Jonghyun grinned up at his boyfriend, as the two lounged about on the sofa in the blonde’s apartment. Snuggling into the older male’s arm, Jonghyun practically purred as it tightened around his waist in response to his movement, and shifted his attention back to the TV screen. They were watching some trashy movie that was airing on one of the free TV channels. It seemed to involve a large amount of explosions and an entirely misplaced romance subplot that Jonghyun didn’t entirely understand. Onew seemed to be into it however, so Jonghyun just kept quiet and amused himself by listening to the other male’s shallow breaths.

Shifting slightly, Jonghyun allowed his mind to drift away from the movie. The heat radiating from Onew’s body was relaxing and even the loud noises from the TV were easily ignored when he was this comfortable and warm. Tracing his eyes over his famous boyfriend, the composer mused about how lucky he was.

Onew’s eyes widened slightly as something apparently shocking, happened on the screen. His grip on Jonghyun’s waist tightening ever so slightly. Those eyes were always so expressive; Jonghyun loved those eyes. Only twice had the blonde ever seen them be anything but soft, warm and caring. Once was during their second ever meeting, when Onew was talking about the bullying issue – an issue Jonghyun still didn’t like to talk about even five months on. The other time was when the two were out on a date. They had only just started dating and they were still awkward around each other, in that way only new couples could be. They had decided to go to a coffee shop to chat and Onew had been recognised about halfway through their coffees. A girl had, in an effort to get closer to her ‘oppa’, knocked Jonghyun to the ground. It hadn’t hurt and Jonghyun was certain the girl hadn’t meant to hurt him – he was pretty sure she didn’t even realise he was there – however, Onew had been livid. For the first time ever, Jonghyun got to see the man berate one of his fans. The girl had looked shocked and upset, like her dreams had just been crushed, as Onew sent her away without an autograph. However, as the news hadn’t broken on social media, Jonghyun assumed the girl had understood the singer’s reasoning once she had had a little time to rethink her actions.

Tracing his eye line down, Jonghyun studied all the parts of his boyfriend he could see from this position. From the soft flicks at the tips of his unstyled hair – the brunette colour starting to grow out already – to the slight muscle tone visible in his arms – most likely from dance practice as opposed to deliberate sessions in the gym – everything about Onew was beautiful to Jonghyun.

Smiling to himself, the blonde laid his head on Onew’s shoulder and the singer’s hand moved up to gently run through Jonghyun’s hair in response. Relaxing, more than he already was, the blonde mused about just how happy he was in that moment. His life was really coming together.

The pair hadn’t always that comfortable together. Following Jonghyun’s confession, the awkwardness that had permeated their friendship did not decay. It merely transferred. The two males, even through text, were unsure how to continue their friendship now that these new terms had been added to it. It was only when Onew finally bit the bullet and asked the blonde on an official date that things had started to become more comfortable. Before that, it had seemed like this relationship, if it could have been classified as that at that point, was never going to last.

Jonghyun had run around frantically for the entire afternoon before their first date. It had taken Eunji and Jiwoong working in tandem to get him to calm down and confess as to why he was acting like he was. Once he told them, the two had made eye contact and Jonghyun was certain he had heard Eunji mutter something highly insulting about his gender before the two shoved him into his bedroom.

Eunji had taken it as her job to get him ready for his night whilst Jiwoong acted as the voice of reason. It was strange, Jonghyun mused, if someone told him three years ago about Jiwoong becoming one of the guiding voices in his life, he would have laughed in their face. However, recently, he really seemed to have mellowed out. The playboy who only cared about jokes, going out partying and teasing others had become far calmer. In fact, Jonghyun was pretty sure the man had gone and gotten himself a girlfriend. It would explain his recent level-headedness as well as the gradual change in his wardrobe – it was now less shabby and more chic. The man actually seemed to be making an effort to present himself well, both in appearance and first impression. He had even asked Jonghyun to teach him how to do his makeup – ‘None of that girly crap, I just want nice skin, ok?’ Jonghyun respected that the man was making an effort.

A round of twenty questions had inevitably ensued, where Eunji rapidly asked about anything and everything to do with Onew and Jonghyun’s date tonight – ‘Where?’, ‘When?’, ‘Does he like your hair like this?’, ‘Is your grey shirt in the wash?. To which the answers were, ‘Nowhere public’, ‘Seven’, ‘I don’t know, maybe’ and ‘No?’ Eunji didn’t seem to find his answers satisfactory, judging by her aggravated sigh from within the depths of his wardrobe, but she didn’t ask any further questions. After rummaging for a good five minutes, the girl had emerged and thrown a shirt, the grey one, and a pair of black jeans at his face. Jonghyun took this as a signal to get changed.

The date itself was a bit of a blur to Jonghyun. He remembered being pushed out of the door by his two friends and he remembered getting into Onew’s car – the older male opening the door for him chivalrously like he was in a cheesy teen movie. He also remembered driving around the city, Onew giving him a tour of his favourite places, places he had been as a member of SHINee and places he had never been but wanted to explore more at some point. In each location he imparted little tit bits of knowledge about the area and basically did everything in his power to make Jonghyun feel comfortable and entertained. The date was much like their hang-outs when they were just friends. Yet, somehow, they also seemed to be deeper, more meaningful. They also talked, they talked for most of the trip, the conversation flowing easily after an initial awkwardness and spreading out into various topics. Jonghyun wasn’t sure he could tell you what they talked about, that was the majority of the blur in his memories. He blamed his memory blanks on one thing and one thing only: what happened at the end of the date.

As Onew pulled his car up outside Jonghyun’s apartment building, he had turned off the engine, turning towards the blonde. “I had a good time tonight.” He smiled, his teeth on display and his eyes merely crescents.

Jonghyun nodded mutely, finding words unnecessary as it was clear he felt the same.

“I hope we can do this again, soon,” Onew stated, leaning towards the other male. Jonghyun wasn’t quite sure what was happening, his brain was running a little slow due to the euphoria of the evening and this action wasn’t making much sense to him. Onew’s hand reached out, gently cupping Jonghyun’s face as he leant in further. Until, finally, his lips made gentle contact with those of the other man. It wasn’t a deep kiss and it wasn’t particularly long, either. However, it was enough to completely stop all brain function Jonghyun may have had following their date.

Pulling away, Onew chuckled at the stunned look on Jonghyun’s face. The blonde didn’t even notice this as his hand came up to gently trace over his lips and his wide eyes searched out Onew’s. Blinking once, twice, three times, the composer gently opened the car door and stepped out, barely remembering to close it behind him, before he walked into the building in a daze.

Onew chuckled louder as he watched the male go, his gait a little unsteady and his path less straight than it could have been. He watched, amused as the blonde almost walked into the doorframe as he entered the building and headed towards the lifts. Shaking his head, he started the engine and drove off. He wasn’t worried about the lack of reaction. He had told Jonghyun a while later, that he had sort of understood the blonde’s feelings and had found it amusing, more than anything else.

Jonghyun had been mortified when he reached his apartment, which was empty as Jiwoong was once more out who knows where, and realised that he had left without saying anything at all, not even goodbye. He had quickly pulled out his phone and fired off a text that he still found embarrassing to this day.

Jonghyun 10:36pm
I had a good time tonight <3
Sorry I left without saying goodbye. I really did have a good time but your kiss was like fireworks and I think it broke my brain.

Onew had accepted his apology with grace, which Jonghyun appreciated. What he appreciated less was his constant teasing. Whenever something was fantastic, the idol would describe it as being ‘like fireworks’ or mention how it ‘broke his brain’. Jonghyun had been especially mortified when, on a variety show, the singer had used the expression to express his feelings. The audience and most of SHINee wrote it off as Onew being Onew. However, Jonghyun and, Jonghyun theorised from the look he shot SHINee’s leader, Key knew the truth.

Jonghyun was startled out of his thoughts when Onew moved suddenly. The singer had reached down to grab the remote, turning off the television which had been displaying the closing credits of the action film. In the process the man had stopped caressing Jonghyun’s hair, a move he had been doing subconsciously up until that point, and he had shifted the male slightly as he moved his arm.

 “That was pretty good.” Onew said, smiling down at Jonghyun, who was still snuggled in his arms. “Not that you’d know, you zoned out pretty good there.”

Jonghyun jumped slightly as Onew booped his nose. Placing his hands over the appendage in mock shock, Jonghyun playfully bared his teeth at Onew. “My nose.”

“Nope,” Onew teased, reaching out towards the composer’s face. Jonghyun tried to move away but found his movement blocked by the singer’s other arm. Grabbing the tip of his boyfriend’s nose with two fingers, Onew squeezed it gently and pretended to try and pull it off. “I believe it belongs to me.”

“Fine, take it. In return, I get yours.” Jonghyun joked, giving in to his boyfriend and allowing him to claim his nose as his property.

“Why would you want my nose? Yours is so much nicer.”

“Weirdo.” Jonghyun chucked, standing up. Due to the arm still wrapped around him, Jonghyun’s motion succeeded in getting him upright but also succeeded in pulling his boyfriend up with him. The singer managed to cope with the sudden movement change with only minimal stumbling which impressed Jonghyun; the idol was usually a lot less graceful than that, especially after sitting down for so long.

Turning around in Onew’s arms, Jonghyun embraced him gently, allowing their lips to meet in a gentle peck. “You have to go home tonight, right?” He said quietly, his breath ghosting across the singer’s face due to their proximity.

Onew sighed, resting his head on Jonghyun’s shoulder briefly. Pulling out of the embrace, he ran one hand through his hair as he spoke. “Yeah, though this is as much for you as it is me. You have work tomorrow.”

“Yes, mother.” Jonghyun chuckled, starting to walk the other male to the door. “I’ll go straight to bed and I’ll brush my teeth well.”

Onew patted the blonde’s head like he was a puppy that had done something good, “Good boy. I’ll see you in a couple of days, yeah?” He asked, as he toed on his shoes. Bending down to lace them up he didn’t see Jonghyun’s expression but knew he probably had that cute look of mock offence on his face.

“Woof.” The blonde said sardonically, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, I’ll see you Wednesday night. Don’t hurt yourself in practice tomorrow.”

“Me, hurt myself? Never.” Onew chuckled, sticking his tongue out at Jonghyun who scoffed at his words. His shoes fully laced, he moved to grab his coat from the coat rack, pulling it on quickly and pulling up the hood. It was partially for disguise and partially because it was now winter and the air outside could get chilly.

“See you soon,” Jonghyun said softly. Reaching out, he slipped his hands inside the coat’s hood and held Onew’s face gently as he kissed him one final time before he left. “I love you.”

Onew, who had just pulled open the door, ready to leave, froze at the last words. He seemed to hesitate for a few seconds before he said, quietly, “I love you too.”

Jonghyun stood in shock, as the door swung shut behind the singer, the lock engaging automatically.

The pair had been together for a while now. However, in all that time, Jonghyun had been the only one to mention love. He didn’t mind, not really. He understood. He had had a lot more time to come to terms with his feelings than the other male.

What had just happened was new. It was unexpected. His thoughts were a mess. Had he really? Did that mean? Onew wasn’t one to just say things without meaning them. So, if that was the case, then that meant that he did mean it. Right?

Jonghyun probably stood in that doorway for a good twenty minutes. Long enough for his legs to go slightly numb from his lack of movement and definitely long enough to be worrying if anyone had seen his do so. He only snapped himself out of his shocked reverie when Jiwoong stepped out of his bedroom to grab a drink of water. The artist, upon seeing Jonghyun stood there as he passed through the first time, had shrugged it off as one of his friend’s quirks. However, when he passed by a second time, glass of water clutched in his hand, he became slightly concerned.

“Do I need to call a therapist or something? You seem to have cracked.”

Jonghyun startled, not having noticed his roommate entering the room. “No. No I’m fine. I’m more than fine.”

“Sure.” The artist said slowly, dragging out the word. “And I’m the queen of England.”

“He said he loves me.” Jonghyun said, spinning around on the spot and practically skipping through the apartment. “He loves me.” Came his sing song voice as he entered his own bedroom, the door clicking shut behind him. “Loves me.” Came the final muffled proclamation through the door. This was accompanied by a muted thump which indicated that the male had fallen onto his bed, probably dramatically.

Rolling his eyes, Jiwoong lamented the moment he agreed to move in with the walking blonde disaster. “Well, duh. I coulda told you that weeks ago.”

 

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CHAPTER NOTES: Naww.

The time skips are intense right now. But hey, it means there’s more fluff for you guys.

I had a good weekend. I nerded out with a friend and we caught up on the new series of Kamen Rider and watched a load of Running Man. It was nice :3