The two boys stared at each other for a moment, blinking a few times before Sojin attempted to scoot away to no avail. With his back already against the wall, the black haired boy had no place to run. Taemin, on the other hand, seemingly saw no problem with the close proximity of their faces, simply smiling happily and staring at Sojin. For a moment, it seemed as if the Shinee member was going to bring his face even closer, but the maknae instead pulled himself to a sitting position. Taemin stretched his arms towards the ceiling, then turned his attention to his guest.

    “See? It was fine!” he exclaimed, a grin across his face. Sojin, still semi-traumatized, managed to sit up and look into the dancer’s eyes. Was he looking too deep into this? Taemin wasn’t distraught in the least — quite the opposite, actually. Not daring to look downwards at the maknae’s exposed body, Sojin held eye contact with the boy.

    “Yeah, it wasn’t so bad…” he stated, forcing a giggle. Why was he so nervous in this position? Did this mean he had feelings for the maknae? The non-idol was never one to confront his problems, preferring to pretend that they simply didn’t exist. Thus, he simply stored the question in the back of his head and smiled at the dancer who was finally getting out of the bed. Sojin followed, then quickly excused himself to Onew’s bathroom before Taemin could say anything. As he quietly crept into the leader’s room, he saw that the bed was already empty, allowing him to be a little less cautious. He rushed into the bathroom, closing the door behind him and gazing into the mirror for a few moments. 

    It’s not love! Focus on the task at hand! This is the worst possible timing…he thought to himself, turning the sink on. The boy splashed cold water over his face, rubbing it for a moment before toweling it off. Looking back in the mirror, he pumped his fist in confirmation. From now on, he’d only focus on his mission! He’d figure the Taemin situation out after he succeeded. Sojin quickly changed out of his pajamas into a t-shirt and jeans then headed out into the living room area. 

    Jonghyun and Minho sat at the table next to the kitchen, eating toast and chatting casually. Taemin had apparently not come out of his room yet, and Sojin was unsure where Key was. Bowing quickly to both Jonghyun and Minho, the boy rushed to the kitchen where Onew stood.  The leader was watching a pancake cook with an intense focus, unaware of Sojin’s presence. The younger boy reached his hand out and poked the pancake chef in the side.

    “Wah!” Onew exclaimed, jumping a bit and turning towards the boy. “Ah, you’re awake! I saw that you ditched me for Taemin…”

    The older boy glared for a moment, before starting to laugh. He pointed at the pan and questioned whether the boy wanted any pancakes. Sojin nodded, but pushed the leader aside.

    “I’ll make them! It’s the least I can do!” he exclaimed. Onew laughed before pushing the boy away from the pan and shaking his head.

    “No, no. I’m your hyung! I have to take care of you!” he replied, gripping the pan handle firmly. Sojin voiced his disagreement then tried to pull the older boy’s hand from the handle with no success. To his surprise, Onew placed his other hand over Sojin’s and pulled it off of the pan. Rather than releasing it, however, the Shinee member intertwined their fingers, holding onto it.

    “Ya! Just hold this hand instead,” Onew commanded. Sojin’s heart skipped a beat and his whole body immediately tensed up. Did Onew just…hold his hand? Of his own accord? The boy felt his face turning red, but rather than pulling away, he squeezed the leader’s hand tighter. Did this mean that Onew really did like him? Finally daring to look up at the leader, he found the older boy smiling down at him. Sojin was at a complete loss for words and the leader had no intention of breaking the silence. A few minutes passed in silence, their hands still intertwined, before the stack of pancakes was finally complete. Sojin was quite impressed that the idol had managed to make the food with only a single hand. Onew finally released his grip on Sojin’s hand as he picked up the plate of pancakes and brought it over to the table where Jonghyun and Minho sat, beckoning for Sojin to join them. 

    The younger boy, still somewhat shocked over what just happened, wandered over in a daze and took a seat next to Minho. Onew continued to giggle quietly to himself while Minho gave Sojin a concerned look.

    “Sojin, are you okay? You look really out of it,” the rapper asked, leaning over to look into the boy’s eyes. The non-idol instantly snapped out of his trance upon hearing the rapper’s voice.

    “Oh! Yeah, I’m fine! Just a little sleepy still…” he replied, clenching his hand that had been holding Onew’s and wishing the idol’s was still there.

    “Ah, right. You stayed with Taemin so I guess you didn’t get much sleep,” Minho replied, laughing and finishing off his toast. “You should go back to sleep! Jong and Taemin have to go film, so you can just use one of their rooms.”

    Sojin shook his head. “No, it’s okay! I’m gonna go out with Onew today! Do you not have filming? You can join us!” 

    “Ah, I don’t have a busy schedule today, but I have some things I have to get done. Maybe I’ll catch you guys in the evening,” replied the rapper, before turning to Jonghyun. “Shouldn’t you and Taemin get going…?”

    The lead singer looked down at his watch then up in panic. “Ya! Taemin-ah! Hurry up, we’re late!” he exclaimed, jumping up from the table and running to the door. The maknae finally appeared from his room in a rush, running towards the door. He quickly put on his shoes then waved goodbye to everyone, before making eye contact with the other 20-year-old.

    “Bye Sojin!” he exclaimed, grinning widely. Sojin waved goodbye feeling his face heat up, a bit embarrassed at being the only one specifically addressed. Moments later, the tardy duo were out the door. 

    “Wow, Taemin has really taken a liking to you,” stated Minho, sitting back in his chair. Onew nodded his agreement. The youngest boy couldn’t even deny the statement as Taemin made it so obvious.

    “Er…I think it’s just because we’re the same age!” Sojin replied, trying to skip over the matter. “Anyway, Onew, what do you want to do today?”

    “Hmmm…I think there are a few good movies out right now, wanna see one?” asked the leader, tilting his head to the side. Sojin let out a sigh of relief upon seeing that his subject-changing attempt had worked.

    “Yeah! Let’s go to the theater and see what we wanna watch!” he replied, turning to Minho. “We’ll meet you later, right?”

    Minho nodded then rose from the table. “I’m gonna get ready to head out now, though. I’ll see you guys later!” 

    Sojin waved goodbye to the rapper, then turned to Onew. “Let’s also go get ready! I haven’t seen a movie in so long!”

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    The two boys arrived at the Hyundae theater a few hours later. Onew was dressed in a plain gray hoodie and a pair of green sunglasses to shield his identity, while Sojin had kept his simple jeans and t-shirt. The two stared at the list of options for a moment before Onew pointed at one in particular.

    “Oh, a new Evil Dead movie! I wanna see that!” Onew exclaimed, bouncing up and down with excitement. Sojin winced at the leader’s selection, but refrained from complaining. He was actually happy that Onew had expressed his own desires for once, rather than always bending to what the younger boy wanted to do. Still, Sojin wasn’t great at handling horror movies…

    “Sure! Let’s watch it!” exclaimed the black-haired boy, inching towards the kiosk to pay for the tickets. Unfortunately, Onew was too sharp to be fooled, grabbing the boy’s wrist and preventing him from reaching the desk. 

    “Ya! Give me your wallet,” ordered Onew, holding out his free hand. “I chose the movie so I’m gonna pay.”

    Sojin glared at the older boy, trying to pull free. “Nooo! Please, Onew hyung, let me pay this once! Please! I actually want to!”

    Onew hesitated for a moment, then surprisingly released his grip on the boy’s wrist. “Fine, you can pay once. But don’t get used to it.”

    Sojin’s face lit up, happy that he could repay the idol for once, as he ran to the kiosk and purchased two tickets. The two entered through the gates and headed towards their theater, but Sojin grabbed Onew’s arm and pulled him back.

    “You want popcorn, right? Don’t even try to deny it,” asked the younger boy. Onew opened his mouth to reject, but his reflexes were too slow this time. Before he could get a word out, Sojin had reached the concession stand and ordered. Walking back to Onew with a giant bag of popcorn, he handed it to the idol with a satisfied look on his face.

    “Yay! Okay, let’s go!” Sojin exclaimed, leading the way into the theater with Onew laughing quietly behind him. The pair chose seats in the very back row, arriving just as the lights turned off. The idol finally removed his sunglasses, but kept his hood on just in case. Sojin felt a jolt of both fear and anticipation as the movie began. He was well aware of the cliche of going to a scary movie on a date, but wondered if anything would actually happen with him and the idol. 

    The first half hour of the movie ran relatively smoothly. Only a few scenes really scared the boy and even then he managed to mask his fear and play it cool. However, as the movie progressed, the horror increased, making even Onew jump at a few scenes. Sojin was gripping the arm rest next to him so tightly that his hand had lost all of its color, while he covered his eyes with his other hand. As a boy on the screen proceeded to get his arm chopped off, Sojin turned to the leader.

    “This is so grossss!” he whispered, glancing at the screen, unable to look away from the gruesome scene.

    “Yeah…it’s actually scarier than I was expecting!” Onew replied, laughing a bit at the younger boy’s fright. “Here, lift this!”

    Sojin looked at the idol, a bit confused, then realized he wanted to lift the arm rest between the two. The younger boy released his death grip from the arm rest and Onew quickly lifted it. Sojin looked back at the movie, a bit confused over what he was supposed to do. He had actually never dated before, so this whole experience was very new to him. And who was to say this was even a date? The whole situation was still rather ambiguous, even if Onew had held his hand earlier. 

    As if he could hear the black-haired boy’s thoughts, Onew reached his arm over the boy’s shoulders and pulled him in closer. Sojin could feel his heart beating out of his chest as he leaned into the idol, now held tightly by Onew’s arm. 

    Breath! Breath! Don’t be awkward! Sojin commanded himself, completely ignoring the movie at this point. Taking a deep breath, he squeezed his eyes shut and gathered his courage then grabbed hold of the idol’s hand that wasn’t wrapped around him. Onew looked down at him in surprise, but a grin quickly spread across his face as he gave the boy’s hand a small squeeze. Sojin held the position for the next half hour, not daring to move and mess things up. The movie was finally nearing the end, but the scary scenes were far from over causing Sojin to flinch in fear every few minutes. Abruptly, the leader removed his arm from around the younger boy, causing Sojin to look up in confusion. Had he done something wrong? He was surprised to see the idol looking down at him as they made eye contact. Although he wanted to, Sojin couldn’t look away — something was different about Onew’s stare. The next three seconds unfolded instantaneously.

    Three. Wait…Sojin thought to himself, his brain putting together what was happening. The gaze continued for a few moments until the leader started to move his face closer. Two. The younger boy’s eyes widened as he finally figured out what was going on. His nerves immediately kicked in, telling him to pull away, run away, anything but stay still, yet he managed to ignore them. One. Sojin closed his eyes, his heart racing faster than it ever had in his life, and before he knew it he felt his lips meet Onew’s. It was an innocent kiss and just as fast as it had started, it ended. As he felt the leader’s lips pull away, Sojin dared to open his eyes, his face completely red. To his surprise, Onew also looked embarrassed, but very happy. A thousand thoughts raced through Sojin’s mind in that instant. He had just had his first kiss. It was with Onew. Was this all a dream? How could this be real? The boy’s brain felt as if it was about to shut down from shock. However, his thoughts were shaken as Onew wordlessly pulled him back into the embrace, ruffling his hair.

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Ooooh, this chapter was fun to write xD as always, please leave feedback below! ^^