When Kyuhyun had asked him if he’d wanted to join his D&D game, Zhou Mi hadn’t even known what that meant.

He’d spent the weekend learning what, exactly, D&D was, avoiding a bouncy and impatient Kyuhyun out in the garden, and had gone up to him on Monday morning before school and said yes.

Zhou Mi didn’t think that Dungeons & Dragons was the game for him, but he always wanted to spend more time with Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun was his neighbour, after all, so they should get to know each other better. Even if he did get a little nervous and sweaty around him, that didn’t mean anything, right? They were probably just friendship nerves.

Zhou Mi joined the D&D group that Wednesday night. There were three other players aside from him; Kibum and Changmin who were in class with Kyuhyun, and Donghae who was in Zhou Mi’s. He didn’t know any of them well—he’d never paid much attention to Donghae—, just that they were all close to Kyuhyun. This made him a little jealous.

They played their first game slowly for him, going through the motions with him even though they were much further in the game and he was only starting out. Kyuhyun had nothing but patience for him, which surprised Zhou Mi, who’d always thought Kyuhyun was a little impatient and liked everything to be perfect.

He also wasn’t the worst player, once they started playing normally. Donghae never threw high enough rolls and he never managed to escape in one piece. He’d created three new characters since the game had begun, having killed all the previous ones off by accident.

Zhou Mi’s character was half a fire-dragon, and therefore seemed to get out of tight spells by sheer luck sometimes. The fact he often rolled high numbers helped as well, sometimes having the good luck to kill the enemies instantly. Kyuhyun called him a natural and said if he kept playing he could become really good at it. Join a proper team.

Zhou Mi would only join if Kyuhyun went, too.

It took two months of D&D for Zhou Mi to realise that he was sweaty because he wanted to hold Kyuhyun’s hand and maybe even kiss him, and he flailed on his bed one Tuesday night, wondering what he should do. Kyuhyun was younger than he was and still in the age where girls were icky and gross—except his big sister who was a year older than Zhou Mi. He didn’t want to freak Kyuhyun out by touching him if he didn’t want it. They’d known each other for years as neighbours but hadn’t been close until recently. He didn’t want to ruin their friendship.

The next night, he didn’t play nearly as well as usual, as his hands were too busy shaking whenever Kyuhyun made any movements towards him at all. Kyuhyun frowned and said he was disappointed, but Zhou Mi shrugged and apologised before hightailing it back home. At least he’d actually gone, right?

His mother confronted him soon after about it.

“MiMi,” she said casually. “You’ve been spending a lot of time at our neighbours’ recently.”

Zhou Mi nodded. “Kyuhyunnie invited me to play a game with him and his friends.”

She, of course, already knew this, which meant she had another agenda. “He’s a nice boy, that child. It’s nice that you’re friends.”

Zhou Mi shrugged. “I like his company,” he mumbled. “I wish he could come over here more often. We could have sleepovers.”

“If his Mummy says it’s okay, you can,” she told him. “Though you’ve got to sleep early! He’s only little, he won’t be able to stay awake as long as you.”

“He’s twelve!” Zhou Mi protested. “That’s not little. He can stay awake forever~!”

“It’s very little,” his mother corrected him. “He’s just a baby. Don’t tire him out. He’ll get confused easily.”

“Kyuhyunnie’s cleverer than I am,” Zhou Mi mumbled, and then added, somewhat proudly, “He knows a lot of stuff that the older boys don’t know! I bet he knows everything!”

“Even how you feel about him?” his mother teased, and Zhou Mi blinked at her.

“Oh,” he said. Her eyes were wide and loving, not judging, so he didn’t even feel the need to lie to her. “I don’t know.” He looked up at her shyly. “You knew, Mama?”

She nodded. “You’ve always had a special place in your heart for him, even since we moved in. I was expecting this to happen, but not this quickly. You’ve got to remember that even though you understand these feelings, he’s only just twelve. Don’t be sad if he doesn’t feel the same yet. He might not even know what those feelings are, or what they mean.”

Zhou Mi nodded his head. “I won’t scare him, Mama. But I want him to know. Maybe not now, but he should know, right?”

She smiled and leant over the coffee table to pat his knee. “I think that’s exactly right.”

Zhou Mi slowly got used to his feelings for Kyuhyun and stopped being so awkward around him. They’d have sleepovers together where they’d share the bed, top-and-tailing, and they’d play video games together and watch films until late at night, early morning, when Kyuhyun would fall asleep despite saying he wasn’t tired; he was a big boy after all. Zhou Mi never told him how cute he was when he slept with a cuddly bunny in one arm and his thumb in his mouth. He hated being told he was cute. He wanted to be big and manly.

Zhou Mi also never once tried to hold Kyuhyun’s hand or even suggest anything more.

They continued playing D&D straight through, once a week, sometimes more when they all had time, until after Kyuhyun’s thirteenth birthday, until Zhou Mi was to start middle school.

The first morning of middle school, Zhou Mi went outside in his uniform and with his schoolbag on his back as usual, and Kyuhyun was waiting for him, as usual. However, the middle and elementary schools weren’t near each other.

Kyuhyun shuffled a little and then said, “Umma said that you’re going to a different school now so I can’t walk with you.”

Zhou Mi nodded. “It’s okay, we’ll see each other after school,” he said, when he thought he saw Kyuhyun’s lip wibble.

The younger boy steeled himself and said, “Yeah,” and then moved close, sliding his arms around Zhou Mi’s midriff in a hug.

He’d never done that before.

He did it again when Zhou Mi came home from school; ran up the driveway and wrapped his arms around him, almost tackling him in the process.

After that came the touches. They were subtle, a press of Kyuhyun’s hand against Zhou Mi’s knee when they were next to each other, a touch of their hands in the popcorn bowl. Kyuhyun, when he was lazy, would stretch over Zhou Mi to pick something up, almost kneeling on the older.

Next came the hand-holding. It started just being when Kyuhyun was scared; when they were out a little later than they should have been, or there had been a loud noise. He would slide his hand into Zhou Mi’s until he’d calmed down or they arrived home, whichever happened first. After that whenever he felt young, like a little boy, he’d hold Zhou Mi’s hand and stick his other thumb in his mouth, sometimes even crawling onto Zhou Mi’s lap, even though he was thirteen and not five. Zhou Mi didn’t mind—he was still pretty adorable, after all.

Kyuhyun never held his hand around his parents or people they knew, probably because he didn’t want to seem like a child, but Zhou Mi didn’t mind.

The day of Zhou Mi’s fifteenth birthday—fourteenth in China, he had to remember he was older in Korea—, Kyuhyun ran into his bedroom early in the morning. Zhou Mi was still in his pyjamas, having just woken up, and had only brushed his teeth and gathered his school uniform.

Zhou Mi was surprised to see Kyuhyun in his room—particularly so early—, but was more surprised when Kyuhyun walked over to him, sat in his lap, and pressed his lips against Zhou Mi’s.

It was barely a kiss, a solid press of lips, but, if anything, the kind shared between childhood friends or a parent and their child. Sweet and affectionate. The kind Kyuhyun had probably only known from his parents and sister.

“Umma says that everyone should have birthday kisses,” Kyuhyun said, and then scrambled off Zhou Mi to sit next to him. “And we’re best friends, so I thought there’s no one better than me.” He beamed, as if pleased with himself.

Zhou Mi blinked at him, and then couldn’t help but press a hand to his lips, eyes wide. That was my first kiss, he thought, and Kyuhyun’s, too. “U-um,” he stuttered, “than-thank you.”

Kyuhyun grinned toothily, and then leant over and kissed the edge of Zhou Mi’s mouth, beside the fingers that were still against his lips. “And that one’s because you didn’t kiss me for my birthday,” he said after he’d pulled back.

“I…I’m sorry,” Zhou Mi said, too shocked to think of anything else but to apologise for not doing something he hadn’t known he was supposed to do.

Kyuhyun shrugged. “It’s okay, we’re even now,” he said, and then got to his feet. “Have a good day in school, Hyung.” He left the room and Zhou Mi blinked after him in surprise.

They didn’t talk about it that night when Kyuhyun handed him his birthday present, a cream scarf with his initials knitted in and a CD he’d wanted for a few weeks. Zhou Mi didn’t know what he was supposed to think. Did it mean anything? Probably not.

There were no more kisses for a long time after that, until Kyuhyun’s fourteenth birthday, when Zhou Mi thought he should repay the favour.

Zhou Mi cornered Kyuhyun after school, a present in his hands. “Happy birthday,” he said, and it at Kyuhyun, hoping he’d like it. It contained a figurine of that computer game Kyuhyun liked playing, StarCraft, along with a couple of D&D figurines that he’d picked out himself.

Kyuhyun ripped open the parcel once they’d got inside and were sitting on his bed, and the younger beamed at his presents. “Oh, thank you, Hyung!” he all but squealed, and then he leant over, wrapping his arms around Zhou Mi’s neck.

Zhou Mi wrapped his own arms around Kyuhyun’s slightly round—puppy-fat, Kyuhyun claimed—waist and kissed Kyuhyun lightly on the cheek. “There,” he said, “a birthday kiss, too!”

“That’s not a kiss,” Kyuhyun said, and he sounded slightly disappointed.

Zhou Mi didn’t get a chance to apologise or say anything else, because Kyuhyun almost dived into him, catching his lips with his own and knocking him onto his back in the process.

Again it wasn’t long; maybe two seconds at most. Kyuhyun settled comfortably onto Zhou Mi’s stomach, a bit heavy for Zhou Mi’s comfort, and then smiled slightly dopily at him. “That’s a real kiss,” he mumbled.

Zhou Mi didn’t think Kyuhyun would ever stop surprising him. He thought he should probably stop being surprised by that fact. “Well,” he said, locking his arms around Kyuhyun automatically despite the heavy weight. “I think real kisses are between people who are dating. Or married.”

Kyuhyun blinked at it him, and then said, “There are kids in my class who are dating each other.”

Zhou Mi wasn’t surprised. There had been a couple in his class dating when he was twelve, though all they’d done was hold hands and giggle when the other’s name was mentioned. They’d broken up really messily six months later and since then refused to talk to each other. Kyuhyun’s class was full of fourteen year olds, so it was less of a shock to hear that some of them were dating. Children were curious, after all.

“It looks fun. I kind of wondered what it would be like,” Kyuhyun continued, slightly airily.

Zhou Mi frowned, a little curious and confused, and was just about to open his mouth to ask when Kyuhyun continued.

“I was thinking,” he said, “and we’re really good friends and stuff.”

Zhou Mi gaped.

“And we kiss, and stuff,” Kyuhyun continued, “and it wouldn’t really be any different from being friends, just with more kissing. So I think, you know.”

Zhou Mi blinked. Opened his mouth, shut it. Swallowed. “Um. Okay?” He paused. “…really? I mean, this isn’t a joke, right?”

“Don’t be silly, Hyung,” Kyuhyun said. “I wouldn’t joke about this. I thought really hard about it and I like kissing you.”

Zhou Mi very nearly squealed then out of utter excitement. “I, um, I like kissing you too?” he offered, because it was the truth.

“Yay!” Kyuhyun said, and leant down to kiss him again.

The next day, Zhou Mi’s mother grinned at Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi’s entwined fingers as they sat together on the couch and Zhou Mi blushed when she told them what a cute couple they made. He only hoped they could stay that way.

After all, the next hurdle was high school.