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Tsim Sha Tsui at night is even more bright and hectic than during the day. The noises of cars and chatter have somehow doubled, the neon sign boards that hang like banners over the street flash obnoxiously, while the skyscrapers lit up in blue and yellow take up all view of the black sky.
If Jongin had felt like fighting his way through the pushy crowds and blinding advertisements, then he could have just taken the train up to Seoul. But instead, here he is, stuck in the same crazy shopping district for the third time in a span of two days. Like always, it’s Chanyeol’s fault, because the asshole couldn’t make up his mind about which overpriced G-Shock watch to buy. He’d insisted that they come back just so he could buy the exact same watch he’d gotten yesterday, but ‘with gold accents!’ because, apparently, that makes a difference.
After five days of being stuck in the same breathing space as him, Jongin has lost all his patience. His feet are sore from their morning trek up to see the Tian Tan Buddha, as suggested by Yixing, their makeshift tour guide. Once they’d scarfed down their hot pot dinner, the only thing Jongin wanted to do was to crash back at their hotel room. But instead, their whole group has to suffer through this detour that’s just going to turn into another shopping and bar-hopping spree.
Well, not everyone is suffering. Baekhyun has just as much of a retail addiction as Chanyeol, just in the form of colognes and men’s jackets, so he’s fine. Then there’s Yixing who seems cool with doing anything, even if that means stopping his busking act to show a group of four Korean guys around a foreign city just because one of them - Chanyeol, of course - has developed a weird obsession with him. Jongin feels bad for the guy, he really does. But the three of them are carelessly walking ahead, chatting about whatever the hell interests them as they manage to take up half the walkway and force everyone else to dart around them.
That leaves Jongin and Kyungsoo in the back. Neither of them enjoy shopping much, or even have much spare money after all their university expenses, so they just follow their friends in silence.
They aren’t always this quiet with each other - normally they have plenty to talk about - but Jongin bets that Kyungsoo is just as tired as him after the long day they’ve had. He knows Kyungsoo well enough to know that if he had something he wanted to say or something that was bothering him, he’d speak up, that Kyungsoo just doesn’t like meaningless chatter.
He knows that, but it’s been a few minutes, a few streets, maybe - Jongin can’t tell, all the bright lights blurring into one giant stretch - since either one of them spoke. Right now, Jongin’s way past the edge, and this silence that should feel normal is suffocating the air out of him. Fingers drumming on the outside of his thigh, the nerves inside his chest spark and skitter as he breathes a bit too hard, trying to push past the weight lodged in his lungs and every worry running through his head. He’s torn between scouring the view for something to talk about and trying to take in the silence- between the thought that Kyungsoo’s getting sick of him and assuring himself that everything’s normal.
Honestly, Jongin’s felt like this for most of the trip, and it’s not fun. Crushes are never fun, but Jongin’s finding that they’re a lot worse when you’ve set yourself a time limit.
Valentine’s Day is in three days, and first thing tomorrow morning, they’ll all make their way to the airport so that Chanyeol and Baekhyun can head back to Busan. That makes today the last day Jongin can let himself off the hook- but it’s all coming up too fast and too painful for Jongin to do that. Honestly, he doesn’t know why he let his two idiot friends talk him into this, into staying alone with Kyungsoo for four whole fucking days in a foreign city.
Kyungsoo, who Jongin can’t ever get out of his head, can’t catch a breath around. Kyungsoo- the person he’s loved in silence for the past two years, making them the best and worst time of his life. Kyungsoo, who’s walking right next to him now with no idea of how easily he could break Jongin’s heart in these four days.
Seriously- why did Jongin agree to this? He blames Baekhyun- and Chanyeol, by default- because they’d made it seem like such a great idea at the time. Mentally cursing the two of them to hell, Jongin glares at the backs of their heads as hard as he can.
As if on cue, Baekhyun suddenly stops in the middle of the pathway and Jongin halts- one step from crashing into his back and now just close enough to catch onto the conversation he’d been ignoring. “- Yeol, we should totally get best bro tattoos!” Baekhyun exclaims in that loud, grating voice of his as he points to a sigh overhead.
Jongin has to crane his neck to see the giant board he’s talking about. It’s bigger than most of the others, with the flashing word ‘tattoo’ spelt out in a gothic, eccentric font on top of the shop’s details and a neon drawing of a dagger through a heart. He wrinkles his nose in distaste, both at the sign and at his two overly excited friends.
“Man, I’ve heard they’re so cheap here-”
“Dude, this is totally happening, I’ve got heaps of pics saved on my phone already-”
“Fuck yes, let’s do it!” Baekhyun bellows out over Chanyeol’s excited cheering and- great, he’s started dabbing. Again. Jongin just rolls his eyes.
“You guys aren’t serious, are you?” Kyungsoo cuts in. It sends a sudden jolt through Jongin’s heart, both from finally hearing his voice again and with the fear that his tone sounds off.
“Of course we’re serious!” Baekhyun protests, he and Chanyeol now turning back to face them. “When do we ever joke about these kinds of things?”
Kyungsoo snorts at their matching hurt expressions. “You both never follow through with any of your dumb ideas.”
“That’s so not true! Name one time we’ve done that!” Baekhyun challenges, with Chanyeol parroting him straight after.
“Too easy,” Kyungsoo states, and Jongin looks over to see the colored lights reflecting off the frames of his glasses, dancing in his black eyes. Maybe he isn’t actually upset. “You’ve never gone on any of the other trips you’ve planned, never gone camping, never took up boxing or motorbike riding or any hobby- never learnt Japanese, French, or even gotten past hello and thanks in English- this is at least the fifth time you’ve talked about getting tattoos, and just yesterday you were both too freaked out to even ride on Space Mountain.”
“Yeah well-” Baekhyun pauses, finger still pointed at Kyungsoo accusingly as he tries to think of a comeback. “Space Mountain is dark. And apparently tattoos hurt, okay? Besides, there’s no way that you’d ever get a tattoo, so you don’t get to talk! Wait- wait oh my god- can you imagine Kyungsoo with a tattoo?” Baekhyun jokes to Chanyeol, the idiots dissolving into giggles from the thought while Yixing stares at them, clearly confused. “I mean, does he even like anything except Prince of Tennis and his mom? Just- oh my god-” and then Baekhyun and Chanyeol are both doubled over, clutching onto each other’s arms as they cackle. “A giant heart- on his back! With a portrait of the main dude and his mom! Oh my god-”
“As if he’d last that long!” Chanyeol blurts out. “The guy wouldn’t even get to start before Kyungsoo would complain about the temperature of the room and leave!”
The two of them howl in laughter, and Jongin drops his gaze, desperately wanting to defend Kyungsoo and his sensitivity to the heat. But he gnaws on his lip, knowing that it’s not his place, that Kyungsoo can hold his own in an argument.
Now, though, Kyungsoo stays oddly silent, and Jongin doesn’t miss the deep frown etched onto his face, or the way that he turns back to stare at the sign once Baekhyun and Chanyeol have finally calmed down and they start walking again. Jongin just doesn’t say anything about it, letting the weight of the silence press back down on them.
♡
The flight is booked for 1PM the next day, and the airport is a half hour trip away from where they’re staying. Jongin immediately regrets agreeing to see them off when the alarm goes off at 9AM in their shared hotel room, and all he wants to do is to roll over and fall back asleep. But Chanyeol hauls him straight out of bed, while Baekhyun jumps all over Kyungsoo to get him up as well. Defeated, Jongin figures that he’ll just nap on the metro over, but that ends up being hard since he has to sit next to Kyungsoo.
For the whole trip, Kyungsoo sleeps against the glass window, arms folded across his chest, and Jongin can’t remember ever seeing him this tired in the morning. It sends his head reeling, making it impossible for him to catch a moment of peace against the pounding of his heart- because maybe this is Kyungsoo being sick of him. With Baekhyun and Chanyeol being such a unit, and then with Chanyeol adopting Yixing for this whole trip, Jongin and Kyungsoo have constantly gotten lumped together. After six days of it, he’s sure that Kyungsoo must be reaching his limit, and the last thing Jongin wants to do is make it worse by disturbing him. But when they reach their stop inside the airport, he has no other choice, and his stomach churns as he works up the courage to tap on Kyungsoo’s knee.
“We’re here,” Jongin says softly, watching as Kyungsoo slowly stirs from the contact.
Stretching his toned arms in front of him, Kyungsoo looks over to offer Jongin a lazy smile that almost puts his clenched heart at ease. “Sorry,” Kyungsoo mumbles, voice still thick with sleep and eyes still half-lidded behind his glasses. “I must have stayed up too late last night.”
Concern instantly doubling, Jongin desperately wants to know why, to find out if anything’s wrong- but Chanyeol and Baekhyun have started yelping from behind them and kicking the backs of their seats, so Jongin knows he won’t have the chance just yet. With only a worried glance, Jongin hauls himself up and joins Baekhyun and Chanyeol in dragging their things out of the carriage.
They’d already agreed that he and Kyungsoo could leave after they’d checked in, which makes Jongin wonder why they even bothered to take them all the way out here, until he remembers how hopeless the two of them are at English and all adult-like things in general. But Jongin’s dreading the moment when the two of them are left alone, to the point where he’d even prefer being stuck with his annoying friends.
As they get in the back of the giant queue, Chanyeol sends Jongin a not-very-subtle wink and pulls Kyungsoo into a conversation about their units for the next semester. In the meantime, Baekhyun takes the opportunity to slap Jongin on the back and lean close to his ear. “You pumped, buddy?”
“Ha, no,” he hisses back. “I’m too busy regretting this whole thing and hating your guts.”
“Hey hey, don’t be like that! Man- you need to have some faith in yourself!” Baekhyun assures, speaking in rushed whispers. “I’ve got a good feeling about this, alright?”
“How?” Jongin pleads, desperate for anything that could help him be as confident as Baekhyun has seemed about the whole thing.
But his friend just gives him an empty stare, and that’s enough answer for Jongin. “You’ll just have to trust me,” Baekhyun says before slipping his face mask back over his mouth.
Letting out a harsh sigh, Jongin shoves his hands back in his pocket and hangs his head. He’s known Baekhyun for most of his life, and Baekhyun’s shit at keeping secrets. That means that he’s got nothing but a hunch about this, and sure, Baekhyun can be right sometimes. It had only taken him two weeks to realize that Jongin was starting to get a giant crush on Kyungsoo, the guy from their music course that Baekhyun had forcibly dragged into their friend group. Everyone else caught on a month later - even Sehun, who’s the most oblivious person ever- and by then, it was pretty obvious that this was the most seriously Jongin had ever felt about someone.
But for as long as they’ve all known Kyungsoo, there’s never been a single hint or word from Kyungsoo that he’s felt the same way. He’s a private person, they’ve all figured that out. But the fact that Kyungsoo has never even mentioned anything romantic, and all they know is that he’s dated before- it just puts Jongin’s heart more on the line.
All he’s got to go off is that Kyungsoo even agreed to this trip in the first place, and they’d planned it months ago, anyway. But Jongin knows that his friends are right, that if he doesn’t do it now, when it’s perfectly planned out for him- then he never will.
Time runs out too fast, and way before Jongin’s ready, they’re grouped up before the security screenings. Yixing had even managed to turn up last minute, because Chanyeol had guilt-tripped him into it. Sadly, Jongin’s feeling too light-headed to properly enjoy watching his friend’s sexuality crisis unfold before his eyes.
“Say happy birthday to your brother from me,” Jongin mumbles to Baekhyun, since that’s the reason they’d gone with, while Chanyeol tags along to get a head-start on uni work.
“Will do, buddy,” he replies, eyebrows raised at Jongin mischievously.
With the last high fives and phone number swaps, they all split off. Chanyeol and Baekhyun wave to them from the gateway, while Yixing heads back to his own life, and Kyungsoo and Jongin are left standing alone.
Too afraid to make the first move, Jongin can’t break his eyes from the back of Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s heads. He feels defeated- and nothing’s even happened, yet. Jongin knows that this is his best chance, that he should be trying his hardest to show Kyungsoo that they could be something more than friends- but he already wants to give up, to crawl back to the hotel room and hide under the darkness of the covers until there’s no point left in hoping-
“You hungry?”
Blinking, Jongin turns to look down at Kyungsoo’s expectant stare. “I-” Jongin’s stomach is twisted up in tight knots, so eating is the last thing he wants to do. “Are you?”
Kyungsoo hums, starting to walk back towards where they came from. “Not yet. There was something I wanted to do first.”
“What is it?” Jongin asks, matching his pace.
“It’s in Tsim Sha Tsui,” Kyungsoo states, and Jongin’s lost for about a millisecond, before Kyungsoo decides to elaborate. “I want to check out that tattoo shop we passed by.”
Jongin’s brain stalls, trying to process this new information. Kyungsoo and tattoos is a combination he’d never even thought possible. “Are.. you serious?”
Kyungsoo turns to stare at him, eyebrows furrowed to clearly mean he is. Honestly, now that Jongin’s remembering what happened last night, he should have seen this coming.
If there’s one thing Kyungsoo can’t stand, it’s letting Baekhyun win one over him. His constant need to upstage Baekhyun is a force that keeps shocking their group, like for his last new year’s resolution, Baekhyun had announced that he was going to get abs, so that Kyungsoo would be the only one in their friend group who wasn’t in shape. After two weeks of going to the gym, Baekhyun gave up, while in two months, Kyungsoo had a solid six pack. It was a very stressful time for Jongin’s heart.
So right now, he knows that there’s nothing that’s going to stand in Kyungsoo’s way, and he wouldn’t try to, anyway. If this is something Kyungsoo wants, and it won’t wreck his chance to confess, then Jongin can’t complain. For the two metros it takes to find their way back to the district, Kyungsoo shows Jongin the research he’d done the night before, and Jongin knows nothing about tattoos, but the people at the place seem like they do a good job. He just can’t picture Kyungsoo with one, but he also couldn’t imagine his best friend with broader shoulders and toned muscles. Now, he’s gotten used to them. Kind of.
The hardest part is finding the shop, since they have to stick the address into Naver Translate and try and work out which of the dozens of exits they have to use to get out of the station. Kyungsoo‘s good with maps, at least, which has saved their asses for most of the trip when Yixing’s gotten them side-tracked. It only takes a few wrong turns down the identical streets before they manage to find the right multistory building amongst the sea of others. Nestled between two tiny shops, they finally spot the blacked-out door with the right logo they’ve been searching for.
The second Kyungsoo opens the door and they step into the cramped, musky room, Jongin feels completely out of his depth. The lights are dim and it makes everything in the room look dark and threatening, with the walls covered in designs and sketches, overflowing boxes stuffed under the few pieces of furniture, and a counter at the front filled with weird bullet-like sticks that Jongin thinks are used for vaping. That’s exactly what the young guy sitting behind the glass display is doing, smoking out of some weird box and filling the room with a hazy mist. The stuff smells like vanilla, but Jongin is still terrified that this is an illegal drug-dealing shop, and his instincts all tell him to bolt back out the door.
Kyungsoo, meanwhile, doesn’t seem bothered at all. With his normal confidence, he marches up to the man and starts up a conversation that Jongin stops understanding after ‘Hello, I wanted to get a tattoo.” Now he's really wishing he’d paid more attention in English classes, so that he could try and tell if they’re in actual danger.
It doesn’t take much discussion before the guy turns to pull open the screen door at the back and then yells something Cantonese to whoever’s inside. They must do the tattooing in that room, Jongin assumes, since there’s barely any space out here.
The guy that steps out looks equally young, but slightly less angry than the first person. He shakes Kyungsoo’s hand before motioning for the two of them to sit on the couch that’s squeezed into the side of the room. Obligingly, Jongin follows Kyungsoo’s lead, sinking deep into the old leather until he meets Kyungsoo in the middle. The tattoo artist pulls up a stool and sits in front of Kyungsoo with a thick folder of designs. Now that he’s close enough, Jongin can see the tattoos that crawl up the guy’s arms and neck - spiderwebs and flames with a dragon wrapped around his hand and wrist. The thought of Kyungsoo with these mafia symbols is terrifying, and Jongin’s suddenly worried about what Kyungsoo’s super-traditional parents are going to think of this. He tries to mentally assure himself that it’ll be fine, that Kyungsoo always thinks things through properly and that of course he’ll only get a small tattoo he can easily hide.
Except then Kyungsoo starts pointing to a giant, colored tiger that takes up the whole A4 page, and Jongin instantly - but quietly - freaks the hell out. He prays that they’re going to flip to something else, but the two of them seem to be engrossed in conversation about this particular design, and Jongin has to wait until the guy has stood up to go get something before he whisper-hisses into Kyungsoo’s ear.
“What’s happening?” he asks in a panic.
“He’s going to sketch a design for me,” Kyungsoo answers calmly.
“With that?” Jongin questions, pointing at the page that’s been left open on the stool.
“I like that one.”
“But- what about your parents-”
“What about them?” Kyungsoo cuts in, staring Jongin down in a way that makes him feel tiny. “I’m an adult now, they can’t get upset with me.”
“They might,” Jongin mumbles, quickly shutting up when the guy sits back down, pen and paper in hand.
The tattoo person gives Jongin a weird look before asking a question that Jongin can very badly piece together as asking if he wants a tattoo. Luckily, Kyungsoo jumps in and assures him that he doesn’t, which is entirely true. Jongin has no intention of ever getting one, not even if he was getting paid for it. This whole experience is enough to put him off the idea for the rest of his life. Nodding, the guy turns back to Kyungsoo - thank god - and they start chatting as Kyungsoo rolls up his short sleeve and makes motions to his arm and shoulder. In silence, Jongin sullenly mourns the death of Kyungsoo’s smooth, tanned skin on one of his favourite areas of Kyungsoo’s body.
The guy is definitely good. He can sketch fast, and his tiger looks practically the same as the one printed out, but Jongin’s pretty sure that it’s Kyungsoo’s idea to add the dark clouds in the background and the bamboo branches. The end result looks like an old Korean wall scroll, though the tiger is realistic in contrast. It's a really cool design, even Jongin has to admit it- he’s just not excited to see it on Kyungsoo. Permanently. As in, for the rest of his life. He's starting to question if Kyungsoo’s actually thought this out as well as he acts like he has, but he says nothing, sitting on his hands and sinking back into the couch.
Once the two of them seem satisfied with the details, and Kyungsoo has slid over the 1000HKD deposit, which Jongin is shocked he could even afford, his friend drags them both out of the shop and back into slightly fresher air.
“I’ll get it tomorrow, starting at 10 in the morning,” Kyungsoo states, as if he’s just talking about a haircut. “He said it’s going to take five hours-”
“Five?” Jongin blurts out, to which Kyungsoo just nods.
“You don’t have to wait around,” he assures, heading back to the lift. “We can just meet up after and do whatever you wanna do-”
“No-” Jongin insists, faltering under Kyungsoo’s confused stare. “I’ll- I’ll wait for you. It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do.” He throws the last part in, not wanting to sound so clingy.
“Are you sure?” Jongin nods with absolutely no confidence. “I think you can only sit outside.”
“That’s fine,” he mumbles out.
“Okay, then. I’m sorry about this,” Kyungsoo says, his lips tilting into a soft smile.
“Don’t be. If you want it, then you shouldn’t apologize,” Jongin states, and the bright grin he gets back makes the whole idea worth it.
“I’m excited about it,” Kyungsoo states, stepping into the tiny lift and leaning against the yellow wall. “I think it’ll look cool.” He flicks his eyes up at Jongin, the stare slightly questioning under the fluorescent light.
As much as Jongin doesn’t feel the same, he trusts Kyungsoo’s judgment, and he’s always admired how Kyungsoo goes for what he wants- it’s one of Jongin’s favourite things about him. To him, Kyungsoo will always look good, no matter what he does. He wishes he could say that, that the compliment wasn’t stuck in the back of his throat under all his cowardliness. Instead, Jongin can only offer Kyungsoo a smile and mutter out, “It’ll definitely prove Baekhyun wrong.”
Kyungsoo chuckles, the sound deep and pretty. “That too,” he agrees, his gaze turned back on the ground.
Jongin has to take in a deep breath, trying to let himself relax again. He still has three days, anyway. “I’m hungry, now,” he complains, and it pulls another chuckle out of Kyungsoo.
“Then let’s eat.”
♡
Jongin wakes up just as groggy the next morning, but seeing how Kyungsoo jumps straight out of bed has his mood quickly lifting. Kyungsoo’s bubbling with energy today, which is something that Jongin’s missed seeing. Once they'd hit their second year of university, Kyungsoo has constantly looked drained and stressed out. Jongin can relate, though. Dance and music aren’t easy majors, and the job prospects aren’t great, which is something that his group - made up of all music and dance majors - have been trying to figure out a way around now that they’re going into their last year. But right now, none of that matters since Kyungsoo’s humming pop songs as he rushes to get ready, and Jongin spends more time watching him from the corner of his eye than doing the same.
They’re out of their room- a downgrade from the four-person room to just two single beds- right on schedule, and Jongin can feel himself getting infected with Kyungsoo’s excitement. On the metro over, they scroll online and try to plan out what to do with the next few days. There’s plenty of restaurants that Yixing had recommended they visit, and Ocean Park sounds like a good idea for tomorrow. Jongin tries to casually bring up going back to The Peak on their last day - on Valentine’s Day - his voice only wavering slightly when he pushes the words out. They’ve already visited it, but Chanyeol and Baekhyun had blown all their time in the wax museum and were too tired to properly look at the view, which must be why Kyungsoo agrees that they should head back there. Jongin doesn’t know whether to be relieved or terrified. His heart is somehow both at once.
Kyungsoo easily leads them back to the same shop, and just as soon as they step back into that same haze, Kyungsoo’s being ushered into the backroom. He barely has enough time to give Jongin a glance before he’s shut behind the screen door.
That leaves Jongin with the same intimidating guy as yesterday. Awkwardly clearing his throat to break the uncomfortable silence they’re now stuck in, Jongin half-heartedly motions towards the couch. When the guy turns away, back to unpause the shooter game he’s playing on a tiny television screen, Jongin takes it as enough permission to sit down.
He’s got a long few hours ahead of him, but Jongin’s come prepared with 7-Eleven ice teas and Pepero, plus his fully charged phone, and now he’s also got this extra entertainment. The guy dies every few minutes, and every time he does he curses in Cantonese and takes a giant lungful of smoke in. It’s hilarious to watch, since Jongin bets he could do a better job with his eyes closed.
The screen door clatters open way too early on, and Jongin instantly whips his head towards it, but he hadn't been expecting it to be Kyungsoo shirtless- with his chest and abs on full display. Jongin’s cheeks instantly burn red, his heart pounding before he’s even noticed the black lines drawn over Kyungsoo’s arm and shoulder.
Kyungsoo walks straight up to him, and Jongin tries to swallow past the giant lump in his dry throat as Kyungsoo checks himself out in the mirror above the couch.
“How is it?” Kyungsoo asks, glancing down at Jongin for his opinion.
Jongin can barely do anything except jerk his head up and down, every part of him too scattered to answer properly. Kyungsoo is way too close to him right now, and Jongin can’t even look at him.
“Okay, he’s going to start, now,” Kyungsoo informs him, and Jongin tries to nod again with just as little success. “I’ll see you after.”
Jongin croaks out a hoarse ‘good luck’ and waits with held breath for the screen door to slide shut, for the fire scorching inside his chest to calm down. Now the image of that young guy’s hands on Kyungsoo’s bare skin are flooding his brain and stabbing him in the stomach.
He hears a cruel chuckle and looks up to see the worker smirking at him. Jongin drops his head, face flushed as he settles back into the couch. He curses Baekhyun for doing this to Kyungsoo and making Jongin’s life - and other things, crap - way harder than they need to be. He’d yell at him over text right now if Kyungsoo hadn’t insisted they keep the whole thing a surprise. Instead, he just hopes that Baekhyun's suffering in the sub-zero degree weather in Busan.
Five hours is a fucking long time, and Jongin runs out of things to do on the Internet after one. Then it’s just looking up random facts about dogs and watching fail clips on YouTube while he tries hard not to fall asleep on the worn-out couch. Who knows what that guy would do to him- taking all his converted cash would only be the start.
After two bathroom breaks, a dozen terrifying customers, another convenience store haul and 70% of his phone battery, it’s finally 3PM, and Jongin’s tapping his feet in impatience at finally seeing Kyungsoo again. The next half hour drags by even slower, so that Jongin feels like he’s slowly going to lose his mind from the nerves mixed with whatever drug is coating the air, probably sneaking it's way into his lungs. But at 3.30PM, the screen door finally opens again, and Kyungsoo steps out, still shirtless- but Jongin’s eyes instantly latch onto the bright color on his shoulder.
The tattoo is the opposite of subtle, and Jongin finds he can’t tear his gaze away from it as Kyungsoo steps closer to him. The colors are bright, even in the dim lighting of the room, and Jongin can see the shining oranges- loud and then shadowed around the legs- that make up the tiger. The clouds are a gradient of grays with a red tinge seeping through, and the green bamboo shoots make a stark contrast to the other colours. But the tiger is what stands out- mid-roar, proud and fierce, and it matches Kyungsoo perfectly.
“What do you think?” Kyungsoo asks, breathless as he checks his shoulder in the reflection.
“It’s so cool,” Jongin says, and he genuinely means it. There’s no doubt that it’s a good piece of art, even Jongin can tell that from the details in the tiger’s stripes and the depth of the colors.
“Good,” Kyungsoo states.
Only now does Jongin look up and notice the drops falling from his forehead, wetting the short strands of his black hair. Kyungsoo looks like a mess, and his whole body is shining with sweat, especially the new tattoo.
“Did it hurt?” Jongin asks, eyebrows knitting in concern.
“Like a bitch,” Kyungsoo huffs out, but he still smiles down at him. “It’s done, though.”
“It was worth it,” Jongin assures, gnawing on his lip as he watches Kyungsoo head back into the other room.
One useless check of Instagram later and Kyungsoo’s back out, graphic T-shirt on and clear plastic wrapped over his arm. The tattoo artist is walking behind him, telling him something that seems important as Kyungsoo nods along. Jongin stands up and joins Kyungsoo at the counter as he forks over another 5000HKD. As he’d taken it out of the ATM that morning, Kyungsoo had assured him that his savings would just cover it, and that it’s a better price here in Hong Kong, anyway. But it’s still painful for Jongin to see that much money being given away.
Kyungsoo finally thanks the guy with a bow, and Jongin stiffly does the same before they’re waved out. Jongin will almost miss that old, battered couch; they’d bonded well.
The second that they’re out of the shop, Kyungsoo stops in his tracks and breathes out a long sigh. Jongin frowns, noting the twist of his mouth. “What’s wrong?”
“Stings,” Kyungsoo admits, before quickly dismissing the thought. “I’ll be fine. Let’s get lunch.”
“What- can we do anything about it?” Jongin asks, the question rushed and insistent.
“No, I can’t touch it yet,” Kyungsoo states, grimacing slightly.
Jongin presses his lips together and lets it drop, not wanting to make it worse. Now, Kyungsoo insists that they get an easy meal so that he can get home and shower as soon as possible. The whole group knows that Kyungsoo hates the feeling of being sweaty, so Jongin leads the way out into the plaza of buildings and the crowds of shoppers. He’s already worked out where the closest convenience store is, and he insists on paying for the onigiri and colas Kyungsoo picks out. Just trying to carry them in his left hand has Kyungsoo squeezing his eyes shut, and Jongin grabs the plastic bag off him before he can complain.
The hotel is only a few stations away, but the afternoon rush means strangers are crammed into their breathing space, and Jongin has to try his best to shield Kyungsoo’s arm from anyone bumping into his sore tattoo. It’s not an easy task, and Jongin almost gets crushed from all the lurches and stops along the way.
By the time they’ve finally reached their room and Jongin’s swiping the keycard to get inside, Kyungsoo looks as pale as a zombie. He sinks into his bed with a groan, arm limp by his side and Jongin tries to shove the rice balls into his best friend’s hand, insisting he's got low blood sugar. But Kyungsoo, being health-conscious about all the wrong things, insists on showering before he eats.
“I’ll need your help,” Kyungsoo says, his glasses clattering onto the bedside table.
Jongin barely has time to process what he means before Kyungsoo’s trying to take off his shirt one-handed, and Jongin’s heart clenches as he tries to help. He carefully pulls the fabric off of Kyungsoo’s good arm, and then tries to peel it off the other side without hitting the tattoo. That ends up being impossible, and Kyungsoo hisses in pain when Jongin has to yank it off as quickly as he can.
The ink has bled everywhere, and Jongin can barely recognize the tattoo underneath, now that it’s just smeared colours under the plastic. He has no idea if that’s normal or not, but it looks bad-
“We have to wash it with water and soap, but we can’t let the shower stream hit it,” Kyungsoo states, and Jongin just nods blankly at the instructions, his head spinning.
Lip bit between his teeth, Kyungsoo peels away the giant film covering his arm and shoulder, his breaths coming out short and huffed. The clingwrap is a wet mess, and Jongin automatically grabs it from him and chucks it in the room’s rubbish bin. When he’s turned back, Kyungsoo’s already shimmying out of his jeans, leaving on only his black briefs that Jongin’s too embarrassed to even sneak a peek at.
This whole thing is making his stomach twist- Kyungsoo- shower- naked- it’s way more than Jongin can possibly handle, and he’s pushing a million bad thoughts out of his head as he follows Kyungsoo into the bathroom, watching through the steam that fills the room as his crush adjusts the water. All Jongin can do is pray that the heat in the small, yellow-lit room can help to hide how much despair he’s in.
Kyungsoo steps straight into the small square, leaving the glass door open as he sighs and leans back, letting the stream of water hit his head and drench his hair. It’s way too intimate, and Jongin feels sick.
“Can you grab the soap?” Kyungsoo yells over the loud beating of the shower, and Jongin can only fumble to open one of the tiny packets the hotel’s left them on the counter.
Kyungsoo takes his time washing the rest of his chest and his other arm, probably just to torture Jongin with the sight of his wet, steaming body- which has a lot of other problems popping up. But his boner dies a quick death when Kyungsoo starts to scream at him for accidentally touching his tattoo, and Jongin’s almost grateful for the break in the tension.
There’s a lot of angry shouting back and forth during the whole process of Jongin trying to pour warm water over the tattoo, because Kyungsoo won’t keep still or stop complaining. It’s a miracle when Kyungsoo finally stops jerking away from any touching, and Jongin gets to lather in the soap properly to rinse away the last, gooey bits of ink that stick to Kyungsoo’s skin.
By the time Kyungsoo's finally turning the water off, he seems pissed, grabbing the towel out of Jongin’s hands and patting his tattoo dry himself. Jongin just glares back.
“You told me to,” Jongin bitterly reminds him, to which Kyungsoo whacks him in the chest.
“You could have rubbed less,” he bites back, draping the towel around his shoulders as well as he can with one hand. “Get me new clothes.”
“Meanie,” Jongin grumbles out, but of course he does what he’s told, finding underwear, a new shirt and another pair of black skinnies in Kyungsoo’s perfectly packed suitcase.
“Thank you, asshole,” Kyungsoo clips, but the tiny smile on his face gives him away.
Jongin just sticks his tongue out as Kyungsoo shuts the bathroom door in his face, and left alone in the room, he lets his own grin win out. While Kyungsoo’s still getting changed, Jongin sets out their lunches and the snacks he’d bought earlier across Kyungsoo’s bed as a peace offering.
♡
The next morning starts off lazy, and it stays like that for the rest of the day.
It’s obvious as soon as they both wake up past noon that Ocean Park isn’t happening- Kyungsoo’s arm is killing him too much to move it, and Jongin’s always lacking in sleep so there’s no way that he’d mind. Besides, yesterday afternoon was exhausting enough to keep the two of them shut in, today.
After the shower, Kyungsoo had realized that they didn’t have plastic or moisturizer, both things which he needed to cover it up that night. They quickly found out that the convenience stores in Hong Kong don’t sell clingwrap, and there was only a tiny list of moisturizer brands that Kyungsoo could use. It took over an hour of running around to find a supermarket that had both things in stock, and by the time they were done, all they wanted was cheap takeaway and to pig out in their own room.
Today, it’s Jongin’s task to supply the food, and he stocks them up on cheap breads and cakes that they munch on throughout the afternoon. Neither of them had brought anything interesting to do on the trip, so they spend their day flicking between period dramas and kung fu movies that they can barely understand. It doesn’t matter, because everything with Kyungsoo ends up being fun, and he’s got Jongin in stitches from how he tries to work out the foreign plots- badly.
Kyungsoo soon has to shower again, and even though his tattoo looks glossy and clean, he still makes Jongin accompany him. This time, Kyungsoo makes Jongin soap up the parts of his back that he insists he can’t reach, and Jongin swears that he’s flexing on purpose just to test him. When he pats water over the tattoo, Kyungsoo doesn’t let out a sound, and Jongin almost misses the screaming, which was a lot easier to deal with than Kyungsoo’s half-lidded eyes staring at him so intensely. Of course, Jongin has to take his own shower afterwards, and he’s not proud of what happened there.
But in all the other times when Kyungsoo’s sex appeal isn’t attacking Jongin head on, it’s the most relaxed day of the whole trip. Without a doubt, it’s his favourite, and if he weren’t already in so deep, he knows he could fall for Kyungsoo all over again just from today.
From the way they get along so well, everything flowing naturally in each other's company, Jongin thinks that it’s unfair that they’re only friends. He just hopes that Kyungsoo might feel the same way, that maybe tomorrow they can change that.
When nighttime rolls around, the last thing Jongin thinks before he's pulled into sleep is that he wishes that he and Kyungsoo could do this for the rest of their lives- just nothing, together.
♡
Jongin’s never had a Valentine before, or ever confessed to anyone- so this is hands down the most terrifying day of his life. He wakes up with the crushing weight of dread lodged in his chest, his head already pounding and his thoughts tangled in a giant mess.
As Kyungsoo slips into the bathroom and Jongin starts to get dressed for the day, he wonders if Kyungsoo even knows that it’s Valentine’s Day. They haven’t mentioned it, but there have been ads hung up in every shopping centre, expensive gift ideas trying to tempt everyone who walks past and- fuck- should Jongin have gotten him something-
He lets out a harsh cough, one that splinters at his sore lungs as he tries to push away that doubt. Jongin doesn’t know what he expected, if he’d assumed that he’d just wake up in some magical mood and instantly be able to tell Kyungsoo how he feels- but Jongin’s nowhere near ready. Hell, he could have five more years and still not be- and he knows that his excuses have already gotten old. He just needs to get through today, just one day-
And as Jongin hears the click of the bathroom door unlocking, his heart jumps into his throat for about the ninth time since he woke up.
“I reckon I should get a full sleeve on this arm, what do you think?” Kyungsoo asks, and Jongin bites his lip, needing to tear his eyes away from his mess of a suitcase to look up at his best friend.
From Jongin’s crouched position on the floor, Kyungsoo could almost pass as tall, and he towers right over Jongin in a way that makes Jongin feel completely powerless. Kyungsoo has his contacts in today, and with his short haircut, it brings all Jongin’s attention to the eyes that stare down at him, dark and expectant.
“Jongin, the tattoo,” Kyungsoo says, the words breaking through the pounding heartbeat that blocks Jongin’s ears. “How does it look?”
Silently, Jongin lets his eyes pour over him, over the plain white T-shirt (one of the only things he’d bought on this trip) that sits across his wide shoulders, thin enough that Jongin can trace out his collarbones. The tattoo is half hidden, the tiger’s body just sticking out, and the colors look beautiful against Kyungsoo’s tanned skin, wrapped around his firm muscle-
It looks perfect on him, and Jongin didn’t think that Kyungsoo could get more beautiful, but he’s always proving Jongin wrong.
“Good,” Jongin mumbles out, the word catching in his throat. “Really good.”
“You’re just saying that,” Kyungsoo bites back, and Jongin tries to look convincing when he shakes his head and assures him that he isn't but god- Jongin's heart just aches, swollen too large to fit in his ribcage.
It takes a packed tram ride to get up to The Peak, and everyone else in the crowd seems to be going on a date and displaying way more affection than Jongin’s seen in his whole time in Hong Kong. He tries to ignore it, tries to push away the nerves eating at his stomach as he stares outside at the view passing by. From the old rickety carriage, all he can see are the trees and foliage that take up the mountainside, and his mind runs in the same circles it has all week.
“Smile,” Kyungsoo says. Jongin barely has time to react before Kyungsoo’s shoved his phone in front of Jongin’s face to snap a picture of him.
“Delete it,” Jongin whines as soon as Kyungsoo checks it out. Jongin looks blurry and terrible in it, but Kyungsoo just grins back at him, taunting him with the phone just out of reach. The wrestle has a laugh scraping down the sides of Jongin’s lungs, and it all hurts more than ever, the whole world now covered in this bittersweet feeling.
After the shopping mall and flights and flights of escalators, the Sky Terrace waits for them on the last floor. Stepping outside onto the tiled floor, the fresh air up here is cool, lightly passing through the crowds of people and ruffling their hair and jackets. It’s not completely packed out yet, and Jongin silently makes his way to an untouched place on the railing, one that gives him a chance to look out over the skyline of Hong Kong for the first time.
The city is made up entirely of skyscrapers, all packed together on either side of the water, just out of reach from the top of this mountain. Skinny blocks dotted with plain windows, each one is painted in a spectrum of colours- light pinks and blues, greys and whites, all tightly huddled together.
These buildings take up the whole sky when you're in the heart of the city, but from up here, they look so small. Compared to the sky, that stretches high and blue over the green forest, above Jongin, in front of him, infinite in every direction- they’re really nothing. And with a pang in his hollow chest, Jongin thinks that maybe there’s a future out there where he isn’t hopelessly in love with his best friend.
“It’s pretty, isn’t it?”
Kyungsoo’s standing right beside him, now, like he always is, and Jongin can’t stop himself. He turns to face him, their eyes meeting, and Jongin's never been less sure. With the way that Kyungsoo looks right now, cheeks pink from the cold and his hair lightly swept to the side, his eyes the only ones Jongin ever wants to look at- he breaks. He knows that this is the perfect time, that it’s only a few words to choke out - ‘you’re prettier’ - but he just can’t. Swallowing, Jongin can feel his heart slam to a stop, his throat clamping shut, and this is the last time he’ll ever try.
“It is,” he says, the words finally forced out, hoarse and weak- so horribly weak.
As Kyungsoo stills, holding Jongin's stare for one moment longer, everything else goes silent, and it’s just the two of them, held up to the sky. His eyes are full of something heavy that Jongin can’t make out, that he prays he’s just imagining. And then Kyungsoo looks away, back out at the view before them, and all the chatters and laughs filter back into Jongin’s mind like nothing's changed. He's only left colder than before, the spring wind chilled in his bones, and all he can do is turn away, pretending that he can see ahead of him when his vision is blurred over.
He never stood a chance.
On the way back down, both of them are draped over by a heavy silence, and Jongin stares back out at that same view, at endless trees and foliage. This is the right thing, he tells himself. This is how they're supposed to stay. And when Kyungsoo leans his head on Jongin’s shoulder, resting his eyes, Jongin fights the stinging at the back of his throat and tries to believe that it’s enough.
♡
Their flight back home is at 2PM, and the hotel’s check-out time is at 10AM.
Jongin’s never good with early mornings, but today is the worst he’s ever felt. Over all the heartbreak that’s wearing him down, there's the deep lurch of guilt that resonates in his chest from yesterday. He knows that he’d brought Kyungsoo’s mood down, despite everything his friend had tried to do to cheer him up- cautious jokes, extra meat snuck onto his plate, small touches here and there. None of it could have worked- but it’s more than Jongin deserved.
Today, they’ve left themselves an hour to pack their suitcases and get ready, which are both the last things Jongin wants to do. What he wants is the pity- the screaming- the solitude that he should be allowed after his first heartbreak. But this is how he needs to get on with his life, just like Kyungsoo has been doing this whole time, and with that thought, Jongin can manage to haul himself out of bed and start.
He knows he’ll be alright, eventually. Just not right now.
After four days, all of Jongin’s clothes have spilled out of his suitcase, more than half of them covering the floor by his bed. Once he’s gotten dressed, Jongin reluctantly lifts his luggage onto his mattress and chucks the rest of the clothes into a pile next to it, his limbs working heavy and slow. He can feel Kyungsoo’s presence behind him, but he ignores it, instead starting to refold and repack in the stillness of the room.
“This was fun,” Kyungsoo says, breaking through the long silence. He sounds wide awake now, and Jongin lets out a quiet hum. “We should go on another trip.”
“Sounds good,” he replies, his voice kept even, blank. He doesn’t want to ruin today as well, so he just needs to act normal until they get on the plane, and then he can spend the trip home pretending to be asleep. “Probably won’t happen until after graduation, though- and we’ll have to make sure that Sehun and Jongdae can make it next time.”
“Actually, I was thinking just us.”
His spine instantly locking up, Jongin stands there, frozen. With a short breath in, he shuts his eyes. There’s no way he could handle another trip with Kyungsoo, but he isn’t going to make that obvious. He doubts it’ll ever happen, anyway, so Jongin can afford to go along with it, at least for a little bit. “Where do you want to go?”
“Maybe Venice, or Paris,” Kyungsoo states- and Jongin’s heart jumps- getting stuck in his throat.
It can’t be what he’s thinking. With shaking fingers, Jongin folds up one of his shirts, trying to place it down as steadily as he can. “Those places are usually for couples, aren’t they?” he muses, trying to keep his voice steady.
“Mm, usually. Would that bother you?”
Pulse stuttering, Jongin shakes his head, and his next words come out low and raspy. “No, it wouldn’t.” Kyungsoo doesn’t reply straight away- and Jongin has to keep this going just- just in case- “What do you want to do there?”
Without missing a beat, Kyungsoo answers, “I’ve always wanted to kiss someone under the Eiffel Tower.”
It takes everything in Jongin to try and swallow, choking on his misplaced heart as he does. A hollow laugh climbs out of his lungs, the sound light as a breath. “You’re just messing with me, aren’t you?”
“But maybe I’m not,” Kyungsoo says, his tone low.
When Jongin dares to look up at him, he finds Kyungsoo’s eyes are stuck on his own suitcase. He’s silently biting on a nail, like he always does when he’s nervous, and it’s suddenly too real, and Jongin can’t stop himself before he’s broken down into tears- the first sob wracking his whole body and strangling his throat dry. It all crashes down on him at once, pulling him onto the bed as ugly, choked gasps slip out of him and he has to bite onto his hand to try and stop.
“What- what’s wrong?” Kyungsoo stammers out.
Jongin can feel him sinking into the mattress next to him, barely able to see through the film of tears burning at his eyes. He hopes that Kyungsoo feels guilty, that he can finally get how much Jongin’s hurting right now and won’t ever try and pull something like this again. “You can’t tease me like that,” Jongin croaks out, before wiping a disgusting drip of snot onto his arm.
“Hey, I’m not teasing you, Jongin- I swear. I-” Kyungsoo rests a hand on his thigh, and Jongin forces himself to shut his mouth and stop breathing- his nose blocked up as his lungs burn for air and his heart begs to hear the rest. “I really like you.”
That’s all it takes for Jongin to collapse into him, hands grabbing onto whatever part of Kyungsoo he can reach as his bawling doubles in volume, scraping down the sides of his throat. “Is it really that bad?” Kyungsoo jokes, and Jongin shakes his head furiously against his solid chest, the relief rushing in shockwaves down his body.
“‘M sorry,” he garbles out when he feels a string of his snot latching onto Kyungsoo’s shirt. With a choked sob, Jongin tries to snuff it back down so that Kyungsoo doesn’t feel like taking back what he said.
Gently shushing him, Kyungsoo takes the time to wipe down Jongin’s nose with the hem of his black shirt, which Jongin sniffles gratefully about, knowing what a clean freak Kyungsoo is. Jongin can feel him pull an inch away, and then warm hands cup his cheeks as he tries to get his breathing back to normal.
“Pretty,” Kyungsoo states, leaving a kiss on Jongin’s grubby nose. Jongin tries to pull a face, but he already looks like enough of a mess as it is. “I’ll get you tissues.”
As Kyungsoo stands back up, Jongin has a few seconds to wipe his face and try to make himself look less disgusting, without much success. This is by far the most embarrassing thing he’s ever done. No one’s seen him cry since middle school, and he lets out a sob at how Baekhyun and Chanyeol will make fun of him when they hear about it. “I’ll never live this down,” he whines to Kyungsoo when he sits back down.
“We don’t have to tell the others,” Kyungsoo states, patting his face dry. “Blow your nose.”
Dutifully, Jongin takes the other tissue he offers. “I hope you still like me,” he mutters, thinking he'd seem a lot more pathetic if Kyungsoo ended up saying he didn't.
“Don’t worry, I do,” Kyungsoo assures.
Jongin makes the terrible mistake of looking up at him, and Kyungsoo’s smiling, his eyes crinkled and forcing Jongin to dart his gaze away. Kyungsoo looks perfect and it’s so unfair.
“I like you, too, by the way,” Jongin grumbles out.
“I know.” Not understanding the meaning of his tone, Jongin peeks back over at him, and Kyungsoo ducks his head guilty. “Baekhyun told me.”
“Shit-” Jongin groans out, anger instantly filling his lungs. “I’m going to kill that kid when I see him-”
“Hey, it’s not totally his fault,” Kyungsoo defends, hands resting on Jongin’s balled fists. “It came up by accident.”
Jongin just grimaces. That doesn’t let Baekhyun off the hook, but he can yell at him later. “How long have you known?”
“Well.” Kyungsoo sounds sheepish, and that worries Jongin. “He told me last year... Back in February.”
“Wait- February?” Jongin squawks out, Kyungsoo still refusing to meet his eyes. “Like a whole year ago?! You waited a whole year and this whole trip before you told me-”
“I was waiting to see if you’d do anything about it, and you didn’t-”
Fuming, Jongin dives for his chest, pummelling him with his fists until Kyungsoo cries out. “Fuck- tattoo still hurts, you ass,” he exclaims, catching both of Jongin’s hands, again.
“You deserve it,” Jongin accuses, and his glare deepens at the way Kyungsoo checks his shoulder. “Was getting a really hot tattoo part of your plan to torture me, too?”
“No, that was just to show up Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo states, and Jongin folds his arms over his chest, sulking. But then Kyungsoo looks down, biting on his lilted lip. “Actually... The reason I kept on working out was because he told me that you liked it.” Frozen in guilt, Jongin watches as Kyungsoo awkwardly rubs his cheek before he continues. “That’s how he ended up telling me and I- I’d never really noticed it before, but.. Then I started to think about it, and I realized that I kind of liked you, too.”
It’s not what Jongin was expecting to hear, and the words hit him like a punch to the gut. He knows that he has no right to be greedy- this is already more than he’d ever hoped for- but still, Jongin can’t help but be bitter. “I’ve liked you for two whole years,” he states, pouting.
Kyungsoo just chuckles, shaking his head before he leans in the small distance to kiss him, his lips soft and warm and lighting up Jongin’s whole body with sparks. “I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo murmurs, but Jongin just lets out a muffled whine and pulls him in closer, pressing them chest to chest as his heart bursts. The fingers he's got tangled in Kyungsoo's shirt are trembling, the pit of his stomach twisted in knots, but kissing Kyungsoo feels so perfect that he won't pull away. And Jongin can’t stop the breathless smile that takes over his lips as Kyungsoo rests a hand on the back of his neck, the other wrapping around his waist.
“I’ll make it up to you,” Kyungsoo promises when he pulls back an inch to stare at him, and his eyes are so full of affection that Jongin would start blushing if his face weren’t already on fire.
“You better,” Jongin mumbles out, letting Kyungsoo pepper kisses across his cheeks until he gets too embarrassed and has to bury himself in Kyungsoo’s bare neck.
♡
It’s a miracle that they end up boarding the plane on time, but Kyungsoo insists on it, even against all of Jongin’s complaints for more making out.
“Smile,” Kyungsoo says, and this time, Jongin’s ready for the phone that’s held out in front of both of them, grinning and holding up a peace sign. “Cute.”
Jongin leans over the tiny space between their plane seats so he can inspect the photo for himself, and he has to agree. “Send it to me,” he says, sharing a smile with the beautiful boy next to him.
“I’m sending it to Baekhyun first,” Kyungsoo informs him, turning back down to make use of their last few moments of mobile data before the flight takes off.
Stretching his legs out as far as they can go- which is barely off the carpeted floor- Jongin grimaces, already dreading being stuck in this cramped chair for the next three and a half hours. At least he has Kyungsoo by his side, and that thought fills his stomach with jitters.
It all feels so new- looking at Kyungsoo and knowing he feels the same way, being able to call Kyungsoo his- and Jongin can’t wait to get off this plane and spend more time with him. He already misses how it felt to be alone just the two of them.
“Sent,” Kyungsoo says, leaning back in his seat with a sigh. “I don’t want to go back to real life,” he states, his eyes squeezing shut.
Jongin feels the same, but he knows that Kyungsoo means more by it- that he doesn’t want to go back to uni, to being stressed all the time. Biting his lip, Jongin rests his hand over the one in Kyungsoo’s lap, trying to be subtle with all the people shuffling around and settling into their seats. “It’ll suck, but you can rely on me, okay?”
“You too,” Kyungsoo states, meeting his eyes as he laces their fingers together for a brief moment, then placing his hand on top. “I wish I could kiss you right now,” he murmurs, low enough that Jongin can barely hear.
“We could have done a lot more of that if you’d confessed earlier,” Jongin retorts, half teasing and half genuinely bitter.
“Oi- you ass,” Kyungsoo laughs out. “I told you that I’d make it up to you.” Jongin just sticks a tongue out at him, which has Kyungsoo’s gaze lingering over his mouth for longer than it should. “My parents are still on holiday, you know... You could come over to my house tonight.”
Cheeks flaming, Jongin coughs, trying to dislodge the lump that’s gotten itself stuck in his throat. “Uh-”
Before he can reply, the phone next to Kyungsoo’s hand buzzes, the screen lighting up and pulling his attention away. He can only read some of Baekhyun’s message before it cuts out, but the words ‘WHAT IS ON YOUR ARM-’ have Kyungsoo smirking before he shuts his phone back off.
“So, what do you say?” he asks, as casually as ever in contrast to Jongin’s heart that's threatening to break out of his ribcage.
“I- S-sounds good,” Jongin replies, only choking slightly over the words.
Kyungsoo grins at him, brighter than ever, and Jongin swears that being best friends with Kyungsoo was already enough torture, but actually dating him is going to be so much harder.
It’s worth it though. Everything was worth it for this, for him, for whatever is coming next, and with a smile playing on his lips, Jongin just settles in for the ride.