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Naturally, the longer a group had been together, the more relaxed the practice room atmosphere tended to get. In the early days, just memorizing the choreography alone was a mountain of work in itself, so the moment they walked into the room, it was straight into warming up and then straight into practice. That changed with experience: memorization took only a day or two after that, and everything else became fine-tuning, so the time spent on pure choreography practice shrank considerably.
That said, the group's identity had settled around being "the group whose strength is freestyle," and as the choreography got more intense to match, the risk of injury climbed right along with it — so, ironically, warm-up time before practice was actually longer now than it had been at debut. Which made perfect sense — even in general sports, it was always the veterans who understood best just how important a proper warm-up really was.
As a result, it had become a natural routine lately: once everyone filed into the practice room, all the members would spend roughly an hour warming up on their own.
And if there was no mischief involved in that process, it wasn't NEXZ.
Starting with the leader on down, there was hardly a bigger bunch of troublemakers on the face of the earth. They say the water runs clear downstream only if it’s clear upstream, and with the upstream already a complete mess, the downstream didn't stand a chance. Over time, naturally, every member had become someone who simply couldn't resist pulling pranks on each other, and this tendency showed itself most naturally of all during warm-up time.
Yu pulled pranks too. Not as often as the younger members, maybe, but he did his share. Sometimes he'd play along with a prank pulled on him, sometimes he'd counterattack, and occasionally he'd go in first and start something himself. When he went in first, there was usually a fairly specific target in mind — but regardless, that's how it was. He got right in there with the youngest duo, roughhousing and having a great time.
So he didn't mind the warm-up turning into a chaotic free-for-all. Seriously. Not at all.
Which was exactly why he didn't understand it himself.
"Hehe, Geonnie, Geonnie~ Ahhh!"
"Ack! That tickles! Ha, stop it...! Hehe."
Why did the sight of those two puppies tangled up together like that, rolling around on the floor, feel so oddly grating.
Lately, Haru and Geon were closer than ever. Even back during the audition days, he'd heard the two of them had been fairly close — Geon had no prior trainee experience and was shy by nature, so he'd struggled, and Haru had helped him a lot through it. But after that, Haru went through a rough patch for a while and kept a bit of distance from the other members, so during that stretch, the closeness between the two of them hadn't really been visible.
Now that Haru had gotten his groove back — the way the two of them played together was, frankly, a spectacle. At least, it was to Yu's eyes.
Hey. Inoue Haru. What exactly do you think you're doing? In this sacred practice room, of all places? Why are you climbing on top of Geon like that—where do you even think you're sitting?
Hey — wait. Freeze right there. Where exactly are your lips right now? Lift your head. Hey. What are you whispering to him?
And Geon, why are you smiling at him like that— hey, do you two not see there's a camera rolling right in front of you? Get off each other!!!
Feeling a certain sense of crisis rising, Yu waved Geon over, but the two of them ignored him completely. If anything, Haru glanced Yu's way and then—as if deliberately trying to provoke him (whether that was really his intent, no one could say)—ducked his head back down and buried his face against Geon's neck. Our sunny-shiny Geonsky seemed only delighted that Haru was messing with him, hugging him back and squealing with laughter.
Urgh. The back of Yu's neck was starting to ache.
His turn giving Geon a piggyback ride and playing along didn't last long, either. Riding high on Yu's back and touring the practice room, the moment Geon spotted Haru sprawled out on the couch in the distance, he ambushed him from behind as if to ask what he thought he was doing lounging around alone. Sneaking up from behind, wrapping his arms tight around him, burying his face against the back of Haru's neck. Getting suddenly back-hugged out of nowhere, the Inoue boy just grinned, delighted.
Yu's expression twisted again. What are you two even doing right now?
Then Geon came bounding back and pretended to give CPR to Yu, who'd collapsed mid-b-boying practice. The moment those warm hands touched his chest, Yu's expression instantly relaxed. Even while feeling like an absolute fool, that puppy-like grin looking down at him was unbearably endearing.
But look away for one second, and Geon was already somewhere else. This time, next to Yuki — fiddling with the maknae's hand for a bit, then sprawling out flat beside him, holding his hand and squeezing it playfully.
Then Tomoya lay down on the other side. Watching Geon's antics fondly, he settled down on the opposite side and took hold of Geon's other free hand, squeezing it too. Geon, seemingly delighted that Tomoya had initiated the contact first, grinned that same puppy grin, and Tomoya's eyes narrowed into a smile. An expression that was obviously, unmistakably fond.
Left inadvertently out of all this, Yu now wore an expression of a thoroughly sullen cat.
What is with you, So Geon. What is going on with you lately. Why are you suddenly attached to everyone else all the time.
You used to be glued to me. In the practice room, off-duty, even during schedules — you always tried to stick by my side whenever you had the chance.
I've gotten to the point where it feels strange when you're not next to me — and you're wandering around, sticking to everyone else, wearing that completely unbothered face like it's nothing. How can a person just do that—...
Wearing the exact expression of a cat that had overnight lost its entire territory, Tomiyasu Yu couldn't tear his eyes off Geon.
Needless to say, he had absolutely no room left to think anything like "that's kind of gross."
No matter how oblivious a person might be, if the other person's expression is that obvious, they're bound to pick up on it to some degree. The kind where every muscle in the face is locked rigid, the corners of the mouth are technically lifted but the eyes aren't smiling at all, and the laughter coming out sounds utterly hollow.
The bigger someone's eyes, the more visible that kind of emotion becomes. As they say, the eyes are the windows to the soul. People with big eyes naturally leak more emotion without meaning to, which makes it that much harder for them to hide their feelings.
In that sense, there was probably not a single person in that practice room who failed to read exactly what Tomiyasu Yu was feeling right now. It came down to one of two things: either they knew and were pretending not to, or they knew and simply didn't care.
Haru and Geon were both the former.
Even as that sharp gaze bore down on the two of them, Haru pulled Geon closer into his arms and dropped his voice to a whisper.
"Geon, are you actually okay with this?"
"With what?"
"What do you mean, 'with what.' Look at Yu's face."
Geon lifted his head and glanced briefly ahead.
There was Tomiyasu Yu — a man who got called an "ice-cold pretty boy" whenever his face went still — glaring their way with an expression carrying an oddly frigid chill.
Anyone catching that look without any context might’ve flinched, but Geon just pouted his lips once, then burrowed back into Haru's arms like a kid wanting to be babied.
Haru didn't say anything, just let Geon settle back against him, with Yu just nagging at the back of his mind.
"Geonnie."
"Hm?"
"Yu looks like he's about to actually sulk over this."
"...Let him, then."
What's gotten into him now?
Thrown off for a moment by an answer with such a noticeably different temperature from Geon's usual tone, Haru was briefly caught off guard — but when Geon himself showed no further reaction, he let the thought go.
Whatever. Playing around with Geon like this is fun either way, so who cares.
...Now that I think about it, Yu always plays it like "Geon's the one who comes to me first," like he's just humoring him out of the goodness of his heart — but whenever Geon actually goes off and plays with someone who isn't him, he reacts exactly like this every time. Like some cat that just lost its owner's attention—... wait. Cat?
Wait, is he actually— No, I'm probably just imagining things, right...?
While Haru sat there confused by this sudden realization, Geon stayed wrapped around him, perfectly still. He didn't so much as glance toward Yu.
Hmph. Well, whose fault is it if he goes around saying things like "I could marry any of the members"? No, worse than that — these days when fangirls say stuff like "Marry me, Yu!" he just smoothly comes back with "Come propose in person, then."
He used to get so awkward whenever anyone brought that up. And last time I went over to play with him, he was off gaming with Hyui. I was staring right at him the whole time and he didn't even glance my way.
He used to like me best. Used to come find me and stick to my side every chance he got, even mid-shoot — but his feelings changed. He doesn't love me like he used to anymore. Hmph.
Muttering all this to himself in his head, casual as anything — the exact kind of thing that would make any third party recoil and mutter "just get a room" under their breath — Geon buried his face right into the curve of Haru's neck.
He had absolutely no attention to spare for Haru, who was catching the full brunt of a certain oversized cat's death glare and laughing awkwardly through it.
The choreography was always intense, so practice always ended in a sweat-soaked mess. By the time they got back to the dorm, drenched head to toe, only one thought remained: shower, shower, shower. Wash away every trace of this grimy feeling with hot water, as fast as possible. Every member felt the exact same way, which inevitably meant working out a shower order.
Yuki, who'd finished practice earlier, was already in the shower, so Geon was sprawled on the living room couch, waiting his turn. His limbs ached and his whole body felt heavy with exhaustion — he wanted nothing more than to just collapse straight into bed — but no, that wouldn't do. He reeked of sweat head to toe. Burrowing into bed in this state was a guaranteed way to get an earful from Yu.
...Who cares what Yu thinks, the thought crept in for a second — but no, still not an option. He had no actual intention of making Yu genuinely angry.
After waiting and waiting, his turn finally came. He rushed in, doused himself in hot water, and scrubbed every trace of sweat smell away with body wash. While he was at it, he even gave himself a thorough, satisfying scrub — he tried not to do that too often since it was supposedly bad for the skin, but there was no denying how refreshing it felt every single time.
Stepping out of the steam-filled shower, the air against his skin felt incredible. Not having dried off properly, water still dripping from his hair, Geon rubbed a towel over his head, switched off the bathroom light, flipped on the ventilation fan, and headed straight for the kitchen. After sweating it all out under hot water, cold water was exactly what he craved. There had to be a bottle in the fridge somewhere.
He hurried out to the living room — and the sight immediately caught his eye.
"Ah, no, no! Hey, that's not it—!"
"Huh? Oh, sorry! My bad!"
Yu, sitting cozily beside Hyui, playing a game — on the very console Geon had gifted him.
That fresh-scrubbed puppy face crumpled instantly.
It's barely been any time since I went in to shower, and they're already at it again.
And it's the console I gave him, too. Doesn't that mean he should play it with me the most, obviously? Sure, Yu's never actually turned me down when I ask him to game together — but still.
Hyui was grinning wide enough to show teeth, an expression unmistakably delighted.
Geon's dark eyes swept quickly over Hyui's smiling face.
...Cute. Yeah, of course he is.
Hyui's cute. His smile especially. Everyone's been saying it since the audition days — "Komori's smile is the cutest thing ever."
And Yu likes cute things.
Come to think of it, lately Yu hardly ever calls me "cute" anymore.
I mean, obviously Yu can do whatever's comfortable for him.
Obviously there's no point worrying about something like that—
Wait — Yu.
Is Hyui cuter than me?
Is that why he's been sticking to Hyui so much more lately?
Not quite to the extent Yu did, but Geon also got told fairly often that his face looked cold whenever he wasn't smiling. Fans frequently said his visuals leaned toward the "ice-cold pretty boy" type too, in fact — a different flavor from Yu's, obviously, but plenty of people said there was more overlap than one would expect.
And when someone like that scowled and glared — naturally, that gaze came out cold.
Hyui had an unusually sharp sensitivity to the emotional shifts of people around him. In Japanese terms, he had a real talent for what one would call "reading the atmosphere."
It didn't take long after Geon started narrowing his eyes into a glare before Hyui noticed.
Hyui's face turned into that of a startled squirrel. He started fidgeting uneasily before glancing toward Yu and whispering something.
What is he whispering? I can't hear a single word.
It's always like this with those two. Always gaming just the two of them, always whispering just the two of them—
By the time his thoughts got that far, Geon's face had gone red.
...What. What am I even doing right now.
They're just members hanging out. Why am I the only one overreacting like this?
His prim, standoffish expression crumpled with a flush of embarrassment. His feet, which had been rooted to the floor as if planted there, moved quickly.
Guess practice really wore me out today. I keep having these weird thoughts.
I need to do what my Korean teachers always told me: drink some cold water, cool my head, and snap out of it.
Thinking that, the puppy trotted off and disappeared — and the oversized cat left behind just stared blankly at the empty space where he'd been.
His hands were still carefully cradling the console all throughout the little turmoil.
Sadly, Tomiyasu Yu wasn't the sharpest when it came to picking up on subtle and emotional things. He was fundamentally a thoughtful, caring person by nature, but that was a separate matter from being perceptive. Once he actually grasped a situation, he was excellent at looking after the people around him, but it took him noticeably longer than most to get there in the first place. And there were times when, even when he thought he'd figured it out, he had it completely wrong.
Once he locked onto something, he genuinely couldn't spare much attention for his surroundings unless he made a conscious effort to. In activities such as group cooking, then yes, he could keep an eye on everyone — partly because cooking was something that felt natural to him, and partly because he was actively conscious of the need to watch how the others were doing. But outside of that, he was hopeless.
Gaming, for instance. Yu wasn't great at games. He played because he liked them. He liked them despite having no real talent for them, which meant he was constantly crashing into things — leaving absolutely no mental bandwidth left over for his surroundings.
So it was only after Hyui, who'd been quietly watching the situation, leaned over and whispered something to him that Yu finally grasped what had been going on.
"Um, Yu-hyung? I think Geonnie-hyung looks... somewhat... irritated."
The second he heard that, his head snapped up. It happened completely on its own. His eyes, which had been locked on the game screen, shot forward instantly — but there was no one there. From the sound of hurried movement coming from the kitchen, it seemed Geon had already ducked in there before Yu even had the chance to turn his head.
"You okay?"
"With what?"
"Geonnie-hyung. His face looked kind of— off. Shouldn't you go talk to him, maybe?"
Hyui, sharp as ever, was dropping subtle hints — but Yu didn't budge. He'd been having a genuinely great time gaming, and the idea of just stopping mid-game to go chase after Geon felt like—like—what, exactly. What was he even supposed to call this feeling? Hurt pride? That felt like too heavy a word. Annoyance? That felt too negative.
The closest word for it, probably, was something like sulky.
Yeah. He was sulking. Some vague, indefinable kind of sulking. A faint, hard-to-pin-down irritation.
It wasn't that he didn't want to go see Geon at all — but rushing over first, in this particular moment, felt subtly, stubbornly wrong. That scene from earlier in the day was still floating in front of his eyes — Geon hanging off Haru's back, the two of them all cuddled up on the couch — so why should he be the one to go running over first?
The funny thing was that even while thinking all that, his heart had already started beating unevenly.
Geon, Haru, and Yu himself had slept together in the living room once before. The two of them just clicked well, so Haru and Geon had been spending more time together lately. And Tomoya — Haru's actual roommate — hardly ever slept in his own room to begin with, and he wasn't the type to make a big deal out of Geon sharing a bed with someone else once in a while. There'd been times Tomoya, Geon, and Yu all slept together in the living room as a designated sleep squad.
No matter how much time Geon spent hanging around the other members, come nighttime, he still always trotted right back to the bed he shared with Yu. Sometimes Yu would deliberately tease him — don't you dare climb into this bed, go sleep by the front door — but Geon had never once actually taken that seriously. He knew it was just Yu being a little hurt, or pouting a little, and saying it to blow off steam.
And it had never once occurred to Yu that this pattern might ever change.
Because Geon had said as much himself. That Yu was the most comfortable. That spending time with him was the most fun, the happiest.
That's just how Geon was. That's just the kind of person he'd always been—
He'd been that way all along, and he'd stay that way.
...Right?
A sudden chill crept down his spine.
What if — genuinely, seriously — Geon started finding time with the other members far more comfortable and fun than time with me. What then?
I've said it myself, more than once, that I'm fine on my own, that I don't really care.
What if one day Geon just came up and said, "I'm sleeping with Haru from now on, so you can have the bed to yourself, Yu!", packed his things, and actually moved into Haru's room—...
He'd only imagined it for a second — and in that instant, Yu's entire world caved in.
No. That can't happen. That absolutely cannot happen.
Unless there's some genuinely unavoidable reason — if Geon just said that himself and walked off, what am I supposed to do?
Geon's body is so warm, and I've gotten so used to having that warmth right next to me now.
If I can't chat with Geon before falling asleep, can't hear him laugh, can't catch his scent, can't mess around with him, can't sneak late-night snacks with him anymore—... then what am I even supposed to live for?
His cat-like eyes widened in sheer panic.
What do I do. Should I go talk to him right now?
But Geon's the one who started this. Just today alone — no, for days now — he's been glued to Haru nonstop. I keep calling him over and he barely comes. He barely reacts to my aegyo anymore. And when I ask him to do some for me, he doesn't even do it like he used to.
And it's not just Haru, either. Lately Geon's been all over Tomoya too. Sticking right by his side, grinning that grin, going "Moya, Moya!" nonstop like some little puppy.
The power of imagination is humanity's single greatest blessing—and also its greatest damnation.
Once his thoughts locked onto that particular groove, Yu's imagination took off running with absolutely no brakes.
Geon, wearing that unmistakable puppy grin of his.
Haru, sneaking up from behind, wrapping an arm around Geon's waist, pulling him close while smiling and murmuring, "Geonnie."
And Tomoya, coming in from the other side, draping an arm over Geon's shoulder and hugging him tight, whispering in that teasing voice of his, "Geonnie, I love you."
I'm not in that picture.
I'm not there, next to Geon.
And somehow, that feels— natural.
"Wh— whoa, whoa, whoa!! Yu-hyung!!"
Ah.
The reason drunk driving and drowsy driving are so dangerous is that you end up gripping the wheel with your concentration shot to pieces.
The same held true for gaming.
Falling to my death. Off a cliff. I've cleared this stage countless times, and out of nowhere, I die falling off a cliff.
On the console screen, the cold letters GAME OVER hung there without mercy. A total loss of focus really was this terrifying.
"...Should we just call it here for today?"
"...Sorry."
"Nothing to be sorry about. We'll pick up right from here next time, okay?"
Yu laughed awkwardly and switched off the console. It really had been ages since he'd gotten to game with Hyui, and part of him desperately wanted to keep going a while longer — but he was in absolutely no state for it.
The light in his bedroom was still on.
With just the dimmest lamp on so as not to wake the sleeping Yuki, Geon was still rubbing a towel over his hair. He hadn't cut it since the promotional period ended, so it had gotten fairly long. And with the humidity from the recent rain, it wasn't drying nearly as fast as usual.
Losing patience, Geon finally pulled the hair dryer off the vanity. He didn't really want to use it with the weather warming up, but there was no choice. At this rate, he'd definitely pass out with wet hair, and wake up to an absolute disaster in the morning. No music shows on the schedule right now, sure, but there were still small filming schedules lined up — and he had zero interest in showing up to the salon with his hair looking like a bird's nest and getting an earful from his hairstylist.
He switched the dryer on and was about to start on his hair when someone approached from behind. He didn't even need to turn around to know who it was — the footsteps alone gave it away.
Yu.
"..."
Geon deliberately said nothing. Partly because he didn't want to be the one to speak first, partly out of sheer awkwardness. And honestly, he had no idea what he'd even say if he turned around right at the moment he was about to dry his hair.
While he was still hesitating, a hand suddenly reached in from behind and snatched the dryer right out of his grip.
"Huh?"
A dazed sound slipped out on reflex. Yu wore an expression that wasn't quite a smile, though it wasn't quite not one, either.
"...I'll dry it for you."
This wasn't actually new. Back in the very early days after debut, when Geon had been a clueless little chick who didn't know any better, he'd more than once shown up at the salon with his hair a total wreck after falling asleep without drying it properly. So whenever shower time ran too late for his hair to naturally dry in time, Yu would dry it for him. He used to say things back then like "feels like drying a puppy's fur," and Geon would just grin, delighted, and let him.
That had been a thing, once — but it was strictly an early-debut phase. After that, Geon had come to understand the importance of proper hair care and learned to dry it thoroughly on his own before bed. So somewhere along the way, Yu had stopped offering to dry it for him at all.
...So why now, out of nowhere?
A trace of suspicion lingered, but with the dryer already out of his hands, raising an objection felt like more trouble than it was worth — so Geon just sat obediently and let Yu take over. The dryer buzzed to life, warm air pouring out. In the middle of that warm gust, the feeling of strong fingers gently combing through his hair was, admittedly, pretty nice.
"Not too hot, is it?"
"No."
Silence.
"Tell me if it hurts or anything."
"'Kay."
Silence again.
By this point, Geon was starting to feel a bit frustrated. He'd always been the type who believed that if something hurt his feelings or upset him, he had to deal with it right then and there, out loud. Tiptoeing around, biting his tongue, and talking in circles instead of just saying what he truly meant — that wasn't his style at all. He was the exact opposite of Yu, who never quite knew how to express himself and, whether he wanted to or not, ended up staying still right until the last possible moment.
In their relationship, it was always Geon who moved and spoke up first. He'd go in and put his own feelings into words, and only then would Yu, hearing that, follow suit and open up about what he was actually feeling.
Even now, there were lingering feelings that felt a little too awkward.
But it wasn't like he planned on things staying stuck like this forever, so—...
"Yu."
"Hm?"
Once he'd made up his mind, the words came easily.
"So — the thing is. About you playing with the others, and, like, trying to look cool for everyone else."
"Mmhm."
"I was actually kind of jealous about it. Sorry."
The second the words left Geon's mouth, Yu burst into laughter.
"I'm sorry too."
"Why?"
"Honestly, I was jealous too — about you getting closer and closer to the others."
A brief silence followed — and then they both burst out laughing.
What is this. So this whole time we were both jealous of each other getting close to someone else — and neither of us even bothered asking how the other actually felt.
"Geonnie."
"Hm?"
"You're... going to keep sharing a bed with me, right? Keep being my roommate?"
The corner of Geon's mouth curled up mischievously.
So this is what he'd actually been worrying about.
Learning that, after everything, this was the thing Yu had actually been anxious about — that felt oddly nice.
Normally he might've teased him a little here, played hard to get — but not this time. Pulling that kind of stunt right now might actually make Yu sulk for real.
"Yeah."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Being your roommate's the best. It's comfortable."
The corner of Yu's mouth slowly crept upward.
Ah, Geonnie— you have no idea how much I'd been on edge all day just waiting to hear that one sentence.
"What about you?"
"Hm?"
"Do you want to keep being my roommate too?"
That emotional barrier Tomiyasu Yu always kept up, always so careful to appear composed and put-together, came down completely, without him even meaning it to.
The unfiltered, unguarded truth poured out with startling ease.
"Yeah. I like being with you. Being with you is the most comfortable, the happiest I get."
Geon's face melted into that unmistakable puppy expression of his.
He'd known it, of course — hadn't ever really doubted it, in fact — but hearing it confirmed, straight from the person's own mouth, still felt good every single time.
Once his hair was thoroughly dry, Yu put the dryer back in its place, and the two of them burrowed together into bed. Checking the time, it was already well past when they should've been asleep.
We're going to get scolded by manager-hyung again tomorrow morning, they joked back and forth — until Yu's expression suddenly turned serious.
"Geonnie."
"Hm?"
"Can you... promise me one thing?"
"What kind of thing?"
Yu hesitated again for a moment. Honestly, saying something like this wasn't easy. There was a part of him that felt strangely petty for even bringing it up — and honestly, a part of him wondering whether he even had the right to say this to Geon in the first place.
But he had to say it anyway.
If he didn't get this promise now, he was probably going to keep feeling anxious about the exact same thing, over and over, for a long time to come.
"In the practice room, or out on other schedules."
"Mm."
"Playing around with the other members, being close with them — that's fine. Really."
"Mm."
He swallowed hard, once.
"......But if I call for you, can you just... come to me?"
"...Huh?"
"Even if you're with someone else — if I ask you to come to me, just come. Right away."
"..."
"If you ignore me... it makes me lonely. Kind of hurts."
The corner of Geon's mouth curled up teasingly. A sign he was thoroughly, deeply pleased.
"Aw, were you lonewy, my dear Jehwy-Yu~?"
"...Don't tease me like that..."
At that voice, thick with baby-talk cuteness, Yu instinctively ducked his head down. He could feel his face burning — probably red clear to the tips of his ears, if he had to guess.
Watching him, Geon let out a small laugh. Watching Yu react like this was fun, sure, but he had no intention of dragging out teasing an anxious cat-mode Yu for too long.
"I promise."
"..."
"Even if I'm playing with the others, if you call me, I'll come to you."
Yu's expression relaxed instantly. Maybe it was relief, now that the thing he'd been anxious about had been settled — but suddenly, an entire day's worth of exhaustion seemed to hit him all at once.
Now I can finally sleep in peace, Yu was thinking, right as—
"So, Yu, can you tell me something too, then?"
"...Like what?"
By this point, Tomiyasu Yu's consciousness had already gone soft and drowsy — but the peace shattered the instant Geon said his next line.
"Do you think I'm cute?"
"...What?"
"Am I cute or not? Which is it?"
Yu's face flushed scarlet all over again.
Why is he asking this all of a sudden. He already knows the answer. It's not even something that needs saying out loud in the first place — anyone can tell just from how I treat him normally. Why does he have to—
Honestly, the answer was simple. Anyone who knew anything about their relationship already knew exactly what the correct answer was.
All he had to do was just say it. It wasn't like Yu was the only person on earth who ever said things like that about Geon — he could just come out and say it, plainly, and be done with it, but—
That face right there, lying beside him, looking at him.
That mischievous puppy expression, eyes sparkling, staring right at him with a smile like he was waiting for something.
Trying to say that, right to that face—
His mouth just — his mouth just wouldn't—
"..."
"Yu?"
"......"
"Not gonna tell me?"
It's strange.
When we first got close, saying it wasn't hard at all.
It keeps getting harder.
I keep getting more jealous.
Only when it comes to you.
"...Just go to sleep."
Even as he said that, Yu's arm shuffled its way out and pulled Geon — who'd drifted slightly apart from him — sharply back in close. Geon's body folded snugly into that embrace, one that felt like it had gotten even broader these past few months.
Eyes wide, Geon studied Yu's face carefully — that face, handsome enough to draw an admiring sigh every single time he looked at it, gone completely red. His thin lips pressed together, mumbling something wordlessly, avoiding Geon's eyes and yet unable to resist sneaking glances back at him anyway.
Watching that, Geon couldn't help but laugh. Instead of pushing for a proper answer, he just wrapped Yu up in a tight hug.
Well, I'm gonna allow him some more time to get used to things like this — before he can be fully, completely honest.
"Yu."
"What."
"You're gorgeous. Cool. The most handsome person I know. Also the kindest."
"..."
"You're my favorite. I mean it."
He said it with a smile — but every single word of it was completely sincere.
And Tomiyasu Yu knew that.
"...Go to sleep already."
The truth he couldn't quite hide showed up in the tips of his ears instead.
Watching that, Geon's expression was, quite literally, that of a triumphant, gloating puppy.
Honestly, Yu's kind of a handful, isn't he. Scaredy-cat, too scared to be open and honest.
I'll just have to wait for him. Since I'm the more mature one here — obviously.
Thinking a thought that, if Yu ever found out about it, would guarantee getting hoisted straight up into the air in retaliation, Geon burrowed contentedly into Yu's arms, all but demanding to be babied.
And Yu holding him tight in return, secretly delighted to do so — it was more like an instinct. Something they couldn't help.
Since they'd already become like that for each other, a long time ago.
"Yu."
"...Now what."
"Good night."
"......You too, Geon."
Still smiling, Geon settled in to sleep in Yu's arms. The faint upward curl of his mouth left him wearing that same mischievous expression, as if he were already having some sweet dreams.
Yu, who'd been sneaking glances the whole time Geon wasn't looking, finally relaxed too at the sight. He smiled with what looked like real relief and let all his tension drain out of his body — careful, all the while, not to let the warmth wrapped in his arms slip away.
No matter how far they drifted sometimes, no matter how much wider their individual worlds kept growing, no matter how often that led to the occasional bout of foolish jealousy between them —
They would always come back to this. This bed of theirs. This one small home that belonged only to them.
And there lay their little happiness, wrapping up another day.
Just like it always had.