Junmyeon wakes up with a smile on his face and his heart beating fast. That’s new.

Yeah, he doesn’t really wake up feeling sad or upset but he doesn’t wake up so… happy either. He’s usually lazy and he likes to cuddle for a couple of minutes, even hours, before getting out of bed but today? Today he wants to get up and get done and that’s new.

“Happy to know Yixing likes men?” Jongdae interrupts his train of thought “You’re welcome”

“I still hate you” Junmyeon replies and Jongdae knows his lips are puckered as he speaks “You’re the worst”

“I love you too” He says back while stretching and quietly “And thanks, I know I’m the best”

Junmyeon sighs and decides to get ready to go eat breakfast, he’s hungry and his stomach will hate him later if he doesn’t eat. Besides, he also needs to buy food and drinks from their school’s store for tonight. Every Sunday night, his group of friends would meet in his and Jongdae’s room to watch movies or play video games so they could spend time together, a thing they could hardly do during the week.

Once they’re ready, they make their way towards the dining hall, hands deeply buried inside their hoodie’s pocket because of the cold breeze. Once inside, Jongdae decides to look for a table while Junmyeon steps behind another student to be part of the line to get pancakes and bacon.

His body shivers for a completely different reason when he feels soft lips brush against his ear “Morning, Myeon~”

He chuckles while rubbing his hands together, trying to warm them up “Morning, Yixing” But it isn’t enough so he decides to blow warm air to his palms.

“Should I give you my gloves too?” Yixing gives him his trademark smile and even if Junmyeon’s seen it a thousand times, his heart had never sped up so quickly.

“Wouldn’t you be cold after?” He asks concerned, still trembling slightly.

Yixing simply shakes his head and takes Junmyeon’s hands so he can put his gloves on, squeezing them gently after he’s done. The smaller student just stares at him, dazzled and wondering when Yixing’s touch had started to burn his skin.

His trance is broken when Yixing jerks his head forward while playfully poking his sides “It’s your turn”

Oh, right, he was in line to get breakfast.

He takes a plate and greets the lady before asking for pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs. He waits for Yixing to be ready before moving to the drinks section. Junmyeon decides on orange juice while Yixing picks apple juice. They’re about to leave the cafeteria to go sit with their friends when Junmyeon stops walking “Wait, I forgot –”

“Got you~ vanilla muffin with chocolate chips” Yixing shows him his plate and Junmyeon can only laugh.

And ask himself again… What is this feeling?

When they sit down, Jongdae, Jongin and Baekhyun share a not so discreetly nod before standing up and leaving the two of them alone, saying they’re going to go get breakfast. That would’ve been believable if the three idiots hadn’t left their empty plates on the table. Junmyeon sighs and starts eating instead of minding their weird behaviour.

“So… you like men?” Yixing asks and Junmyeon almost chokes on his orange juice.

“Seriously, Yixing, you gotta stop doing that” He complains and coughs a bit to clear his throat “B-But yeah… I do”

“I’m hurt… I’m supposed to be your best friend but I didn’t know that and Jongdae did” Yixing fakes a pout while playing with his food, his fork pinching the pancake but not quite catching it.

“Well, I didn’t know you like boys either!” And it’s not like I could just go and tell my crush that I like boys…

Yixing has the “oh cmon, Junmyeon” look and just says “I thought it was pretty obvious”

“You know I can be very dense” He replies with a nervous chuckle and decides to focus on his food again.

“Yeah…” From his peripheral vision, he can see how Yixing’s eyes seem distant yet warm at the same time and he really wants to know why “I know”

~*~

So, after World War II, Japan wasn’t allowed to have its own army and the US swore to protect it. Junmyeon considers just watching Hetalia instead of reading his textbook but he only has two pages left. He keeps typing on his computer until he’s done taking notes. He gives the document a general review, fixing the format or size of the letter so it’d be easier to study later before printing it.

1 pm, he has five hours to study for his test before his friends start invading his room. He’s got this.

Two hours later, Junmyeon’s stomach starts growling. He looks down and pats his tummy “Not yet, just hold on a little more” And he keeps studying because he really wants to enjoy his night, cuddling next to Yixing and enjoying the warmth emanating from his body…

Wait, what?

Junmyeon has to stop reading his notes as his heart speeds up once again. Okay, what is this?

Yes, Junmyeon knows he has a crush on Yixing but what he’s feeling now it’s completely different. He didn’t want to kiss him so much before, or hold his hand, or sleep next to him or poke his dimples or brush his hair out of his face or…

But when had it changed? When Yixing asked for a kiss? Junmyeon thinks about it for a couple of minutes and comes to the conclusion that yes, when Yixing had asked if he wanted a kiss, what he considered a crush turned into something else.

Into what though?

He takes a deep breath and squeezes his own cheeks so he can regain his concentration and finish studying. Now’s not the time to think about that, right now, he has to study so he can ace tomorrow’s exam.

5 pm and Junmyeon’s stomach is begging for food.

“Just in time” He sighs as he finishes studying, finally feeling ready. He walks towards the bag of food to get the lasagne Yixing insisted on buying him and he can’t help but bite his lower lip as he remembers.

After eating breakfast, Junmyeon had made his way to the school’s store to buy snacks and drinks for tonight. He wasn’t aware of Yixing following him, too lost in his own thoughts, until he opened the door for him “Ladies first”

The slightly older one laughed and punched his side playfully before stepping inside. His smile grew even wider when the memories of that night playing bowling with his friends ran through his head “Do you know what movie we’re watching tonight?”

“Yeah… Baekhyun picked Annabelle”

ing little piece of , Junmyeon thought and the grimace on his face made Yixing chuckle.

“I can’t skip, can I?” He asked while looking at the different candies being displayed.

Yixing pointed to the skittles and sour gummies, Junmyeon grabbed them and put them in the basket “Nope, you can’t leave me alone with those three” Then he said something that had Junmyeon gripping the popcorn bag too hard “Besides, I miss you… I hardly ever spend any time with you”

Warm.

That’s how this new feeling felt like, it was really warm.

“That’s really gay, bro” Junmyeon teased, throwing three packages of butter popcorn inside.

Yixing laughed aloud and shrugged “Well, I’m really gay so…” The other student snickered and walked towards the drinks section.

“I can’t believe I didn’t notice” He admitted, his eyes going up and down the shelf, trying to pick a six-pack of Coke or Sprite or Fanta.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me”

Yixing eyed him curiously and Junmyeon found himself looking anywhere but him “Oh shush, I’m not Baekhyun, it’s not that easy for me to just come out, especially to you” He said that last part without noticing.

Crap.

“Especially to me?” Yixing rested his body on the wall and waited for Junmyeon’s reply.

He handed Yixing the pack of Sprite and Fanta, he was pretty sure Jongdae still had cans of Coke left and that he was going to share whether he liked it or not so it was pointless to buy more. Then he took a deep breath and said in a quiet voice “I didn’t want you to treat me any different” He waited a couple of seconds to continue “I knew you’d still be my best friend and all but… I didn’t know if you were going to treat me the same”

Yixing pinched Junmyeon’s cheek and gave him a reassuring smile “No need to worry about that anymore”

“Guess so” He said while rubbing his cheek.

“Know so” Yixing corrected and they both chuckled again.

Then Junmyeon stared at the different cups of ramen and tapped his chin, was he in the mood for miso or ramyun? He was about to grab the miso one when a silver package appeared in front of his hand, courtesy of Yixing.

“Cup ramen isn’t food, Junmyeon” He scolded, Junmyeon pouted.

“Naruto grew up eating ramen though”

“Real ramen” Yixing pointed out and started walking towards the cashier. Junmyeon smiled by reading the label.

Lasagne.

They both laughed and after paying, Yixing helped carry the things to Junmyeon’s and Jongdae’s room. They joked and teased each other like they always did but it somehow felt weird, a good kind of weird though.

Junmyeon was dense.

Very dense.

Because Yixing had always treated him different.

Ugh, what is this?

Junmyeon keeps eating with his eyebrows furrowed, the taste of the tomato sauce bringing him back to two years ago, when he started feeling something more than just friendship for Yixing.

It was winter and Junmyeon was freezing in Yixing’s couch. He was wrapped in Yixing’s blankets, wearing like three of his hoodies and the warmest sweatpants Yixing could find in his closet along with cotton gloves. Like always, they had stayed over winter break at the school because their parents lived far away and they didn’t want them to spend money on plane tickets just to see them for a couple of weeks. They rather wait for their summer break and spend three months together.

“I-I’m fr-freez-zing” He complained, his lips still purple and his body trembling rather violently. Yixing came back with two big hot packs so Junmyeon could hug them and his body could return to its normal colour instead of looking paler than usual.

“You walked the whole way back wearing a tank top during a snowstorm, Junmyeon” Yixing tried to keep his voice calm but miserably failed by seeing Junmyeon in that state “What were you thinking?!”

“On t-the do-og!!! The p-poor lon-nely dog t-that did-didn’t have anyw-where to go and w-was also fr-freezing, I c-couldn’t just leave him t-there” Junmyeon whined, his hands grasping on the warm compress. He sighed in relief by feeling its warmth and then looked at his best friend with pouty lips “D-Don’t get mad a-at me”

Yixing immediately sat next to him and hugged him tightly, resting his chin on what he thought was Junmyeon’s shoulder covered in multiple layers of clothes and rubbing his arms to increase the heat “I’m not, I’m not, I’m just worried” Worried was actually an understatement. When Yixing opened the door and found a shivering Junmyeon looking like he was about to faint, Yixing almost had a heart attack. He had immediately pulled him inside, stripped him of everything but his boxers, dressed him with what he considered appropriate, pulled him to the couch so he can toss lots of blankets around him and then made his way to the kitchen to find hot packs “You’re such an idiot”

“You w-would’ve done t-the same”

Yixing couldn’t deny that so he just squeezed Junmyeon’s cheeks until his lips were puckered like a cute fish “Shush”

The older student whispered in a muffled voice “I-I’m c-cold”

“Want to cuddle ?” That was one of the many signs Junmyeon should’ve noticed but never did or simply ignored.

Junmyeon’s body was starting to feel warmer but he was sure it wasn’t because of the blankets or jackets or hot packs.

“W-Wha-What?” He wasn’t stuttering because of the cold either.

“Saw it on National Geographic” Yixing explained and Junmyeon moved to the side so he could hit his body with his own.

“That’s w-when y-you’re wet”

Yixing just chuckled and shrugged “Might work in this case too, who knows?” But before Junmyeon could reply, Yixing stood up and left the