Actually, this is weird, this is super weird. Now that his eyes had adjusted, there was a lot more of this scene for Johnny to drink in. He was suddenly conscious of how definitely closer Taeil was, how the flush in his skin betrayed his vapid expression. Did he know how full of suggestion his eyes seemed? And was Johnny just imagining this or did Taeil’s tongue dart out over his lips? Only a little. Enough to notice, maybe.

Man, the Summer heat must really be getting to him.

The two sat, seemingly magnetized for seconds, minutes, hours, until Mark came through the front door. The distinct sound of shuffling filled the room as he took his shoes off. If not for the walkway, he may have sneaked a glance at – whatever that was. Taeil shot up, instantly brought back to reality by the rather (un)timely entrance. Johnny, on the other hand, had the dull thump of his head against the carpet to help him shift gears.

“, hyu- ”

“Ugh, it’s so hot in here”, Mark unknowingly interrupted – technically for the second time. He dropped the duffel bag he brought with him in the walkway as he ambled in to the living room. “Oh, you’re up, Johnny-hyung? What are you doing on the floor?” Mark tried unsuccessfully to hide his laugh, earning him a rather miffed look from Johnny, who was cupping the back of his head. The older of the two felt a renewed sense of gratitude for their carpet – there would no doubt be a solid knot on the back of his head otherwise.

Taeil seemed to have very little concern for Johnny and his head, although he was certainly very interested not even two minutes ago. His attention instead turned to Mark – it was strange for him to be back early from practice, even on a day off. He couldn’t have been there for more than a few hours. Taeil’s curiosity shifted to concern as Mark sat in an arm chair and gingerly brought his left foot to rest on the coffee table in front of them.

“What happened to your foot?” Taeil began to gravitate towards Mark, leaving Johnny – who was kind of expecting an apology – lying on the floor. Petulantly, he got up and sat in Taeil’s earlier spot on the couch. He shot daggers at the boys back as Taeil walked towards Mark, trying to convince himself he was this angry solely because he dropped him.

. He rubbed the back of his head again. It didn’t hurt anymore.

Mark carefully took his sock off and gestured to his ankle, it was a bit swollen, but nothing too serious. “I just landed on it wrong during practice or something” He laid back into the chair and the energy seemed to seep out of him. Clearly, he was overworked, not that he’d ever say it. “I wanted to keep practicing but Taeyong-hyung wouldn’t let me. He was worried it would get worse if I strained it more.”

“And you were right to listen to him,” Taeil hummed as he grabbed at Mark’s nose playfully before having his hand swatted away. He smiled a bit - Mark’s cute. “I’ll get some bandages to bind your ankle with, try not to move too much.” Surely though, the last bit went without saying; Mark seemed fully prepared to not move from that spot for days. Taeil went to the bathroom to rummage through their first aid kit, leaving Mark with a sulking Johnny.

“Hyung,” Mark began, now unabashedly amused, “Why is your face like that?” He tugged at his shirt collar, clearly the heat was getting to him as well. Immediately, Johnny schooled his expression to better suit his normal persona.

“You mean, devilishly handsome?” He grinned, trying to divert the younger’s attention. Mark may be young, but he’s surprisingly perceptive. If he did catch anything, he let it go with a dramatic roll of his eyes. Johnny had no problem with that; his mind was still on Taeil, and he wasn’t feeling up to a series of questions from Mark, even if they were out of concern. Mark picked up his phone, scrolling idly through Twitter. Walking back towards them, Taeil detoured into the kitchen and rummaged through the fridge.

Soft footsteps preceded his return to the living room, now with two water bottles and a roll of Ace bandages for Marks ankle. First handing one to Mark, then to Johnny, Taeil paused as Johnny reached for the bottle. He looked up to scrutinize Taeil, but as usual, his expression revealed little even with eye contact. He seemed completely unencumbered by the little… moment they shared before Mark came in. In the back of his mind, Johnny thought “moment” sounded kind of gay, but that’s beside the point.

Taeil locked eyes with Johnny, his gaze even. “Could you get Mark some ice?” he said before letting go of the bottle and turning towards Mark to bind his ankle. To Johnny, this minimal-but-extreme-as-far-as-Taeil-goes action was Taeil’s way of saying, ‘That (whatever that was) meant nothing’. With this, Johnny made the executive decision that he was definitely overthinking it: that was just a weird moment of weirdness that can sometimes happen when you’re with hot dudes – no, when it’s hot and you’re with dudes -  he quickly corrects his internal dialogue. He nods even though Taeil’s back is to him and gets up to head for the kitchen.

“Your hands are really warm, hyung” Mark says, pressing the cold bottle to his neck instead of drinking it. He watches Taeil’s face as he carefully wraps his ankle, waiting for a response.

Taeil doesn’t look up at him, focusing on keeping the bandage tight. Focusing on anything other than replaying the scene from earlier over and over in his head- on anything other than Johnny.

“… Are they?”

A/N: Heyooo wow long time no see lol. My gift to you after waiting so long is..... Johnil getting blocked lmao. Just kidding ill update two chapters this time ww, thank you guys as always for being patient~<3 Also, did you see the damn yearbook videos? I now stan 18 boys.