It started with them having compatible personalities, then there were cheesy jokes and comments about them from the other contestants and then the feelings came. Both Jaeyoung and Hyunsoo knew too well since the first time they've talked to each other that there's an unexplainable chemistry. Jaeyoung, the type that loves others unconditionally when he himself wanted to be loved that way. And there's Hyunsoo, the only person that have ever shown Jaeyoung the affection he's always wanted. The cheesy jokes were light on their hearts at first but the more they take it, the more tensed things got and that's when they know it was nothing of a joke to them. 

When Jaeyoung accidentally scratched himself, "Hyunsoo can fix that"

When Hyunsoo frowns, "Go look for Jaeyoung, you'll smile right away"

When Hyunsoo and Jaeyoung snuggle up in the corner for a little break "Awwww look at the love birds"

They both always just laugh it off with "stop it", "we're just close", "Jaeyoung is just nice", "Hyunsoo is just really nice"... They brushed off that little tension they feel everytime someone says stuff like these about them. The look they gave each other after but couldn't read through the opposite's eyes. They just looked away a second later and continue with whatever they were doing earlier.

The thing they knew though, is that there was never something wrong about the tension, it was likable, addicting. That tension and that eye contact send sparks throughout their bodies, much more intriguing than the countless skinships they make in public. It was something to themselves, the true feelings wore beneath their skin that they try to hide, in case it becomes too obvious to the viewers. Hell, they even tried to get all touchy with other contestants to lessen the suspicions. They kept everything this way, they were enjoying the little electrocute teasing every last strand of their nerves. They've planned to keep it this way until the end. Maybe after all these, without the cameras, audience and a reason to see each other everyday, only then they'll decide if they should leave the feelings behind or venture further. This made every elimination round tenser. If any one of them gets eliminated, the only choice they get is to leave the feelings behind. So they would pray for each other everytime, repeating their prayers in their heads whenever they hear a hint of elimination. As they gradually survive every elimination, without notice, the relieve, proudness, excitement, happiness, overwhelming feelings they got gradually build up to a new level of fondness. By the time they know they couldn't just simply leave behind the feelings, they were onto eachother's body, auraed with lust, desperation and longing.

______________________________________

Hey, you up?

Yup.. still overwhelmed with everything that happened the last few months

Jaeyoung stared at his screen after Hyunsoo's reply. "Is that all?" He muttered to himself. He was on the upper bunk bed, Yuto sleeping soundly at the bottom. Everyone have knocked themselves out and if it were'nt for some particular event that happened between him and Hyunsoo after the final stage that kept his head spinning, he would be in his dream land earlier than anyone. He frowned a little with that thought, not sure if he should bring it up or wait for the lad on the other side to hint it. Just when Jaeyoung starts to get lost in his thoughts, a bleep sounded from his phone.

Wby? Why aren't you sleeping yet?

 just.. idk.. you gonna sleep anytime soon?

dont think so. its not kicking in

want me to stay up with you?

i'd like that. only if you're not sleepy yet tho

dont worry, dont think i'll sleep a wink

great!! video call? 

---few hours earlier right after the final stage---

All of them were in tears when they returned to the backstage. The tears they held back while the cameras were still rolling came pouring down as everyone hugged each other. Jaeyoung and Hyunsoo have stayed close until the very end, keeping their touchy routines and all. However, due to the seating plan and performance choreography, they couldn't interact as much during the finals. Every inch of their skin yearned for the other, missing the constant warmth the opposite gave and therefore they threw each other looks, looks that even themselves couldn't seem to derive.

Heading to the backstage, Jaeyoung found himself alone in the restroom, he did not want to witness the scene of a crying mess because he himself wasn't one. Surely, he'll miss everyone but he knew they'll keep in contact, he was proud of hyojin and minseok, he already expected that he himself wouldnt be in the debut group so there was literally nothing for him to cry about.

All he could think about was Hyunsoo and how much he would miss him. It was undoubtedly that both of them had obvious feelings for each other and he himself definitely did not want to let him go. He liked Hyunsoo's everything, from the way he looks at him with his mesmerizing droopy eyes to the beautiful laughter he makes. Hyunsu can be an open page most of the time but also difficult to read at some situations, like when Hyunsoo would just stare at Jaeyoung and smile sweetly then just look away. Jaeyoung never understood why he does that but it made him boil inside. 

Hyunsoo looked around the crowd, he wanted to congratulate Jinyoung but couldn't find him anywhere. His eyes drifted towards a familar back instead, heading towards the restroom. Almost instinctively, he followed. He knew Jaeyoung was never the type to be kept in emotional situations, the type that likes things simple and clean. However, from how much unreadable faces Jaeyoung directed towards him that evening, they didnt look simple or clean at all, it was a mix of confusion and uncertainty. To be completely honest, Hyunsoo sort of knew. He had a hint on what the other was feeling because he himself was suffocating the same way. He was confused with all the mixed feelings and uncertain if both of them will stay the same, or more accurately, if Jaeyoung wants to. 

Jaeyoung looked up from the basin when he heard the restroom door open. He was feeling a different kind of emotional from the other contestants. His heart couldn't rest and he got nervous with all the thoughts of what he expects to happen between him and Hyunsoo. 

"Jaeyoung, you alright?" 

Oh God, that voice. The voice that makes Jaeyoung' s skin crawl. It wasn't calming down Jaeyoung's emotions at all, the simple sentence sends even more chills down his spine. Jaeyoung turned towards Hyunsoo and smiled and that Hyunsoo's conscious away. Both of their hearts were on racing tracks. Jaeyoung stepped closer to Hyunsoo making Hyunsoo's back touch the cold metallic door. Jaeyoung's hand reach to the door lock behind Hyunsu and clicked. Both of them had no idea what was happening and let their hearts took the lead. They searched for themselves in each other's eyes, in hopes to find a rational explanation to all of these. 

"Hey..." Jaeyoung said softly, deeply, as if something heavy is dragging on his heart. They were close enough that Hyunsoo could feel Jaeyoung's scent, lemon sweets and mints. 'I'm gonna miss this' Hyunsoo thought as he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath to savor everything in. Hyunsoo could feel his blood pumping towards every end of his blood stream. It was the first that Jaeyoung was this close in this way. Hyunsoo reached for Jaeyoung's hand at the door lock. Jaeyoung held onto his hands and brushed his thumbs over the top of Hyunsu's fingers. 

They stayed like this for a while, just trying to bring in every little detail about this moment. Feeling each other's warmth because God knows when they'll get a chance like this again. 

"What's gonna happen between us?" Jaeyoung found himself asking as he rest his forehead on Hyunsoo's shoulder. Hyunsoo's heart clenched. He tried to put together the words in his head but nothing was coming together. Jaeyoung raised his head when he didn't get a respond from the lad, looking staright into his eyes. Hyunsoo reached both his hands to Jaeyoung's features, brushing his cheeks before bringing his face closer to seal their lips together. Their lips met as softly as how Jaeyoung's skin felt. Hyunsoo broke it off and looked at Jaeyoung with those droopy eyes, he knew Jaeyoung had a thing for it eventhough he always thought it was a weak point of himself. Just as he thought, Jaeyoung's mind went completely blank for it, he didn't even know his muscles moved to the command of his heart. He lifted Hyunsoo's with his arms and Hyunsoo reflexed by clinging both his arms to the back of Jaeyoung's neck. Jaeyoung baby carried Hyunsoo and placed him seated on top of the basin table. He then wasted zero seconds to dominate Hyunsoo's lips.  Jaeyoung moved his jaw forwards and it the soul out of Hyunsoo. Hyunsoo could barely respond with the amount of pleasure he was feeling just by Jaeyoung's attempts to savour his lips. He tried to catch up with Jaeyoung's pace but he was far from the lead, leaving himself to have no control over his lips. Jaeyoung took the opportunity and slid his tongue into Hyunsoo's mouth. Hyunsoo shrieked a little and bit Jaeyoung's tongue, Jaeyoung moaned under his breath. The kiss got more intense and passionate as Hyunsoo started to catch up and respond to every movement Jaeyoung was making. They were both tired, but this longing was all they've ever wanted and they were using every last of their brain cells that were functioning that evening to patch up what they've missed out on. Their kiss became more and more sloppy, thier drools mixing together to the point that they've lost their own scent but it wasn't enough. They needed more, so much more than this. Jaeyoung moved away from Hyunsoo's lips and started venturing down to his neck, leaving loving pecks along the way. At the same time, Hyunsoo could feel Jaeyoung's fingers ing his shirt. The cold air slowly crept up to Hyunsoo's bare skin but the heat exchanged between him and Jaeyoung made the cold felt nothing at all. Hyunsoo threw his head back and bit his lower lips trying to bite back a moan when Jaeyoung's kisses reached his left . Jaeyoung was surprised with Hyunsoo's sensitiveness but was delighted as everything was getting more exciting. He continued playing around the region, not satisfied until he hears Hyunsoo's voice. Hyunsoo on the other hand was already clutching onto Jaeyoung's hair with one hand and supporting his already numb upper body with the other. Jaeyoung touched and felt every inch of Hyunsoo's skin, marking them to remind Hyunsoo that he wants him. When Jaeyoung finally went back to Hyunsoo's lips, Hyunsoo let out his moan, nothing beats the contact between the lips. Hyunsoo thought maybe he should do something in return to pleasure Jaeyoung because up until now, he's been on the receiving end. Just when Hyunsoo's fingers reached the buckle resting above Jaeyoung's hips, knocks against the door sounded. Both of them broke off the kiss in an instant, faces blushing from their cheeks all the way to the tip of their ears. They quickly fixed their clothes, avoiding eye contact all along until Jaeyoung unlocked the door. 

"Sorry, didn't realised I accidentally clicked it" Jaeyoung said as he saw Rubin looking all confused. 

"Its okay" Rubin shook off his suspiscions, he really needed to take the leak. He rushed in pass Jaeyoung and Hyunsoo straight to the nearest cubicle. "Oh by the way Hyunsoo, jinyoung's looking for you, he's in the dressing room."

"Alright, thanks." Hyunsoo replied as he somehow managed to look back up and surprisingly met Jaeyoung's gaze. They looked away due to the unbearable awkwardness building up and walked out of the restroom to the empty corridor where they can vividly hear the joys and cries of the other contestants. Eventhough, the amount have died down compared to before their little restroom break, there were still a small amount of them. 

"So..." Jaeyoung broke the silence "Im gonna have to go baby minseok"

"hahaha" Hyunsoo let out a nervous laugh "and I have jinyoung to deal with"

"see you soon?" Jaeyoung scratched the back of his head and used up all his courage to look at Hyunsoo again.

Hyunsoo did the same and smiled from his heart "yea see you soon Jaeyoung"

And they didn't get to see each other since that moment.

---Back to present---

*bzzzz bzzzz*

Seeing Hyunsoo's name blow up with the notification for a video call, Jaeyoung's heartbeat raised. He hesitated for a second, thinking that he might die of happiness witnessing a sleepy Hyunsoo being comfy on his bed. Brushing it off, he touched on the green coloured icon accepting Hyunsoo's call. They both were all smiles when they saw each other through the tiny screens of their phones. 

"What's my man thinking about up so late?" Hyunsoo said.

"A lot of stuff i gue-" Jaeyoung stopped as he processed what Hyunsoo said again. Did he hear wrongly? "Wait. Your what??"

"Geez Jaeyoung I don't wanna repeat stuff like these" Jaeyoung can see Hyunsoo's face heat up eventhough it's dark on the other end. 

"Are we like you know.." Jaeyoung said, softer than before.

"like what?" same old Hyunsoo, with his non emotionaly evident tone of voice while talking. So much different from when he sings, thought Jaeyoung.

"You just called me yours, what are we like?" Jaeyoung said, the corner of his lips started curving upwards. He's not sure if he wants Hyunsoo to say it or he himself would be impatient enough to break it. But he wants an official statement of their relationship.

"A couple?" Hyunsoo said, as if it's the most obvious fact in the world. His straightforwardness never fails to surprise Jaeyoung all the time. With Jaeyoung not making a sound on the other end, Hyunsoo got nervous. "......are we?"

"We are if you say so" Hyunsoo blushed into an even darker shade of red after hearing Jaeyoung's reply. 

"We are if you make it official" Hyunsoo said softly, he knew his heart very well and would very much like Jaeyoung to stay in his life forever. But he wanted to hear him confess. Yea, he's submissive that way.

"Kim Hyun Soo" Jaeyoung pronounced his name word by word, appreciating how beautiful the name was.

"Yes sir" Hyunsoo replied, very fond of how his name sounded from Jaeyoung's deep manly voice.

"Would you, the only person ever that made me squeel and mess up my thoughts and heart, be responsible for cleaning up all these mess in the role of my boyfriend?" 

"It's my honour" Hyunsoo said nodding his head as a bowing gesture and laughed a little.

"Damn it, I wanna kiss you so bad right now" Jaeyoung died a little hearing Hyunsoo's laughter, he's always been having a soft spot for it.

"It didn't felt half bad in the toilet earlier, you've been praticing?" Hyunsoo had a little flashback of the events a few hours back. The kiss felt very pleasing and honestly, he did not want it to end at all and sort of cursed Rubin for ruining it.

"Only when I think of you"

"Ew bye." the conversation started to loosen up along with their honest feelings pouring out. Jaeyoung couldn't help but tease Hyunsoo till his heart's content and Hyunsoo enjoys every bits of it. 

"Actually yea, go get some sleep, you've been drained out of energy for the past few months." Jaeyoung said out of concern. He's been with Hyunsoo for almost all the performances and to Jaeyoung, he practices more than anyone else eventhough everyone was already satisfied with his performance. 

"You too" Hyunsoo also said in a worried tone. He knew Jaeyoung was drained out too, trying with all his energy to prove himself that he can be better and at the same time helping anyone that had problems, be it minor or major ones. His heart ached for Jaeyoung as he notices how the dark circles are even visible with only the small source of light from his phone screen shining on his features.

"Jaeyoung..." Hyunsoo called out before either of them end the call.

"Yea?"

"I really like you" 

Jaeyoung smiled at how Hyunsoo manages to make his stomach turn unexpectedly all the time "Me too babe"

"wow that's quick" Hyunsoo replied, out of all the things Jaeyoung could have said, he did not expect 'babe'. 

"You'll see how quick we can get very soon" Jaeyoung teased.

"ugh if only you're here next to me. I'd like to find out" Hyunsoo wasn't ready to say goodnight at all, he wanted to look at Jaeyoung for as long as he can but sleep was kicking in, his body begging to replenish the drained energy with a good full amount of beauty sleep. 

"hahahaha goodnight Hyunsoo" Jaeyoung laughed and sloppily followed by a yawn.

"goodnight" They finally said their goodbyes and ended the video call.

A minute after the call, Hyunsoo got a message, non other than his boyfriend of course.

'Sleep in till whenever, I'll pick you up for our first date when you wake up'

Looking at the message, Hyunsoo smiled and giggled to himself happily. Having their relationship clearly sorted felt great. He could finally be off to his dreamland without worrying that Jaeyoung would leave his side. 

THE END YAY