Chapter Text
After a long time, they finally changed roommates.
It was just a small arrangement, with Martin and James pairing up, leaving Juhoon with the youngest duo—Keonho and Seonghyeon.
The members sat in their van on the way to their new hotel. Martin, Juhoon, and James were in the front, while Keonho and Seonghyeon sat beside each other in the back.
"Damn, I'll kinda miss rooming with you, bro,"
Martin said with a sigh, tilting his head toward Juhoon.
Juhoon looked up from his phone and chuckled.
"Yeah, kinda same."
"Hey, I'm not that bad to room with," James said, a slight whine in his voice that made the others laugh.
"Yeah, I know, I know, hyung. It's just our first time rooming together, you know?"
"It's my first time rooming with Keonho and Seonghyeonie too. You don't see me complaining, do you?"
Juhoon replied before looking back at his phone.
The van soon filled with laughter, Martin's endless complaints, James's dramatic whining, and Juhoon's occasional sighs.
The back of the van, however, was unusually quiet.
Martin glanced behind him and immediately let out a laugh. He quickly pulled out his phone, catching Juhoon's attention. Juhoon followed his gaze and started laughing too.
"What are you guys laughing at?" James asked, twisting around in his seat to look.
The moment he saw the younger boys, he chuckled as well.
Somewhere during the ride, both of them had fallen asleep.
Seonghyeon's head rested on Keonho's shoulder, while Keonho's head leaned gently against his. Completely unaware of their audience, they slept peacefully through the noise of the van.
"I'm posting this on Weverse," Martin announced, already typing away on his phone with a mischievous grin.
This wasn't anything new. The two had always been like this. Falling asleep on each other's shoulders, sticking close without even realizing it. The members had long since learned to take advantage of how cute they looked together.
The fans loved it too.
"You can sleep on my shoulder if you're sleepy too, Jjuu,"
Martin teased, while winking at Juhoon.
James immediately scrunched up his face.
"Y'all are kinda cringe."
Martin burst out laughing, and Juhoon laughed it off too.
Finally, after a long, bumpy ride, they arrived at the hotel.
The members separated into their assigned rooms, dragging their luggage through the hallways.
Juhoon opened the door to their new room, with the younger boys following close behind. The three of them stepped inside and took a quick look around.
"Wait, are you kidding me?"
Seonghyeon froze.
"Two beds? But isn't this room meant for three people?"
Keonho walked over to check for himself, with Jjuu following behind.
"I guess that means Martin and James hyung probably only got one bed."
The two immediately started laughing, playfully hitting each other's shoulders.
"Okay, okay. So who's sleeping with who?"
Juhoon stepped forward, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Let's do rock-paper-scissors. Whoever wins gets the separate bed."
The three of them got ready, and...
Juhoon won.
How ironic.
With a grin, he tossed his bag onto one of the beds, instantly claiming it as his.
"I mean, you two are close anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem."
He shot them a teasing smile before heading toward the bathroom.
Both Seonghyeon and Keonho cringed at him, even though he had pointed out a very obvious fact.
The two of them had always been close.
They somehow ended up in situations like that all the time. Sharing each other's toothbrush by accident. Falling asleep on each other's shoulders during long rides. Brushing fingers while walking side by side and then pretending nothing happened.
It was normal.
At least, that's what they always told themselves.
As Seonghyeon watched Juhoon disappear into the bathroom, leaving him alone with Keonho, his eyes drifted to the bed and he gulped.
It was going to be their first time sharing a bed.
Which... shouldn't be a problem.
They were just friends, right?
Keonho threw himself onto their shared bed and propped himself up on his elbows, looking over at Seonghyeon.
"This bed is kinda small, actually."
A completely normal thing to say.
So why did Seonghyeon's heart do that weird little twist?
It was just Keonho.
Just Keonho looking up at him with his—deep... uh, normal eyes.
Nothing new.
Nothing weird.
Nothing—
His thoughts came to an abrupt stop when his gaze wandered lower.
"His cupid's bow had always been this defined, right?
"And had his lips always been that pink"—
"And had they"—
"I'm gonna make some ramen."
Thankfully, Keonho cut off whatever dangerous train of thoughts Seonghyeon was about to board. He pushed himself off the bed and stretched, probably unaware of the crisis happening inside Seonghyeon's head.
"Yeah... I want some too."
Seonghyeon followed after him, trying very hard not to think about the fact that he had almost spent the last minute staring at his best friend's lips.
Only in his head, of course.
Still.
That couldn't be normal
Keonho grabbed a pack of ramen and stood in front of the stove, watching the water boil as he stirred the noodles with his chopsticks.
Seonghyeon followed behind him and leaned against the countertop with his arms crossed, staring at the steaming pot.
The silence felt strangely loud.
Whenever they were alone before, they were always talking, bickering, or laughing about something. Now, neither of them seemed to know what to say. The bubbling water was the only sound filling the room.
Seonghyeon bit his lower lip and shifted his weight.
His eyes drifted from the ramen to Keonho.
His hair.
The bridge of his nose.
His lips.
His eyes immediately snapped back to the stove.
What was he doing?
With a quiet sigh, he tilted his head back and closed his eyes for a second.
"Get a grip."
"Seonghyeonie."
"Mmh?"
Seonghyeon looked over at him, hoping his face wasn't as warm as it felt.
Keonho still hadn't taken his eyes off the ramen.
Then, all of a sudden, he turned to face him, leaning one hand against the counter.
"Do you wanna..."
The words trailed off.
For a moment, Keonho didn't finish his sentence.
His eyes flickered downward.
To Seonghyeon's lips.
Just for a second.
Maybe less.
Then they lifted again, meeting his eyes as if nothing had happened.
"...watch a movie tonight?"
fuck.
Seonghyeon forgot how to breathe for a moment.
Had he imagined that?
No.
He definitely saw it.
His mouth parted slightly as he stared back at Keonho, completely frozen.
The way Keonho had looked at him—
And now he was standing there acting perfectly normal.
As if he hadn't just sent Seonghyeon's thoughts spiraling.
"Hmm... sure. Yeah—let's do that."
The words came out awkwardly.
He quickly ran a hand through his hair and rubbed the side of his nose, trying to hide just how flustered he felt.
When he finally glanced back up, Keonho was still looking at him.
Not saying anything.
Just looking.
Then, like always, he smiled and turned back to the ramen.
"Great! What movie do you wanna watch?"
"I thought you already had one planned."
Keonho paused.
"Well..."
He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed softly.
"I'm kinda bad at deciding, you know? So I couldn't pick one."
A small laugh escaped Seonghyeon before he could stop it.
For some reason, seeing Keonho embarrassed was...
Cute.
The thought made him immediately look away.
"Fine," he said with a sigh, pushing himself off the counter.
"I'll go scroll through some movies for us to watch then."
That small interaction had made Seonghyeon forget they weren't actually alone.
Juhoon was still in the bathroom, probably halfway through a shower.
The realization snapped him back to reality.
It should've been a relief.
Instead, it felt strangely disappointing.
Which was ridiculous.
He had never wanted to be alone with Keonho this much before. At the same time, part of him wanted to stay as far away from him as possible.
Nothing made sense today.
Not the way his heart kept speeding up whenever Keonho looked at him.
Not the way he kept catching himself staring.
Not even the fact that he was suddenly looking forward to the unexpected movie night.
It wasn't like this would be their first movie night together.
They'd watched dozens of movies before.
So why did this one feel different?
Seonghyeon let out a quiet sigh and dropped onto the couch, scrolling through Netflix on his laptop.
What was in the air today?
Time passed, and before Seonghyeon knew it, the two of them were sitting under the same blanket on the couch.
Keonho had casually thrown an arm around his shoulder as they leaned closer to the laptop resting on Seonghyeon's lap.
Seonghyeon was in hell.
Actual hell.
He couldn't focus on anything on the screen. Every time he tried reading a title or looking at a thumbnail, his attention drifted right back to Keonho.
The warmth of his arm.
How close he was sitting.
The way his hair kept falling into his eyes.
His gaze lingered for a second too long before he immediately looked away.
Fuck.
What was wrong with him?
He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and rubbed a hand over his face.
"You're disgusting, Eom Seonghyeon"
"Seriously"
"Get a grip."
He cursed himself.
Keonho was his best friend.
His best friend.
So why was he suddenly so aware of every little thing he did?
Juhoon had gotten a call from Martin earlier and ended up leaving to hang out with him for the night.
Which meant it was just the two of them in the room.
Alone.
The thought should've made Seonghyeon nervous.
Instead, it made his stomach do something weird.
Which only made him feel worse.
He had never been this nervous around Keonho before, and it was driving him crazy.
Everything felt different.
And the worst part was that he had no idea why.
Finally, they chose a movie that looked innocent and pretty funny from the preview.
Apparently, the preview had lied.
One minute they were watching the main characters argue over something stupid, and the next, the couple on the screen was making out like their lives depended on it.
The room filled with sounds neither of them wanted to acknowledge. Wet sounds and whimpers.
And suddenly, neither of them knew where to look.
The movie kept playing.
Neither of them moved to turn it off.
Neither of them said a word.
They went silent.
At some point, they had shifted away from each other on the couch, leaving a small gap between them.
Not that it helped.
Their feet were still touching.
Every slight movement sent a jolt through Seonghyeon's body.
His eyes stayed glued to the screen.
Or at least, he tried.
Because no matter how hard he focused, he could still feel Keonho sitting beside him.
Close.
Too close.
The tension in the room seemed to grow with every passing second.
Slowly, Seonghyeon glanced at him from the corner of his eye.
And immediately regretted it.
Keonho was already looking at him.
Their eyes met.
For a brief moment, neither of them looked away.
Seonghyeon's breath caught in his throat.
Then they both turned back to the screen so quickly it was almost embarrassing.
Shit.
This was bad.
Really bad.
The movie continued playing in the background, but Seonghyeon wasn't paying attention anymore.
The distance between them suddenly felt unbearable.
Too far to close.
Too close to ignore.
Even the slight touch of their feet felt like it was burning through his skin.
And somehow, the silence felt louder than the movie itself.
What was supposed to be some innocent, funny movie had completely betrayed them.
The couple on screen had already spent the last few minutes making out, and somehow it just kept getting worse. The scene grew more intense, the room filling with sounds that made Seonghyeon want to throw himself out of the hotel window.
He kept his eyes glued to the screen.
Or at least he tried to.
Because no matter how hard he focused, he was painfully aware of Keonho sitting right beside him.
The warmth of him.
The slight touch of their feet.
The silence.
Everything.
The movie continued.
The couple was now tangled together on the bed, stripping away.
And before the scene could go any further—
The screen suddenly went black.
Keonho had turned the movie off.
Neither of them moved.
For a second, the only sound left in the room was the faint hum of the air conditioner.
Their bodies shifted awkwardly on the couch.
And surprisingly, Seonghyeon was the first to look.
His eyes met Keonho's.
It was Dangerous.
Neither of them looked away.
Neither of them seemed capable of it.
Something in Keonho's expression made Seonghyeon's stomach twist.
They looked like two felines staring each other down.
Not angry.
Not scared.
Just...waiting.
Watching.
Like one wrong move would change everything.
Seonghyeon's breath caught in his throat.
His heart was beating so hard it almost hurt.
And suddenly, the distance between them didn't feel nearly big enough.
"That was... unexpected, hahah..."
Keonho looked away, covering his flushed face with one hand and smiling like he always did.
Seonghyeon still hadn't moved.
Literally could not move.
He was just sitting there, lips parted, staring at the side of Keonho's face like a complete idiot. No thoughts. No words. Just...frozen.
After his failed attempt of handling the situation, Keonho turned back, their eyes met again.
A beat passed.
Then Keonho's gaze dropped to his lips.
Just for a second. Maybe even less than that. Then back up to his eyes, like nothing happened.
Seonghyeon forgot how to swallow.
He licked his lips without thinking about it, and felt his body lean forward on its own — just slightly, barely noticeable, but still. His brain had clearly stopped working at some point and left his body to do whatever it wanted.
Keonho's hand rested beside him on the mattress. His other hand reached up and moved a strand of hair away from Seonghyeon's face.
That was it. That was all it was.
And yet.
"Keonho ya..."
That was genuinely all he could get out. In a whisper, barely even that. Keonho's breath was warm against his face, close enough now that Seonghyeon couldn't think about anything else.
They both tilted their heads at the same time.
Like they'd already decided to give into the sensation.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
His heart was going insane and his stomach felt awfully twisted. He closed his eyes shut, holding his breath, their lips barely — an atom away from—
"Why is it so dark in here?"
They pulled away so fast.
Both scrambled back to their own sides of the couch like nothing had happened.
FUCK!
Seonghyeon shifted uncomfortably in his seat, running a hand through his hair. His chest was literally visibly going up and down.
Super normal. Totally fine.
"We were just watching a movie but it was... kinda boring."
"Yeah... so we just turned it off."
They tried to sound normal. They really did.
Their voices still came out with that slight little shiver. Which was NOT normal. At all.
Juhoon looked at them for a second.
"Go to bed you two. We have a busy day tomorrow."
He turned and walked toward the bedroom.
"Ye — yeah, you're right."
Keonho got up quickly, following Juhoon without sparing a glance at Seonghyeon's direction.
Not a single word.
Not even a look.
What the fuck....just happened.
Seonghyeon thought to himself and threw his head back against the couch and let out a long, loud sigh.
"This is wrong. This is so wrong. Why would he— no, why would we —suddenly..almost kiss?"
Seonghyeon wasn't gay. He'd never looked at Keonho like that before. So what the hell happened all of a sudden? And the worst part— the part that made his stomach twist even more —was that it wasn't just him. Keonho had leaned in too.
Yeah, they were close. They bickered constantly, caught each other staring sometimes, which was... kind of nice, actually. But never, not once in his entire life, did he think he'd end up tangled in thoughts about kissing Keonho and doing other stuff with him.
He pushed himself off the couch after cursing himself out for probably the hundredth time that night.
He walked into the bedroom. Juhoon was already passed out, and Keonho was facing the other way, probably asleep too.
Seonghyeon sighed and slid under the covers next to him, careful—so careful—not to touch him even a little. If he did, he was pretty sure he'd just combust on the spot.
He stared up at the ceiling, lost in his head. Tried to close his eyes. Tried to sleep.
But all he could think about was Keonho's lips. How close they'd gotten. The whole thing on the couch playing on repeat behind his eyes like some cursed loop he couldn't turn off.
Eventually, he fell asleep too—after deciding, somewhere in the back of his mind, that he was so screwed for the rest of this trip, and that he needed to act normal tomorrow. Or he might actually lose his best friend over this.