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“Kenshin and Sungmin are like lovers.”
This wasn't the first time Kenshin had heard something along those lines, and he had a feeling that it wouldn't be the last, either. At that moment, he paid no mind to the comment, moving on with the recording as usual.
Later, he wondered how true that statement was. He had no baseline, really, for what was and wasn't seen as romantic: dating wasn't something that was ever on his mind, Sungmin never commented on what they had going on, and with the older boy being the only one between them that actually had relationship experience, he trusted his judgement enough to accept that they were just very close friends. They were a type of close that Kenshin had never experienced, but was aware that he thoroughly enjoyed.
Surely, there were friends out there that acted the same as they did. They had hundreds of embarrassing pictures of each other, had accumulated a respectable collection of matching items, and were constantly in each other’s space, but those things were relatively normal. However, Kenshin did sometimes think that Sungmin having his face as his lock screen for over a year at that point was a little bit odd. The same odd way that Sungmin would whine and beg for him to stay in his bed a little bit longer, then go out of his way to tell other people that Kenshin was actually the clingy one.
Sungmin himself was odd, though, so it wasn't entirely out-of-character.
Kenshin wouldn't lie and say he wasn't clingy, though. Because he absolutely was, especially now, slotted between Sungmin’s legs with his back against his chest, quietly scrolling through his TikTok feed as Sungmin's chin lay atop his shoulder. It was comfortable, and Kenshin found himself subconsciously burying further back into the boy's warmth until Sungmin coughed out a small ‘oof’.
“Sorry,” Kenshin mumbled, shuffling forward before he felt Sungmin's arms quickly wrap around his waist and pull him back.
“It's okay,” he replied in a whisper, pressing his nose into the crook of Kenshin's neck. “Just stay here.”
Huffing, Kenshin accepted defeat and leaned back into Sungmin.
He never understood why Sungmin liked being in this position so much. It wasn't like Sungmin was doing, well, anything. All he did was sit there, holding Kenshin, basically just sniffing him like a stupid dog until they decided enough was enough and the younger boy eventually went to his own bedroom. He didn't scroll on his own phone, and he couldn't even understand most of what was on Kenshin's—Kenshin was the only one actually benefiting from the deal, being able to use his favourite person as a comfortable chair that would sometimes listen to his rambling.
Maybe Sungmin just enjoyed it because Kenshin was his favourite too.
Kenshin's returned attention to his phone didn't last extraordinarily long as he scrolled past a handful of couple videos that would occasionally litter his feeds, and the words of the members echoed through his head.
Right. The concept of him and Sungmin being like lovers.
Kenshin broke the silence that had hung between them, saying, “Sungmin-hyung, I have a question.”
“Hmm?” Kenshin felt the vibration of the hum against his skin. “What?”
Awkwardly, Kenshin fidgeted with his phone, switching it off completely and dropping it on Sungmin's mattress. The older boy's grip around his torso tightened; Kenshin's hands came down to rest on top of them as he shakily exhaled.
“Did you have your past boyfriend as your wallpaper when you were dating?”
Sungmin’s eyes fluttered open as he froze, and Kenshin could feel his gaze boring into the side of his head. A second passed, then two, and then enough of them ticked by with no response that Kenshin’s heart began racing, panicking that he had said something insensitive or wrong. Perhaps Sungmin and his ex didn't finish on good terms, or he just didn't want to talk about him, or he–
“Kinda,” Sungmin said. “What made you ask?”
“I mean– I'm on your phone right now, aren't I? And don't couples usually have each other as their wallpapers? I just thought… if you have me now, then you would have definitely had him. Since you were actually dating.”
The air around them seemed to lighten the longer Kenshin talked, trying to make some sense to the boy who was definitely taking his sweet time formulating responses despite his usual talkativeness. Sungmin's lips had curved into a small smile, something Kenshin could hear in his voice the next time he spoke.
“I had a picture of us both together, but I didn't have it for long,” he explained. “We broke up not long after I changed it.” The weight of Sungmin's arms around Kenshin disappeared and the younger boy found himself mourning the loss as soon as he registered it, snapping his head around and grasping Sungmin's knee as he watched him reach over for his phone. Blinking dumbly, Sungmin stared back at him, expression shifting from something content to utterly dumbfounded. “You look really cute right now.”
Kenshin’s lips twisted into a pout. “Why don't you have a picture of us as your wallpaper? You have a lot of them.”
“Maybe seeing your face just makes me happy.”
“You like your own face more than anybody else's!”
Sungmin couldn't fight the grin splitting his face at that comment and reached up to ruffle Kenshin's hair with his free hand. Kenshin tried not to be too obvious when he leaned into the touch, but judging by Sungmin's soft chuckle, he didn't do a very good job at it.
“I just don't have a picture of us I like enough to have as my wallpaper,” Sungmin said.
Kenshin shook his head, pushing himself up towards Sungmin's face, stopping until they were mere inches away from each other. “Take a picture you like now, then.”
Sungmin's eyes searched Kenshin's for a moment, face softening with an exasperated sigh. His phone was left forgotten on the bedside, hands travelling back to their home on Kenshin's waist, and he pushed Kenshin away. The younger boy’s shoulders dropped.
“I can't.”
“Why not?” Kenshin prodded, slowly curling his hands into his chest. He didn't get it, not at all: Sungmin took his photo all the time, and had countless of them. Did he just not like to take pictures with him? Did they not look good together?
With a careless shrug, Sungmin pretended to think for a minute.
“My ex-boyfriend and I were kissing in the old picture. I like things like that more than normal selfies.”
Kenshin frowned, tilting his head. Was Sungmin expecting Kenshin to kiss him or something, just to have a nice wallpaper? They couldn't possibly kiss for real, either. That was one thing Kenshin was sure wasn't a normal, platonic thing for boys to do.
Well, that was debatable, but his point still stood. Was Sungmin really not happy with just a picture of them together?
“I can't kiss,” were the words that ended up flying out of Kenshin's mouth.
“I know.”
Choking on his next words, Kenshin's cheeks flushed a vibrant red, and he weakly slapped Sungmin's chest. Shame bubbled in his stomach when he saw Sungmin grin again, this time with a mischievous, teasing glint in his eyes.
“How do you know that?!” Kenshin asked. Sungmin just leaned forward, cooing at him as one would to their favourite pet.
“You've told me this before. Plus! We’ve kissed once!”
“That–” Kenshin's hand clumsily covered Sungmin's face, tilting it away from him. “That was an accident! I wasn't trying to be a good kisser!”
Sungmin shoved the younger boy's hand away with a laugh, then pulled him closer until he was almost climbing onto his lap. There was a subtle blush growing up Sungmin's neck, Kenshin soon noticed, with redness from his ears also spilling onto his cheeks. Kenshin found it weird how, even though he, too, was embarrassed, Sungmin at least managed to look good during it. He was sure that his own face was a humiliating, hot, flushed mess.
“You would be a bad kisser, anyway,” avowed Sungmin.
“I can't do anything about that…” grumbled Kenshin, averting his eyes and turning his head away in remorse.
Stupid Sungmin, always finding a way to humiliate him.
“I mean,” Sungmin tapped Kenshin's cheek with his pointer. “I can help you.”
Furrowing his brows, Kenshin peered at him from the corner of his eye. “What do you mean?”
Kenshin wasn't dumb. He knew the exact implications of Sungmin's words, all the possible ways they could have been interpreted and what he could have meant by them, but sometimes, playing clueless was far safer. He didn't want to be the one insinuating that they did it, because it may have just been a trap, another play to get him to say something embarrassing—it always seemed to be him getting the short end of the stick—or just Sungmin joking around. Being unable to tell whether or not he was kidding was the absolute worst.
Kenshin couldn't tell what Sungmin was thinking: not by his voice, and not by his face either. Rather, around him was just a misty haze of unknown that the younger boy wasn't sure he was ready to delve into by himself.
“I can teach you how to kiss,” Sungmin whispered, the finger by Kenshin's face grazing the skin once more, then gliding down to his chin, tilting it to face him again with little effort. Briefly, Sungmin's eyes landed on Kenshin's mouth, then met his eyes. “If you want,” he finished.
Kenshin’s heart was threatening to jump straight out of his chest, a small weight forming in the pit of his stomach as he gaped at the boy holding him. Sungmin was being stupid. So, incredibly stupid.
“Is that allowed?”
Sungmin flashed that infuriatingly soft smile one more time.
“Kissing you? I think so.”
Kenshin groaned, “That's not what I meant!”
“You’ll have to be more specific then, baby,” Sungmin sang, and Kenshin was certain his head was about to explode. Sungmin would be the death of him.
“Friends don't kiss, and friends don't call each other… that… either,” Kenshin muttered, ducking his head down. “I don't think friends are allowed to do this kind of stuff together.”
Sungmin huffed out a laugh, sounding as if Kenshin had just said the most ridiculous thing in the world. To him, Kenshin would later realise, it really was.
“We are closer than normal friends, though. I think it's okay.”
Biting his lower lip, Kenshin glanced up through his lashes. “...Really?”
“Look at me properly.” Kenshin did as he was told, coming face-to-face with the older boy. “If you want to, then yes, I will. If not, it's okay. You'll just continue being a bad kisser.”
“I’m not–!”
“It's up to you,” Sungmin sighed, the corner of his mouth quirking up into a smirk.
“Fine, fine!” exclaimed Kenshin, fisting his hands into Sungmin's shirt. “You can ‘teach’ me, just stop calling me a bad kisser. You don't know that.”
The triumphant grin that spread across the boy's face was far more endearing than Kenshin would've liked, catching him off guard before he was roughly hauled into straddling Sungmin's lap with a surprised yelp. Gently, the older boy's hand cupped Kenshin's face, his thumb caressing his cheekbone and eyes constantly darting between the shorter boy's eyes and lips.
“This is practice,” Sungmin breathed, pulling Kenshin towards him, “for when we take a picture later, okay?”
A gulp.
“Okay.”
Time just passed like that, unmoving, amongst them, Kenshin staring at Sungmin wide-eyed, while the other now refused to meet his view directly. Unsure, Kenshin's hands fidgeted with the fabric they were entangled in. Kenshin shuffled in place.
Something was taking Sungmin a long time to register and move—had he suddenly decided that he didn't want to do it anymore?
Kenshin's heart sank. He was naive for getting his hopes up in the first place, but honestly, he could understand it. Sungmin was far out of his league, even just from a friendly perspective. The fact that they had even gotten this close, both physically and metaphorically, in the first place was nothing short of a miracle.
Letting out a long, slow breath of air through his nose, Kenshin's fingers loosened in the shirt.
“Has anybody ever told you that you have really nice lips?” Sungmin asked.
Kenshin jumped, almost falling backwards onto the mattress.
“What?! No, not really?” Kenshin blurted out as he steadied himself. “I just get called cute.” And Sungmin was often part of that problem.
The older boy hummed, moving to clutch the back of Kenshin's neck.
“Come here,” he said, pushing their faces together. Kenshin could feel Sungmin's breath against his lips now, the scent something faintly fruity, and it was finally hitting Kenshin that it was happening. Sungmin was about to kiss him. Kenshin's first real kiss, and it was going to be with his best friend. “They're really pretty.” Sungmin met his gaze at last. “Can I kiss you? Just– follow my lead. You'll get it quickly.”
Before he knew it, Kenshin had barely finished his ‘yes’ when Sungmin's lips were firmly against his, all soft and warm and sweet, and Kenshin couldn't really tell where his lips ended and Sungmin's began.
It was abundantly clear that Kenshin really had no idea what he was doing, so he did the only thing he thought he knew to do, and that was to turn his head and close his eyes. Additionally, it was less of a lesson and more of Sungmin happily lapping at Kenshin's lips until Kenshin got the hint and returned the gesture, which resulted in a pleased groan and subtle buck of hips, then swallowing the startled sound that the younger boy let loose.
Delicate, hushed breaths and glossy, tender lips, and Kenshin couldn't tell how much time had passed in that trance of heat and fervour. All he knew was that Sungmin was feasting on his lips, savouring every nip and peck, like he had been fantasising about this exact meal since forever ago and couldn't bear to let it end so soon.
Kenshin didn't let it, pressing himself deep into Sungmin's personal space, whining when the older boy's pace faltered.
“That's… good,” Sungmin panted as he pulled away, mouth slightly reddened and swollen, yet still curling into a beam. “A good start. There's always room for improvement.”
Kenshin's heart was frantically beating against his ribcage as he caught his breath. “You didn't tell me what to do at all. That wasn't– You didn't teach me anything.”
“Oops,” replied Sungmin, not appearing apologetic in the slightest (but Kenshin couldn't stop the smile that was growing on his own face either, so he couldn't complain). “I never said I was a good teacher. I can be a good practice partner, though.”
Scoffing, Kenshin poked an accusatory finger into Sungmin's chest.
“You just wanted an excuse to do this! I bet you do this with everybody.”
“Nope. Just you.”
Kenshin's finger twisted into Sungmin's collar and yanked it forward until their noses brushed against one another.
“Good.”