Archive of Our Own

𓆙

Beomgyu has nice thighs.

Hey, before you call him out, Yeonjun has an explanation. He's speaking objectively here. Beomgyu just has really nice thighs.

Here's proof:

Well, okay. Before he gets to the specific proof, there's a starting point for everything, and Yeonjun is struggling to pinpoint when he noticed Beomgyu's thighs in particular. He's seen a lot since even before their debut after all; the five of them have showered together, stripped naked in the dorm, skinny dipped (that was only once and no one else has to know, so whatever is said here stays here, okay?) and there was that one time that they checked out each other's asses on a random tuesday because Yeonjun said Soobin had the best ass but Huening Kai wouldn't let down that his ass is the best.

The conclusion was Kai, by the way. But Yeonjun does admit they all have pretty good butts. Not that he'd say that out loud—he's a good hyung. He can't let their egos inflate too much. It's for their own good.

Anyways. Point in case, Yeonjun has seen a lot, of all of his members. So it's strange for him when he realises Beomgyu's thighs have been sticking out a lot more than usual. And not in a bad way, like he's malnourished—well, they all are, but. He keeps finding his eyes drawn to Beomgyu's thighs.

He needs to sit back to think back. Yeonjun settles on the sofa, sandwiched between two cushions with his phone set aside, alone for the most part. The TV could count as an animate object, but Yeonjun chooses to ignore this in favour of shutting his eyes and pretending the world doesn't exist. He has an important dilemma and this requires total concentration. Hence the meditation pose.

It takes a couple seconds of incredibly difficult concentration, but Yeonjun digs up a memory.

It goes like this—TXT are in their dorm, as groups do while not at work. Not at work equals in the dorm. They are relaxing after a strenuous week of dance practice, the choreography for Sugar Rush Ride taking over all of their energy and time, and so they've been graciously let out a few hours early that day since they've pretty much nailed most of the choreo. Everyone's winding down, busting out the ramen packets they'd hidden weeks ago for special occasions, gearing up to violate their assigned diets by indulging on—shivers, everyone—microwaveable ramen.

Now, 'winding down' means something different for everyone. For Yeonjun, it could be ripping off his shirt and letting the air cool his skin and shutting off his brain for a while. For Soobin, it's either introvert alone time or League of Legends playthrough time. Or going through his (extensive) collection of KARA albums in the quiet of one of the bedrooms. For Taehyun, it's looking up cat videos and insisting they're nothing like him while everyone pretends to agree as Taehyun shows them clips that make Yeonjun question whether the real Taehyun is in front of him or inside the phone (this is a joke, of course. Taehyun's beautiful self is right in front of him). For Kai, it's transporting all his trillion plushies onto the sofa and flopping on top of them, nuzzling his face in like their own actual pet cat (okay, the cat of the group is more Taehyun and Kai isn't even much of a cat, but allow it for the cat and dog by txt reference. Yeonjun can't help promoting true peak), and slowly sinking in then drowning in the soft fabrics.

For Beomgyu, it's usually just scrolling on his phone or playing his guitar. But today he's switched to a pair of shorts while doing it; it being doomscrolling, obviously. And he just so happens to be sitting incredibly weirdly on the sofa, one leg thrown over the arm of it and the other hanging over the edge as usual, back against Kai's horde of plushies, phone balanced on his knee.

And that's the focal point: there's a lot exposed by Beomgyu's stance. The shorts that usually stop just above his knees have hitched up to his mid thighs, and Yeonjun, for whatever reason, can't stop staring. He kind of just stands in the doorway, trying not to draw attention to himself as he stares like a victorian man seeing ankles for the first time.

Unfortunately, Murphy's Law is inescapeable, as Yeonjun should have kept in mind.

"Yeonjun, salivate at the food, please," Soobin deadpans, "not my best friend."

Yeonjun cringes.

"You what?"

Dang it. "Choi Soobin is a liar and a fraud," Yeonjun declares, pointedly avoiding Beomgyu's judging stare. "Use your fucking honourifics."

Soobin shoots him a funny look, then goes back to the kitchen. Beomgyu finally catches Yeonjun's gaze and stares him dead in the eyes.

Kai peers between them from inside his plushie fort quizzically. "Will hyungs kiss? You have to wait for Taehyun first," he says simply.

Yeonjun blinks out of his daze. "No one's kissing," he says hastily.

"Not today," Beomgyu adds, wiggling his eyebrows at Yeonjun. Kai screeches something along the lines of ohmygod beomjun is real! But Yeonjun doesn't really process it as Beomgyu shifts again, his thigh stealing the entirety of Yeonjun's scope of vision once more.

What is it about Beomgyu's thighs that has Yeonjun in a droolhold, one might ask? Well, Yeonjun is happy to explain.

And yes, he's starting at point two. The aforementioned counts as one.

2. Beomgyu has pretty thighs.

This one boils down to just looks. Obviously as kpop idols they kind of have to look pretty, but more often than not, as male idols, their thighs aren't too harshly critiqued as they're not usually on display. Unlike today.

To preface Yeonjun's point, you have got to watch the Sugar Rush Ride - Japanese Ver. music video. Yes, this is shameless promo, but it's relevant.

Now. Have you seen Beomgyu's legs in that performance? Yeonjun can confirm that, whatever you see in that video, it is a hundred times better in person. He's the first to admit that when Beomgyu walked out of the changing room, he was gagged. It wasn't even in a chill nonchalant way. He fully spat out the water he'd been drinking right into his manager's—whom he'd been in a lovely and fulfilling conversation with—face. And Beomgyu didn't even miss it. He stepped out of that room with a slight frown that transformed into a full-blown grin, equipped with stomach-clenching laughter and a bit of throwing himself all over the corridor, before he winked at Yeonjun and waltzed away like nothing happened.

And like hell was Yeonjun going to let him get away with that. After hurriedly apologising and wiping his manager's face with nearby tissue, which the man batted away with a slightly fond scowl, Yeonjun blows him a kiss and then gives chase. It's easy to catch Beomgyu because he takes nothing seriously and nine times out of ten he will prioritise being funny over saving himself, even if the cameras aren't around, and this is one of those times. Yeonjun shoves him onto a sofa and straddles him, then tickles his pits until he's screaming for Soobin to save him.

Safe to say, the staff are not pleased with the state of their makeup after that.

Yeonjun is also not pleased with the aftermath of that fiasco. He finds himself mulling over the way Beomgyu had looked beneath him, hair dishevelled and skin flushed red with laughter, and finds himself thinking too much about it. It's not that deep. Beomgyu looks stupid like this all the time at home after he's done something annoying because anyone knows the best way to fight Beomgyu's antics is by tickling his sensitive arms (or feet if they're desperate enough). And yet, Yeonjun keeps thinking about it, and the specific image painted into his mind, the unique angle he witnessed it from. Beomgyu's bare legs kicking up at him and his hands whacking at Yeonjun's shirt, without real force because they can't ruin the stylist noonas' hard work all that much. Though, the makeup went slightly to waste since they weren't supposed to have sweated that much until they'd started performing for real.

Ah, and speak of the devil, performing. Yeonjun can assure you that performing with four other men in stylishly torn shorts is hard enough, but when one of them already has you enraptured, it boils up to a recipe for disaster. It's very unlike Yeonjun to mess up choreography so many times, but whenever he catches Beomgyu in those pretty shorts with his thighs out in the open in his peripheral, his knees go weak and he stumbles.

It's embarassing how many times it happens. Really, Yeonjun might as well dunk his head in a pail of water and call it quits, because this is mortifying. He's never going to hear the end of this from his members.

He blames it on dehydration. The staff pass him a real water bottle (their diets have gotten even stricter and even basic old H2O is bare bones for them), and he chugs all it in one go. The members leave him alone for a bit, save for Taehyun.

"You're whipped," he says in lieu of greeting, sitting on the floor of the set beside Yeonjun.

See, Taehyun's thigh is pressed up to Yeonjun's right now, but he feels nothing strange. So it was probably a fluke. Then again, he didn't feel anything seeing Soobin's fat ass or Kai's built quads in front of him while they were performing, much unlike seeing Beomgyu's thighs, so. "Your face is whipped," Yeonjun replies childishly.

Taehyun raises an eyebrow. He doesn't say a word, but he slowly turns his head in an arc until it stops at some point, and Yeonjun follows his wide-eyed stare to none other than Choi Beomgyu, who's watching them from beside the camera crew.

"Dunno what you're talking about," Yeonjun says flippantly, tipping his bottle into his mouth again to catch the last few drops of cool water.

"I wasn't talking," Taehyun quips. "And that speaks volumes."

"You not talking… speaks…" Yeonjun frowns. Taehyun laughs at him smartly.

"Hyung'll figure it out."

Yeonjun does not, in fact, figure it out. It makes zero sense. He ponders over it as they go through another round of choreography, and this time, they get it down without a single hiccup. They manage the second take just as easily, and Yeonjun lets out a silent sigh of relief.

Part of him wants to jeer at Taehyun, and rub it in his face that you were wrong!! it wasn't Beomgyu!! but he knows that a. he'll lose even more of his nonchalant aura that he can't afford to let go of right now, b. he doesn't want Taehyun to know that he understood exactly what Taehyun was talking about but just his wording had caught him curious, and c. a part of him understands that this really just proves Taehyun's (genius) unspoken point right, that Yeonjun's been distracted by Beomgyu and the only reason they just succeeded is because Yeonjun was double distracted and negative times negative makes positive.

His point here is—Beomgyu has pretty distracting thighs.

3. Beomgyu has pretty soft thighs.

Okay, now you really gotta hear him out for this one, since this point is TXT-exclusive. Yeonjun is happy to describe as long as no one else tries finding this out first hand. As he said—TXT exclusive. We love MOA and all that, but there's some things where you just gotta fuck off. Respectfully. Anyhow…

It's a random moment that Yeonjun happens to notice the feeling of Beomgyu's thighs. They used to play this game a lot where they stiffened their middle three fingers and jabbed it at another member's thigh as a 'cobra strike', a game which served zero purpose (like the butt slapping one) and so [un]fortunately died out.

Now, as another preface—Yeonjun likes pinching thighs. He's done this to everyone. He's done this to Beomgyu. But on a random live stream for their comeback promo, when he remembers their old game, he moves his hand in the air like a snake's head (probably) would before jabbing it into the nearest target's thigh—which happens to be Choi Beomgyu.

Beomgyu yelps. Yeonjun has a revelation. Beomgyu's thighs don't just look nice—they feel pretty good too. They have enough give in them not to push back too harshly at Yeonjun's fingertips while also being firm enough to make him want to find out more. So, being the nondescript and subtle man he is, he cobra strikes Beomgyu again, this time with a biting snake mouth so he can squeeze Beomgyu's thighs nonsuspiciously. Beomgyu doesn't even look up at him, instead staring indignantly at the camera while trying to nudge Yeonjun's arm away using his shoulder.

After a few moments, he lets go. He's learnt enough. Beomgyu's thighs are smooth too, and surprisingly soft. They just feel so nice. Yeonjun wants to feel them again.

So… he does. In another weverse live, somehow the staff sit them next to each other again and Yeonjun is free to just grab Beomgyu's thighs.

And obviously he does—when the opportunity arises. During their civilised debate about whether mint is a 'green' colour or just 'mint' coloured, Yeonjun sets his hand on Beomgyu's trousers and slides his fingers to the inside of his thigh. For no better reason that, he can. Beomgyu immediately looks the other way, completely avoiding Yeonjun's gaze like nothing is happening, but he grabs Yeonjun's hand with his free one that isn't set on the cushion of the sofa beneath them. He doesn't do anything to pull Yeonjun off though, and that does strange, strange things to Yeonjun's insides. It feels like he's burning up, like something is clawing at him from the inside, but all in a pleasant-feeling way somehow.

And he can't be feeling things he can't figure out right now, so he shifts his hand closer to Beomgyu's knee and jabs his thumb into where he knows Beomgyu has a pressure point. Lo and behold, Beomgyu gasps quietly, pausing his protest about there being a colour called mint, bending forwards and using both his hands to shift Yeonjun's finger off his knee. And yet, and yet, he still doesn't shove Yeonjun's hand away. So Yeonjun reels himself in instead. They are live after all. The phone camera is glaring. Well, that's probably the few staff lounging behind the camera, but Yeonjun isn't going to meet their eyes and their inevitable ire right now.

As the stream continues as normal, it occurs to him that he probably looks like a total freak to their viewers, the staff and the other members. Now, how does a normally functioning member of society try to rectify this? Yeonjun would know. He tries pressing Beomgyu's pressure point again. This time though, Beomgyu catches his hand before he can do anything, and Yeonjun shoots an indignant glance at his neck since he still won't look at Yeonjun properly. In retaliation, Yeonjun tries shoving his hand directly under Beomgyu's thigh, but Beomgyu sets his own hand on top of Yeonjun's and holds out his other in a stopping motion. And well, Yeonjun's not going to carry on, because Beomgyu seems genuinely… irritated isn't the right word. Yeonjun can't figure him out.

So he stops moving, and Beomgyu's hand settles in top of his, between their legs. And boy, that shouldn't be as gratifying as it feels, and Yeonjun shouldn't feel like he's just acquired a first place prize for a million Won, but well, feelings can't be helped. Neither can the small smile that he tries to tamp down as he studies Beomgyu's profile beside him.

During all of this, the other members barely react. Well, he sees through the laptop's display of their live that Soobin blinks at the moment strangely a few times, but other than that, all seems well. Honestly Yeonjun might get away with it.

But alas, Murphy's Law. The moment Soobin hits end live on the phone, Beomgyu sets the laptop onto the space where Soobin had been sitting, taps it like a pet, and then slaps Yeonjun in the arm.

"Fuck off," Yeonjun yelps.

Beomgyu shoots him a questioning look. Soobin is the one who answers though. "You're one to talk."

Yeonjun crosses his arms, obstinate.

"Hyung, you can't wait half an hour to feel up your dongsaeng?" Soobin says tiredly.

Yeonjun coughs. What the fuck. "It was forty-five minutes," he says, "And what?"

"You have your priorities straight I see," Taehyun comments. "Or, well, not quite straight…"

"Use my name, hyung," Beomgyu butts in. "You're making it sound weird."

"It was weird??" Soobin pinches his temples. "I don't know why you are defending him."

"Nothing to defend about," Yeonjun protests.

"I'm not defending him," Beomgyu says, ignoring him. "But saying dongsaeng makes it sound, like… off. We're not actually siblings."

"You're happy about that, aren't you," Taehyun says forebodingly. Yeonjun tackles him.

Soobin's sigh is audible even over Taehyun's screams and Kai's subsequent laughter. And Beomgyu… is just quiet. Oddly quiet.

When they get back to the dorm, Yeonjun catches him alone. It's not hard to do. Beomgyu sleeps later than anyone else so he just stays on the sofa until the others have gone to bed, then calls out, "Beomgyu-yah?"

Beomgyu doesn't turn around, fishing for something in one of the cupboards above the stove. Their kitchen and living room are conjoined, so it's not like Beomgyu is out of sight from Yeonjun's position. "Hyung?"

"Can I ask you something?"

Beomgyu turns around then, shooting him a sceptical look. "You just did."

Yeonjun barks out a laugh, then his chest tightens nervously. "No, seriously," he says, collecting himself. "Did I make you uncomfortable earlier?"

Beomgyu pulls a small bag of crisps from the cupboard and shuts it, busting it open and he plops himself down beside Yeonjun on the sofa. "What makes you think that?"

"That's not a no," Yeonjun counters.

"No," Beomgyu says. "You didn't. What made you think that?" he asks again.

Yeonjun sits with the assurance for a moment, letting the tension fall from his shoulders. Then he thinks it through. "You seemed kind of annoyed," he says, then adds quickly, "But I don't want to assume."

Beomgyu hums, popping another crisp in his mouth. "Well, I wasn't," he says. "You just… surprised me," he says, nibbling on his next crisp.

Yeonjun swipes it from his hand and tosses it into his own mouth. Beomgyu yells a short "hey!" before clamping his mouth shut, clearly remembering that the rest of the dorm is asleep. Yeonjun smirks, and Beomgyu slaps him. "Bad surprised?" Yeonjun continues, acting like the break in their conversation never happened.

Beomgyu seems to freeze at that for a moment, and Yeonjun turns to see a number of unreadable expressions flit across his face quick as lightning. "No," he says finally, voice a but quieter than usual. "I don't mind it."

Against better reason, Yeonjun tips his head to the side with a slight grin, meeting Beomgyu's eyes, and slides a hand onto his thigh. "Really?" he teases, giving Beomgyu's leg a squeeze.

Beomgyu's lips purse into that 'v' shape he makes sometimes, eyes darting away. Yeonjun lets go, still smiling, and takes out his phone to scroll twitter again.

"Yeah," comes Beomgyu's voice after a minute, pausing Yeonjun's doomscrolling. "I don't."

Then he leans his head on Yeonjun's shoulder and, after a short while of comfortable silence, he shifts to lay on Yeonjun's lap. And then his insomniac ass actually falls asleep. On Yeonjun.

And boy, if that doesn't do funny things to Yeonjun's heart.

4. It becomes a thing.

You might be thinking right now: Yeonjun, this isn't a real point, it's the same as the last one. And to that, Yeonjun says, are you really a fan? Suck it up. It feels significant enough. Now let him explain.

With express permission and Beomgyu's words I don't mind ringing in his ears, Yeonjun decides to take full advantage of this and a new arrangement of sorts between them is formed.

It goes like this—whenever Beomgyu sits next to Yeonjun, Yeonjun grabs his thigh. It's simple yet effective.

Effective at what, you may ask? Well, Yeonjun is glad you asked. You see, he's been feeling rather strange recently. Forenote, this could just be driven by the comeback nerves, but Yeonjun has a nagging feeling that this has been born of a culmination of different things he's felt from the past few points.

And this is—Yeonjun can't seem to get away from Beomgyu. Not in the sense that Beomgyu is following him or anything. He just genuinely cannot get himself to leave Beomgyu alone. His chest tightens and a weird heat pulses through his body whenever Beomgyu is draped over someone else, and he has to fight everything in him not to snatch the man away.

Worse still is when he's actually next to Beomgyu. That's when he really can't get his hands off him; at home or on lives or in the training room or on set, in the van or in the break room, Yeonjun might be a little obsessed with Beomgyu. It reaches a point where Soobin stages an intervention.

"Dude," he opens, his stern leader look out and piercing, "are you and Beomgyu dating?"

Yeonjun spits out the water he'd just sipped all over Soobin's face. Soobin yells, then claps a hand over his mouth, eyes darting to the doorway. He'd just ushered the three maknaes out (or well, two maknaes and one middle child) before barring the door and telling Yeonjun that we need to talk.

Yeonjun coughs. "Sorry," he says, reaching for a tissue and wiping some of Soobin's face for him. Soobin snatches it with a (mildly accepting) scowl and cleans himself. Yeonjun's getting deja vu. Hey, that's their upcoming comeback.

"Whatever," Soobin mutters.

Yeonjun remembers his initial question and his eyes widen again. "What the fuck, no??" he accentuates his words with a sharp slap.

Soobin scowls again. "Right, so you touching up Beomgyu every time you're within distance to do so is what… friendly? Or you're just a pervert."

"Okay, first of all, back off," Yeonjun snaps, sensitive for a reason he can't place. "And what the fuck? I'm not doing anything wrong. I don't know why you're making me out to be some weird ass creep when Beomgyu's fine with it."

Soobin blinks, then his face softens. "Agh, I'm sorry, hyung," he says gently. The switch in tone has Yeonjun's head spinning. "I shouldn't have said that. I'm just… worried."

"Worried for what?" Yeonjun asks. He realises that he's slightly hurt. "I wouldn't be doing anything that hurts him, you know that."

"Hyung," Soobin says carefully. "I'm not worried about him specifically. I'm worried about the two of you's image. Have you…" he squints.

"Have I what?"

"You do realise the company is separating you two, right?"

What? "No?"

"Heol," Soobin says. "You're hopeless."

Yeonjun sits down to think about it. Soobin stretches out beside him, manspreading to hell and back, his shorts riding up in the process. Yeonjun barely acknowledges it. He's seen Soobin's legs a million times before and this is nothing different.

Now that Soobin's spelled it out, it's easy to pinpoint the exact cases where the company has 'separated' them. His past few requests to do a live with Beomgyu have been flat-out denied and he realises that in all their filming, when he used to be placed near Beomgyu just as often as the other members, he's been positioned as far away as possible in most recent cases. It's honestly kind of embarassing how Yeonjun didn't clock this earlier.

"Damn," he says. "You right."

"I would know," Soobin says dryly, "since I'm your leader."

Yeonjun purses his lips, and they lapse back into silence. He can't help but focus soley on his actions with Beomgyu. Soobin genuinely thought they are dating. What would make him think that? That they're a bit touchier than they have been in a long while since their last proper argument? That Yeonjun can't stop staring at Beomgyu's thighs? Has Soobin noticed that? Is that just a Yeonjun thing? Does everyone not stare at Beomgyu's thighs?

"Soobin, I have a weird question," Yeonjun asks into the silence. Soobin just grunts from beside him. "Do you think Beomgyu has nice thighs?"

He must've phrased that badly, he thinks, because Soobin's head turns to him so quickly that his neck audibly cracks and his eyebrows are raised high and questioning. "What makes you ask that?"

"Do you?"

"No, Yeonjun-hyung, I dont," Soobin says firmly. "Do you?"

"…"

Maybe this is what Taehyun meant, that his silence speaks volumes.

"Hyung," he asks carefully, "do you find Beomgyu attractive?"

"Uh, doesn't everyone?" Yeonjun states more than questions, perplexed.

"Oh God, you really are hopeless," Soobin groans. "Heol."

"Soobin-ahhh," Yeonjun says, shaking his head in frustration. "I can't read your mind! Tell me what you're thinking,"

Soobin shuts his eyes and sighs. "Don't hit me?"

"I make no promises."

Soobin raises an eyebrow. "Fine," Yeonjun relents. "I won't hit you."

"I think you like Beomgyu, and not in just a friendly way," he says plainly. "I don't know if you have a crush on him or it's just, as you said, that you feel attracted to him—again, like you said, 'I can't read your mind'—but there's something at play here."

Yeonjun is stumped. He doesn't think he'd be able to slap Soobin even if he hadn't promised not to.

Soobin watches his reaction carefully for a few moments, then adds, "You're totally whipped, you loser."

This time Yeonjun really does need to reel himself in. "Fuck off."

"Hop off your own dick and fuck him."

Yeonjun punches him.

"Liar!" Soobin hisses.

"Slanderer," Yeonjun counters.

"I hope Thor's hammer comes down and smites you for your sins."

"Your fault for making me out to be some horny new adult."

"I didn't say you've done anything, unless you're already in a situationship… or, what's it called, friends with benefits?"

Yeonjun opens his mouth to reply, yet nothing scathing comes out. "Does leg squeezing count?"

Soobin gives him the dryest, most unimpressed look he's ever seen in his life. "Heol."

Yeonjun tones down the PDA for a while, if it can be called that. Honestly, it's less due to the rhetoric that Soobin's handed him of the company pushing them away from each other and more because of his newfound awareness of his own feelings. He has no idea how to deal with this.

Despite being, as his fans say, the "hottest man alive" (and the fans are never wrong. He would know), Yeonjun hasn't really had to deal with having a crush before. Sure he's had the short burst of feeling here and there in high school and since, but he's never really done anything about it. He's always been too focused on his career to even consider a love life.

Now though, his career is (somewhat) stable and the person he's allegedly crushing on is one of his bandmates. Good news: if this really is a crush that he has going on, that means that a relationship would be easier than if his hypothetical partner was outside of the group or the industry entirely. Bad news: Choi Beomgyu is his FUCKING BANDMATE. One of his best friends. What the fuck???

Obviously, he doesn't talk about it with Beomgyu. Who would do that? At first, he resolves to sort through his feelings on his own. He decides that the clawing inside his chest whenever he sees Beomgyu with someone else might actually be jealousy. He realises that the feeling of his blood being aflame when he touches Beomgyu might well be pleasure, or ecstacy, or whatever you like to call it. Yeonjun doesn't have to give it a label. He's the one feeling it. You can suck it up and figure it out yourself when you meet someone with thighs like Beomgyu's.

He doesn't know why his skin heats up when he meets Beomgyu's eyes or why his stomach twists when he's not around though, so Yeonjun takes his findings to their resident fanfiction reader and self-proclaimed romance connoisseur, Huening Kamal Kai. Taehyun sits with them too, given that they're in the training room together and should be practicing choreography while Soobin and Beomgyu are off doing a company-approved weverse live somewhere else in the building that Yeonjun totally isn't 'jealous' of. Moving on.

Kai seriously considers his explanation while Taehyun just giggles. Yeonjun scowls at him and he pointedly stares back with a wide, innocent smile. He's too perfect to slap, so Yeonjun just turns away.

"So, you want to know what these stuff mean?" Kai confirms. Yeonjun nods. "Okay. Well, hyung, I think you just really like this person. There's not really a solid way to put it other than I guess love. Do you think you love them?"

"I mean, I don't really know," Yeonjun admits. "I was hoping you could help with that."

"I think you totally love him," Taehyun drawls. Yeonjun shoots him a warning glance. Kai frowns.

"Can I know who they are?" Kai asks carefully.

"Know who he is," Taehyun corrects ominously. Kai raises an eyebrow at him.

"I—Uh—" Yeonjun coughs. "I'm not sure…"

"It's Beomgyu-hyung," Taehyun states.

"TAEHYUN-AH!" Yeonjun scolds, at the same time that Kai screeches,

"BEOMJUN IS REAL?"

Taehyun bursts into laughter while Yeonjun turns his ire towards Kai, squinting. "Girl, what?"

"I said what I said," Kai says firmly, clasping his hands together. He is quite litterally quivering with what must be joy for whatever reason. "Beomjun truthers, rise."

Yeonjun gapes at him.

"Why is this a surprise to you?" Taehyun says, finally sitting up again from where he'd been clutching his stomach from the force of his laughs. "We've been reading your content since debut."

"You've been reading—'We'??"

"And for the record, yeah, I do think you have a crush on him," Kai adds. "A big one at that. But I better be there when hyung confesses. I want to see you mess up your first kiss and then get better at the second."

"HUENING KAMAL KAI!"

5. The Lap Incident.

You'll understand how this relates to Beomgyu's thighs once he explains. Yeonjun knows you're all here for more juicy thigh content and he's ready to deliver. As long as you shits don't try finding out anything yourselves. As he has stated numerous times previously, TXT-exclusive.

It begins as a normal live. It's been long enough now that they're actually able to sit next to each other—well, Beomgyu is on the armrest beside him, but still, close enough—and obviously, that's been as chaotic as you might expect. Despite all the thigh touching, Yeonjun's never let down being the Tom to Beomgyu's Jerry, because why would he? He's never considered their (as he now knows) mildly romantic arrangement as, well, anything serious enough to adjust their lifestyles around. It was just an… extra added bonus to their relationship.

Anyways, one whole minute into the live and it's already devolved significantly. You know how Beomgyu is sitting on the armrest? He's making his way through a box of pepero sticks and decides to stick one into his mouth, push his lips into a pout around it, and look down at Yeonjun with lidded eyes and cute stickers on his cheek and Yeonjun's neurones literally stop firing for a moment. He finds himself leaning closer for a split second, enraptured by the look of Beomgyu's lips, then snaps out of his daze and swipes a finger in an attempt to break the stick. Beomgyu reacts quicker, throwing his head to the side, then looking at the camera with a grin and continuing to chew his pepero stick.

Yeonjun doesn't need too look up from the food he's got in his own hands to know that the other three watched the entire thing, because Soobin comments that "You two should do it" and Kai says, "Can you set a new record?!" far too enthusiastically. Ever the Beomjun supporter. Seems like Soobin's joined his agenda.

(After telling Kai and Taehyun about his feelings, he'd learnt that they've been almost exclusively reading Beomgyu x Yeonjun fanfiction for the past few years. Why? Kai says that if he can't get it in real life he has to get it somewhere. Taehyun says that they feel the most 'realistically charged', whatever that means. Yeonjun isn't smart enough to comprehend his genius. He can only hope that Soobin hasn't been reading these too. And oh, he won't even consider the possibility of Beomgyu…)

Instead of answering them, Yeonjun reaches up and strikes Beomgyu on the underside of his jaw and tries tickling his neck. He doesn't do it for any other reason than to annoy Beomgyu. He can't tease Yeonjun with the pepero game and get away with it scott-free, because wow, he's just put that image into Yeonjun's mind and he's never going to stop thinking about it. Maybe he should offer to play with Beomgyu, just to feel the brush of their lips one single time.

Kai and Taehyun would be delighted.

The conversation quickly goes back to normal, normal being a discussion on who looks the best with or without clothes. Yeonjun ignores Beomgyu throughout it for the most part, since he's quiet anyways and Yeonjun is determined not to dwell on thoughts of him, but then he butts in with a what about me? when they agree that Yeonjun and Kai look the best with and Soobin and Taehyun the best without clothes. Yeonjun can't help looking up at him with an endeared smile, cheeks packed with half-chewed food, and watch his face brighten when Soobin says that he's a good balance between the two.

There's been this cold plastic water bottle laying between Yeonjun's legs since they started the live, and he clocks its existence with a sudden annoyance that urges him to stand up and set it on the table outside the view of the camera. When he sits back down though, it's not on the sofa.

It's someone's lap. Yeonjun jolts immediately, standing back up with Kai's laughter immediately ringing out, and turns to see none other than Choi Beomgyu in his seat.

Of course it was him. And now Yeonjun's learnt something else about his thighs—they make a pretty damn comfortable seat.

His brain is short circuiting too hard for him to, you know, take back his own seat as he usually would (trust him, you would feel the same way too if you'd just sat on Beomgyu's lap), so he just plops himself on the ground between Beomgyu's feet and next to Kai.

Counter-intuitive as it may seem, this new spot against Beomgyu's legs actually makes it easier for Yeonjun to ignore him. Which is a good thing, because the image of Beomgyu's pursed lips is seared into the forefront of his mind right now and he cannot process how he's feeling about them while being broadcasted live to thousands of their fans, and it's easier to ignore when Beomgyu's face isn't beside his own.

The rest of the live goes smoothly, aside from Soobin randomly poking is cheek while he's eating and everyone bursting into agreement about how badly they'd wanted to do that. It's not that he doesn't like being poked, but it's so totally out of character for Soobin that he just stares for a long moment before turning back around with a small smile and continuing their discussion about the tour.

Soobin's random poke to his cheek is a welcome distraction from his incessant thoughts about Beomgyu. He's always felt a sort of pressure being the oldest hyung, and having the members act playful around him always sets his heart to ease. It's never really Soobin who does this though, the man being in the leader position of their group and subsequently having dropped his youth far quicker than the rest of them in favour of playing the tough and responsible member of their group. It was kind of needed, yet at the same time, Yeonjun's always mourned the missing relationship he could have with Soobin, a more playful one than their current almost dual-parent one, but moments like these remind Yeonjun that Soobin is still young like the rest of them. He's still Soobin.

The moment the live ends, Yeonjun shoves aside his sentimentality in favour of taking revenge on Beomgyu. He pushes himself backwards so he's properly between Beomgyu's knees, then tips his head backwards into his lap and meets his questioning gaze. Then he grins impishly.

"You got any pepero sticks left?"

His ears heat up like crazy, but it's worth it with everyone's reactions. Soobin yells something like woah, keep it in the dorms!, Kai begins to screech, and Taehyun stays dead silent, though Yeonjun can imagine that his mouth is wide open in horror (well, probably more like delighted shock).

And Beomgyu… he freezes entirely, eyes widening comically, mouth dropping open slightly to form a small 'o'. Yeonjun uses the moment to reach up and pinch his cheek, then he sits up and leaves the room without another word.

Oh, the aura he's just gained. He's unbeatable. He's on top of the world.

He ignores the heat envelopping his face and neck, ignores the rapid beat of his heart, and ignores how much he liked the feeling of sitting on and then leaning his head into Beomgyu's lap.

Really. That man just has unbeatable thighs.

Footsteps in the corridor snap Yeonjun out of his trip down memory lane, having completely forgotten that he is in fact in a public (for four people) space and will be photographed for future blackmail if he's caught lacking. So he sits up just in time to see Beomgyu enter the living room with a small wave.

It's just got to be Beomgyu, right? Murphy's Law. Right after Yeonjun's spent the past God-knows-how-long just thinking about Beomgyu's freaking thighs? Speaking of which, they're out right now, and they look as good as ever, Yeonjun might say so himsel—

"Hyung, wanna do the Candy in My Ear dance for MOA CON?"

What.

Hello, WHAT.

Oh no, oh no no no no. This is a terrible idea. Have you seen that dance? Why is Beomgyu suggesting it? Why with Yeonjun? There's no way in hell he'll—

"Sure, BG," Yeonjun replies flippantly, turning away to pick up his phone from where he'd left it and check the time, using the moment to shift his hair to cover his now burning ears.

When he looks back up, Beomgyu is glowing with the most dazzling smile Yeonjun has ever seen, and he can't bring himself to regret saying yes.

Yeonjun might be having regrets.

He's collapsed in front of the mirror in the training room, already sweaty from group choreography practice. Beomgyu is standing expectantly beside him, which Yeonjun knows from his stance and not his face because he's avoiding looking Beomgyu in the eyes right now. He really doesn't think he can handle it. Taehyun, ever the annoyingly (wonderfully) persistent supporter, is sat in a corner in the room, switching between silently cheering them on and scrolling (probably Beomjun fanfiction) on his phone.

Thankfully, they're not thrusted straight into it. They're sat on the floor a few inches apart with the cameraman and their choreographer, a tablet set on the floor in front of them playing an old performance of Baek Ji-Young and Ok Taecyeon's stage for the song. Yeonjun immediately lets out a small, nervous laugh, unable to focus on the video and looking at anything but the screen. The floor. The camera lens. Beomgyu.

"It's been so long," Yeonjun says, mind drifting back instead of taking in the moves he's going to have to learn. Beomgyu doesn't reply, but he knows he's thought of the same thing too.

(The last time they did a duet dance together was for their cover of Chungha's Gotta Go almost three years ago. Yeonjun's pretty much archived the memories of it, because performing a love song with Beomgyu had done funny things to his brain. He'd never dwelled on it too much, chalking it up to the fact that everything about their performance was inherently sensual and anyone with eyes would be enamoured by Beomgyu in it, especially with that silk blue shirt and his long hair, but. If he's to claim that, then he could technically say the same about his performances with Soobin for The Killa, which has explicit lyrics and a diabolically sensual choreography, yet he's never felt the same performing The Killa with Soobin the way he has performing with Beomgyu.

And yeah, maybe that should've tipped Yeonjun off—that he's had a crush on Beomgyu for far longer than he's realised, but in his defence, he really has no previous experience to have known. Plus, he'd assumed that everyone feels this way about Beomgyu.

Now that he thinks about it, he hopes no one else does. He might flip out if someone else is thinking about Beomgyu this way. Back off, losers. You don't have even the slimmest chance. At least Yeonjun is close enough to try.)

"It would've been fun if we recorded it too," Beomgyu says, meeting Yeonjun's eyes for a moment before Yeonjun looks away again, unable to hide his fond but nervous grin. He's not entirely sure what Beomgyu is referencing. Maybe he means the practice for their Gotta Go performance.

Hm. It might've been fun to record that. But it also would've exposed far too much to their lovely fans that even Yeonjun himself hadn't figured out. He distinctly remembers the number of times he collapsed into giggles when they were practicing, and the unimpressed looks Beomgyu had given him through the long strands of his hair that kept sticking to his sweaty face, saying, aren't you meant to be the hyung? And yeah, he was supposed to be, but it was hard not to get shy. His status as resident '99 unc doesn't save him from that. And, obviously, he hadn't known why he was getting acting so prude.

"Saranghae," Beomgyu sings along with the male singer.

"This is the part," Yeonjun says, cupping his fingers into a hollow ring and holding it over his shoulder.

"Yes, with the mic," the choreographer says, nodding. Yeonjun shoots another look at the camera like he's breaking the fourth wall in The Office.

They watch the video one more time before starting, and this time Yeonjun pays real attention. He has to lock in. Fourth gen it boy duties or something.

He takes in the choreography and swallows, hard. He doesn't know how he'll survive this, being video taped the entire time no less.

The number of times Murphy's Law has proved itself as real to him over and over is absolutely diabolical, but it happens again. Yeonjun's barely processed the fact that he's really doing this before the choreographer stands them up and says that they're going to start with the dual part. As in, the part where Ok Taecyeon holds Baek Ji-Young's waist and they almost press their bodies together.

Yeonjun curses every person and every twist of the online algorithms when their choreographer says Yeonjun is to take Ok Taecyeon's parts. But then Beomgyu interjects.

"I want to do it," he says, rounding on Yeonjun with his biggest puppy eyes.

Yeonjun needs no adorable and undeniable eyes to accept. "I'm fine with that," he nods. Beomgyu grins.

Yeonjun only realises what he's signed his soul to when they're put into position, Beomgyu right behind him, and the choreographer says, "You're going to slap! and hold it there,"

And Beomgyu's hand comes just as she said, much more agressively than in the video they'd watched, slapping onto Yeonjun's hip, thumb pressing into his waist.

Yeonjun can only liken the sudden clarity he feels to having a pail of ice-cold water dumped onto his head (or sitting in a fridge, both of which he has done for content).

Beomgyu did this to get back at him.

He's never really said much about their, uh… thigh arrangement, aside from that one time he smirked at Yeonjun with heavily lidded eyes when Yeonjun rested his hand on his leg in the dorm, and whispered "back again?" to which Yeonjun had responded by going MIA from life itself for the next couple of hours.

Now it seems that Beomgyu is trying to one up him… and it's most definitely working. Yeonjun's entire body heats up, burning from the inside out, and his heartrate picks up almost comically.

He's so fucked. Or, as Taehyun and Soobin would say, whipped.

Then the choreographer begins to sing the lyrics, and Yeonjun's work brain kicks in. He clears his mind on instinct, focusing on matching up the swaying of his hips with Beomgyu's, picking up on details he'd noticed while half-heartedly watching the performance and pointing out what Beomgyu needs to change.

Do they really need the choreographer? Yeonjun's got this.

Well, actually, that doesn't last long. Beomgyu keeps messing up the directions and it's frustrating(ly endearing).

He can't help but laugh when Beomgyu tips his head the wrong way again, slapping his butt and pointing over his left shoulder. Beomgyu's only meant to lean over for the 'mic' at the second wo ai ni."It goes like wo ai ni," he says, gesturing with his hands where the mic would be.

"Ah, okay," Beomgyu says. He doesn't take his hand off Yeonjun's waist the entire time, and it's becoming harder to ignore. Especially when they get the hang of the moves, and he begins to move on instinct, and Beomgyu's hand becomes a heavy and too-present weight on him that his entire mind clouds over with its sole focus on it.

And oh, it does not help when Beomgyu gets cockier with it. They run through the parts when they're not touching, and then redo the entire thing, but this time when they reach the part where Beomgyu holds him, he shifts closer too, and their bodies press together for a moment each time Yeonjun moves the metaphorical mic. And of course he feels Beomgyu's damn thighs against his again, not too unlike when he accidentally sat on Beomgyu's lap, and he feels absolutely unhinged for all the not-very-friendly thoughts that flit through his mind in that moment.

Yeonjun's neurones are fraying and blood is pounding in his head. He can't focus. The choreographer calls for a short break after he quite literally freezes up, shooting him a concerned glance and picking a bottle of water. He doesn't realise he needs it until the bottle is in his hands and he becomes acutely aware of the dryness of his tongue, not unlike a fresh sponge straight out of the supermarket.

Unfortunately for him, Beomgyu takes a seat right in front of Yeonjun, scooting forwards so that their knees are pressing together. Which would usually be fine, but Yeonjun just so happens to find the pressure of Beomgyu's body against his electrifying, both gratifying and igniting a craving for more and more. He doesn't move himself though, doesn't reach for Beomgyu, trying to keep himself in check so that he doesn't pounce Beomgyu right here and right now on the floor of their practice room with Soobin and Kai going through the steps of their own duet dance on the other side of the room and Taehyun sat in the corner with a vigilant eye on all of them but mostly him.

None of this stops Beomgyu, though. "Isn't this so fun, hyung?" he smirks as Yeonjun tries to swallow down a mouthful of water, struggling with how tight his throat has become. "I can't wait to actually do it on stage. The fans will go crazy."

"Yeah, the fans," Yeonjun repeats, focusing more on Beomgyu's eyes than his words.

"You're my biggest one,"

"Yup." Yeonjun thinks about it. "Wait, what?"

"Wo ai ni," he sings, leaning forward and grabbing Yeonjun by the waist with both hands. Yeonjun barely supresses what would be an extremely embarassing squeal. "Te quiro—"

"You—fuck off!" Yeonjun manages, shoving desperately at his hands. Bad idea. Beomgyu falls forward with a laugh, face pressing into Yeonjun's chest, not letting go of him. Yeonjun wraps his arms around him on instinct, one across his back and the other his shoulders before he moves his hand to hold press into the back of his head.

A light flashes from somewhere Yeonjun doesn't care to seek out. "I'm going to get you back for this," he mumbles, leaning his head down so his lips are brushing Beomgyu's ear. It makes his lips burn pleasantly and his stomach do flips over itself.

Beomgyu laughs, bunching his fists in Yeonjun's shirt and pushing himself up. Then he whistles. "Nice waist and chest, hyung. You preparing for something?"

Yeonjun is three seconds from pressing this man to the ground and mauling him. Respectfully. "I will get you back for this," he hisses, cheeks on fire.

Beomgyu taps his chin with another short laugh. "I'd love to see you try." Then he uses the top of Yeonjun's head to push himself up and call their choreographer over. "Let's go again!"

They run through the entire choreography again, Yeonjun's entire body buzzing and a pull in his chest begging him to get eevn closer to Beomgyu, like they aren't literally dancing together. When they reach the mic part, Yeonjun avoids their reflections in the mirror entirely, fighting off a flustered smile and mentally draping chains over himself like Marley's ghost so he doesn't pin Beomgyu to the mirror and kiss him senseless right now. He looks off to the side instead and catches Taehyun's reflection, still sitting in the corner of the room, whispering something into his phone while shooting frequent, calculating glances at Yeonjun and Beomgyu.

Whatever that means.

When they finish choosing the ending pose (forehead to forehead, would've been a good time to kiss him lowkey), Yeonjun's panting isn't entirely because of the strain in his muscles. He glares up at Beomgyu as holds his knees, trying to catch his breath, and Beomgyu looks back at him with a sly, knowing smirk, eyes hooded and enticing, hair falling all over his face in damp messy clusters. You know what? Yeonjun allows the thoughs. At least he's not focusing on Beomgyu's thighs right now.

"Alright, you two are done for now!" The choreographer tells them. "I need you to sign something off after I'm done with the others so don't leave the building till then. Your managers will call you over when I need you."

Beomgyu gives her a polite bow and a quick thank you while Yeonjun pulls off his beanie, shaking out his hair and wiping his damp forehead with his sleeve. He then offers his own thanks, and she heads to the other side of the room to focus on Soobin and Kai.

The moment she turns around, Yeonjun snatches Beomgyu by the arm and drags him out of the room, tossing his beanie to the side where all their water bottles are lined up as they go. Beomgyu barely protests, following along easily (which doesn't help the rapid beating of Yeonjun's heart) and doesn't even say a word until Yeonjun pulls him into the nearest bathroom and slams the door shut. He makes sure all the cubicles are empty before rounding on Beomgyu, who's drifted to the wall beside the array of sinks.

"What the fuck," he hisses, punctuating his words by jailing Beomgyu between his arms, his hands pressed to the wall on either side of his head, "is your problem?"

Beomgyu grins lazily, head falling back against the wall with a muffled thud. "Something wrong, hyung?"

Yeonjun is distracted for a moment by the arch of his neck, then snaps out of it, fixing Beomgyu with his strongest glare. "You know exactly what you're doing, you—" whatever else he was going to say gets stuck in his throat.

Beomgyu's just wrapped his hands around Yeonjun's waist again, pressing his fingers into his shirt. "What were you saying?"

"I—I—" fuck it. "I want to kiss you until you stop acting like a bitch and forget how to talk."

Beomgyu's smile drops, lips forming a small 'o', and Yeonjun grins. Beomgyu's hands tighten. "Do it, then," Beomgyu challenges. "Except you won't, because you're an all-talk little shi—"

Yeonjun surges forwards, shutting him up with a harsh kiss to his lips. Beomgyu gasps into his mouth, and Yeonjun smiles against him, pressing harder as he shifts both hands to cup Beomgyu's jaw and Beomgyu pulls him even closer, their bodies pressed up against one another, their legs tangling together as Yeonjun's shoes slip on the damp tiles.

Beomgyu pulls back for a moment, panting harshly, and Yeonjun opens his eyes to see Beomgyu's fluttering like he's in a daze. He can't help the spike of pride that shoots through him at the sight, a needle in a haystack of desire that's pumping through every crevice of his body. "You're an ass kisser," Beomgyu states after a few moments, pupils having come back into focus.

"You're an ass liar," Yeonjun retorts. Of course they're arguing mid make-out session.

"And you can't hide shit," Beomgyu empasises his point by squeezing Yeonjun's leg with both of his own, and Yeonjun yelps. That's something new (perhaps a point 6? Nah, he's proved his point well enough. Evidently). His thighs are freakishly strong. "What was it you said exactly? Beomgyu has nice thighs?"

It takes Yeonjun a moment to place the words. His conversation with Soobin so long ago.

He uses the hand he has on Beomgyu's jaw to slap him. "How the fuck do you know about that and why haven't you said anything?"

Beomgyu laughs, boisterous and hearty as ever, and Yeonjun can imagine that the only reason he's not keeling over right now is because Yeonjun's body is pressing his to the wall. Which is… a position he's not going to dwell on while they're talking. "It's so fun to watch you suffer, hyung," Beomgyu manages, "you're so obvious."

"Fuck you," Yeonjun groans, pressing their foreheads together and shutting his eyes.

"Sure," Beomgyu quips.

Yeonjun presses his lips into a hard, thin line, regretting every word he's ever said. Beomgyu leans forwards and kisses him again, slower this time, and gently deepens the kiss. Yeonjun sighs around him, resting his hands on Beomgyu's shoulders, letting his blood cool as he takes in the feel of Beomgyu's mouth on his, of their chests and their legs pressing together, of the heat that leeches through Beomgyu's clothes and into his own. He never wants to forget the feeling.

Beomgyu's hand just begins to slide under Yeonjun's loose shirt when a loud ring! comes from his side pocket and Beomgyu jumps. Yeonjun pulls away enough to fish his vibrating phone out of his pocket, and at the name, his eyes widen. He picks up immediately.

"Yes, manager-nim?" he says after clearing his throat, shooting Beomgyu a sidelong look. Beomgyu stifles a giggle.

"Where the hell are you two? I've sent at least four messages to the both of you privately and in the group chat. Get over here, now!" he barks.

Yeonjun winces. "On it, sir," he mumbles, and the man hangs up.

Beomgyu bursts into laughter. "You're fucked!"

"We are fucked," Yeonjun sighs, rubbing a hand up and down the side of his face. "How do I look?"

"Hot and sexy," Beomgyu says. "Biteable."

"What the fuck," Yeonjun says, though his face heats up at the compliment.

"You look like shit," Beomgyu says seriously. "Wash."

"You too,"

"Aw, you think I'm hot? No need to glaze me, hyung, I already know—"

Yeonjun kisses him senseless.

When they get back to the training room, everyone has left except for the patient choreographer and their fuming manager. He scolds them, they sign the forms (Yeonjun doesn't bother reading them properly, not when his fingers are intertwined with Beomgyu's and have been since they left the bathroom) and then they're waved out of the building.

Beomgyu and Yeonjun are all over each other on the ride home. Yeonjun argues that he can't help himself. Like, just look at Beomgyu. Actually, don't! Beomgyu is Yeonjun's and Yeonjun is Beomgyu's. They agree on this between kisses in the quiet back of the van. So you all can fuck off and make do with what you've learnt here. Yeonjun isn't offering any more.

You may know a lot about Beomgyu's thighs, but Yeonjun is gatekeeping the rest. TXT—no, Yeonjun exclusive.

𓆙

Taehyun waits (im)patiently for the door to open, sitting cross-legged in the center of the living room, remote in hand. Soobin and Kai are sat on the sofa, Soobin pestering him endlessly about why he's cutting short my relaxation time when in reality he'd be screaming at his computer screen while playing League, and Kai keeps nudging his side with his foot, asking why he's not allowed any plushies on the sofa right now.

Taehyun would love to say that he doubts Kai will want his plushies touching the sofa ever again after this, but then the door opens and today's main characters walk in, hand in hand.

Kai lets out an exaggerated gasp. Soobin whistles. "Heol... cobra snap."

Yeonjun narrows his eyes. "What?"

Taehyun gestures at the floor regally. "Take a seat. You'll need it."

Beomgyu eyes him suspiciously, but they sit down, and Yeonjun's arm immediately snakes around Beomgyu's waist. Taehyun says nothing, but his mind screams, expected. They're so obvious.

"I have something important to show you all," Taehyun says, looking at each of them in turn but staring at Yeonjun the longest, who frowns.

"I—We need to tell you guys something too—" Beomgyu begins.

"No," Taehyun stops him with a hand. "You can wait."

He holds out the remote and switches on the tv. The screen brightens with a blurred vertical image. Taehyun picks up his phone, which he'd hooked up to the tv box with a complicated line of wires that he'll have to untangle later, but it's worth it for this. He stands up. "I've gathered my evidence and can say with confidence that you," he points at Soobin, "owe me money, you—" he points at Kai, "are omniscient, and you two," he turns to Yeonjun and Beomgyu, "are the least subtle motherfuckers I've ever met in my life."

He cuts off everyone's protests by tapping his phone, and the image comes into focus. It's a zoomed-in photo of Yeonjun and Beomgyu against the mirror in the training room, Beomgyu's head against Yeonjun's chest and his hand on his waist, Yeonjun's face buried in Beomgyu's hair.

"What—" Beomgyu starts.

Taehyun flicks to the next photo and Kai squeals. It's of their duo Candy in My Ear dance, taken through the mirror, where you can see Beomgyu looking down at Yeonjun with a small smirk and Yeonjun clearly fighting off a smile as he holds his hand over his shoulder. Beomgyu's hand is pressed far harder into Yeonjun's side than it needs to be, evident as you can literally tell through the photo. Taehyun is pretty proud of this one.

"I have an ominous feeling of where this is going," Soobin sighs, "heol."

"And for the grand finale," Taehyun holds a hand out to Soobin, gesturing, "you should get out your wallet right about now."

"Wait—"

Taehyun swipes left and plays the video.

The camera is pointed at the ground at first, then slowly pans up and meets itself in a mirror. The bathroom mirror. Taehyun gives himself a little wave in the reflection, then the camera pans to the left.

Kai actually screams this time. "OH MY GOD—!"

"IN THE BATHROOM?" Soobin yells.

"FUCK IT, YEAH I'M DATING CHOI BEOMGYU, WHAT ABOUT IT?" Yeonjun shouts at the same time. Beomgyu just gapes.

Yeonjun is pressing Beomgyu to the wall beside the sinks, their heads moving slowly together. The phone is too far from them to pick up any sound, but you know what, that's probably for the better. Taehyun grins smugly at Soobin while everyone else continues to make a ruckus.

"Pay up, loser," he says. Soobin doesn't have to hear him and Taehyun doesn't have to hear to hear him to know he's just sighed. He hands over his wallet.

"Take it all," he says in a bout of somewhat-silence.

"What did you guys bet on?" comes Beomgyu's voice. He's peeking over Yeonjun's shoulder to watch them while Yeonjun stares again, frozen, at the screen.

"If you guys would get together before or after MOA CON," Kai pipes up. "I told Taehyun to bet on before."

"I love you," Taehyun says, blowing Kai a kiss. Kai giggles and Taehyun grins while Soobin fake-gags.

The video ends and Yeonjun finally turns away, narrowing his eyes at Taehyun and Kai. "You know what?" he says, standing up and pulling Beomgyu to his feet with him. "You asked for this."

And he pulls Beomgyu into a passionate kiss, right in the middle of the living room.

Soobin yells get a fucking room!, Kai starts laughing, surprised and loud, and Taehyun presses the record button on his camera once more.

"Yeonjun-hyung," Taehyun calls.

Yeonjun raises an eyebrow at him from the kitchen. "No, we're still not on speaking terms right now, fucker."

Taehyun pats the sofa cushion beside him. Yeonjun sighs and sits down. "I need you to review something," Taehyun says, offering his phone.

Yeonjun frowns, then eyes widen as he accepts it and begins to read. "Taehyun…"

"Cobra got your tongue?" Taehyun grins impishly when Yeonjun trails off, focusing on the screen. He watches with utmost delight as Yeonjun's face gets redder by the second.

"Yeonjun isn't smart enough to comprehend his genius? Really?" Yeonjun reads aloud. Taehyun nudges him.

"You would say that."

"I wouldn't."

Yeonjun continues to read. "Where did you get the idea that I'm this obsessed with Beomgyu's thighs?"

Taehyun simply gestures at the screen. "Are you not reading your own points?"

"But—"

"There you go."

When Yeonjun reaches the bottom of the page, he stares at the screen for a few moments, dead silent. He blinks, ears bright red, then shoots a glance at the doorway. Obviously no boyfriend enters.

(He showed Beomgyu earlier, and Beomgyu clapped slowly after reading it with a whistle.

"You captured me perfectly," he'd said, "as the greatest and sexiest human alive. Literally."

"Objectively," Taehyun had corrected.

Beomgyu just shrugged. "Same difference.")

"Is it accurate enough, do you think? I need to know for future reference."

"Future—you know what, whatever. It's…" he pauses. "Your writing is pretty good," he admits grudgingly.

Taehyun beams. "Thanks, hyung!" he swipes the phone back and presses post at the bottom of the screen.

"What did you do?" Yeonjun frowns.

"Oh, nothing," Taehyun dismisses. "Thanks again, hyung. Sleep well!"

Yeonjun shoots him a confused look as he leaves. When the door shuts behind him, Taehyun taps the back of the sofa. "It's safe."

Kai's head pops out with a wide grin. "Posted?"

"Yep," Taehyun says, waving the phone. "And approved."

Kai cackles maniacally. "A real one for the hundredth milestone."

Yes, a it's a massive milestone. Not just because of the number; it's the first real one, as Kai said, that he's written, and it's been a contract-long undertaking that's finally come to a close.

Taehyun no longer has to write what-ifs for Kai's favourite ship, because it's sailed right in front of them.

And Taehyun has won. As always.

Taehyun always wins.

Cobra out.

𓆙