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“RAH!” Jinyoung shouts in a purposely deep voice for the hundredth time that day, and the couple passing him, two good-looking males from first glance, jump into each others' arms with wide eyes before running down the hallway while Jinyoung pretends to give chase. One of them screams shrilly the whole way, clinging to the other male’s arm for dear life, and Jinyoung does his best not to laugh. He returns to his station behind a thin black cloth in the middle of the long hallway. There’s a smile on his face behind the mask, and he revels in the screams echoing all around him. The crowd tonight are extra loud.
If he thinks about it, Jinyoung is pretty sure he gets way too much enjoyment from scaring the shit out of people. More joy than is considered healthy, but whatever, it’s good mid-semester stress relief and Jinyoung is here for that.
It’s a pretty popular haunted house that Jinyoung works at, large and intricate and set in a rickety abandoned farmhouse in the outskirts of Seoul. They’d asked Jinyoung to be the ticket master at the front at first, both because of his acting skill and his attractiveness, but Jinyoung adamantly refused to be anything but something that could scare the shit out of people.
His wish was granted, and even though his costume got a bit hot and his bangs were matted with sweat by the end of his shifts, it was worth it for all the good scares he got out of it.
“You enjoy this way too much,” Mark commented drily as they changed out of their costumes one night. Jinyoung and Mark were friends from high school, and Jinyoung asked Mark to come help when they were short-staffed one year, and Mark had been coming every year since. Turns out he loves scaring people an unhealthy amount, too.
“You’re one to talk,” Jinyoung shot back, shrugging out of his overalls and pulling the purposefully bloodied T-shirt over his head. He could feel the mirth still pulling at his lips though, the memories of scaring people fresh in his mind and keeping him warm. Mark pursed his lips at him with a small frown.
“Way too much,” he repeated. “Sometimes I think you should have been that one lizard guy from Monster’s Inc.”
“What?” Jinyoung asked, confused because he’d never seen the movie and Mark had said it in English. Mark just shrugged lazily and went back to undressing. Jinyoung just chalked it up to one of the many Markisms that he’d never truly understand.
So Jinyoung’s part is one of a psychotic hillbilly killer, or something. He walks out with a giant meat cleaver and a warped pig-head mask wearing bloodied and worn overalls and t-shirt and it’s enough to get people to run for the hills. He doesn’t really have the stature for it, and Mark tells him he looks adorable without the mask. People’s minds are scary things when fueled by adrenaline and fear, however, so he’s sure that most people see him as a scary monster rather than a spindly college student in overalls from the discount rack and a cheap mask.
The arrival of his next ‘guests’ pulls Jinyoung from his thoughts, and he gets into his position, fingers flexing on his cleaver as the sounds of their voices echo from the start of the hallway.
“Oh, no no no! Something is so going to chase us down this hallway! I am not going!” squeaks one of them, voice high and shrill and Jinyoung reaches up a hand to cover his smile before remembering he has a mask and no one can see him to begin with.
“Bam-ahhhh, don’t say that!” whines another one, voice deeper and way cuter than the first. He sounds on the verge of tears, and Jinyoung kind of feels bad for what he’s about to do, even though the voices don’t sound like they’re moving any closer.
“You were thinking it!” retorts the first voice accusingly.
“Suck it up, you two,” replies a third voice, also high but distinguishable due to how calm he sounds. He even sounds like he’s smiling, and Jinyoung wants to laugh because he’s the one that probably dragged the other two through this. “If you keep doing this, it’s going to take us all night to get through this place.”
“You said it would take ten minutes!” screeches the first voice.
“Yeah, and it would, if you two didn’t stop and wait five minutes before every jump scare to mentally prepare yourselves and then scream like banshees and run anyway.”
This time Jinyoung really does snort at the indignant sounds made in response, and Jinyoung’s glad for all the background noise and ambient noises coming from hidden speakers because they don’t hear him.
“Can’t we just turn back?” asks the second voice again, voice meek and shaking and it gives Jinyoung mixed emotions. He both wants to coddle him and make him scream.
“We’re already this far,” someone says, and Jinyoung is surprised that it sounds like it’s the second guy. “We can do this, hyung. We’re men. We’re manly men. We’re men’s men.”
Jinyoung laughs silently behind his mask and one of them snorts.
“Let’s get this over with,” says the third voice, and Jinyoung can hear his heavy footsteps and the lighter, more cautious steps of the two trailing behind him. Jinyoung tenses as he waits, and sees the first guy pass – tall with brown hair and a mushroom cut. Next comes a shorter boy with pink hair, but Jinyoung can’t tell much else because of the curtain. The third guy is clinging to the second boy like a leech, hunched over with his hands clinging to the fabric of the guy’s shirt and head pressing between the guy’s shoulder blades. It’s adorable, and Jinyoung is sure that he’s the owner of the second voice, and Jinyoung is absolutely ready to make him scream.
He jumps out as soon as they’ve passed, with a shout that surprises even the bravest of the three at the head of the pack. They all scream and jump, the loudest scream coming from the third guy who’d jolted upright as soon as Jinyoung jumped out. They all freeze to look at Jinyoung as he raises his meat cleaver, and then the pink-haired guy is the first to book it. The tall boy takes the cue to also run when Jinyoung starts giving chase, only to nearly trip when the third boy falls to the ground in a defensive curl, hugging himself and burying his face in his knees.
Jinyoung pauses, because this has never happened. He looks from the two boys turning around the corner at the end of the hallway, back down to the shivering mess at his feet. He lowers his cleaver, and wonders what the protocol for this is. Probably comfort, right? This kid just totally got abandoned by his friends, and he seems terrified. Maybe Jinyoung should bring him to the nearest emergency exit, which is just back down the hall.
He’s quite obviously whimpering and Jinyoung kneels down to put his cleaver on the floor next to the guy.
“Hey,” he says, gently, and the boy looks up. He’s cute, is what Jinyoung notices first. The mole under his eye is the second, and his cute brown mushroom hair is the third.
Then the guy screams in his face and scrambles backwards until he hits the opposite wall. He screams again when his foot touches the fake cleaver, and he kicks it away with such force that it bounces off the walls three times before stopping. Jinyoung would be more worried if this guy weren’t so damn adorable. Apparently he and the rest of the staff should count their blessings that this guy was too scared to move most of the time, otherwise he’s pretty sure there would be some black eyes by now.
His shirt is too big for him and his sleeves keep covering his hands and he’s looking at Jinyoung with wide, angry eyes like he’s ready to fight should Jinyoung take a step closer and the only word running through Jinyoung’s mind is ‘cute cute cute.’
“Y-you- you better st-stay over there! Stay right there! I’ll – I’ll hit you if you come closer! And I’ll hit you hard!” his voice is wavering badly, and his finger shakes where it’s pointed at Jinyoung like a threat.
Jinyoung smiles, but tamps down on it as he holds up placating hands and reaches up to pull off his mask.
“It’s fine, look, it’s just a mask,” Jinyoung says in his best soothing voice, but the guy still watches him wearily as Jinyoung removes the mask. The guy’s eyes go even wider when Jinyoung gets the mask off and sets it on one of his knees. Jinyoung shakes his head a little and plucks at his bangs self-consciously, it hasn’t been long enough for them to be sweaty but he still has some pretty bad helmet hair. The guy is still staring at him with slack-jawed shock, so Jinyoung aims a winning smile at him and says, “see just a mask. Nothing to be afraid of.”
The cute guy’s mouth clicks shut audibly and he looks away, shame and embarrassment coloring his cheeks and Jinyoung wants to coo.
“S-sorry. It’s just – it’s just your job, right?” his voice is still shaking and he’s lightly trembling, but not nearly as bad as before. He looks back at Jinyoung with an awkward smile and Jinyoung’s heart melts a little. “I probably look like an idiot, right?”
Jinyoung shakes his head, humming. “No, not really. I see this kind of thing all day, I’ve never gotten threatened so adorably though.”
The guy flushes again, biting down on his lip and looking down into his lap. He starts playing with his fingers, and then looks to the end of the hallway.
“I – I guess I should get going,” he says, and pushes himself up on shaky legs. Jinyoung stands with him, reaching out instinctively when the cutie wobbles. He gives Jinyoung a shy smile when he notices Jinyoung’s arms before they fall back to his sides.
“Your friends abandoned you, I think,” Jinyoung says bluntly, and only feels bad about it after when the guy’s eyes grow wide and he whips his head both ways down the hallway like he’d only just realized.
Then the guy’s eyes turn on him, imploring and wide and Jinyoung was never weak to looks, but if he were, this would be one of them. “Can – can you please tell me where an emergency exit is? I didn’t want to do this to begin with, and I’ll – I’ll die if I go through the rest alone.”
Jinyoung opens his mouth, closes it. The gears in his head are working, because this guy is cute and Jinyoung is curious and a little bit enamored, and he wants to be the one this cutie clings to when he’s screaming in fear.
“There are no emergency exits,” Jinyoung lies, and the cutie looks like he’s about to cry, so Jinyoung rushes out, “but I can escort you through the rest of it, if you want. My shift ends soon anyway.”
Not a total lie, his replacement gets in soon, last he checked he had thirty minutes, and that was a while ago. So it should be about ten now.
“Are you sure?” the guy asks, but his hand is already gripping Jinyoung’s forearm like a vice. Jinyoung glances down at it amusedly, and the cutie realizes what he’s doing and yanks his hand back. “Sorry! It just-“
“It’s fine,” Jinyoung reassures, smiling through the guy’s bumbling. “Let me just grab my stuff.” Jinyoung heads back into the small room, tossing the mask onto a chair as he grabs his cell phone and hoodie.
“So, what’s your name?” Jinyoung calls over his shoulder.
He shoots off a quick text to the person picking up his shift then shoves the cell phone into a pocket of his overalls and walks out to see the cutie blinking at him owlishly.
“What?” he asks, looking shaken from being left alone for the space of ten seconds. Jinyoung wants to hold him forever.
Instead he just smiles and says, “your name? I can’t just keep calling you ‘cutie’ in my head all night.”
“Choi Youngjae,” the cutie squeaks, literally squeaks, as a flush rises high in his cheeks again. God, even his name is cute. If Jinyoung doesn’t have a date by the end of this, it might require some ice cream bingeing to get over it.
“Park Jinyoung,” Jinyoung smiles charmingly at him and offers the arm not draped with the hoodie. “Shall we?”
Youngjae looks from his face down to his arm, before giving him a shy nod and tentatively wrapping a hand around his bicep. They walk down the hallway in companionable silence, but the closer to the end of the hallway they get, the tenser Youngjae becomes.
Jinyoung wants to offer him some words of comfort, but also he kind of wants to have Youngjae cling to him, so he’s warring with his conscience when they round the corner into the ‘chain room’ which is really just a bunch of chains dangling from the ceiling with strobe lights blinding you. Jinyoung continues his trek despite Youngjae slowly shrinking more and more into his side and dragging his feet, and Jinyoung waits for the inevitable.
Jinwoon jumps out at them shirtless with a hockey mask and a hook for a hand and cackles manically. Jinyoung has seen him practicing it enough that he’s not even shaken, just cocking an eyebrow at him as Youngjae shrieks and turns to bury his face in Jinyoung’s neck and wrap both his arms around one of Jinyoung’s.
Jinyoung is not complaining. Jinwoon tilts his head curiously at Jinyoung. Jinyoung just shrugs.
Youngjae is muttering incoherently into Jinyoung’s neck, and it’s absolutely adorable even as Youngjae practically vibrates against him in fear.
“Youngjae,” Jinyoung says calmly, reaching over to squeeze one of the hands that have a vice grip on his bicep. Youngjae jumps a little and whimpers. “This is Jinwoon. Jinwoon, Youngjae.”
Youngjae peaks up from his safe haven of Jinyoung’s clavicle and Jinwoon pushes up the mask with a toothy grin.
“Hey, bud! Sorry, didn’t know Jinyoung was coming through with a date tonight, I would have gone easier on you.”
Youngjae tenses and Jinyoung’s skin prickles with embarrassment, and he’s glad Youngjae’s eyes are still on Jinwoon when he says, “don’t lie, you never go easy. And he isn’t my date.”
“Whatever you say,” says Jinwoon, laughing (normally this time) and disappearing back into the chains.
“See?” Jinyoung says as they continue walking, Youngjae’s head is bowed and he’s avoiding looking at Jinyoung. “Not scary.”
Youngjae mumbles something Jinyoung can’t make out, then he slowly extracts himself from Jinyoung while they walk the length of the room until his grip isn’t there at all. Jinyoung sends him a quizzical look and Youngjae looks sheepish, avoiding his eyes and hugging himself tightly.
“Are you cold?” Jinyoung asks. They round another corner to a room tinged red, and it’s just one where the nurses stare creepily at you while you pass, so Jinyoung doesn’t feel the need to slow down this time.
“Wh-what?” Youngjae asks, struggling to keep up and glancing at the nurses, horrified as they slowly advance towards them. He presses into Jinyoung’s side again like a magnet and Jinyoung smirks.
“Are you cold? You keep shivering,” Jinyoung explains and Youngjae whips his head around to look at him instead, eyes huge.
“What? No, that’s just-“ he bites down on his lip, like he doesn’t want to admit he’s terrified, then bows his head again. “A little bit,” he mumbles.
Once they’re through that room, Jinyoung stops them at another juncture and steps in front of Youngjae to give him an appraising look that has Youngjae flushing.
“You’re about my size, so it should fit nicely,” Jinyoung says, pulling the hoodie off of his arm and holding it out for Youngjae to take. Youngjae just stares at it dumbly, so Jinyoung shakes it a bit for emphasis. “You’re cold, right? Take it.”
Youngjae blinks at him and shakes his head vigorously. “No, I can’t! I’m already… you’re already doing so much for me, I can’t-“
Jinyoung steps forward into his space and Youngjae shuts up instantly, giving Jinyoung a confused, somewhat panicked look as Jinyoung leans even closer.
“Arms up,” Jinyoung says before his brain can short-circuit at the proximity. Youngjae’s lips are really plump and pretty and his eye mole is very distracting.
“What?” Youngjae whispers, which is a feat because Jinyoung has noticed his volume is nearly always set to loud when he’s not muttering incoherently. It’s adorable. Jinyoung gives him a warm smile that he hopes isn’t as mushy as it feels.
“If you don’t take it, I’ll dress you myself,” states Jinyoung. Youngjae blinks, then takes a step back while simultaneously pulling the hoodie from Jinyoung’s hands.
Jinyoung smiles, satisfied and smug, as Youngjae pulls the hoodie over his head. He looks adorable in it, even if it’s just a simple black hoodie from Jinyoung’s university, and Jinyoung’s heart swells. Youngjae looks over at him and pats at his own hair, clearly self-conscious.
“It suits you,” Jinyoung tells him, and Youngjae flushes and looks away. “Warmer?”
“Much,” Youngjae mutters to the wall. Jinyoung takes a moment to admire the angle, because Youngjae’s cheeks look adorably fluffy from here.
“Alright, let’s go,” Jinyoung says, offering his arm once more and Youngjae stares at it in shock. “We’re already halfway done.” Youngjae looks from his arm to his face, pulling the sleeves of his hoodie over his hands like a (cute) nervous habit. He gnaws on his bottom lip, and Jinyoung remembers what Jinwoon said, and what Youngjae said, and puts the pieces together. He gives Youngjae a fond smile, “you’re not being a burden. In fact, it would be my honor to be your stress ball for the rest of this haunted house.”
Youngjae’s flush burns hot, but he steps forward and takes the proffered arm with little hesitance. Jinyoung smiles at him gleefully and Youngjae just hugs Jinyoung’s arm in both his own again and lowers his head in response.
Jinyoung quietly leads Youngjae through the next room, which features a dimly lit bedroom with a girl rocking back and forth crying. Youngjae turns his head into Jinyoung’s neck more, and the girl (Nayeon) looks up to start her speech when she catches sight of Jinyoung and gives him a confused look. Jinyoung looks down at the top of Youngjae’s head, where he’s trying to become one with Jinyoung’s shoulder, and then Jinyoung waves at Nayeon to continue.
She raises her eyebrows, but follows his orders. Jinyoung stops, and Youngjae squeaks into his neck.
“Why did they hurt me?” Nayeon says, voice high-pitched and shaky as she approaches them in her ghostly white get-up and long black wig combo. “My friends – they hurt me, why did they do that?”
Youngjae turns his whole body away from Nayeon, completely burying his head in Jinyoung’s neck and wrapping his arm around his chest and clinging. Jinyoung pulls his trapped arm out from between them and throws it around Youngjae’s waist instead.
Nayeon’s eyes flicker from him to Youngjae and back, before she cocks a judgmental eyebrow and Jinyoung flashes her a thumbs up and a grin.
“This is Nayeon,” Jinyoung says, reaching up to pet Youngjae’s head until he turns to look shakily at a now awkwardly standing Nayeon. She gives him a little wave and a friendly smile and Jinyoung can feel Youngjae relaxing a little. “Not scary at all. We’re all just people in suits, Youngjae-ssi.”
Youngjae exhales shakily and nods, which reminds Jinyoung that he should probably stop petting Youngjae before it gets weird (it was already weird, but Jinyoung ignores that niggling thought like he ignores Nayeon’s knowing look when Youngjae faces front again).
“Let’s go,” Youngjae says, with more confidence than Jinyoung’s heard all night. He keeps a tight hold on Jinyoung still, though, switching to clinging to Jinyoung’s overalls at the side while Jinyoung keeps a firm arm around Youngjae’s waist.
“Sorry for scaring you!” Nayeon calls after them, and then, “have fun with your date!”
Jinyoung can feel Youngjae tense and glances over to find him blushing, eyes set firmly ahead, but his grip doesn’t slip away this time. Jinyoung grins and squeezes Youngjae’s side, eliciting a yelp.
Youngjae turns his head to glare and Jinyoung smiles innocently at him. The proximity makes Jinyoung’s heart race, and it must occur to Youngjae how close they are too, because he blushes and looks away again.
“Don’t worry, our ‘date’ is almost over,” Jinyoung whispers in Youngjae’s ear, and Jinyoung delights in the shiver he feels from Youngjae, because he definitely shouldn’t be cold right now, nor scared. Jinyoung backs away with a grin and starts tugging Youngjae faster. “Only a few more rooms.”
The next room is pitch black, a tunnel leading to the outside bit where Mark is. This bit is tricky to get through, and the motion-censored voice comes through the overhead speaker, creaky and foreboding, “wait, there’s something coming for you~”
Jinyoung and Youngjae stop on the spot where there are glow-in-the-dark footprints on the ground, and out of the corner of his eye Jinyoung can see Youngjae squinting to scan the pitch blackness for any sign of life, and his hold on Jinyoung’s overalls is gradually tightening. It’s adorable and Jinyoung can’t help it, he pinches Youngjae again and Youngjae lets out a full-blown scream, jumping about a foot in the air and turning into Jinyoung again to hide when he realizes what Jinyoung did.
Jinyoung releases him only so he can double over in laughter, and Youngjae smacks him repeatedly on the back.
“Mean! You’re so mean! Stop doing that! I hate you!” Youngjae whines loudly, as he continues to hit, and he hits hard, he definitely wasn’t lying about that. Jinyoung can’t bring himself to care though as he straightens and wipes tears from his eyes.
“Sorry, it’s just so easy,” Jinyoung coos, reaching his hand out to pull Youngjae closer by the waist again. Youngjae huffs, and starts pulling away, then jumps right back into Jinyoung’s arms when a light turns on at the end of the tunnel. It reveals a figure, black and hunched over and otherwise inscrutable due to the lighting and the distance.
The light goes out, and a light comes on closer, with the same figure (it’s not actually the same person, Jinyoung knows how this works by now) lit up. Jinyoung wants to roll his eyes at the cliché, but instead takes to looking at Youngjae. His eyes are wide as they stare straight ahead, and only get wider when the next light comes on, accompanied by a sharp intake of breath. He’s making little simpering noises as he watches, and Jinyoung wants to kiss the noises away or make them louder, he can’t quite decide.
Then the lights start coming on in quick succession, Youngjae screams again and then he’s completely turning into Jinyoung, tightly embracing him with his head buried in the crook of Jinyoung’s neck and his arms clinging to the back of Jinyoung’s T-shirt. That is adorable in and of itself, but Jinyoung’s head is literally spinning from what he’s yelling.
“Hold me!” Hold me hold me, hold me, I said!” he cries into Jinyoung’s neck, and it’s Jinyoung’s turn to shiver at the hot breath ghosting over his collarbones. The last person in the line of scary creatures (Chansung), tilts his head at Jinyoung curiously and then leaves them be when Jinyoung just gives him a nervous smile.
Jinyoung brings his arms up to do as he’s told, hugging Youngjae as close as possible with his arms around his shoulders. Youngjae whimpers and Jinyoung squeezes him. He’s so cute.
“It’s okay, they’re gone now,” Jinyoung tells him, but Youngjae doesn’t even try to move, though he’s trembling lightly. He just stays right where he is with his head buried in Jinyoung’s neck like he plans to stay there for the rest of the night. “Youngjae?” Jinyoung asks cautiously, worried they may have broken him.
“Can we just walk like this?” Youngjae whispers into his neck, lips brushing Jinyoung’s collarbones and Jinyoung resists yet another tingle up his spine, just hold Youngjae a little tighter. “Can we finish the rest of the house like this? Please?”
Jinyoung takes a deep breath, then lets it out and hopes it doesn’t sound as nervous as it feels. “It’ll look ridiculous and it’s hard to walk like this.” Youngjae’s hands loosen slightly on his shirt, so Jinyoung says, “but your wish is my command, cutie.”
Jinyoung feels Youngjae’s inhale more than he hears it, and he definitely feels the sudden heat emanating from Youngjae’s face where it rests against his neck. They stand in relative silence, breathing drowned out by the ambient soundtrack and the screams still going on at all corners of the house.
“Lead the way, Jinyoung-ssi,” Youngjae breathes out, and Jinyoung focuses on walking rather than the way Youngjae’s breath keeps blowing hot over his collarbones or the way Jinyoung’s name sounds in Youngjae’s voice.
It’s as awkward and stilted as Jinyoung had predicted, and he can hear his coworkers laughing at him as they penguin waddle their way down the now-lit tunnel.
Eventually, Jinyoung stops them and says, “I’ll carry you, wrap your legs around my waist. It’ll be easier.”
Youngjae huffs a giggle into the column of Jinyoung’s throat, and Jinyoung’s heart seizes at the sound because he’s pretty sure he’d like to hear that again even more than Youngjae’s terrified screams. That’s a first for Jinyoung, and he thinks this is the first time he’s ever been terrified of something – of what this might mean, of the night ending and never seeing Youngjae again – he’s not sure. All he knows is that the butterflies in his stomach shouldn’t be choking him with nerves when Youngjae is so warm and firm against his chest.
“That’s ridiculous, Jinyoung-ssi,” Youngjae says against his neck, and it sounds like he’s smiling. Jinyoung’s butterflies flutter even faster and he swallows loudly around them. “You won’t be able to carry me like that, we’ll fall.”
Jinyoung huffs and it raises some silky strands on Youngjae’s head, Jinyoung mindlessly reaches up to pat them back down and Youngjae relaxes even more against him.
“Are you calling me weak? I’ll have you know I have a lot of lower body strength,” from dancing, he doesn’t say, and Youngjae’s face gets hot against his neck again. Jinyoung smirks and continues idly playing with Youngjae’s hair. It’s soft, okay? No one would blame him.
“I’m heavy…” Youngjae mumbles. Jinyoung doubts it, but he doesn’t have time to refute it before Youngjae continues. “I don’t want you to get hurt because of me…”
Jinyoung opens his mouth, then shuts it and rethinks. Youngjae has been compliant so far, but he seems to have a stubborn streak outside of when he’s terrified. Cute, and interesting, something to poke fun at later when Jinyoung asks him out for a real date. Knowing that, though, and knowing that Youngjae has been struggling with guilt for most of the evening for thinking he’s just being a burden, Jinyoung doesn’t want to push him too much. He doesn’t want to make Youngjae feel even more like he owes Jinyoung something, but also they can’t really walk like this especially when the last scare is Mark chasing them through a field with a chainsaw.
So Jinyoung untangles them and takes a step back. Youngjae looks up at him with horror written clearly on his face, like he thinks he has done something wrong.
“I’m sorry! If you want to do that, that’s fine-“ Jinyoung ignores Youngjae’s babbling to side-step him and kneel down in front of him on the dirty tarped floor. He’s sure his coworkers have been watching the spectacle in amusement from the dark corners of the place, and he definitely hears one snort, but he ignores it.
“Get on my back,” Jinyoung states, looking up over his shoulder to gauge Youngjae’s expression. He looks dumbfounded, then relieved, then guilty again. Jinyoung clicks his tongue, wondering how he can convince Youngjae he has kind of developed a raging crush for him within half an hour without completely embarrassing himself. His mind comes up blank, of course, so he just says, “I want to do this, so let me piggyback you.”
Youngjae pulls at the sleeves of the hoodie again, thinking. Then after a moment, he nods and falls forward onto Jinyoung’s awaiting back. Jinyoung hooks his hands underneath Youngjae’s thighs (and damn are they some nice thick thighs like holy mother of thighs Batman) and stands to start the short trek out of the tunnel.
“Just let me know if you need a break,” Youngjae mutters, his forehead now buried in his arm atop Jinyoung’s right shoulder so he doesn’t have to see where they’re going. His legs are squeezing Jinyoung’s waist and his arms are tightly wound around Jinyoung’s neck, and Jinyoung is kind of scared that when Mark scares them Youngjae’s going to end up choking him, but he’ll deal with it for the sake of lov- uh, for Youngjae’s sake. Plus, he wouldn’t (and doesn’t) mind those thighs squeezing him. His windpipe, however, prefers breathing.
“You’re not even heavy,” Jinyoung scoffs, thanking the heavens for his dancer thighs and his penchant for dancing way too long to get choreography right. It had all been worth it to be able to easily piggyback a cutie through a haunted house.
Youngjae’s silence is telling, and Jinyoung wishes he could tell whether or not he’s blushing. Then he spots Mark behind the tractor, and Mark lifts up the scarecrow mask to give him a puzzled look. Jinyoung just widens his eyes at him, and jerks his head slightly toward the exit. Mark’s frown seems to deepen, and so Jinyoung mouths, ‘do it!’
Mark looks from him to Youngjae then shakes his head exasperatedly and pulls the mask down, putting his hand back onto the fake chainsaw. Youngjae jumps when Mark revs the chainsaw directly to their right, head lifting to look at the source of the noise. Mark bursts out from behind the tractor with his trademark hysterical laughter and the revved chainsaw raised and roaring. Jinyoung flinches when Youngjae’s hold tightens threefold both on his neck and waist and he screams piercingly right next to Jinyoung’s ear.
“Run, run run, Jinyouuuung!” Youngjae alternates between screaming and whining, keeping an eye on an enthusiastic Mark giving chase once Jinyoung takes off.
“It’s fine,” says Jinyoung, but he’s struggling for breath (for multiple reasons) and Youngjae is screaming too loud to hear him anyway, so he stops trying to calm him down.
“Go – go away! Stop coming! Stop coming! I know you’re just getting paid for this!”
Jinyoung smiles at Youngjae’s shouted, shaky threats. Youngjae bounces on his back and the added weight slows Jinyoung down, but he does his best until a twig rolls underfoot and sends him tumbling rather ungracefully into a face-plant in the dirt.
Youngjae yelps and rolls off of him, which is a struggle because they’re pretty tangled. Jinyoung squeezes his eyes shut and pulls back just far enough to spit out the dirt in his mouth. He tastes blood, his nose hurts, and he’s pretty sure he twisted his ankle.
How embarrassing. He rolls onto his back with a groan and slits his eyes open just in time to see Mark approaching with the chainsaw lowered and turned off.
“Jinyoung, are you-“
Youngjae, who was laying close enough to Jinyoung to be a comforting warmth at his side, suddenly lifts his leg in Jinyoung’s peripheral. Jinyoung has a dizzying moment of wondering what he’s about to do, then Youngjae kicks Mark straight in the nuts.
Mark chokes, doubling over and dropping his chainsaw. Jinyoung jolts upright despite his throbbing nose and ankle and pulls Youngjae back into his chest to keep him from assaulting Mark more. Even though Youngjae is staring at Mark in wide-eyed horror mixed with guilt, like he’s just realized what he’s done. Mark collapses to the ground in a pained heap and curls in on himself with a groan.
Jinyoung bursts out laughing, keeping one arm around Youngjae and using the other to cover his mouth as he laughs wholeheartedly. He can see Youngjae giving him hopeless looks that are also a bit starry-eyed and Jinyoung’s face warms under the attention.
Meanwhile Mark rips off his mask and glares over at him.
“Fuck you, Jinyoung,” he spits, and Jinyoung laughs harder.
“Youngjae,” Jinyoung gets out between giggles, “this is my best friend, Mark. Mark, this is Youngjae.”
“I’m so so sorry!” Youngjae says, leaning forward to try to help somehow, but getting stopped halfway with Jinyoung’s arm still around his shoulders. Youngjae’s arms hover awkwardly in the air between them before he just drops them with a distressed pout. “I just reacted on instinct! I was – you were coming at Jinyoung-ssi and I panicked!”
Jinyoung stops laughing when his heart leaps into his throat again, the butterflies making their return full force. He looks over at Youngjae to find that his ears are red and it’s definitely a warmer autumn night, so he shouldn’t be that cold. Jinyoung smiles at him widely, and Youngjae finally turns to look at him while embarrassedly working his bottom lip.
“You were defending me?” Jinyoung baby talks at him, just a little, and the flush spreads to Youngjae’s face. “You’re too cute! My knight in shining armor!”
He pulls Youngjae into a full hug then, and Youngjae falls into his lap with a squeak. He hugs Jinyoung back though, arms shyly reaching around Jinyoung’s shoulders and his head resting next to Jinyoung’s. Mark is eying them distastefully from where he’s still curled up defensively. Jinyoung sticks his tongue out at him, and Mark pulls a face.
“Your nose is bleeding,” Mark states.
Jinyoung pulls his tongue back as Youngjae jerks back to inspect him.
“What?” Youngjae wipes at Jinyoung’s philtrum with a hoodie-covered hand, and Jinyoung brings up one hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. Youngjae looks at Jinyoung and leans back even more, or would but Jinyoung refuses to release his waist again. Youngjae is warm and soft and Jinyoung is in pain and deserves cuddles. Youngjae gives him an upset look, and Jinyoung softens. “You got hurt because of me. This is all my fault-“
“You made it up to me by defending my honor from the scary scarecrow,” Jinyoung blurts, and he can see Mark rolling his eyes behind Youngjae. Youngjae just looks unconvinced. “I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.”
“That’s not- that doesn’t count,” Youngjae says miserably. His eyes are on Jinyoung’s mouth again, and it makes Jinyoung’s stomach flip until Youngjae just leans forward again to wipe off more blood.
“Coffee,” Jinyoung says, then backtracks when Youngjae’s response is a confused head tilt that is utterly adorable, but dammit Jinyoung is supposed to be smooth. Jinyoung is supposed to have his shit together. He is not supposed to fumble words around cute boys he may or may not want to date. “I mean, you can make it up to me by going out for coffee. With me. At some point.”
Jinyoung catches Mark mouthing ‘smooth’ behind Youngjae’s back, and Jinyoung kicks at him again. Mark rolls away with a yelp of fear. Youngjae is just giving him a stupefied look, one that Jinyoung could get used to seeing – somewhat hooded eyes, pink cheeks, and a slack jaw with mouth forming a small ‘o.’ It’s adorable, much like most thing related to Choi Youngjae, and Jinyoung is ready to study and categorize more of these faces and emotions.
No, he’s not in too deep already, thank you very much.
Youngjae opens his mouth to answer, just as a yell sounds from somewhere near the exit.
“You did what?!” the voice screams, and Youngjae freezes in his lap, head whipping around to look at the exit and Jinyoung does the same.
Jinyoung recognizes the man stomping towards them as one from the last couple he scared before Youngjae. He looks pissed, jaw protruding, as his boyfriend (?) clings to his arm to try to calm him down and Youngjae’s two friends trail behind him like scolded children.
Then Mr. Jaw spots Youngjae and freezes, causing the two guys behind him to run into his back.
“Youngjae!” the boyfriend (?) squeals, running over to pull Youngjae into a hug even if he’s still on Jinyoung’s lap. “We thought you were dead!”
“Oh thank God,” the pink-haired one breathes as the rest walk over, “I thought Jaebum-hyung was going to murder us for real this time.”
“I’m glad that was your only concern,” Youngjae says weakly, earning a snort from Jinyoung. Youngjae gives him a soft smile and Jinyoung feels his heart flutter.
“And who is this?” Mr. Jaw, probably ‘Jaebum-hyung’ commands, looking two seconds away from ripping Jinyoung apart. The boyfriend (?) stands up like he senses this, too, and places himself between them.
“I work here,” Jinyoung responds coolly, or it would be if he didn’t have a smitten grin on his face and a hand on his nose to keep it from bleeding more. Mark is giving him a look of disgust, and he’s pretty sure Youngjae’s two friends are, too. “My shift was ending and I decided to help him out, since the other two abandoned him.”
Jaebum’s head whips back around to glare at the other two, and they go from judgmental to terrified puppies in a second flat. One of them raises placating hands, while the pink-haired one subtly inches behind him.
“We didn’t!” insists the taller one. “He just… got lost?”
“It’s fine, hyung,” Youngjae says, voice strong and confident now that he’s surrounded by his friends. Jinyoung feels a little bit jealous of them, or he would if Youngjae weren’t still seated on his lap like he belongs there (he does). “Jinyoung-ssi was way nicer than they were, anyway.”
“’Nice,’ yeah, if that’s what you want to call it,” Mark mutters, low enough only to carry to Jinyoung and Youngjae’s ears. Jinyoung glares at him and Mark just holds up his hands with a smirk. He’s out of kicking range now, so Jinyoung only has the force of his glare to subjugate him.
“Yeah, we can see that,” says the pink-haired one cheerfully in response to Youngjae. “Seeing as you’ve been sitting in his lap since we got here.”
Youngjae flushes brilliantly, but doesn’t move. Instead it’s Jaebum that breaks free from his boyfriend’s grasp and grabs Youngjae, surprisingly gently, to pull him to his feet.
“Time to go, I knew this was a bad idea,” Jaebum mutters, dropping Youngjae’s arm when his boyfriend tugs at his arm until Jaebum puts it around his boyfriend’s shoulders. “I’m never listening to your ideas again, Yugyeom-ah.”
The tall one, Yugyeom probably, shrugs, looking unrepentant. “I had fun,” he says. Then gives Youngjae a once-over, where he’s nervously fidgeting in Jinyoung’s hoodie and glancing back down at Jinyoung still trying to stem the flow of blood. “Youngjae-hyung seems like he had fun, too.”
Jaebum groans, then starts walking away. “I don’t want to know. We’re leaving.”
Youngjae sends Jinyoung one baleful, parting gaze before he starts trotting after them. Jinyoung watches him go with a sinking heart and a possibly broken nose, but before he can start feeling too depressed Youngjae is jolting in place, then turning and running back.
“Your phone!” he demands breathlessly once he reaches Jinyoung, and Jinyoung blinks up at him stupidly. Youngjae gives him a blinding smile. “You need my number so we can go out on a real date, right?”
Jinyoung has never believed in the phrase ‘scared to death,’ but he now very much believes in the phrase, ‘love to death.’ Either he’s going to love Youngjae until he’s dead, or Youngjae is going to kill him by being so lovely. As he watches Youngjae enthusiastically key in his number, Jinyoung thinks he really wouldn’t mind either.
In the background, Mark makes retching noises, but both Jinyoung and Youngjae are so gone in their own world they fail to notice.Youngjae also forgets about the hoodie, and Jinyoung conveniently forgets to remind him to give it back.
It’s fine, Youngjae looks way better in it than Jinyoung ever had. Not that he’s biased or anything.