A/N. Bonus chapter coming up!

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“You guys act like an old married couple.”

Byunghun paused with his fork half lifted to his mouth. Minsoo froze next to him.

“What?”

Chanhee stared at them, his eyes glinting mischievously.

“Well, think about it.”

He stabbed his fork in the air as he listed his arguments.

“You guys spend every day together.”

Byunghun rolled his eyes.

“We're best friends, what do you expect?”

“Point taken,” Chanhee chewed slowly, “You walk each other to class.”

“Our classes are always in the same direction.”

Okay, that was a little lie. He never said anything to Chanhee, because it would only bring him a lifetime or two of teasing, but he sometimes took a detour, and a rather long one at that, to see Minsoo to class.

Chanhee glared at him. He stomped on his foot under the table, as if to say "stop defending yourself."

“Okay, you guys always have 'date night'.”

“That is not 'date night',” Byunghun retorted, wincing a little, “It's 'we don't want to do homework alone night'.”

“We don't always have homework, what do you do then?”

“Watch a movie,” he shrugged.

“And then?”

“Make dinner?”

“Together?”

“Well, he tries,” Byunghun pointed at Minsoo, “Mostly he watches and tries to not accidentally lean on the stove.”

“Ah,” Chanhee smirked, “Making dinner. Very husband-ly of you.”

Minsoo choked next to him.

“What exactly are you implying?” Minsoo coughed out.

“Nothing, nothing,” Chanhee took a sip of his cup, “Just being observant.”

Byunghun raised his eyebrows.

“I’m just saying, I’m your best friend too. And you never made me food. Or do homework with me. In fact, when was the last time I even went to your house? If you ask me, there’s something suspicious—“

Byunghun shut him up by shoving a napkin into his mouth.

 

After school, Byunghun found Minsoo waiting for him at his locker, just like every Friday.

“Hey,” Minsoo smiled when he saw him, pushing off the locker.

Byunghun couldn’t help but smile too as he spun the dial of his lock.

“What are we doing tonight?”

Minsoo shrugged and stood next to him, holding things as Byunghun handed them to him.

“I don’t know, I kinda just want to be lazy tonight.”

“So just like every Friday?” Byunghun grinned.

They walked out of school and down the steps.

“I guess we’re pretty boring, huh?” Minsoo slung an arm around his shoulders.

Normally Byunghun would laugh it off, but his mind couldn’t help but flash back to Chanhee’s comment. Like an old married couple, he had said. Maybe there was some truth to it.

As per usual, they headed for Byunghun’s house, since his parents came home late and they’d have the place to themselves.

On the way, they stopped by the supermarket.

“What do you want to eat?” he asked as he grabbed a basket, “Want me to make your favorite?”

The smile Minsoo sent him was answer enough. Byunghun rolled his eyes and started down the aisle.

“I’m gonna get some ice cream. I’ll wait for you outside, okay?”

Byunghun nodded and waved him off. He strolled through the aisles, picking up what he needed. Minsoo usually craved sweets, so he picked up a pack of candy at the register. He pulled a few bills out of his wallet and paid. Grabbing the bag, he headed outside, looking around for Minsoo.

He found him, leaning against the wall with an ice cream cone in each hand. He was already working on his own, and he handed the cone in his other hand to Byunghun, taking half the bags from him. It was his favorite. Of course.

 

Minsoo headed straight for the bathroom to wash his sticky fingers as soon as Byunghun unlocked the front door. The latter crossed over to the living room where Minsoo had thrown his bag and plopped down cross-legged in front of the coffee table. H pulled out his schoolbooks and sighed at his pile of homework. He reluctantly opened his textbook and stared down at the page of equations, a pencil gripped tightly in his hand.

“Math again?”

Byunghun looked up. He nodded. Minsoo padded in, a glass of water in each hand.

“You have no more soda in the fridge,” he pouted as he sat down.

Byunghun rolled his eyes.

“I’ll make sure to buy you some next time.”

Normally they tried to help each other out with homework, but after a while of explaining and not understanding, it began to get hard. It only took Byunghun cracking a few lame science puns for them to trade books. Minsoo chuckled at the other’s dejected face and ruffled his hair.

“You’re not funny, Byunghun.”

He stuck out his tongue and pulled the other’s homework towards himself. Minsoo finished his math worksheet without much difficulty, and Byunghun breezed through his science homework without batting an eye.

They collapsed onto the couch together once they were done.

“We make a pretty good team,” Minsoo said as he reached for the remote.

Byunghun just stared straight ahead at the screen, trying not to focus on the other’s arm brushing his arm against his.

Damn Chanhee and his stupid remarks.

 

Halfway through the movie, Byunghun’s stomach growled. He could see Minsoo grinning from the corner of his eye.

“I’m gonna start making dinner,” he mumbled as he got up from the ocuch.

He padded towards the kitchen. His mind was clouding over and he needed to think.

He pulled ingredients from the grocery bag and set them on the counter. A minute later, Minsoo joined him. He sighed. So much for clearing his head.

“Why aren’t you watching the movie?”

He tried to keep his tone as light as possible as he turned to dice some vegetables.

“I’d rather watch you,” Minsoo shrugged, “My good little housewife.”

Byunghun almost chopped off his fingers. The other was by his side in a flash.

“Are you okay?” he examined his fingers, frowning, “You’re distracted today. What’s wrong?”

Byunghun watched him fret over him, wordlessly. For a second he wanted to spill everything, but he couldn’t bring himself to. So he bit his bottom lip and kept quiet.

“Nothing,” he whispered, “It’s nothing.”

He turned back to the cutting board and noticed how badly his hand was shaking.

“Can you cut instead? I’ll start working on something else,” Byunghun quickly handed him the knife.

Minsoo nodded and took it from him. He snuck worried glances at him as he flitted around the kitchen, but Byunghun didn’t meet his gaze.

Once Byunghun spooned the food onto plates, they headed back towards the living room to eat in front of the TV. Minsooo clicked play to continue the paused movie.

They ate their food quietly, eyes trained on the screen. Byunghun occasionally snuck bits of meat onto the other’s plate since he knew it was his favorite. Minsoo would grin in response.

They started a second movie once dinner was finished. Byunghun’s mind had somewhat cleared while he was chewing, so he let himself be comfortable. As he should be. At the moment, they were both lying on opposite ends of the couch, their legs overlapping and tangling together. Minsoo was laughing, he was laughing, and everything felt normal. Except, of course, for his fast-beating heart whenever Minsoo would look over at him with that stupid, bright smile of his.

 

Byunghun yawned loudly when the credits started tolling. Minsoo looked over amusedly.

“I want to sleep,” he groaned, his head flopping backwards over the armrest.

“Already? So boring.”

Minsoo was teasing, but he couldn’t help the yawn that escaped his own mouth. Byunghun chuckled.

“Sleep?”

“Sleep.”

 

They washed up together, standing side by side in front of the bathroom mirror. Minsoo smiled at him through the glass, his mouth rimmed with toothpaste foam. Byunghun tried not to laugh because he would surely splutter saliva everywhere, and elbowed him instead. That then escalated to them pushing each other around the bathroom, leaving wet handprint on each other’s clothes, lips pursed around their toothbrushes as they tried not to make a sound.

Eventually they made their way out of the bathroom, still childishly shoving each other. They stumbled their way down the hallway and into Byunghun’s room, collapsing onto the bed.

Byunghun scrambled straight into the sheets and sighed happily as he cocooned himself in his blankets. Minsoo joined him shortly after.

Minsoo used to sleep on the floor until they realized how stupid it was when there was more than enough space for him on the bed. So now they slept side by side. Most of the time they woke up connected in some way, whether it be their hands clasped under the sheets or one of their arms slung around the other. Minsoo never seemed fazed though.

As usual, the other fell asleep first, his breath evening out slowly. Byunghun, on the other hand, couldn’t sleep. He shifted gently, as to not disturb the other. After minutes of just staring into the darkness, he huffed and flipped onto his side. He came face to face with a sleeping Minsoo. His breath hitched.

His eyes adjusted to the dark. He allowed himself to scan the other’s face, studying him up close. He had to admit the other was very attractive, and he blushed immediately after thinking that.

For the first time since Chanhee’s comment, he thought about the possibility of him and Minsoo. He doubted their relationship would be much different. Still attached by the hip, still making each other dinner, still sleeping in the same bed. Although there would probably be more kissing involved.

At the thought of kissing, Byunghun’s gaze immediately shifted to the other’s lips. They were rosy pink, slightly parted as he breathed. Just tonight, Byunghun let himself imagine what it would be like if he pressed his lips to his.

As he stared, he wondered, his curiosity and his want growing by the second. And before he could stop himself, he leaned forward and kissed him. Softly, gently. He pulled away just as fast, snapping out of his daze. The other didn’t rouse. He breathed a sigh of relief. It was just a barely there touch to the lips, yet Byunghun’s lips still tingled.

Slightly horrified at what he’d done, he to his other side, away from the other. That was a mistake. Oh god, what had he done?

He shut his eyes tightly, trying to ignore the tingling of his lips and the sudden heat on his back.

 

The next week at school, Byunghun was still regretting what he did. The upside was that Minsoo didn’t seem to have a clue. The downside was, well, everything else. He couldn’t stop thinking about it.

He mentally groaned as he changed for gym class, feeling sorry for himself. He was so busy wallowing in self-pity that he completely forgot about the tattoo on his back. A hand clamped down on his shoulder.

“Byunghun! Nice tattoo you got there, got your sights on someone special?”

Out of his classmates stood above him, waggling his eyebrows. Byunghun only rolled his eyes and prayed he wasn’t blushing.

“Looks kinda familiar though…” the guy scanned his back.

Byunghun pawed hastily through his bag, trying to find his shirt. He had to cover himself up before he figured it out.

The door to the locker room opened.

“Hey, Minsoo.”

Byunghun froze.

“You got any idea whose tattoo this is? It looks awfully… familiar…”

Their classmate’s eyes dropped to the other’s exposed ankle and his eyes widened.

“Oh… my god,” he exclaimed, suddenly cackling, “Byunghun has the hots for you!”

He doubled over in laughter, attracting the attention of the other guys. Byunghun still couldn’t find his damn shirt.

“Byunghun’s gay for Minsoo.”

His face burned. He dug desperately into his bag and finally, finally found his shirt. He pulled it on as fast as possible, ignoring the whistling and the jeers going on behind him. All he wanted to do was melt into the floor. He blinked back the hot tears forming and threatening to spill. This was a nightmare.

He didn’t even want to look at Minsoo. What would he see? Disgust? Hatred? Embarrassment?

A word suddenly cut through the silence.

“So?”

The laughter subsided.

“So what if he has my tattoo? What’s so wrong about liking another man? I personally don’t see anything funny about it,” Byunghun felt his gaze on his back, “If you want to laugh at him, you’ll have to mock me as well. Because I have his tattoo.”

The locker room was silent. Byunghun slowly turned his head to stare at Minsoo, whose shirt was off, proudly displaying to everyone the tattoo inked across his ribcage. Byunghun’s tattoo.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

They walked together after school, like always. Gym class was a little awkward, what with all their classmates whispering about them. And Byunghun couldn’t stop staring at Minsoo.

“I didn’t think you felt the same way.”

“I don’t think I really ever considered it. At least not until Chanhee, you know, made that comment.”

“About how we acted like a married couple?”

Byunghun blushed and bit his bottom lip.

“Yeah, that. That’s when I really started thinking about it. And I realized that I wanted us to be like that. I mean, like a couple.”

“Yeah?” Minsoo grabbed his hand, “Okay, let’s do it.”

Byunghun looked up in surprise. The other was smiling dumbly at him.

“Be my boyfriend.”

He blinked once, twice. A bashful smile spread slowly across his lips.

“Really?”

Minsoo laughed and faced him. And even though they were barely out of view of the school, he hugged him close and kissed the top of his head. Byunghun brought his hands up to rest on the other’s waist. He feel his heartbeat race and grinned against the crook of his neck. He was warm. Familiar.

“Yes, really.”

 

“So, is this like the honeymoon phase of your marriage, or…?”

“Shut up, Chanhee.”