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The new ACs in the dorm had an adverse affect on Riki. While the rest 6 breathed a sigh of relief, Riki sighed knowing the outcome to be effected soon.
So when night came by and the ac was on for hours on end, Riki's limbs became ice cold. His fingers went numb and feet went blue. It was nothing too serious, that always happened in cold. Even in winter he always has to carry around a hot pack to avoid getting purple fingers.
Now he lays in his bed, comfy in the entire body but the edges of all 4 limbs. He balls up the blanket at the end and covers his feet with it and hides his hands between his thighs in an attempt to keep them warm. But all goes to vain. And Jungwon doesn't miss out on noticing the struggle.
"Riki?" he calls out from his bed, laying upright on one hand.
"Hmm?" Riki peeks from under the blanket
"Are your hands freezing?"
Riki stayed quiet for a while, wondering how did Jungwon notice so fast. Then he nodded, saying "yes" in the tiniest voice possible.
"Come here." Jungwon says, making space on his own bed beside himself and patting on the surface to invite Riki.
Riki hesitates, but goes over to Jungwon anyway. It's not the first time they've cuddled to sleep because it was too cold for Riki. When the heater broke last winter, Jungwon held him close to his chest to keep him warm at night. And he's gotten the offer to receive the same again, why would he refuse when his limbs are freezing?
So he goes to lie down beside Jungwon, expecting to be dragged in a hug. Only, Jungwon doesn't do that. Instead he takes Riki's hands in his and holds it tight to his chest. His hands covering Riki's entirely.
"Gosh, you're freezing." Jungwon says, putting gentle pressure on Riki's hands as if to warm them up somehow.
Somehow, it got Riki more flustered than a casual cuddle. Sure, that got him red-cheeked too. But this was different, it was a care uncalled for, a touch that didn't seem so "friendly."
And as if to make it worse, Jungwon's feet touches Riki's in a light touch. Then pressing firmly on Riki's feet with his warm ones.
And Riki's brain short-circuited at the contact. It was an unexpected intimacy. Too intimate to ignore but too friendly to assume something.
Jungwon was warm, his hands and feet touching Riki's were warm. His heart was warm. Riki felt his limbs defrosting, he felt his heart melting.
"Do you need me to turn the ac off?" Jungwon asks, his hands still firmly holding onto Riki's.
Riki shakes his head, "No, I'm not cold." It was just his feet and hands that froze despite him being hot in the rest of his body.
So they stay the night like that, Riki's hands enveloped in Jungwon's, held close to Jungwon's chest and his feet touching Jungwon's warm ones.
Riki wouldn't lie, it was hard to fall asleep with your heart beating like a drum. But it was also hard to stay awake with such warmth spreading near you. It was almost impossible to not be comfortable in Jungwon's presence.
He wakes up to see Jungwon gone, and a heatpack they definitely shouldn't have in the middle of summer between his palms. Did Jungwon go out an buy one for him? Or did he have some in stock?
Either way, Riki holds the heatpack close to his chest as his heartbeat runs faster at the mere thought of Jungwon doing that for him.
That night, Riki's limbs were freezing again and he kept thinking if Jungwon would offer a cuddle again. If Jungwon would hold his hands close to his chest again, keeping him warm like a mother hen caring for her chicks. But that doesn't happen. Instead, Jungwon walks over to a sleepy Riki to plant a small heatpack in his hands and a big one near his feet.
Riki opens his eyes barely to look at Jungwon,
"Oh, did I wake you? Sorry." Jungwon continued his work, covering Riki with a blanket. "Keep them near or you'll freeze again." With that he leaves to his own bed, flopping down and going through his phone for a while before going to sleep.
Right before falling asleep, he looks over at the sleeping boy crouching to himself with the heat packs Jungwon left for him and smiles.
Cute...
Since the new ac has been installed, Jungwon has been providing heatpacks for Riki every night, making sure his hands and feet don't go blue. But Riki doesn't seem to be satisfied with that. He wants back what he received the first day. That warmth, that hold, he wants it back. And so his shenanigans begin, he starts to hide the hotpacks in an attempt to make Jungwon offer a cuddle. But that doesn't work, Jungwon just gets him more hotpacks.
Finally, Riki resorts to the last option.
Asking Jungwon himself.
"Can I sleep with you?"
Jungwon stared at him, a bit confused.
"That came out wrong. I meant, can we...cuddle to sleep?"
Jungwon didn't answer, for a while he seemed to process it. Then he just opened his arms.
Riki didn't waste a second, he grabbed his pillow and ran to Jungwon, landing right on his chest face first. His hands snakes around Jungwon's waist and holds him so close it takes Jungwon aback.
Jungwon, even though stunned, brings his hands over to hold Riki, his hands resting on Riki's back as he pats Riki softly.
"Are you cold again?" he asks after a while
Riki nods against his chest. He is cold, yes, but that's not the initial cause of his clinginess. It's because he missed Jungwon's hugs. Now that he's in Jungwon's arms, he lets himself melt there.
Jungwon moves back slightly, moving away from the hug leaving Riki feeling devastated and empty. He takes Riki's hands in his, his ice cold fingertips meeting Jungwon's warm ones in an newfound epiphany. Jungwon brings Riki's hands closer to himself, his lips touching them softly with a gentle kiss.
The frost feels nice on his lips.
"W-what are you doing...?" Riki asks, his cheeks reddening starting from the ears.
"Warming you up." Jungwon says, now holding Riki's hands to both sides of his own cheeks, his fingers glide through Riki's to interlock them together.
Riki stares, his heart rate spiking up. It was warm, Jungwon was warm.
The proximity was uncanny. They've been closer before. For performances they've been face to face, merely centimeters apart. For nights that were too cold, they've slept limbs tangled with one another. But this, this is too much to bear. And Jungwon knew it too.
Riki, despite his will, murmurs something out loud.
"My lips are also cold...warm them up too..."
The voice was so low, Jungwon wouldn't have been able to hear if they weren't inches away from each other.
Jungwon couldn't hold back a giggle at Riki's whining, and that's when Riki realised he had said that out loud. His cheeks went hot, his sanity went skydiving. Riki malfunctioned.
"I- I didn't mean that! I mean, I did, but-"
Jungwon let go of Riki's hand, scaring Riki out of his body.
Fuck, was Jungwon mad? Uncomfortable? Fuck fuck fuck, WHY DID HE SAY THAT??
But it was moments later that Jungwon pressed his hand firmly on Riki's mouth, shutting up his blabbering. And what came next was Jungwon's lips on his hand.
He kissed his hand that was over Riki's mouth.
That's an indirect, wait no, that's a pretty direct kiss, isn't it??
"That works for now?" Jungwon tilts his head to the left, lowering his hand from Riki's mouth and holding his hands again, that were now shaking from the core. "Let's sleep. It's late."
With that Jungwon lied down and dragged the blanket over his head, pretending to have fallen asleep as Riki sits there completely still, surprised out of his mind.
Now, not only were his hands and feet frozen, his brain was too. And in contrast, his heart was swelling from the warmth spread by Jungwon.
Meanwhile, Jungwon panics under the blanket, thinking about the reckless decision he just made. He knows, the outcome can't be bad, but it still puts him in a trance. He peeks from under the blanket to look at Riki.
"Did I break him..." he thinks.
His hands slide to hold Riki's wrist again, tugging on his hand to get him to lie down too.
Riki looks at Jungwon, eyes narrowed and face flushed.
"Lie down." Jungwon orders, to which Riki complies without a complaint.
Once Riki is laid down beside Jungwon, Jungwon pulls him in a hug, his head resting against Jungwon's chest. Jungwon's hands wrapped around his head as if to hold him close to his heart.
Riki can hear it, Jungwon's heartbeat.
It's quickened, and drumming hard against his ribs.
It's the same pace as his. As if their heartbeats are set in a metronome.
And thus, his question is answered. Jungwon was as panicked, or excited, whatever you call it, as him. That news put him in ease. It helped him calm down against Jungwon's body. He finally used his hands to hold Jungwon close by the waist.
Either of them don't say a word anymore the entire night, but a thousand conversations are spoken. A million feelings are shared.
This night feels like it's dragged on for eternity, even though it ends in mere 4 hours.
But what's the problem in the night ending quick, as why, another night is to come. And another wave of warmth is to be shared between Jungwon and Riki.