Archive of Our Own

Minho woke up to a pounding in his head that let him know just how much he’d had to drink the night before. He pressed his palms into his closed eyes and let out a pained groan. What the hell happened last night? He remembered agreeing to go out for “a couple of drinks” with a group of his coworkers, but everything after the 5th shot Felix had slid over to him was fuzzy.

He glanced up from where he’d been passed out and didn’t immediately recognize the room. He was curled up on his side in the fetal position, a worn brown leather couch beneath him. Minho had never been here before, he knew that much. He sat up to get a better look at his surroundings, and the fuzzy blanket that he hadn’t noticed draped over him slid to the carpet. 

The room itself was fairly small, but undeniably cozy. There were bookshelves lining one of the walls, a TV mounted opposite to where Minho was sitting, and assorted photos and artwork hanging all over the walls. The kitchen was behind the couch to his left, and there was a hallway leading away, out of sight. The clock on the wall told him it was just after 9am. Nobody else was home at the moment, as far as he could tell. He noticed a glass of water and two aspirin on the end table next to him. At the sight of the water and meds, Minho temporarily forgot his curiosity in favor of downing both, desperate to ease his still pounding head. 

After hydrating, Minho decided that the photographs were the best place to look if he wanted to figure out who the hell’s living room he was currently sitting in. He started with the ones on the bookshelf closest to him. He played a short game of “Where’s Waldo” before freezing, having caught sight of the common figure within all of the group pictures. 

Han Jisung. 

There was a family portrait of Jisung with his parents and, presumably, his older brother. A few photos of him with friends, even one of him posing dramatically in front of a giant dinosaur skeleton at a museum. That last one was more focused on the dinosaur than the man, he supposed. Minho swallowed loudly, suddenly wishing he had more water. He was in Han Jisung’s apartment. That was fine. Totally, absolutely fine. 

Jisung was one of Minho’s coworkers at the cafe they worked at. Minho, though he would likely never admit it, loved all of his coworkers. But he would be lying if he said he didn’t look forward to being scheduled with Jisung more than the others. Jisung was funny and unfairly adorable. He was always cracking jokes between taking customer orders, or writing in his notebook when they were really slow and nothing needed doing. Minho always found it difficult to look away when Jisung would puff out his cheeks or bite his lip, deep in thought while writing. He’d only been working at the cafe for a few months, but Minho was taken with him almost immediately. That feeling had only grown since the first time they met.

Jisung had shown up for drinks with the rest of the group last night, which was unsurprising since Felix had been there and they were always attached at the hip. The pair were childhood friends and Felix was the reason Jisung started working at the cafe to begin with. Between those two, Hyunjin, Jeongin and Minho, their group had been pretty rowdy even before the booze started flowing.

Minho had tried his best to talk with Jisung one on one when he could. He wanted to get to know him outside of the cafe, but it wasn’t exactly an easy feat with their friends all around them. Their longest interaction had been when Jisung went to get a drink. Minho had gone with him and bought it for him. It was an attempt at flirting– one that had fallen flat. Or, at least he thought it had, but now here he was in Jisung’s living room…He was sure it was unrelated. 

Minho was just starting to spiral when he heard the sound of a key in the front door. A second later it opened and Jisung strolled inside with a coffee in each hand and a bag full of some kind of baked goods clenched between his teeth. When his eyes landed on Minho, he tried to smile around the bag. Jisung looked unfairly cute in his oversized hoodie, his hair fluffier than usual.

“Oh good! You’re still here! How’s your head?” Jisung asked once he’d deposited the food and drinks onto the coffee table. Minho was quiet for a moment, reeling. Jisung seemed to think it was totally and completely normal for Minho to be standing in the middle of his living room, so he tried to calm his heart rate down enough to respond.

“Um, yeah,” He said, scratching the back of his neck. "I just woke up, actually. I assume I have you to thank for the aspirin?” Minho flashed a small smile at his younger coworker.

Jisung let out a little chuckle as he handed Minho one of the coffees, leading him back to the couch to sit down. “I figured you might need it. I was hurting when I woke up and thought it was a safe bet that you would be too.” Minho winced at that, his head still aching despite the meds. His only response was a nod in Jisung’s direction, a slightly haunted look in his eyes. Jisung just laughed again and a comfortable silence fell over them as they nursed their coffees and their hangovers alike. As they ate the donuts Jisung had brought, Minho found himself caught up in examining his surroundings again. He was reading the titles on the extensive manga shelf against the wall next to him when he heard Jisung clear his throat.

“Sooo, um, do you want to talk about last night?” His tone was half hesitant, half something Minho couldn’t identify. Minho froze in place, knowing he’d probably done something incredibly stupid. 

He dropped his head into his hands with a drawn out groan. “Ugghhhh, what did I do?” Minho asked pitifully. He was already running through every disastrous scenario he could imagine, thinking back on some of the humiliating things he’d done in college when blackout drunk (he vaguely wondered if the veterinary department ever got their alpaca back). 

“Wait, you don't remember?” Minho couldn't read Jisung's tone and he couldn't see his expression because he was currently lamenting his existence into his palms. 

He hadn’t been as drunk as he was the previous night in years. Minho seemed to have forgotten his own limits and now he was regretting every single shot he’d taken. He wished he could blame Felix, but his choices were his own, as stupid as they were.

Just as Jisung opened his mouth to respond, Minho jerked his head up towards him, eyes wide. “Oh no, I didn’t try to dance battle you, did I?”

Jisung’s mouth was slightly open since he’d been about to speak, but at Minho’s words his jaw fully dropped in surprise before he started laughing, his whole body shaking with it. Minho had heard Jisung laugh before at work, but this was different. It was such a bright, joyful sound that Minho almost forgot his dread for a minute. 

Almost. 

But as he sat there, sipping the coffee Jisung had brought him, listening to his new favorite sound, Minho exhaled a little. If Jisung was still this comfortable around him, it couldn’t have been that bad, right?

“No. No, you didn’t try to dance battle me. What the fuck, Minho? Is that common for you when you’re drunk? I can’t breathe,” Jisung wheezed out once he’d calmed down enough to speak, still laughing intermittently. 

Oh, thank god, Minho thought, exhaling slowly.

The relief that Minho felt was short lived, however, because Jisung continued once he’d calmed down completely. “No, we just made out for a little bit. Now that I know you don’t remember it, I should probably warn you before you look in a mirror.” Jisung gestured vaguely around his own neck.

He took it back. There is no god.

Minho opened and closed his mouth, gaping like a fish, trying to process the words he just heard. Was he still drunk? Maybe he was still unconscious and this was a funky little dream his brain was tormenting him with as retribution for soaking it in alcohol? No matter how much he tried to think over the words, they just couldn’t be true. There was simply no way that Minho had made out with the guy he’d been crushing on for months and he couldn’t even remember it. 

Since responding seemed impossible at that moment, Minho stood up and slowly made his way to the mirror he’d seen hanging in the entryway. And yeah, okay he was definitely hallucinating because he was purple. Across his neck and collarbone, dipping into the collar of his t-shirt and out of sight were multiple hickies. When he glanced back at Jisung, the other man was looking at him, watching him closely, face tinged pink with a blush.

“I’m kind of a biter when I’m drunk. Apparently. I’m, um, sorry about that…” Jisung didn’t look particularly sorry as Minho stared at him, just a bit shy if anything. Interesting. His eyes flicked to Minho’s throat. If he didn’t know any better, Minho might have thought Jisung was admiring his work.

He was desperately trying to think of something to say. He’d been mute for what felt like five minutes now, but that was likely his panic distorting time. He also wasn’t blinking. Damn it, Minho, breathe, he mentally scolded himself. Now he was blinking too much. Perfect. 

“Minho, are you good? Are you nauseous? I can get you some more water, if you need.”

“Shit, sorry, yeah.” He shook his head, hoping to clear some of the fog away. “I’m fine, just processing. What–” Minho’s phone started buzzing on the end table, interrupting one of the countless follow up questions on his tongue. He wanted to ignore it, but people didn’t usually call him unless it was important.

He went to pick it up and noticed that Jisung had plugged it in for him at some point. Minho’s heart did a little tippy tap in his chest at yet another extremely thoughtful gesture from Jisung this morning. He shot a thankful smile at Jisung as he checked the caller ID and picked up the call.

“Hey, Chan,” Minho greeted.

“Hi, Minho. Sorry to call you on your day off. Did you still want extra hours? We’ve had two call outs this morning and you know what Sundays are like.” Minho could hear voices in the background and Chan shushed someone.

“Oh, uh, yeah sure.” He glanced at Jisung. “What time do you need me there?”

“Now-ish?” Minho huffed out a laugh at Chan’s response. He hesitated, but received a small nod from Jisung. They worked at the same cafe, he knew the drill by now.

“Sure, Channie. I’ll head over,” he said and hung up after the relieved “Thanks, man” he got in response.

Seeing his wallet and house keys on the corner of the coffee table, Minho bent to grab them up, turning to Jisung with an apology ready on his lips. This was the first time (or maybe second if they counted last night?) that they’d hung out outside of work alone and Minho wasn’t done discussing what had happened last night. 

But Jisung was on his feet and heading into what Minho assumed was a bathroom. There were sounds of rummaging around like he was looking for something. He emerged a second later and walked over to Minho with a hand extended, a small, cheeky smile on his lips. In his hand was a tube of concealer. Minho blushed, but reached out to take it with a mumbled thank you.

“Have a good shift, Minho. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”

“Right, thanks.” He looked at Jisung for another beat, wanting to say something else, but he came up empty. So he just left the apartment with a little wave and headed to work as if he remembered how to be a functional human person.

~~~~~

Fourteen hours earlier

The bed had been eaten by a mountain of clothing. It was so thoroughly covered that Jisung was wondering if there’d ever been a bed there to begin with. He mourned its loss. 

His closet was almost empty at this point, but he still hadn’t come across a single outfit that really called to him. It was over an hour of trying every possible combination of clothes before Jisung sighed and slumped against his mountain. “Guess we’re going with old reliable,” he whispered to the room. 

In the midst of the chaos, Jisung had made sure not to bury his go-to outfit. He’d somehow figured he would end up wearing it, despite his best attempts. He got dressed in a pair of soft wide-leg jeans, a plain white t-shirt, and an unbuttoned red plaid overshirt. He finished up by adding two silver necklaces, his favorite earrings, and ran a brush through his hair. It was a perfectly acceptable outfit for meeting up with friends for drinks. It wasn’t even that nice of a bar. 

He looked fine. He looked good, even. Everything was totally fine and good.

Jisung eyed himself in the mirror again before deciding to add some light makeup. He didn’t usually wear it for a casual night out, but he hadn’t needed to try on approximately 47 outfits either. He didn’t add much, just a little bit of light eyeliner, a sweep of blush and his favorite tinted lip balm. 

He eyed himself again. “I need to calm the fuck down,” he told what used to be his bed. 

Jisung needed a distraction, so he started trying to conquer the mess he’d made. Instead of hanging and folding everything the way it had been when he started the evening, he scooped up armfuls of clothes and dumped them onto the floor of his closet. His only goal was to unearth his bed, knowing he’d be too tired and tipsy to want to deal with it when he got home. He firmly believed that as long as the door still closed, it counted as clean. Anything past that was a problem for tomorrow. 

“Welcome back, bed. I missed you.”

Just as he finished tidying up his room, there was a knock at the door. The bar was just around the corner from Jisung’s apartment and Felix was stopping by to pick him up so they could walk over together. 

“Sunnnggiiieeee!”

“Lixxxiiiiieeeeee!” They both half sang their hellos as Jisung opened the door. They could be unbearable sometimes, and they knew it. But they’d been greeting each other the same way since childhood. “I just need two seconds and I’ll be ready to head out.” Jisung bent down to grab a pair of black converse. 

“You look hot, Sung,” Felix smirked. “Dressing up for anyone special?”

“Yeah. You, baby.” Jisung made a kissy face and they both laughed. “Why even ask when you know the answer? I’ve been losing it all day. What if he doesn’t even show up? My head is not a safe space right now.”

“Because you’re fun to tease, obviously.” Jisung stuck his tongue out at Felix, but he knew it was true. He could be pretty easy to bait sometimes. “He’ll show up, though.”

“How can you be so sure? He was scheduled for a double today, he might be too tired…”

“Because I told him you’d be there and Minho is just as hopeless as you are.”

“Stop that. Don’t give me false hope right now,” Jisung pouted. Felix had said similar things before, but Jisung wasn’t convinced. “He’s never shown that kind of interest in me.”

Felix stared at Jisung like he’d just said the stupidest thing he’d ever heard. Which was impressive because that was a very high bar.

“What?” Jisung asked, shifting in place.

Felix let out an exasperated sigh. “Just put your shoes on so we can go.”

They walked the short distance to the bar, talking about this and that, but Jisung felt like he was vibrating. He always did when he knew he was going to see Minho. He couldn’t help it. Lee Minho was probably the hottest man Jisung had ever seen in real life. He’d been borderline obsessed with him from the second they had met on Jisung’s first day of work. To make matters even worse, Minho was smart and kind and patient and every other positive adjective Jisung could think of. And he had three cats. Minho was always showing him new photos of them when they had shifts together and it melted his heart every time. 

He was perfect.

But he was also kind to everyone. Obviously that was a huge green flag, but it also made it impossible to tell if he was giving Jisung any special treatment. Hell, Jisung wasn’t even sure if Minho was into men. He had his suspicions, sure, but he didn’t want to try anything without confirmation and it had never come up casually in conversation. 

Tonight they would be seeing each other outside of work. The only other time that had happened– another night of drinks at the very same bar– Jisung had been too filled with social anxiety from hanging out with so many new people at once that he hadn’t paid attention to much else. 

Oh shit, speaking of which…

He’d been caught up in his thoughts for far too long. Jisung realized that Felix was still talking and he felt guilty for zoning out. Felix never judged him for it though, knowing Jisung had his own ways of processing stress.

“...and that’s why I’ve decided to move to Amsterdam with Hyunjin and his two pet rats.” Jisung had clearly tuned back into the conversation at the wrong time. 

He looked at his best friend with wide, confused eyes and Felix started cackling. “Sorry, I just wanted to see how long it took for you to come out of your head again.” 

Jisung laughed at that and took a deep breath. He could always count on Felix to soothe the restless air around him. 

When they got to the bar, it was pretty easy to spot their group. Felix had told Jisung the last time that they always sat at the same table, so he knew where to look. Minho was already there, looking unfairly gorgeous for having just come from a double shift. He was sitting next to Jeongin while Hyunjin was at the counter flirting with the bartender. Jisung couldn’t blame him, those were some serious muscles.

Minho’s eyes were already on Jisung as he made his way over to the table. That was totally fine. Jisung felt very normal about that. Felix had gotten into his head with their earlier conversation and Jisung tried to remind himself that Minho stared at everyone. 

“Hi guys!” Jisung smiled brightly as he greeted his friends. “What are we drinking?” 

Hyunjin arrived back at the table with the answer to his question. He was carrying a tray of vodka shots.

Jisung glanced at the time on his phone and side-eyed Hyunjin. “Dude, it's barely eight o’clock.”

“Thank you for that helpful information, but it changes absolutely nothing. You don’t have to work tomorrow…soooo...” Hyunjin trailed off as he handed Jisung a shot. 

“That’s a super good point, actually. Gimme.” He took the shot from his friend and threw it back. He tried not to grimace since he could still feel Minho’s eyes on him, but failed immediately. “That was as terrible as I expected it to be. I’m going to go get a drink that doesn’t make me regret having a tongue.” 

Jisung made his way to the counter and the jacked bartender Hyunjin had been talking to came over to take his order. 

“What’ll it be?”

“One of the sweetest drinks you know how to make, pretty please with-a-cherry-ontop. Ooh, wait actually, can you put cherries on top? I was doing a thing, but that actually sounds good.” 

“You got it.” The bartender looked amused as he turned away to make Jisung’s drink. 

As he waited, someone walked up to the bar next to him. 

“What’s Binnie making you?” Minho asked casually, as if his sudden appearance didn't just rob Jisung of his ability to breathe. Jisung tried to process the question while remembering how his lungs worked. Context clues implied that “Binnie” was the bartender; he had to inhale, then exhale. Jisung mentally high-fived himself.

“Hopefully something that makes my teeth hurt.” Jisung managed to keep his tone even. “His name is Binnie? We haven’t really talked yet.”

“Changbin, but yeah. He actually used to work with us at the cafe, but he makes better tips here.”

“Because of the arms?”

“One can only assume.” They looked over at the arms in question, then nodded at each other once. 

Changbin came back over with Jisung’s drink and he had completely delivered on the prompt. It was bright blue at the bottom, orange in the middle, and pink on top. Jisung saw no fewer than four cherries, as well as an orange slice slotted over the rim of the glass.

“Oh my god. It's beautiful. What is it?”

“I couldn’t tell you, honestly. I kind of just threw a bunch of stuff together until it felt right. If it sucks, I’ll make you a piña colada or something.” 

Jisung took a sip. Then another. “Dude, this is incredible. Is there even alcohol in this?” 

Changbin snorted. “So much. Be careful with those if you want me to make more of them. Remember to hydrate, Jisung.”

“Yes, sir,” he said with a tiny salute. 

Jisung continued to sip his drink while Minho ordered something for himself. The three of them chatted while Changbin did his thing. When Minho pulled out his card to pay, he said “I’ve got his too,” with a nod at Jisung.

“Wait, no, you don’t hav–”

“Don’t worry about it. You can get the next one.” And then Minho smiled at him and any protests Jisung had been trying to make died on his lips. He nodded his agreement, returning the smile with a bright one of his own.

“Talk to you later, Bin,” Minho called over his shoulder as they headed back to their table.

“See ya. Tell Innie karaoke starts in an hour.”

“The next one” never came, though. The group decided to keep a tab open when it became clear they’d be partaking in more than a couple of drinks like they’d originally planned. They were all having too much fun to end the night, so they didn’t. They laughed and talked and drank. Changbin even came over to hang out on his break. Karaoke did, in fact, start an hour later and Jeongin raced off to put his name in the queue.

“Hey, Minho. I bet I could beat you at a game of pool,” Minho just looked at Hyunjin with one eyebrow quirked. 

“What, are you scared that you’ll make a fool of yourself in front of–”

“Fine.” Minho cut Hyunjin off mid-sentence. “You’re on, but I’m going to kick your ass.”

“You don’t stand a chance, hyung.” They continued to banter and threaten each other as they walked off towards the game tables. Jisung watched Minho head towards where the cues hung on the wall. They set up the game and Minho leaned over the table to break, immediately pocketing two balls.

“Sungie, you’re drooling.” 

“How can someone be that hot? It’s not even fair. He’s so hot it's actually hurting my feelings.” It was just him and Felix left at the table now, so he wasn’t shy about voicing his thoughts. Minho looked over and their eyes locked for a beat, solidifying Jisung’s outrage at his attractiveness. “Like, how does he just look like that, Felix? Give me your insider knowledge as one of God’s favorites.” He was being dramatic, he knew, but the alcohol had loosened his already flimsy filter. 

“Maybe you should tell him that. You’re down so bad I’m worried you’ll never see daylight again.”

“Maybe I will tell him,” Jisung stuck his tongue out and Felix rolled his eyes.

Minho and Hyunjin made their way back to the table, Hyunjin’s shoulders slumped with defeat. 

“That was fast. Is pool usually that fast?” Felix teased. Hyunjin just dropped his head to the table with a groan and Felix patted his hair. “I’ll get more shots.”

By the time Jeongin got up to sing his third song of the night, they were all pretty far gone. Jisung was getting tired of sitting at the table. He was getting fidgety and all the booze in his system was making him a little dizzy, too. He kept catching himself gazing at Minho, which wasn’t helping. A few times when he looked over, Minho was already looking at him. When they locked eyes for the fourth time, Jisung needed to get up. In a perfect world, this bar would have a better dance floor, but right now his options were limited. 

He glanced over at the pool tables. It had looked fun when his friends had played earlier. Jisung stood up from the table and wandered over, only stumbling a couple times on his way. He picked up a cue like he’d seen Minho do and tried to line up a shot. Jisung was confident that it couldn’t be too difficult if Hyunjin could do it.

He was very incorrect.

He missed every shot, a couple times he missed the cueball entirely. He was about to give up and walk back to his friends in shame, when he saw Minho approaching him. The pout he’d been sporting flipped up into his gooiest smile. 

Minho smiled back at him, something soft in his slightly red eyes. “Do you want me to teach you?”

“Ooh, like in the movies? I’ll act all clueless and you can wrap your big strong arms around me and show me how to do it?” 

“Would you really be acting, though? I saw those shots you took earlier.”  

Jisung felt his cheeks warm. He didn’t think anyone was watching him, but he should have known. Minho had barely taken his eyes off of him all night.

“Psssh, those were just practice shots. I can totally do better,” Jisung lied.

 Minho extended a hand out towards the table with a taunting curl of his lips, encouraging him to prove it. Jisung wanted to kick himself for his big mouth. 

He went to step around Minho, but he was wobbly on his feet and he tripped over the long cue he was holding. 

He was going down. He was going to hit the floor in a decidedly unsexy way in front of the world’s sexiest man. He hoped he hit his head on the way down so he didn’t have to remember this moment. 

Strong hands caught his waist, breaking him out of his spiral, and placed him firmly back on his feet. Minho held him there, keeping his hands on his waist. 

What had Jisung done earlier? Inhale, exhale, something like that? 

“You okay?” 

“Yup, yeah, totally good. Thank you,” Jisung was losing it. “That was really hot.”

Minho looked surprised for a second, but then he smirked at him. It didn’t help Jisung calm down. When Minho didn’t say anything, Jisung opened his big mouth again.

“Not exactly like in the movies, but at least the big strong arms part was accurate. I’m just glad I didn’t take you down with me.” Jisung felt the grip on his waist tighten ever so slightly.

“If I’d known that was an option, I might have let it happen.” 

Their eyes were locked on each other, still standing so close. Jisung was going to throw up from the swarm of butterflies taking flight in his stomach. He knew his face was bright red. Jisung wondered if he could blame it on the alcohol. His eyes flicked down to Minho’s lips for a split second.

“Hey, I’m getting tired. Do you maybe want to walk me home?”

Minho slowly released his grip on Jisung, like he didn’t want to let go. He took the cue and went to place it back on the wall. Jisung noticed that Minho was also swaying slightly as he walked, which made it even more impressive that he’d still had the reflexes to catch Jisung.

Minho was beside him again when Hyunjin came over with a grin. “I think we’re going to call it a night, it's pretty late and Lix and I have to work in…” he checked his watch, “five hours. Do you want to split a cab, Min?” 

“I’m going to walk Jisung home, actually. Thanks, though.” 

Hyunjin wiggled his eyebrows like a lunatic. “Okay then. Well, you two have fun with that.” He stumbled off back towards the group giggling somewhat maniacally. 

Minho and Jisung followed a few steps behind. Jisung went straight to Felix. 

“He's walking me home, Lix. What the fuck? I don't even know what happened. He touched my waist and saved my life pretty much and then I called him hot and I'm going to hyperventilate.” He said it all extremely fast, making sure to keep his voice a whisper even through the panic. 

“Holy shit, you actually did it? I'm so proud of you right now.”

“That's not the point! Help me!”

“Sungie, take a deep breath. You've made it this far, you must be doing something right.”

That was fair. But Jisung was also drunk and didn't know what he was doing right. That was the problem. 

Before Jisung could respond, Changbin came over with a few glasses of water. 

“It looked like you guys were getting ready to head out. I figured you could use these. Every single one of you, drink up.”

Jisung liked Changbin. They all listened, each downing a glass of water before saying their goodnights. 

Minho turned to Jisung. “Ready?” 

Inhale, exhale. 

“Yep.”

~~~~~

Forgetting the passage of time seemed to be becoming a habit for Minho and he wasn’t a fan. His entire commute to the cafe was lost by the time he walked through the doors. He had been too caught up in trying to re-trace the events of the previous night so he could remember kissing Jisung. As hard as he tried, nothing past a certain point of the evening would come to him. 

He’d worked a double the day before and had been so exhausted that he almost canceled until Felix mentioned to him that Jisung was going to be there. Minho had ignored the little smirk on the blonde’s face. They both knew Minho would show up. 

He remembered buying Jisung a drink. He remembered shots. He remembered kicking Hyunjin’s ass at a game of pool after the younger man taunted him into it, claiming Minho didn’t stand a chance. Shots. He remembered chatting with Jeongin about the latest song cover he’d posted to YouTube. Shots. He remembered trying (and failing) to keep his eyes from straying back to Jisung all night. Then more shots, and after that…nothing. 

He was never drinking again. 

Minho sighed and walked to the back room to grab his apron and hat. If he couldn’t remember it, he would just need to finish his conversation with Jisung. Hopefully that would happen soon. Preferably before he drove himself crazy thinking about it.

Minho stopped in the employee bathroom to apply the borrowed concealer before heading behind the counter to clock in. Jisung and Minho absolutely did not have the same skin tone, so the cover up wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do for now.

The cafe was packed, as expected of a Sunday morning. It was a popular spot, and weekends were always extra hectic. Every table was full.

The little dining area consisted of a variety of mismatched tables and chairs, giving it a warm, eclectic feel. The wall decorations were a collection of vintage movie posters, calming landscape paintings, various tchotchkes shaped like animals or flowers or abstract shapes. Basically, if it could be wall mounted and it fit the desired vibe, Chan had hung it up on the walls. The only wall not covered like the rest was the one at the back of the room near the hallway leading to the bathrooms. That wall was a massive chalkboard where customers could leave little messages or clip up photos of pets, friends– anything they wanted. Hanging plants framed the windows and each table had a small vase of fresh cut flowers in the center of it. The whole effect of the space should have been overwhelming, but the way it was thoughtfully pieced together made it comforting instead. The amount of business they saw suggested that their customers agreed. 

Chan had hired Minho in his second year of college. The rest of them had been there for almost as long, with Jisung being their newest addition. Between the atmosphere and his coworkers, Minho loved being there, even when he was called in on his days off.

When Minho stepped up to start working, Chan immediately came over to him, clapping a warm hand on his shoulder. “Minho, my savior! Thank you for coming in so quickly. Can you take over on registers so I can go help Felix restock the baked goods?” He dashed away before getting a response. 

Minho glanced over in the direction Chan had headed and locked eyes with Felix. The knowing look in his eyes and amused huff of breath was not appreciated, but Minho let it go, choosing to pretend he didn’t know exactly what Felix was amused by. 

“Lix, how do you still look that flawless after last night when you needed to be here at 6am?”

“Don’t be bitter, Minho, you know Lixie always looks angelic,” Hyunjin said with a wink as he walked out from the kitchen. “Jealousy isn’t a good color on you... Neither is that shade of concealer.” He glanced down at Minho’s throat to solidify his point. 

Minho felt his ears heat up and knew they were bright red. He managed to keep his face blank as he said, “I have no idea what you’re referring to.” Hyunjin, Felix and Chan– who hadn’t even been out last night, but apparently knew already– laughed good naturedly as Minho turned to take the next order. He’d never been more thankful for a long line. When the usual mid-afternoon lull came around, he knew the topic of last night and the poorly covered evidence on his body would come up again. For now he just let himself push everything out of his head while he helped customer after customer. 

Everyone who worked at the cafe, except for one specific person, was aware of his embarrassingly mushy feelings for Jisung. His friends were always teasing him with funny little comments or knowing looks. Occasionally they would encourage him to finally make a move after months of pining, but Minho’s response was always the same– “I don’t want to make him uncomfortable if he doesn’t feel the same way. This is where he works.” Minho still felt that way, but the person he’d decided to start calling “Last Night Minho” had not, it seemed. He kind of hated Last Night Minho. He got to have all of the fun.

As soon as he helped the last person in line, Minho turned around and saw exactly what he was expecting. Felix and Hyunjin were standing only a couple of feet away, staring at him with mischievous eyes. Chan hung back along the far counter trying to seem like he wasn’t just as invested as the other two obviously were. 

Before either of them could make the jokes he knew they had at the ready, Minho zeroed in on Hyunjin and Felix. 

“Okay, one or both of you needs to tell me the exact events of last night. In order.”

“Wait…” Hyunjin paused for dramatic effect. Because of course he did. “Are you implying what I think you’re implying right now?” he asked, voice incredulous. Chan looked at him with mild pity in his eyes.

“Yes,” Minho sighed, “And I feel terrible enough about it already. So please just spare me the teasing this once and lay it all out for me. Everything from Innie’s third karaoke song forward.” 

Felix chose the path of mercy and began recounting the previous night in his deep, soothing voice. 

They’d all been hanging around their table chatting (Felix said chatting, but Minho figured the volume by this point had been closer to yelling) for a while when Jisung suddenly got up to go play pool by himself. The others barely glanced up, but Minho had been “making googly eyes at Jisung all night– seriously man, you gotta get a grip”, so his eyes tracked him over to the pool table. According to Felix, Minho just watched him for a bit. Jisung, apparently lacking any skills in the game, kept missing his shots. Eventually he’d started pouting, and that was what finally pushed Minho to walk over to him. The pout immediately turned into a huge grin as Minho approached.

“Obviously, I couldn’t make out anything you guys said from back at the table, but you talked for a while. You both had these really cute smiles. Jinnie kept elbowing me to look over when one of you did something flirty or adorable.”

“Hey, I couldn’t help it! We’ve been listening to Minho’s yearning for way too long and it seemed like something was finally happening. Jisung’s blush was so bright we could see it from across the bar.” It was Minho’s turn to blush at that, but he had a small smirk on his face too. 

He liked the idea of flustering Jisung. 

Minho gestured for Felix to continue, eager to hear the rest of the story, but Felix just shook his head lightly. “That’s about it honestly. We started filing out a little while after that. Once Jeongin said he needed to head out, everyone realized how late it was. Hyunjin went over to grab you guys.”

“I asked if you wanted to split a cab, but you’d apparently already decided to walk back to Ji’s together. I was so proud of you that I almost cried,” Hyunjin sniffed dramatically, wiping away an imaginary tear. 

Felix chuckled at Hyunjin’s antics before continuing, “You were both pretty wasted though, so Binnie made you guys down some water and promise to text the group chat once you got there safely. His place is only a few blocks from the bar.” 

“And none of this is ringing any bells?” Chan finally chimed in from his perch against the counter. “Why’d you go so hard last night anyways?”

“I didn’t mean to, but I went to the bar straight from work and didn’t eat anything.” Chan tutted disapprovingly at that. Minho was usually better prepared for their nights out, but he had been so tired from work and excited to see Jisung that he hadn’t thought about it this time. I really do need to get a grip, he thought. 

The cafe started to get busy again, and the conversation was put on hold in favor of actually doing their jobs. Minho was satisfied with what he’d learned, though. Anything past what Felix and Hyunjin had told him needed to come from Jisung. 

He focused on work as much as he could and when the cafe finally closed at 7pm, he headed home for the first time in over 24 hours. 

Minho opened the door of his apartment to the sound of screaming. 

He glanced down at his feet where he knew he’d find the source. Currently wrapping himself around Minho’s ankles was a fluffy orange blob with a lot to say. Just inside the entryway sat two more furballs, and all three of them continued to meow in protest at Minho’s extended absence. 

“I know, I know babies,” he cooed, “I’m sorry.” He sat down on the ground and let himself be swarmed by his three cats.

More footsteps approached after a couple minutes, human this time, and an amused voice said, “Oh, hey, welcome home. I think they might have missed you a little.”

“Yeah, maybe, but at least they handled it well,” Minho joked back, standing up as the cats remembered to be aloof and padded away into the living room. “Thanks for feeding them while I was gone, Seungmin.” 

Seungmin had been Minho’s roommate for years. They were great friends and even better roommates, so they’d stuck together after random placement had put them together in the college dorms. While Seungmin didn’t work at the cafe, he was friends with all the guys. They’d all gotten close after years of Minho dragging Seungmin along with him when they went out. 

“No worries,” Seungmin started to walk back to his bedroom, but stopped in his tracks when he looked at Minho again. His roommate didn’t say anything, he just stared at Minho with an eyebrow raised.

Minho sighed. He seemed to be doing that a lot today.

“I promise to explain what you missed last night, but if I’m not in the shower within the next 60 seconds I’m going to start screaming louder than the cats.” Minho started walking towards his room without waiting for a response. He heard a quiet “fucking finally” from Seungmin as he closed the door. He headed straight for his ensuite, stripping his two-day old clothes off and tossing them in the vague direction of his laundry basket on the way. 

He stood under the hot water of the shower for way too long. By the time he stepped out, his fingers had started to turn a little pruny. Minho cleared the steam from the mirror and gasped loudly. He’d seen his throat and collarbone that morning, but now, in better lighting with his shirt off, he got the full effect. 

“Kind of a biter” was an understatement. It looked like Jisung had tried to maul him. 

Jisung had been wearing a hoodie that morning so he couldn’t tell, but Minho wondered if he’d returned the favor at all. He would have to ask when the two of them finally finished their conversation.

He sat on his bed to think about things, still wrapped in his towel. From what Felix and Hyunjin had said, it seemed like Minho’s crush wasn’t as hopeless as he always assumed it was. Minho was sure that Jisung didn’t go around leaving his teeth marks in just anybody’s neck. 

 But then that raised the question: How many of Jisung’s actions were just due to the alcohol? If the retelling of events was to be believed, he and Jisung had been flirting pretty heavily. Was the effect of alcohol here one that made people do stupid things they would regret, or one that made them act on things without anxiety and self doubt getting in the way? Minho knew which one it was for him, he just hoped it was the same for Jisung.

Minho sighed yet again. He’d thought about kissing Jisung countless times, but not like this. In all his wistful daydreaming, alcohol and amnesia were never part of it. At least now Minho had conclusive proof that Jisung was into guys. That was something, at least.

Above all else, Minho hoped that he hadn’t made Jisung uncomfortable. He would never forgive himself if he had. Jisung was a bright ray of sunshine and he deserved better than that. Minho’s only consolation was that he hadn’t seemed standoffish or angry that morning. 

Jisung was the only thing Minho spiraled about this hard. It drove him crazy.

Jisung drove him crazy.

Minho slumped onto his side, staring at the wall. He really needed to talk to Jisung. 

He fell asleep without meaning to, exhaustion finally catching up to him. Seungmin would have to get his explanation tomorrow.

~~~~~

“How did Changbin know my name?”

The street was quiet. Jisung and Minho walked together under the streetlights, their shoulders brushing. They weren’t talking much, just enjoying each other’s company as they stumbled over the occasional step. It was peaceful. At least in appearance. 

Jisung was freaking the fuck out. 

He was running through every single look and word that he had shared with Minho right down to the point when he’d walked in with Felix. The feeling of Minho’s hands on him was burned into his mind. He was trying to figure out how they’d gone from the casual conversation at the bar counter to the flirting and physical touch at the pool table. 

He was replaying the interaction they’d had with Changbin yet again when his brain caught on a detail he’d missed the other million times. It wasn’t a particularly important detail, but Jisung knew he’d forgotten to tell Changbin his name, and he didn’t remember Minho saying it while they talked at the counter.

Minho looked over to him when he asked the question. 

“What do you mean?”

“I never introduced myself. I meant to, but when he came back over with that masterpiece of a beverage, I totally spaced. But then he used my name, which means he already knew who I was. So how did Changbin know?”

“Oh. I– um, we told him about you. Binnie is a close friend and your name got brought up when we were at the bar a few days after Chan hired you. He must have remembered and put it together when you were with our group.”

Jisung felt warm and fuzzy. The idea that Minho– that any of them– liked him enough to talk about him to others meant a lot. “You guys talk about me? Good things, I hope.” 

“Of course, Jisung. There’s only good thing to tell,” Minho blushed a little as he said that. “Though, we did also tell him about that time you dropped a full gallon of milk and it exploded everywhere.”

“Noooo why?” He pouted a pout that rivaled all of his previous pouts. “That was one of the most embarrassing things I’ve ever done.”

“It was hilarious. The look on your face as you just stared at the wreckage was priceless.”

 Minho laughed softly, like he was remembering the scene. The sound immediately eased the pout from Jisung’s face. Minho had a pretty laugh.

Jisung chuckled too. “Well, yeah, I knew I was the one who was gonna have to clean it up.”

They fell back into a comfortable silence. They saw a couple of other people leaving bars and clubs as closing time hit, but once they made it a few more blocks, it was just them again. Jisung slowed his steps as they approached his building. 

“This is me…do you want to come up? We could watch a movie or something?” It was late, but they’d never specified what would happen once Minho had successfully walked Jisung home. And now all he could think about was how he didn’t want Minho to leave yet, not after what had passed between them earlier. 

Minho checked the time. It was after 2 am, a ridiculous time to start a movie.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

Minho held the door and Jisung led the way to the elevator. What Jisung had failed to remember was that elevators are inherently small spaces. Far too small to contain all of his nervous energy. He was trying to play it cool as they talked about movies, but he felt like he was either going to pass out or explode. Maybe both. Maybe he would pass out and then explode. 

“You’re so cute.”

 Great, all he needed was to start hallucinating before his inevitable demise. “Huh?”

“I said you’re cute. You’re practically vibrating. You look like a little squirrel.”

“Oh, um, thanks.” So he wasn’t hallucinating then. That was a win. So was Minho calling him cute. Twice. He puffed out his cheeks for peak squirrel-ness. Minho laughed brightly, eyes crinkling at the corners. He really liked Minho’s laugh, he noticed. The sound of it soothed Jisung’s nerves. 

He pulled out his keys as the elevator dinged and led the way down the hall. He was so glad that he’d gotten possessed by the urge to clean his entire apartment at 3 am a few days ago. Jisung usually kept the place fairly clean, but not as clean as he would want it when he was having company over. Especially if that company was the man he’d had an all-consuming crush on for the last few months of his life. But now that man was standing in the middle of his living room, reading the titles on his manga shelf. 

“Feel free to make yourself comfy. You want a drink? 

"I thought you said you were tired,” Minho raised an eyebrow and moved to sit on the couch. 

Shit, Jisung had said that. He was pretty sure that Minho knew he’d only said it to get him here. He was playing with him and Jisung kind of liked it. That, combined with the alcohol, meant bad news for Jisung and his big mouth.

“I only said that because I wanted to leave the bar. With you.”

Minho’s eyes shifted, turning darker as he looked at Jisung.

“To watch a movie?” 

“No.”

Jisung walked towards Minho slowly, their eyes never leaving each other as he closed the distance. Jisung was hardly breathing. When he reached Minho, he sat down on his lap, knees braced on either side of his hips, hands resting on his shoulders. Minho grabbed his waist again. Their faces were only inches apart.

“Can I kiss you?” Jisung’s voice came out remarkably steady, if a bit deeper than usual. 

“Fuck, yes.”

Jisung leaned forward, brushing their lips together. He’d wanted this for so long, he couldn’t believe it was finally happening. 

Minho’s lips were as soft as they looked when he kissed him back. The kiss started slow, both of them savoring the moment. Jisung moved one of his hands to cup Minho’s cheek, the other threaded through the hair at his nape. He pulled gently, tilting Minho’s head back so he could deepen the kiss. Minho pulled him closer, tightening his grip in response. All the times Jisung couldn’t breathe around Minho suddenly made sense. He’d been holding his breath, waiting for this moment. 

Jisung pulled back enough to look at Minho’s eyes as they caught their breath. He still had a hand tangled in Minho’s hair. The look in Minho’s eyes was so hot Jisung thought he might faint like a Victorian maiden. He would need to get a chaise longue for his apartment if this kept happening, and he really hoped it would. 

“I’ve been wanting to do that for a really, really, long time,” Jisung whispered.

“Me too.”

“Seriously? Why haven’t we been doing it, like, all the time then?”

Minho huffed a laugh. Instead of responding, he grabbed Jisung by the back of his neck and pulled him forward into another kiss. This time, they didn’t start slow. Minho kissed him like he wanted to ruin him. Jisung wanted to let him when Minho pulled his bottom lip between his teeth. It set something on fire in Jisung. With a gasp, he broke the kiss again. This time, he moved his lips to Minho’s jaw, kissing slowly. 

“Can I leave marks?”

“Anything you want, baby.”

Jisung attached his lips to Minho’s pulse point. Minho let his head fall to the back of the couch, giving Jisung better access. Now that he’d received permission, Jisung was very thorough as he kissed and bit and licked his way down Minho’s exposed throat and collar bone. He couldn’t get enough of the taste of him. 

Minho removed his hands from his waist. Jisung almost whined in complaint, but then Minho slid them under Jisung's loose t-shirt. One hand explored his back, charting every muscle like Minho was trying to memorize their shape. The other found his waist again, gripping him tightly. He hummed in approval against Minho’s skin. When Jisung was satisfied with his work, he connected their lips again. Minho pulled him even closer. Jisung wasn’t sure how that was possible, but he wasn’t complaining.

After what could have been minutes, or hours, Minho broke the kiss. 

“We have to stop. I like kissing you way too much and if we don’t stop now, I don’t think we’ll stop at all.”

“Why do we need to stop?” Jisung was still dazed, blinking his eyes open slowly.

“Because,”  Minho gave him a chaste kiss, pulling back when Jisung tried to capture his lips again. “I want to be sober for whatever happens next.”

Jisung sighed. “That’s actually super valid. Damn you for being so reasonable right now.” He kissed Minho one more time, pulling back when all he wanted was to lean deeper into him. 

Jisung slid off of Minho’s lap onto the couch beside him. He took a moment to collect himself before getting up, knees shaking slightly. He went into the kitchen and got a glass of water for each of them. He’d promised Changbin he would hydrate, after all. When he returned, Minho was standing up, his eyes tracking every move Jisung made.

“I should probably head out.”

“Are you kidding? It’s after three in the morning. You should just stay the night.” Minho looked mildly surprised by his words. Whether it was from the offer or by how late it was, Jisung couldn’t say.

“Yeah, okay. If you don’t mind.”

Jisung got out some spare blankets and grabbed one of the dozens of pillows off his bed. He made up the couch for Minho to sleep on. Jisung would have just let him sleep in his room with him– especially since he’d cleaned it earlier– but they both knew Minho being anywhere near Jisung’s bed was not the best idea right now. 

“If you need anything, my room is just down the hall. Bathroom is on the left, I’m on the right.” Jisung just looked at Minho for a minute. His hair was mussed from where Jisung’s hands had run through it and his lips were swollen. He eyed his handiwork on Minho’s throat, pleased when he saw the marks he’d left there. He looked unfairly gorgeous in the lamplight of Jisung’s living room.

“Thank you,” he caught Jisung staring when he looked up to thank him. Minho looked back at him with such softness in his eyes that his knees went a little weak again. 

Jisung cleared his throat.

“Right. Goodnight then.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He didn’t really know what to say in this situation. Thanks for kissing me breathless and letting me mark you up like you’re mine didn’t seem appropriate. He turned to walk down the hall to his room.

“Jisung, wait.” 

Minho walked over to him and cupped his cheek in one hand. He leaned forward and kissed Jisung’s lips softly before pulling back with a sweet smile on his face.

“Goodnight.”

Minho didn’t play fair. 

“...Night.” Jisung returned the smile before practically floating to his bedroom. 

He was definitely going to need to invest in a fainting couch.

~~~~~

Minho started his day far less disoriented than the previous morning. He knew where he was when he opened his eyes, which he would never take for granted again. He scrolled on his phone in bed for a while before finally getting up to get ready for work. 

Minho always looked forward to his shifts with Jisung and today was no different, even with the inevitable conversation hanging over his head. Part of him was dreading the conversation, but a bigger part of him was relieved that he would finally have the whole story of his forgotten night. And maybe there was a secret third part that hoped it would finally lead to something more between them. 

He stood in front of his mirror for way longer than necessary, contemplating if he should cover up the marks on his skin. Jisung hadn’t seemed uncomfortable with them, just  a bit flustered, and Minho honestly didn’t care if people saw. Eventually, he decided to do a light cover up on them– with the correct shade of concealer this time– deciding it was probably unprofessional to go to work like that. He was sure Jisung would be blushing enough when they talked without having his handiwork on full display.

When he stepped out of his room, he expected to be ambushed by an indignant Seungmin badgering him for the details he was robbed of the day before. But the apartment was quiet and his roommate’s keys weren’t in the tray by the door. Minho wasn’t all that upset about that. He didn’t want to talk about what happened with anyone but Jisung until he had all the information.

He practically speed-walked to work, his nerves making him walk faster than normal. When he got to the cafe, he was surprised to see Jisung sitting at one of the tables against the windows. He wasn’t wearing his hat or apron. Chan was good about letting them clock in early if they wanted, and Jisung usually did so. 

“Hey,” Minho said as he approached. “What are you doing?”

Jisung just gestured towards the counter, looking a little bit embarrassed.

Minho wasn’t sure what he expected, but it wasn’t Felix, Hyunjin and Chan leaning against the back counter, staring straight at him with smug looks on their faces. He shot Jisung a look of apprehension before walking over to them. 

“Why are Lix and Jinnie here, and why do you all look like you just pulled off a successful heist at the Louvre?”

Chan stepped forward, apparently the designated spokesperson. 

“I called Felix and Hyunjin in to cover your and Jisung’s shifts.”

“Okay…Why?” Minho was pretty sure he knew the answer, but asked anyway.

“Because you two need to talk. And once you finish talking, I don’t want you scaring customers away when you start sucking on each other again. If you want the hours back, they agreed to swap you guys one of their shifts later in the week.” The pair nodded their agreement.

Minho stared at Chan, blinking at him in silence while he processed. 

He opened his mouth to refute it, but Hyunjin chimed in before he could.

“Minho, please, I’m begging you. We are all begging you. We have been watching you guys pine over each other like 19th century poets for months now. Just accept the situation that you’ve found yourself in and go lock it down already.” 

Minho glared at all three of them, but turned back to Jisung with a grumbled “Fine.”

“They give you the whole speech?” Jisung asked when Minho stopped in front of his table.

“Sure did.” Minho made to sit down but Jisung stopped him, standing up instead.

“Absolutely not. Do you want to do this under these conditions?”

Minho glanced over his shoulder. Felix was wiping the same spot on the counter over and over again, Hyunjin was moving a dry mop around– no bucket of water in sight, and Chan was holding a note pad and pen, pretending to take inventory of the baked goods. Minho snorted despite himself. Real subtle. 

“Let’s go for a walk.”

They headed down the street for a little while, making for the park nearby. The park was pretty empty since it was a Monday morning and most people– who didn’t have meddling friends– were at work. A few people were out jogging or walking their dogs, but they were mostly alone. They sat down on an empty bench facing a small duck pond. Minho could tell that Jisung was nervous. He was chewing on his lip, clearly lost in his head.  

“What are you thinking about?”

“I feel like I’ve just built this whole thing up in my head too much over the last day. I was left unsupervised with my own thoughts for too long.” Jisung sighed.

Minho could relate.

“I know the guys made a big deal of it, but it's not like we weren’t going to talk already. Just say what you want to say. Maybe start with telling me what happened, though?”

“Um, yeah, okay,” Jisung took a deep breath, avoiding eye contact. “So, the order of events pretty much goes: I sucked at pool, you came over and literally saved my life. I pointed out how criminally attractive you are, then asked you to walk me home. I sat on your lap, kissed you, and tried to eat you apparently. You stopped us from going too far because consent is cool and we were both wasted– which was also super hot, by the way. Then you kissed me goodnight and we went to bed. Separately.” 

Minho hadn’t known it was possible to talk that fast, but Jisung said the whole thing in a rush of breath. His face was red and Minho wasn’t sure if it was because he was blushing again or from lack of oxygen. It was likely both. 

“And for the entire past twenty-four hours, I’ve been losing it, Minho. Seriously, it's just been one big spiral since you left yesterday morning.” Jisung had a hand in his hair now. “Because maybe it was all the alcohol and it wouldn’t have meant anything even if you had remembered it. Or what if you actually do remember it, but you regret it so you thought it would be easier to just pretend? To be clear, you’ve given me zero reason to think that, but my brain bullies me sometimes. Being the only one to remember one of the best nights of my life kind of really sucks. Okay, you talk now, I need air.” 

Minho’s breath caught. He had a million follow-up questions. He wanted to know all the details in between the main points Jisung had told him. But there were more important things to address first.

One of the best nights of my life...

He reached out and gently took one of Jisung’s hands in his own. When Jisung didn’t pull away, he gave it what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze. 

“I’m sorry I don’t remember. It’s been eating me alive, honestly. I would never lie about that. I haven’t had that much to drink in a long ass time and I’d go back and change it if I could.”

Jisung’s face fell at that, and Minho hurried to clarify.

“Just how much I had to drink! Not the rest of it. The only part I’d change about any of the rest of it is being able to remember it.” 

Minho took a deep breath, he needed all the courage he could muster. He knew Jisung needed to hear it, and he'd been a coward for far too long. 

“It wasn't just the alcohol, Jisung. I've been into you since the day we met.”

Jisung looked at him with huge, round eyes. 

“What? Really? You're not just saying that because you feel bad and I'm kind of pathetic right now, right?”

“I mean it. How could I not? The reason Binnie knew who you were is because I never shut up about you. You’re smart and funny and kind. You’re so damn pretty I can barely take my eyes off you most of the time. But one thing you aren’t is pathetic,” Minho chuckled. “At least you remember everything. I've been spiraling because I wasn't sure if you would regret it.”

“No, I think we're in the same boat on that one. I've also been into you since we first met. Ask Felix. I've been insufferable about it. I'm surprised he's still friends with me after how obnoxious I've been since day one.”

Minho laughed. He doubted he could get anything out of Felix. Best-friend code was law, no matter how much he wanted to hear about Jisung's ranting over him. 

“We’re kind of dumb, aren’t we? Everyone tried to tell me to make a move.”

“Ughhhhh same. Why didn’t we listen? We can never tell them they were right. We’d never live it down.” That was one of the truest things Minho had ever heard. 

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment. Minho couldn’t believe Jisung had returned his feelings the whole time. There was a lot of lost time to make up for. 

Minho was still holding Jisung’s hand. He brushed his thumb lightly over his knuckles. 

“Hey, Jisung?” 

“Yeah?” Minho waited until Jisung met his eyes again.

“Do you want to go on a date with me? Like, right now? I think I’m done with waiting.”

Jisung’s face lit up. His smile was so dazzling that Minho almost had to look away.

“I’ve got some time to kill all of a sudden. I’d love to. Just one thing first?”

Jisung turned to fully face Minho. He leaned in slowly, as if giving Minho time to pull back. Yeah, right, he thought, closing the remaining distance between them. The kiss was soft and slow, both of them smiling into it at first. Minho still wished he hadn’t missed out on the passion of the other night, but having Jisung’s lips on his now erased a lot of the bitterness. It was perfect. They had time for Jisung to show Minho everything he’d forgotten, so he let himself get lost in Jisung. 

He couldn't believe he'd forgotten this feeling. Minho would never make that mistake again. 

When they finally pulled back, Jisung smiled sweetly at him. “We can count that as our first kiss, if you want.”

The first of many, he hoped.