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Ivan and Till were inseperable ever since childhood. With them now in college, they have been living together in a dorm. But... Ivan had a secret he had kept ever since high school, and it was his romantic adoration towards Till. During their time in high school, they had also been friends with Mizi and Sua, and he noticed how his childhood friend had acted all flustered around the pink haired individual all the time. Because he didn't want to ruin their bond together, he decided to hold his feelings in and tried to stop feeling that way.
Now as roommates, Ivan had yet to let go of those feelings and living together made it harder for him to conceal them. Every morning, he would wake up to the peaceful face of Till in front of his bed.
Ivan thought that it seems weird how Till hasn't woken up yet, so he decided to wake him up by joking around. "Till, wake up, or I'll tickle you!" Ivan smirks playfully as he slowly reaches his hands out, but all of a sudden, his hand had been grabbed forcefully and his entire body got captured in a tight hug by the sleeping individual. As he gets hugged, Till mumbles his name, and Ivan gets all flustered. He then immediately pushes him away despite struggling to do so and went to the bathroom to clear his thoughts.
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Ivan's last class had just ended, and his friends had approached him to his seat. "Hey Ivan! Wanna hangout with us later at the bar?" Mizi asks him straightforwardly as Luka and Hyuna stares at him, while Sua stands acting indifferent. "Oh, sure! Also, is-"
"Till informed us beforehand that he isn't going to whatever hangouts we have today, he will be working on a group project today." Sua cuts him off as Ivan looks surprised while feeling a bit of relief inside. But Ivan thought to himself, why did he not inform him as well? Such thoughts had Ivan feel a tiny scar etched inside his heart.
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It was near nighttime, and the group had been drinking for more than two hours. Sua had gotten so drunk in a faster timeframe and passed out with her head laying on the table. Hyuna and Mizi are tipsy, but not enough to pass out. Finally, Ivan and Luka had gotten under the influence of the alcohol and acted much sillier!
"Heheheehhh Lu- *hic* kaaa!! Why do you- *hic* look like a bird's nest!! *hic*" Ivan laughs as he touches Luka's messy blonde hair, but falls weak and rests his chin on Luka's shoulder. "Youuu....! *hic* Ruined my bird nest!! *hic*" He then clumsily took Ivan's chocolate milk and took a sip.
"Heeeeyyyy! Tha's *hic* mine!!" He tries to take it back by getting it from his mouth, until a hand appears to cover his mouth, leading him to look up. "Eeeehhh? Tilll?? *hic*" Ivan stares at Till whose face looks blurry for him to see his current expression.
"Thanks for calling, Hyuna. I'll take him with me now." Till raises him uptight, places his left arm around Ivan's waist, and his right arm on top of his right shoulder to become a support.
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As they reach the dorm, Ivan wakes up after passing out, and sees a figure sitting on his bed. "Mmm.. my head.." Ivan touches his forehead as he tries to sit up, until Till turns around to see him. "Ah, you're awake. Get some more sleep, you must be exhausted." Ivan tries to analyze the look on his face, but he looks puzzled on what it could possibly be.
"Err... how did I get here?" Ivan struggles to remain awake. "I picked you up, it was a good thing that Hyuna called me." Till covers him up with a blanket. "But, weren't you doing a group project like Sua said?" He asks him, wondering how he was able to find time to pick him up. The room remained quiet for a few seconds, until Till broke the silence.
"I... told them to continue it themselves, I had to make sure you'd be safe." It wasn't avoidable to notice his lightly flushed face as those words came out of his mouth. As he tries to get up, Ivan reaches his hand out by grabbing onto his arm tightly. "Wait! Why didn't you tell me about your plans today then? How come I had to know it from Sua?" Ivan questions him with a small frown, showing disappointment from how he never told him. Till hesitates, while his entire face continue to remain flushed. "It doesn't matter, go back to sleep." Till rises and was about to head to his bed, until he heard a sniffle.
"So.. you don't see me as a close friend to tell me small things like that?" Tears run down Ivan's face as his sensitivity increased because of the alcohol. The sight of him crying immediately made Till head back to him and hugged him tightly, leaving Ivan to struggle in breathing.
"Mmmpph! Wait.. I can't breathe!" Ivan struggles to push him away, until he voluntarily does. "S-sorry, I got taken aback when you cried, I-I panicked!" Till backs off a bit while looking at him with a mix of worry and flustered face. As he sits beside Ivan, he places his hand ontop of his, and looks directly at his eyes. "Ivan... whatever I say, do you promise that you will not let go of our friendship?" As he asks him with worry, Ivan hesitates but immediately takes his other hand to grab Till's hand. "I promise."
Till takes a deep breath, until words finally come out of his mouth. "Ever since we were kids, I.. have had a crush on you. Even as we grew up to high school, I still liked you. But because you were my friend, I was afraid that you would hate me for my feelings and break our friendship. That's why in high school, I tried to use my admiration for Mizi to be a distraction to my feelings for you. But.. seeing as how we are in college, it seems that I still can never find any way to let go of my love for you."
"That's why.. earlier morning, I pulled you towards me and hugged you tightly on purpose. I figured that if I acted like I was asleep, you would let go of what I did. That was the first time I had did that act and.. I felt quite ashamed to myself, that's why I had told Sua that I didn't want to join you guys today. I... didn't want to face you after what I did."
Till then stops for a moment to hug him. "But after Hyuna called me, I quickly made my way to you, and saw how you were about to.. kiss Luka. That made me feel.. enraged and broken inside. I didn't want to see you act like that with anyone other than me, and that's why I stopped you." He lowers his head and lays it on his shoulder, then hugged him a bit tighter.
"Ivan.. I love you."
Ivan flushed as he tried to absorb the feelings admitted to him by his childhood friend, who he also had a crush on. Ivan then chuckled after realizing how they both had mutual feelings for each other this entire time and patted his back.
"Till, I'm gonna be honest, I.. have has a crush on you since high school. I never expected you liking me, and.. I also tried to disregard my feelings so that we may maintain our friendship. Hearing this now, I guess we are both stupid for not realizing?" They both laugh as they realize how complicated they made their situation go for multiple years. Nevertheless, they are glad to be able to clear this up now.
"I love you too, Till."
He blushes as he reciprocated the words he told him earlier. He hesitates on what to do next, until all of a sudden, Till kisses him for the first time. After years of hiding their feelings, they were finally able to give their intimacy to each other and continue to do so.
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"Is it just me, or has something been in the air between Ivan and Till lately?" Mizi asks the group as she glances at them, who were acting more touchy around each other both om and off campus for the past few days. "Well, good for them!" Hyuna chuckles as she takes a picture of the two acting all lovey-dovey.