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Sunoo has a rule for himself. A very important one at that.
Do not hold eye contact with Park Sunghoon for longer than five seconds.
(Because every single time Sunoo forgets, it ends exactly the same way.)
The first time it happened accidentally, Sunoo blamed exhaustion.
They’d just finished rehearsal, the practice room still warm and humid from hours of dancing. Sunoo sat sprawled against the mirror trying to catch his breath, hair damp against his forehead, oversized shirt clinging uncomfortably to his skin.
Across the room, Sunghoon was drinking water while the others had gone out after the choreographer had finally granted them a fifteen-minute break.
Sunoo looked up automatically to complain about how their choreographer clearly wanted them dead.
And froze.
Sunghoon was already looking at him while downing the cold bottle of water. Not unusual. Sunghoon looked at him constantly these days.
The problem was the way he was doing it.
Throat moving slowly with every swallow, tiny droplets of condensation slid down the clear plastic and gathered against his fingers before running along the veins of his hand. Skin slightly flushed from dancing too long under hot lights. The collar of his shirt clung damply against his collarbones, sticking just enough that Sunoo could see the shape of them every time Sunghoon breathed.
Which wasn’t helping. Like, at all.
Sunoo swallowed hard and immediately blamed the strange heat curling low in his stomach on leftover adrenaline.
That had to be it.
Not the fact that Sunghoon drank water messily sometimes, little drops escaping at the corner of his mouth before he wiped them away distractedly with the back of his hand.
Definitely not the way his chest kept heaving slowly from exhaustion beneath that stupid black shirt.
Or the way his arms flexed slightly every time he tilted the bottle.
None of that.
Sunoo was simply dehydrated and mentally unstable after rehearsal. That was the only logical explanation.
Unfortunately, Sunghoon kept looking at him like Sunoo was the only thing in the room worth paying attention to.
Heat crawled immediately up Sunoo’s neck and made his breath catch slightly.
Sunghoon’s eyes flickered downward to his mouth, then back up again slowly.
That should’ve been enough of a warning. Instead, Sunoo smiled at him nervously.
A tiny, terrible, unthought mistake. Because something shifted in Sunghoon’s expression instantly like he’d made a decision.
Sunoo’s heartbeat stumbled hard enough to hurt.
Sunghoon lowered the water bottle slowly, then held out one hand. “Come here.”
Sunoo blinked. “Why?”
The corner of Sunghoon’s mouth lifted slightly. Those stupid sharp teeth showing just enough to make Sunoo’s stomach flip harder. “Just come here.”
And because Sunoo apparently had no survival instincts where Sunghoon was concerned, he stood up.
The second he got close enough, Sunghoon’s hand settled warm against his waist and pulled him gently forward until Sunoo’s back pressed lightly against the mirror.
“Sunghoon—”
But without Sunoo being able to even finish saying his name, Sunghoon kissed him. Thorough enough that Sunoo forgot what he’d been trying to say almost immediately.
Sunghoon always kissed like he had all the time in the world. Like he genuinely enjoyed it too much to rush.
His hand tightened slightly at Sunoo’s waist when Sunoo melted closer instinctively, a soft sound catching in his throat that only seemed to make Sunghoon kiss him deeper.
By the time Sunghoon finally pulled back, Sunoo felt dizzy. Sunghoon rested his forehead briefly against his and exhaled softly.
“You looked too pretty staring at me like that,” he murmured.
Sunoo nearly passed away on the spot.
That was when the rule started.
Unfortunately, it did absolutely nothing, because the second time happened during filming. Which was objectively worse.
Sunoo should’ve known he was doomed the moment Sunghoon walked onto set. Styled Sunghoon was already dangerous enough on normal days.
Today, apparently, the stylists had decided Sunoo specifically deserved psychological damage.
Dark fitted jacket, silver rings flashing against long fingers, hair pushed back just enough to expose more of his forehead and eyeliner sharp enough that Sunoo physically had to look away for a second after seeing him.
Across the room, Jungwon watched him fold instantly. “Oh no,” he muttered.
Jake looked up from his phone. “What?”
“Sunoo looked at Sunghoon.”
Jake gasped quietly. “Tragic.”
Sunoo ignored them aggressively.
He could do this. He was stronger than this. All he had to do was avoid eye contact for the next few hours.
Then Sunghoon laughed at something Ni-Ki said and Sunoo looked up automatically.
Immediate regret.
Sunghoon was already looking directly at him.
And god—
That was Sunoo's problem. Sunghoon always looked composed at first, calm and controlled. But once Sunoo held his gaze too long, something underneath it always surfaced eventually. Something warm and almost— hungry.
Sunoo saw it happen in real time, the way Sunghoon’s eyes darkened slightly. His attention dragging slowly over Sunoo once before returning to his face again.
Sunoo’s pulse jumped violently.
Across the room, Sunghoon raised one eyebrow.
Like: Really?
Sunoo immediately looked away. Absolutely not. Nope. Not today.
Unfortunately, Sunghoon apparently took avoidance as a challenge because the rest of filming became unbearable. Every time Sunoo turned around, Sunghoon was there somehow. Brushing past him backstage, warm fingers briefly touching his waist.
Leaning down just enough to murmur things quietly into his ear before walking away again. “You started this.”
Sunoo nearly walked into a wall.
Then later: “You keep looking at me.”
“I literally am not!”
A soft huff of laughter against his ear. “You are now.”
Sunoo wanted to scream. Especially because Sunghoon sounded smug about it.
The worst part was that Sunghoon looked perfectly fine afterward while Sunoo felt one prolonged glance away from complete collapse. And because they couldn’t disappear somewhere privately yet, the tension just kept building.
By the final hour of filming, Sunoo was actively avoiding entire sections of the room if Sunghoon stood there.
Jake, of course, could not keep anything to himself. “You guys are being weird again.”
“Apparently we’re always weird,” Sunoo said weakly.
“No, this is specifically, romantically, weird.”
“Please stop talking.”
When the second filming wrapped up, Sunghoon looked directly at him across the room. Tilted his head once toward the hallway. Follow me.
Sunoo’s heartbeat immediately sped up.
“Oh my god,” Jungwon sighed. “There they go.”
“We’re not going anywhere,” Sunoo lied.
Sunghoon smiled slightly. Those stupid teeth showing again.
Then he walked out anyway, like he already knew Sunoo would follow.
Which— rude. Extremely rude.
Sunoo lasted maybe twenty seconds before chasing after him.
The hallway outside was dimmer and quieter, the noise from the set muffled once the door closed behind him.
Sunghoon waited near the vending machines with his hands in his pockets, looking entirely too attractive for someone who’d spent the last four hours tormenting him.
“You’re horrible,” Sunoo informed him immediately.
Sunghoon looked delighted by this information. “You’ve been staring at me all day.”
“Yeah, because it’s absolutely unfair that you look like this!”
A tiny laugh escaped Sunghoon then, low enough that the sound alone made Sunoo’s stomach tighten. “You think I looked good?”
Sunoo stared at him. “Do I really have to keep feeding your ego even more?”
That finally made Sunghoon grin properly. God. There were the teeth again. Sunoo almost turned around and left for self-preservation purposes.
Unfortunately, Sunghoon stepped closer first. “Come here,” he murmured softly.
Sunoo hated how instantly he went.
The second Sunghoon’s hands settled against his waist, his entire body relaxed automatically. His expression softened immediately once he noticed. Then he kissed Sunoo hard enough to make him stumble back lightly against the wall.
“Oh,” Sunoo breathed weakly against his mouth.
Sunghoon hummed softly into his mouth like he agreed. Like he’d been thinking about this all day too.
His fingers slipped briefly beneath the hem of Sunoo’s shirt, warm against bare skin, and Sunoo’s breath caught sharply in his throat.
Immediately, Sunghoon kissed him deeper. Like he liked hearing those sounds pulled from him.
Which, in all honestly, he probably did.
“You’re unfair,” Sunoo whispered breathlessly once Sunghoon finally let him breathe. Sunghoon brushed his nose lightly against Sunoo’s cheek. “You looked too good today,” he answered back, then kissed him again before Sunoo could recover.
By the third incident, Sunoo should’ve learned. Really, as a responsible grown up, he should’ve learned his lessons.
But alas, he absolutely did not.
Because really, how was he supposed to function normally when his boyfriend looked at him like that?
Especially late at night. Especially when Sunghoon got sleepy and affectionate. Especially when they were both exhausted enough for all of Sunghoon’s restraint to disappear completely.
The dorm was quiet except for the TV playing softly in the background and everyone else but them had gone to bed already.
Sunoo sat curled sideways into the couch scrolling aimlessly through his phone while waiting for Sunghoon to finish showering.
Then the bathroom door finally opened. And— oh.
Oh, that was bad.
Sunghoon stepped out with damp fluffy hair falling into his eyes, gray sweatpants hanging low on his hips and a black hoodie shoved halfway up his forearms.
Sunoo looked up and automatically made eye contact. Immediately knew he’d ruined his own life again, because Sunghoon stopped moving. Actually stopped.
His gaze fixed fully onto Sunoo, then, as usual, dropped briefly to Sunoo’s mouth.
Sunoo’s heartbeat thudded hard against his ribs so he looked back down at his phone immediately.
Too late, because the couch dipped beside him seconds later and warm fingers hooked gently beneath his chin.
“Hey,” murmured Sunghoon softly.
Sunoo’s stomach flipped violently. “Why are you staring at me again.”
“You’re wearing my hoodie,” Sunghoon pointed out, shrugging.
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s distracting.”
Sunoo finally looked up. Huge mistake.
Sunghoon was so close already. Close enough for Sunoo to feel warmth radiating off his skin, smell clean soap and fabric softener and something distinctly just him.
And the way he was looking at Sunoo now—
God.
Like he wanted to kiss him until neither of them could think straight anymore.
Sunoo’s pulse sped up visibly and Sunghoon noticed instantly.
A tiny smile pulled at his mouth. “There you are,” he murmured quietly.
Then he leaned in.
Honestly, Sunoo stopped pretending he was ever going to follow the rule after that.