boyfriend at school.” Hanjin’s mouth takes the shape of an ‘O’ in surprise; Kyungmin nods rapidly, his smile growing even bigger. “He used to train with us!”
“Whoa!” Hanjin replies, pleased with the new information, yet a bit confused at why Kyungmin would start with Dohoon… Does he not know…? “What about the rest?”
“Shinyu-hyung, hmm… I’m not sure? Maybe before, but I haven’t known of anyone in the last year or so.” Hanjin furrows his brow — he’s definitely confused now. However, Kyungmin keeps talking before he can question anything. “Youngjae-hyung… I don’t think so, but I don’t think he would tell; we would have to catch him for him to confess something like that.”
What.
“I see…” Hanjin decides to keep his thoughts to himself; if Kyungmin doesn’t know anything, maybe it’s because they don’t want him to know for now. He wants to respect their privacy, so instead he lets one of the questions in the back of his mind come out: “And Jihoon?”
Kyungmin seems pensive for about two seconds, and then he chuckles, “Jihoon-hyung has been single his whole life. If you’re curious, though… I think he likes one of his classmates, but, to be fair, he gets crushes so easily!” Kyungmin sounds particularly bemused at this trait of Jihoon’s.
It’s nothing Hanjin didn’t expect to hear, however, he feels slightly disappointed at those words. He should process the reason behind that, but Kyungmin doesn’t seem to have noticed the small change in his mood yet, and he continues talking.
“As for me, I haven’t dated before. Except for when I was in kindergarten — but I’ve received more confessions than Jihoonie-hyung for sure,” he states, proudly. “Hyung, how about you? Have you dated before?”
Hanjin shakes off his thoughts to focus on Kyungmin’s question, and a shy smile takes place in his face as he nods. “I’ve had two boyfriends, back when I was home,” he says. Kyungmin seems thrilled — really, this boy loves being involved in everything. “But shh,” Hanjin takes a finger to his lips, still smiling. He doesn’t care that much about the others finding out, but seeing Kyungmin immediately get serious and pretend to zip his own lips is cute, and oddly comforting. Maybe being roommates is going to bring them closer to each other, he can see how Kyungmin would be a great friend.
The next few months pass by in a blur, and with them the debut promotions are now officially over; it’s finally time to start preparing for their first comeback. However, even as all the members have grown closer to each other by spending so much time together, Hanjin finds that his suspicions don’t falter — instead, they grow bigger each day. He’s now aware that it’s not a known fact, nothing official that he didn’t get the memo of, but he still wonders if anyone else has noticed already.
One night, when he and Kyungmin are getting ready for bed, he brings up the topic again.
“Kyungmin-ah.”
Kyungmin doesn’t look up from the mirror, continuing to brush his hair as he replies, “yes, hyung?”
“Do you think Youngjae-hyung and Shinyu-hyung are dating?”
Kyungmin whips his head away from the mirror, meeting Hanjin’s eyes with confusion written all over his face. “What?”
Hanjin is quick to shake his hands as he clarifies, “no, no. Not dating like that, but… Don’t you think there’s something between them?”
“Oh…” For a moment, Kyungmin’s gaze seems lost, like he’s replaying his memories to come up with an opinion to tell Hanjin. “They are mom and dad coded, at least.”
Silence settles in the room as Hanjin tries to organize his words, but Kyungmin is patient. He sets his comb on his bedside table and sits down on the bed, right in front of Hanjin.
“You know how I was Shinyu-hyung’s roommate before, right?” He receives a nod, and takes it as a sign to keep talking. “Youngjae-hyung slept in our room for three months, they cuddled every night!”
He waits. He knows what Kyungmin is thinking: don’t many of us love cuddles too? He feels satisfied when he sees Kyungmin’s expression shift to one that could be described as enlightenment.
“Youngjae-hyung doesn’t like cuddles…” Hanjin nods, but before he can speak Kyungmin is already shaking his head in disbelief. “No, but, hyung, that doesn’t necessarily mean he likes him. We need more proof.”
“There is! Kyungmin-ah, I’ve thought of this ever since I joined the company. There has to be something happening,” he argues. Kyungmin stays with a serious expression, one that looks more like a detective’s trying to figure out a crime rather than a boy’s thinking about the possibility of his two friends dating. It’s then that Hanjin resorts to his last weapon: pouting. “Don’t you believe me?”
“No, hyung! Hyung, I believe you. You’re right. We need to get to the bottom of this,” Kyungmin hurries to say. Hanjin smiles contently, before Kyungmin —dramatically solemn— adds, “together.”
That night, after exchanging a few more details, and having Kyungmin promise that he won’t make it obvious that they’re both observing the duo, they go to sleep. Mentally, Hanjin turns the page of his story about Shinyu and Youngjae’s strange relationship to introduce a new character: little detective Kyungmin.
“Hyung, I really don’t think they’re dating,” Kyungmin says as he puts on a face mask, Hanjin having just closed the door.
The last three weeks had gone by with Hanjin and his personal detective trying to set up flawless traps to catch their hyungs slipping up, yet, unfortunately, coming to a rather disappointing conclusion: Shinyu and Youngjae don’t seem to be together.
Hanjin was confused when the first few attempts failed miserably — he knew Shinyu had taken acting classes, but Youngjae had always been an awful liar, there was no way they could hide it that well, right? He remembers what Kyungmin told him the last time they’d had this conversation:
“Hyung, I trust you, for real, but I’ve been coming into their room every night and– I wasn’t noisy, I promise! I know what you’re thinking, but they couldn’t have heard me coming, and also, I waited outside for a few minutes before going in — complete silence! They don’t talk to each other!”
Yeah, he kind of had a point.
However, Hanjin isn’t stupid.
“Kyungmin-ah,” he finally speaks. “I do agree that there’s no way they’re dating, but… What if that’s why they talk so little?”
The younger frowns, but nods, “I do think there’s something, yes.”
“Exactly,” Hanjin replies, plopping down onto his bed with a sigh. “It seems like they’re just… complete fools.”
Kyungmin walks towards his own bed, watching Hanjin’s defeated expression before sitting down. “It’s okay, hyung,” he whispers, getting the other to look at him as he finally lies on the bed. “This is our new mission.”
If he were closer, Hanjin would love to pat his head or pinch his cheek, but not wanting to get up he settles on giving him a grateful smile before they say their goodnights. Once again —now thanks to their little detective of a maknae— Hanjin turns the page of his story into this new chapter, wondering where will life take them (both pairs of roommates, for different reasons) next.
As their third release approaches and the members start filming content together, Hanjin and Kyungmin’s theory starts seeming more and more accurate. Every new episode they film, Youngjae, who has always been pretty calm and low-key, appears to be getting bolder with teasing Shinyu; and Hanjin, of course, never misses it.
One day, Hanjin finds himself in front of Jihoon and Dohoon’s room, trying to calm his heartbeat before knocking on the door. He doesn’t have any grand plans about it, but knowing Dohoon is in the living room, he thinks that, maybe, this could be his chance to get something off his mind for once. However, as he takes a deep breath with his hand hovering over the doorknob, a noise catches his attention.
He stares at the door in front of him one last time before turning away to look for the source of that noise he just heard. In no time, he notices that the door to Shinyu and Youngjae’s room is ajar; the sound that had originally distracted him, he processes, must be no other than his Shinyu-hyung’s voice — he can’t miss this opportunity. There will be other days to talk to Jihoon about how willing he is to– that’s a story for another day, focus.
So Hanjin quietly steps closer to their room, careful not to be seen or heard by his bandmates. When he’s right next to the small opening, he can listen properly.
“Do you wanna talk about it?” Shinyu whispers, his characteristic leader tone fully on display.
“I’m not on edge, hyung, it’s just…” Youngjae blurts out before sighing, “It was overwhelming, is all.”
“Youngjae.” Hanjin hears the creak of a bed right before the sound of footsteps crosses the room. The pause feels like it’s longer than it should, and Hanjin is dying to see what’s happening. Shinyu didn’t sound mad or annoyed when he talked, he didn’t even sound like he was reproaching Youngjae in any way. It’s like he’s talking about something else entirely, like he wants to make a confession; Hanjin’s ears perk up at this realization. “You’ve worked hard today too.”
Huh?
Before Hanjin can understand anything more, Shinyu’s footsteps approach the door.
“I’m starting to think that’s code for something,” Kyungmin muses as Hanjin recalls the story that same night. “What if they actually mean, like, I don’t know, I love you?”
While Hanjin does find Kyungmin’s comment to be funny, he can’t help but think that there might be some truth to it. After all, the two seemed to find peace in not talking much, and only saying that every night; can’t that be called love, too? He wonders.
“There’s no way, really,” says Kyungmin once the door to their room is closed. “He actually tried to keep it a secret from us!” He complains, in disbelief.
Earlier that day, after their holiday had come to an end, Shinyu confessed that Youngjae had gone all the way to his hometown to greet his parents and Ddalgi, and to have a quick ‘coffee date’ with him during the break. Maybe Hanjin could have let that slide, maybe that was normal by itself. However, Shinyu also claimed that Youngjae had specifically asked him not to say anything, to anyone… Of course, everyone still ended up finding out, and they’d had to deal with a very flustered Youngjae trying to explain himself on live. Anyway, Hanjin wasn’t going to let that slide.
“Kyungmin, there’s no way they’re not dating now,” Hanjin mumbles into his hands, wanting to believe his own words. Kyungmin watches him sit on the bed and eventually drop his hands with a sigh. “They went on a secret date!”
“Hyung, I had my doubts at first, you know it,” Kyungmin starts, walking so that he can stand in front of Hanjin, “but if they were trying to keep this a secret, then what else could there be…”
“Maybe they aren’t complete fools…” he pauses, looking down at the floor before staring directly at Kyungmin. “Maybe they’re scared of the consequences,” his tone becomes calmer, almost saddened.
Hanjin would be lying if he said he isn’t aware of everything that could go wrong when getting romantically involved with your close friend (who’s also gonna be your coworker for the next many years); but the truth is that he hadn’t really thought about how vastly different their situation was to his own. Shinyu and Youngjae had known each other for years now, he had seen himself how close they were, especially before it seemed like they’d admitted their feelings for each other. And even if that hadn’t been the case, Kyungmin would still be right: they are mom and dad coded — not only because of their relationship, but because of their crucial roles in the group’s dynamics.
“It must be a hard decision to make as a leader,” he speaks again. He hadn’t noticed Kyungmin’s hand had found its way to his shoulder before, but he smiles warmly, covering it with his own.
“They’ll figure it out, hyung,” Kyungmin reassures him. He sounds calm, collected, and Hanjin feels like it’s one of those moments where Kyungmin’s mature side shows more clearly. “And we’re here for them, even if they don’t know it yet.”
Hanjin lets out a small laugh at the last comment, but nods. “You’re right.” Kyungmin finally smiles back at him and, really, how is he so adorable? It makes Hanjin forget that he wants to kick his butt every morning for being so noisy. “I guess we should let them try.”
Once Kyungmin is tucked into his bed, Hanjin lets his mind wander for a while before deciding to head to the kitchen for some tea.
When he’s pouring the water into his mug, he notices Jihoon’s towel hanging from one of the chairs in the dining room and sighs. Well, he’ll have to remind him to take it to the bathroom before Youngjae sees it and scolds him; that has happened way too many times already.
As if the scene was carefully planned, in that moment Jihoon enters the room, hair messy and wet. Checks out.
“Hanjin! I didn’t know you were here,” he says as soon as he spots him behind the counter. His original mission seems to be quickly replaced when he starts walking towards Hanjin instead. “Are you drinking Earl Grey again?”
Hanjin smiles; it’s cute that Jihoon sounds this proud to know stuff about him. “That’s right, I am.” Jihoon’s face lights up, he really does look proud of himself. “By the way, isn’t that your towel on the chair? I think you need it,” Hanjin points out.
“Oh, right!” He turns around briefly, only to face Hanjin again once he’s grabbed the towel. “I should go back before Dohoon-hyung kills me, he was telling me something and I left him talking to himself to get this,” Jihoon explains. Hanjin just nods, smiling slightly before Jihoon disappears into the darkness of the hallway.
Now left alone with the sound of his spoon hitting the side of the mug as he stirs the tea, Hanjin sighs again.
Just as they had agreed, Hanjin and Kyungmin quit trying to catch their hyungs slipping (read as: they stop setting them up because it’s not getting them anywhere). However, this does not mean they’ve stopped paying attention to their every moves — Hanjin doesn’t think he could do that, he’s in too deep by now.
“Kyungmin,” Hanjin calls from his bed, holding his iPad to a paused video.
“What did they do now?” Kyungmin questions without even looking, already used to this scenario.
“Shinyu-hyung said they’d sleep hugging like they did before,” he replies. Kyungmin turns to face him. “It’s not even the first time, they’re unbelievable.”
“Yeah, I know… They are.” Yes, Hanjin is sure he does know they’re unbelievable. It would be a bit disappointing if he didn’t, since this is probably the tenth time Hanjin has said that exact phrase this year — or, to be exact, at least ever since Shinyu and Youngjae’s dynamic turned into something worse, which was about six months ago, maybe a bit more; Hanjin only knows that things keep happening between Shinyu and Youngjae, and all Kyungmin and him can do every time is looking at each other secretly.
At least Hanjin knows that Kyungmin is invested as well. He notices that, even as time keeps passing, Kyungmin is still incredibly loyal and dedicated to supporting his not-really-delusions; Hanjin can’t not feel thankful.
Aside from listening and engaging when Hanjin talks and complains, Kyungmin also seeks him out a lot. Hanjin thinks of that one day a few weeks ago when Kyungmin showed up with a notebook and asked to learn some Chinese phrases — phrases he now sneaks into any conversation they have with the members. Hanjin feels appreciated every time that happens, even when it’s just a mumbled ‘雕年 99’ that Hanjin knows is only meant to make him laugh (Kyungmin too found it very amusing when Hanjin first explained the meaning).
Looking at the ceiling with a smile on his face, Hanjin concludes that, just like Shinyu and Youngjae, Kyungmin has his own quiet way of showing love; Hanjin is glad to have a friend like him.
“Hyung, I can’t believe you said that.” The moment they’re both inside their room, door shut and locked for good measure, Kyungmin starts talking. “I thought I had misheard you.”
Hanjin covers his face with both of his hands, “I genuinely meant it as a joke!” He almost-whines. Truth to be told, Hanjin wasn’t quite joking (he knows Kyungmin is very much aware of that), but he’d expected the members to interpret it as if he were, come on! Who would actually think Hanjin would confess to thinking Shinyu and Youngjae were dating on live?!
Well, he did. But they shouldn’t have thought so!
“At least they didn’t seem to take it badly,” Kyungmin mentions, looking up at Hanjin from where he’s sitting on the bed.
“Right!” Hanjin’s hand flies to point at Kyungmin as though he had just made an amazing discovery. “Youngjae-hyung kept looking at me and smiling awkwardly, but he didn’t seem mad.”
“But, to be fair,” the younger one argues, “neither did Hoonhoonz when Youngjae said they’re a couple, and Hoonhoonz are definitely not–” Kyungmin stops mid phrase. He doesn’t look at Hanjin’s expression, he probably doesn’t need to check to realize Hanjin is staring at him. “Okay, no, yeah. They are, they definitely are. Don’t give me that look, I know. Bad example. But, neither did we! They called us a couple as well.”
Yeah, they are, Hanjin repeats in his mind. It’s a truth that’s becoming harder to ignore lately, and although he’s disappointed… Well.
After quickly brushing off the thought, Hanjin’s face shifts into an exaggerated pout. “Kyungmin-ah, are you saying you’re not in love with me? I thought we were the best couple…”
Kyungmin shakes his head, trying his best to not laugh at Hanjin’s sudden acting. “Sorry, hyung, you’re not really my type,” he finally says, teasing grin on his face.
“Hey!” Hanjin grabs one of his pillows without hesitating, immediately running towards Kyungmin, who, in only a blink, has already started getting under his blankets to protect himself from Hanjin’s attack. “Come out, bastard!”
As the others get ready to sleep, Hanjin and Kyungmin’s room is still full of laughter —and some yelps here and there—. After a few minutes, their play fight slows down until they’re both lying on the bed together, poking each other with the little energy they have left. Eventually, they begin to fall asleep; with Kyungmin using Hanjin’s arm as a pillow despite his complaints, and Hanjin smiling despite Kyungmin’s weight on top of him.
The next couple of days, Hanjin and Kyungmin’s theories are yet again proven to be true: no one’s mad about the ‘broadcast accident’; if anything, they mention it as something funny, nothing more.
Hanjin is relieved that the members took it so lightly, he doesn’t know what he would do if they suddenly became awkward because of him. He did mess up, but everything is still fairly normal for now, so he guesses worrying isn’t the best choice at the moment.
After hours of practice alone at the company, Hanjin finally checks his phone on the way home, immediately surprised by the amount of texts he’s received from Kyungmin in the last ten minutes.
Kyungmin > You
han zhen
hyunf
hyung
hanjin-hyung
han zhen ge
gege
hyung
hanjin
hanzhen
hyunggggggggggg
You > Kyungmin
?
what’s wrong??!?
Kyungmin > You
HYUNG
we have a code 🥛🍞!!!
check youngjae-hyung’s live
Hanjin is in no place to ignore something like that. Code milk-bread means serious business, and if Kyungmin texted him ten times there has to be a good reason.
You > Kyungmin
i checked…
wow…
Kyungmin > You
i know right?!
there’s more
i’ll tell you when you get home
As planned, the moment Hanjin opens the door to their room, Kyungmin jumps up from his bed. “Hyung!”
After turning the lock, Hanjin quickly takes off his jacket and sits down on the edge of his own bed. “I’m ready.”
Kyungmin nods and takes a deep breath before starting, “Shinyu-hyung and I got out of practice together, so we were watching Youngjae-hyung’s live on the car.” Hanjin hums, he’d guessed that from the clip he saw. “And, hyung, he kept talking about how cute Youngjae-hyung looked and– I don't know, he was so… jolly? I think your comment only made him worse. He was so excited about getting home and appearing on the live.”
Hanjin imagines his own expression must be pretty comical at the moment. ‘Jolly’ is definitely an interesting way to describe someone’s attitude towards another person after having gotten dating allegations with them.
“They’re boyfriends.” When Kyungmin only stares at him, like every time he says those words, Hanjin feels the need to argue his case. “I mean it this time, trust me! What else could it be? I know I’m onto something.”
With a sigh, Kyungmin takes a seat next to him. “Hyung, I get where you’re coming from; it’s definitely something because that was weird,” he sounds sincere. Hanjin keeps his eyes on him while waiting for his… “But, we’re back at square one, how are we supposed to prove there’s something?”
Yeah, that’s exactly what he expected. Hanjin lets himself flop onto the bed with a groan, “I know… It feels like we’re going in circles.”
Softly, Kyungmin lies down too, giving Hanjin a half smile. “It does.” There’s a pause where Hanjin thinks he’s about to propose staying out of it again, but then he speaks: “It’s still incredibly fun, though.”
They both let out a small laugh at the comment, the moment quickly turning warm. Hanjin doesn’t realize Kyungmin has grabbed his hand until he feels his thumb stroking his skin, but he doesn’t mind it, Kyungmin is clingy.
“It’s like watching a drama,” Hanjin concludes. “But I want to know that they’ve figured it out.”
“Hyung, do you not cope well with open endings?” Kyungmin jokes.
Hanjin shoves him lightly, rolling his eyes, “it’s because they’re our friends.” He means it, but he also knows Kyungmin feels the same way. After all, Kyungmin is the one who always wants to be involved in everything the others do; Hanjin is aware that, besides being a supportive friend to him, Kyungmin, too, is just very nosy (and slightly offended that neither of their hyungs have come clean with him yet).
“I think Jihoon-hyung knows by now,” Kyungmin breaks the silence that formed after Hanjin’s last argument.
“I told you he’s not that stupid!”
Kyungmin scoffs, “right, he’s very smart. Handsome too, don’t you think?” The slight taunting in his voice is enough to make Hanjin question if he wants to involve himself in another pillow fight today, but he quickly decides against it — he’s too tired. Still, Kyungmin seems to get the hint, hurrying an apology amongst nervous giggles.
At least Shinyu and Youngjae’s love life seems to be going better than Hanjin’s.
Not many days have passed since that last incident, and besides Hanjin’s thoughts occasionally being invaded by questions about it, no more has happened. Nothing out of the ordinary, at least.
Winter is already approaching, which also means that the members are taking the chance to slip into their beds as soon as they get back home. That’s how, at only 10PM, the dorm is already pretty silent, with the lights outside the bedrooms off. Hanjin doesn’t bother to turn them on as he heads out of his room, leaving Kyungmin getting ready for bed while he goes to grab his nightly tea.
The only issue is, after closing the door Hanjin hears something: a voice, most definitely Youngjae’s; then a laugh, that’s Shinyu’s. He could, like any normal person, resume his trip to the kitchen and ignore his friends, but that would be dumb. Also, it’s not like he’s invading their privacy! He just happened to overhear their conversation from the hallway! Well, he can’t quite make out the words they’re saying yet, but were he to step slightly closer to the door…
Decision made, the nightly tea quest is postponed as Hanjin quietly settles against the door to Shinyu and Youngjae’s room. He thinks for a second about how he didn’t get caught last time, and for that reason maybe he shouldn’t test his luck a second time, but before he can do anything reasonable about it, the words on the other side of the door get clearer.
“You’re being too bold, hyung, the members have figured it out,” says Youngjae. He’s calm, even if he doesn’t sound entirely pleased. Hanjin holds back a gasp, does he mean they’re actually…?
“Is that so bad?” Shinyu questions, his voice coming from the same side of the room. Hanjin realizes it sounds slightly muffled, as if he were speaking into a pillow.
After a few seconds of silence, Youngjae responds, “no, they don’t seem to mind.”
There’s a soft hum, and then Hanjin hears what sounds like the rustle of bedsheets. When Shinyu speaks this time, it sounds clearer, “Dohoon gave me a nasty stare yesterday.”
Youngjae chuckles at the comment, “you deserved it.” It’s barely a murmur — Hanjin is thankful that the dorm is especially quiet today, he’s not missing much. He does wonder how much worse the conversation can get, but he needs to focus now and then process; that way he can convey all the details to Kyungmin.
“I’ve always said you’re handsome, it’s nothing new!” Shinyu sulks, but it’s light-hearted, Hanjin knows that tone well. “And he’s much worse in that sense,” he adds.
“I can’t deny that,” Youngjae sighs. “Jihoon and him really are perfect for each other.” So it’s not only Kyungmin and Hanjin that have noticed, that’s… good. Yeah, that’s good.
Either way, Hanjin finds it funny that Youngjae is so invested in Jihoon and Dohoon’s relationship, he’s noticed him saying stuff to set those two up multiple times in the last few months. At the end of the day, he’s the same as Hanjin and Kyungmin, but he is right, those two are perfect for each other.
“Just like we are?” Shinyu’s voice interrupts Hanjin’s inner monologue — what the hell? Did he really just say that?
The shock is only further encouraged when Youngjae straight up giggles at the question, Shinyu’s low laugh accompanying that sound before– wait. Is that a kiss? That definitely sounds like a kiss. Oh my god, Hanjin mouths as blood rushes to his face.
A short moment later, Shinyu whispers, “I’ll be more careful.” Hanjin’s heart almost flutters at how earnest his promise comes off. After hearing Youngjae hum, it feels like Hanjin is having a deja vu when Shinyu continues: “You’ve worked hard today.”
That phrase again, they’re consistent.
When one of them closes the partition of Youngjae’s bed, Hanjin interprets it as his sign to take his leave, as silently as he’d gotten there. But he doesn’t go to the kitchen as he originally intended, instead retracing his steps back to his own room.
“Oh, hyung,” Kyungmin greets him, his hand hovering over the light switch as he scans Hanjin’s face, confused. “Can I turn off this light…? I already turned on the other lamp, but…” He doesn’t finish his phrase, the click of the door closing —along with Hanjin’s weird behavior— seemingly being enough reason for him to pause and frown.
“Sorry, yes, you can, it’s fine!” Hanjin reassures him. After getting a hesitant nod from Kyungmin, he turns serious; right, business. Holding Kyungmin’s wrist, he looks straight into his eyes when he says: “But I have to tell you something now.”
Having turned off the light, Hanjin drags Kyungmin to his bed, signaling for the two of them to sit together. Kyungmin obliges without questioning, his expression as serious as it is curious. When he has all of Kyungmin’s attention on him, Hanjin finally tells him about what just happened.
“And then what? Did Shinyu-hyung say anything to that?” Kyungmin asks once Hanjin mentions Youngjae’s comment about Dohoon and Jihoon. He hadn’t said a word so far, but Hanjin wasn’t disappointed with his reactions, he seemed shocked enough without words.
Well, for sure the next thing would shock him even more. So Hanjin carefully nods, then replies, “he said: just like we are?”
And just as he expected, Kyungmin’s mouth drops open, his brows knitted together as he stares at Hanjin, possibly waiting for any sign of teasing — he seems to find none. “Oh my god.”
“Wait. There’s something more…”
“Tell me, hyung, I’m ready!” Hanjin can feel Kyungmin’s eyes focusing on him, even as he looks at his own hands for a second and takes a deep breath.
“I’m pretty sure they kissed,” he lets out. It comes off more confident than he’d intended, but he’s positive Kyungmin would have reacted the same either way: his eyebrows raising immediately in surprise, and his eyes looking even more round than they usually do.
“They’re finally dating, they got together after so long…” The younger breathes. It sounds more like he’s talking to himself than to Hanjin, but Hanjin still nods enthusiastically.
“Yes! And they don’t seem too awkward about us knowing,” he notes. “I’m glad they’re comfortable…”
“I am too, yes,” says Kyungmin softly. “But, hyung,” Hanjin tilts his head, waiting for him to continue. “How do you feel? We finally got a confirmation, you can live peacefully after two years!”
With a content sigh, Hanjin lets himself fall back onto the bed. “I feel so good.” Kyungmin’s giggles are quick to invade the room, soon joined by Hanjin’s own once Kyungmin takes the spot next to him. After calming down, Hanjin speaks again, “I really can’t believe it.”
“I know,” Kyungmin agrees, “but it’s nice.”
After a few seconds of silence, Kyungmin turns to rest on his side, holding eye contact without saying a word. Hanjin wonders if there’s something he’s meaning to ask — he can’t quite piece together what is it about Kyungmin’s eyes that’s making him nervous. Still, he doesn’t look away.
“Kyungmin–” Without Hanjin realizing, Kyungmin’s hands have traveled to his waist, and the weird look has transformed into one of mischief. Before he can get away, Kyungmin starts tickling him with no mercy, Hanjin inevitably breaking into uncontrolled laughter. “Hey! Lee Kyungmin, stop it!”
Eventually, when he gets tired of avoiding Hanjin’s attempts to hit him or grab him, Kyungmin does as he’s told, not without a satisfied smile creeping into his face. While Hanjin is trying to restore his breath, he mumbles a not-so-sincere “sorry, gege,” that earns him an inoffensive side-eye.
Even while pretending to be annoyed, Hanjin lets Kyungmin take his hand, scoffing when they lock eyes again.
It’s sweet, though. Hanjin thinks of that first night together in their room, of Kyungmin being so excited to chat with him even though they weren’t half as close as they are now — he thinks of how adorable he’d looked, and the amount of times Hanjin has thought of reaching across the room to act on those thoughts.
This time, he doesn’t stop himself, and his free hand easily finds its way to Kyungmin’s hair, stroking it softly. With Kyungmin leaning into the touch and steadying his grip on Hanjin’s hand, the scene shifts from light-hearted to mellow. After two years of “almost”-spying on their hyungs, Hanjin feels more grateful than ever for having brought up the topic to Kyungmin in the first place. He’s not sure at what point in time he became someone Kyungmin could call his best friend, but he knows that he’s happy right where he is. Maybe he owes Shinyu and Youngjae, in a way.
“Han Zhen.” Kyungmin’s voice breaks his train of thought, and he hums, expectant. “雕年 99.”
Laughter shakes Hanjin’s body as he nods.
“雕年 99.”