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Jiyong does not expect to find Seunghyun leaning against a shiny black car – with his eyes closed, head tipped back and a cigarette between his lips.

If he had not just witnessed the man brusquely walk outside in a quiet rage, Jiyong would have thought the sight to be pictorial, almost, a spread in some high-class men’s fashion catalogue.

Snap out of it.

Jiyong shakes his head at his own inadequate thoughts. He is not outside in the biting cold to appreciate Seunghyun’s face.

Feeling more than a little awkward, Jiyong shoves both hands inside each respective blazer pocket as he takes a few tentative steps closer to the older. Well, you’re here, his conscience quips, now what are you planning to do? Jiyong hasn’t a clue.

He thinks it may as well be the first step to get Seunghyun’s attention, and then he can work his way up from there.

Without turning the thought over and up inside his own head until he decides against himself and sprints the back inside – Jiyong clears his throat, loudly. 

He winces on Seunghyun’s behalf as he watches the other startle, his eyes flinging open and wide, and two fingers quick in their act of saving his lit smoke before the stick could fall from his lips, parted in surprise.

Jiyong cannot stop himself from holding in an anxious breath as the dark eyes instantly flicker to meet his. He’s surprised he doesn’t tear his own away immediately, pats himself on the back mentally for it.

Seunghyun stares back at him with that little shock painted across his expression for a long moment, and Jiyong squirms uncomfortably, shifting his weight from foot to foot and inwardly reprimanding himself for simply standing here like an idiot without anything to do or say.

The younger clears his throat again, less blatantly in this instance and scrambles inside his brain for something to say, anything to break this awful, stupid silence. This was a bad idea.

And just when Jiyong parts his wind-chapped lips to utter an uncertain ‘uhm, are you okay?’, Seunghyun is saving him the embarrassment, cutting him off with a little sigh as the surprise completely rids itself from his features –only to be replaced by something solemn and very weary. He looks tired, Jiyong realizes, observing heavy lids and subtle, shadowy eye bags.

Seunghyun looks away and takes in another a long puff of smoke.
 

“I didn’t know you smoked.” Jiyong suddenly blurted in to the quietness. Well, at least you said something.

The older lets out a little amused huff, “Only on bad days.” He continues looking out in to the night as he speaks to the younger.

Jiyong doesn’t know how to respond straight away – he had been expecting Seunghyun to brush him off or even, maybe scold him or yell at him or something.

 The younger takes this in stride as he slides himself to lean his back against the same, black car – a few steps away from the other.  “You’re always surprising me.” He thinks out loud and Seunghyun only hums quietly in response.

Jiyong looks down at his feet and kicks the gravel there. Seunghyun’s words swirl about his head and then he looks up, cocking his head at the other, “For stress relief?” and the older nods his head slightly, fingers holding the cigarette pausing on their way upwards.

“Something like that” Seunghyun says. Jiyong can’t help the smirk that twitches one corner of his mouth upwards as he responds.

“Well, then I guess we have a little bit more in common than I thought.”

“As if the Kanye revelation didn’t make you realize that already.” Seunghyun mocks back and Jiyong hides a quiet snigger behind the back of his palm, before catching himself in the act and freezing up a little. What the hell is going on, right now? Did Seunghyun just make him laugh?

Jiyong sneaks a look at the taller, but Seunghyun has a tiny little simmer of a smile ghosting his lips and it makes Jiyong feel much, much more at ease than the outburst that he had been witness to just moments ago inside the large mansion.

Just for now, he decides he’s not going to run this moment in to the dirt by acting out again.

He needs to stop over thinking and over analysing every single thing that occurs in the presence of Seunghyun – he thinks it’s going to drive him up the wall, if he does. Seunghyun clearly said he was having a bad day and Jiyong thinks that he, himself can take a break from giving the man hell for at least tonight.

After a long exhale of smoke, Seunghyun speaks again. “I’m sorry for how I acted inside.”

Jiyong snaps his head in the other’s direction in blatant surprise. Why the is he saying sorry? Only someone like Seunghyun would, Jiyong figures.

The younger will never seem to be able to stop being perplexed by Seunghyun. His eyebrows knit together and he can only listen in quiet confusion as the other continues on.

Seunghyun clenches his eyes shut tight, bringing his other empty hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. “God, I didn’t mean to – you know, I’ve just-“He opens his eyes, removes his fingers and Jiyong watches him struggle with his words in fascination and slight guilt, “Like I said, I was having a really, really day-“Jiyong’s eyebrows stretch upwards, high on his forehead, mind unconscious in the act of quickly filing away the sound of Seunghyun cursing for safe keeping. “-and I’m just exhausted.”
 

Jiyong can’t help but sound amused as he says, “And here I thought you lived for these snooze fests.”

 Seunghyun gives him a weary look, “These kinds of parties weren’t made to be enjoyed – by any sane person, at least.”

After he hears that, and responds with an appreciative smirk and a nod of agreement, Jiyong realizes he’s probably never looked at Seunghyun in the way that he is now; someone that he can wholly relate to. It’s like going against what people – what Jiyong – expects of him in behaviour has somehow normalized him in the boy’s view. At least in this moment.

In the back of his mind, Jiyong quietly wonders what on earth could have happened to have Seunghyun act so out of the norm.

However, in pursuit of avoiding uncomfortable topics, Jiyong opts for putting his curiosity aside in replacing it with a much more positive alternative. “Let’s get out of here then. I’m bored as .”

Seunghyun turns to him with astonishment, “As in with me?” And Jiyong feels a little down trodden at himself at the fact that Seunghyun obviously did think the younger despised him.

He rolls his eyes, “No, with the other depressed person standing out here in the cold.” He quipped sardonically. Jiyong drops his eyes to Seunghyun’s jacket pockets. “Do you have keys on you?”

Following Jiyong’s gaze, Seunghyun looks down at himself, patting at the pockets. Jiyong raises an eyebrow expectantly as the older meets his eye. Seunghyun purses his lips. “No I was driven, but I don’t think we should-”

Jiyong clucks his tongue, effectively cutting off what he hurriedly recognized as the beginning of Seunghyun’s nagging. “Fine, princess, we’ll take my car. Be glad I didn’t have any of the champagne in there otherwise we’d be walking.” He isn’t in the mood to drive, but Jiyong supposes it’s worth it for getting the hell out of here.

Begrudgingly, he digs the car keys out of his pant pocket, causing a series of chimes and rattles to fill the silence. Seunghyun is gnawing on his lower lip as he watches; however Jiyong chooses to ignore the other’s blatant hesitation.

It comes a second later, “Jiyong, its fine, let’s – let’s just go back inside!” Seunghyun allows his cigarette to drop to the floor and he promptly snubs it with the toe of his shiny dress shoes. He’s looking down at Jiyong with wide, pleading eyes.

The younger doesn’t budge. “No, c’mon I can just drive you home if you want.”

Jiyong challenges Seunghyun with his hard stare, taking a step to the right, towards where his car is parked. He watches Seunghyun’s eyebrows bunch together.

“I – I can’t just leave” Seunghyun reasons, but Jiyong doesn’t see the heart in it. He doesn’t bother responding, only taps his shoe hard against the gravel in impatience.

Seunghyun stares back at him and Jiyong can see the deep contemplation in his eyes. Maybe I gave him too much credit too early, Jiyong thinks with a slight edge of disappointment.

He scowls at the older, “Live a little.” And then he’s swiftly spinning on his slightly wedged heel and walking the other way, deciding that he’s had enough of Seunghyun’s hesitation. With a little bitterness towards the other, Jiyong wonders if the man is too scared to do the wrong thing, or scared to be alone with Jiyong.

Both ideas somehow bring a sour taste to Jiyong’s mouth. He had asked Seunghyun to leave with him on a positive whim, under the high of actually allowing himself to get along with the older.

Basically having the offer rejected kind of watered down Jiyong’s pride yet simultaneously began to diminish the new, improved impression he had been unconsciously building of Seunghyun inside his own head.

 
In the moment that Jiyong reaches the sleek, white car and beeps it on, he is positively startled when before he can even place his hand on the driver’s door handle; he hears the click of the passenger’s side opening.

With widened eyes, Jiyong raises his head and gazes, dumbfounded, at the sight of Seunghyun’s shiny black haired crown ducking low in to the vehicle before the younger can even utter a word.
 

What the – A disgruntled Jiyong gathers his senses and hurries to open his own door. After confirming the fact that yes, Seunghyun is sitting inside the car, the younger sets the puzzling man with a hard, wintry glare.

“Who says that you’re still allowed to come with me, now?” Jiyong bites out, irritated at the reality of Seunghyun being able anchor his mood down so heavily, only to end up agreeing to come along at the end of things. 

“Just – hurry.” Is all Seunghyun responds with. Jiyong notes that the older seems to be awfully fidgety in the seat, wringing his hands and dark eyes sketchily glancing outside of the tinted windows.

Amateur, Jiyong thinks, his annoyance melting in to amusement at the sight. He shakes his head, smirking subtly as he slides in to the driver’s seat. “I think this is a record for me. I usually stay at these things longer than-” Jiyong’s eyes flicker to the illuminated clock, snickering, “thirty minutes.”

He starts the engine and the car rumbles to life. Seunghyun’s anxious gaze has not yet parted with the window beside him. “I’ve definitely never left after only ten.”

Jiyong nods considerably, “Okay, you win.”
 

“Maybe we shouldn’t-”

And Jiyong decides to cut Seunghyun’s words short before the other’s doubts engulf him and he decides to duck and roll out of the car at the last moment.

 Irritation building once more, he promptly steps on the gas.

“I just – I just wanted some air,” Seunghyun sounded exasperated, and Jiyong wonders what possessed the man to get inside of his car and then act as if Jiyong had grabbed him by the collar and forcefully shoved him inside.

“Look.” Jiyong begins, as he can almost physically feel the nervous energy radiating off of the man beside him. It annoys him to no ends that Seunghyun has to go and soil the fact that Jiyong had actually been enjoying the older’s company openly for once. “I’m going to give you a life lesson.”

He keeps his eyes on the road, turns a jagged bend and in the corner of his vision, sees Seunghyun grip hard at the edges of his seat. “If you don’t want to do something, then don’t ing do it.”

“J-jiyong, you should probably slow down-”

The younger is deaf to the stuttered warning as his heated resolve to break in to Seunghyun’s thick skull only builds by the second. His foot is pressuring down relentlessly on the accelerator.

Like the blurring of large, shadowy houses and tall trees whiz past them, Jiyong’s words flood out of his mouth uncontrollably. “I mean, what they think, you know? I don’t understand how you can be so good all time.” Jiyong spits the word like acid.

“Jiy-”

“You’re letting your dad ruin your life by forcing you to get married. You didn’t even try to say no.” He isn’t sure how to stop himself now that he’s all worked up. It’s an issue because whenever even the tiniest spark of anger is ignited inside of Jiyong, he loses hold on all of his restraint and just vents.  “Like, does that make any ing sense?”
 

“Jiyong!” Seunghyun calls out once again, this time in a loud, frantic voice.

The boy finally snaps and yells “What?” in return.

 And it is only when Jiyong’s little bubble of outburst is shattered, that he stops seeing red and actually looks ahead of him.     

“Oh !” His eyes widen and he gasps, mind scrambling to figure out just where the the tree, that he is just a second away from smashing in to, came from.

“, , .” Jiyong’s eyes clench shut and his heart leaps inside of his chest as he slams his foot down painfully hard on to the brakes. 

The car jerks forwards roughly. The bumper collides for an excruciating second against the hard bark of the tree and Jiyong is tugged forwards in the harshest manner. His forehead beats against something solid and hard and he feels the blow, letting out a short gasp of pain.  

And then they are thrown back in to their seats.

Seunghyun is panting loud and hard beside him - alive, is the only thing that is racing about Jiyong’s head like a tornado. He inhales deeply – a relieved bout of air, revels in the feeling, chanting alive, breathing and alive, he’s alive, and we’re okay.

Jiyong cannot move to check if the older is hurt – his body feels paralysed and plastered lifelessly on to his seat. Some part of his head is throbbing now, and he can vaguely register the feeling through the numbness starting to tinker through him.

His lids are beginning feel heavy as . Sleepy, so sleepy, He feels his lashes flutter and then sink, eyes drooping closed slowly.

“Oh my god, Jiyong, get up.” Seunghyun’s deep rumble hits his ears and Jiyong tries cracking one eye open – the action exhausts him further.

There are hands on his shoulders in an instant, warm and large and they are shaking his frame. “C’mon, stay with me.” Seunghyun’s words are laced with slight panic.

Jiyong just wants to sleep. He frowns deeply and nuzzles his head back in to the leather seat. “Tired,” he manages to mumble. There is a sharp throbbing behind his eyes, all around his head and he scrunches up his face at the uncomfortable feeling.

The hands on his shoulder move quickly to his sides, just under his arms. Seunghyun tries lifting him upwards. “You can sleep later, I promise. Just stay awake, please.”

Inside Jiyong’s head, Seunghyun’s words haze and become very blank. His thoughts begin to merge together before fading in to black space as he feels himself tip over the edge of consciousness.

+

Jiyong is quite a bit heavier than he looks.

Seunghyun grunts as he hikes the limp body further up his back, trying to find the right balance that doesn’t make his knees want to give out.

 

It’s all a hazy blur to the older in how he managed to heave and pull Jiyong’s dead-weight in to the passenger seat in order for himself to situate behind the wheel and drive somewhere before Jiyong stopped breathing or something.

He’s in a severe sort of panic, still, now that he’s managed to drive to his apartment – closer to where they were from the Kwon residence – because from what Seunghyun is aware of, a person who has just smashed their head against a hard surface should most definitely not be permitted to slip out of consciousness.

But, Jiyong, the goddamn brat had wanted sleep and then had claimed it straight away – as he probably does with most things in his existence, Seunghyun notes.

 Seunghyun’s breath would catch as Jiyong would shift suddenly, or begin to mumble nonsensical things through barely parted lips, would open his eyes blearingly for the tiniest second before they slipped shut once again.

He isn’t completely unconscious and Seunghyun’s crimson red tie had promptly been tied quite firmly around the younger’s forehead just in case, to stop the shallow wound from bleeding – the only things that had prevented Seunghyun from calling an ambulance.

 

Still, his heart has not ceased its racing and he’s not able to breathe evenly – knowing Jiyong could be in a state of pain. He somehow feels responsible for it, in being the one to lead Jiyong outside in the first place.

Although in that moment back at the Lee’s, he had been suffering a headache of furious and fed up thoughts – towards himself, towards Jiyong, towards everyone – he had been strangely touched that the boy had followed him outside.

He hadn’t voiced it, but it didn’t take Seunghyun a guess further to be aware of the fact that Jiyong had been checking on him. The small act of affection from the usually bitter boy sat in some special place inside of his heart, and had him feeling even more grief in the fact that Jiyong got hurt.

 

Seunghyun struggles with the large entrance door, and feels horrible as he kind of lets Jiyong’s body hang from his side as he fumbles with the keys and presses the handle down.

He’s absolutely thrilled in this moment that he’s been living on own his since the beginning of this year – for if he had brought Jiyong to his father’s house, the boy would have had to be lugged up tall windy staircases and long, long corridors.

The bedroom in his own solitary home is just a corner from the entrance and once he manages to trudge inside it, Seunghyun gingerly lowers Jiyong down on to his large bed as if the younger were made from glass. 

There’s probably some unwritten rule that an injured party shouldn’t be made to sleep on the couch – Seunghyun doesn’t even think twice about tweaking off Jiyong’s shiny heeled shoes and then covering him in thick blankets, doesn’t realise properly that he’s just bloody tucked Kwon Jiyong in to his own bed.

After checking the boy’s pulse – sounds normal, good signs – he’s about to go ahead and turn the lights off when he’s suddenly startled in shock. A series of small mumbles sound out from the boy.

In anticipation of him being awake and throwing a fit, Seunghyun braces himself and looks back down – only to see Jiyong sigh and snuggle in to the covers further, still completely asleep.

Seunghyun allows himself to sigh as well, in relief.

And then – the sight of Jiyong sleeping catches his eye again.

He bends down slightly, observing the peculiar view of Jiyong’s relaxed face.

He looks so...young. Seunghyun feels something warm grow within him as he stares down at the rarity before him, something akin to endearment.  It’s slightly uncalled for, but Jiyong just looks so pretty like this: unguarded with his lashes splayed across his cheeks.

It’s enough to have Seunghyun’s hand, without his own knowledge, reach out and brush a strand of hair that obscured Jiyong’s forehead.

The older only snaps out of his trance when the urge to press his lips against Jiyong’s forehead crosses his mind. The idea shocks him in to snatching his hand away as if it had been burned, and with comically wide eyes he stands up straight, as if he were bolted by lightning.

What in the hell was I just doing? Seunghyun now stares down at the sleeping boy as if he were performing some kind of witch craft. The image returns to his head vividly – he leans down just so and gently places a kiss in to Jiyong’s soft hair – Seunghyun shakes his head hard, frantically, and appalled at himself.

This brat is going to kill me, Seunghyun thinks, heart beating hard inside of his chest as he warily eyes Jiyong once more before turning for the exit, grabbing an extra blanket for himself and then shutting off the lights to the bedroom.

Not ten minutes later, Seunghyun’s about to deflate on to the living room sofa to sleep, when he suddenly remembers – first, he has to make an important call.

+


 

The first thing Jiyong notices when he wakes up is that his bed smells much nicer than usual. He smiles slightly as he buries his nose in to the pillow, inhaling something remarkably sweet and musky at the same time.

Jiyong freezes. His eyes snap open. He knows this cologne.

Seunghyun.

He bolts up in the bed as if he’s been struck, eyes widening by the second and heart sinking slowly with dread in to his stomach.

What the actual .

This isn’t his bed. He stares down at the hot pink satin sheets as if they were some sort of illusion, blinking a couple of times to test the loyalty of his own sight. 

With growing disbelief, Jiyong takes in the strange bedroom, with an assortment of are those ing bearbricks lined against one wall and incredibly unfamiliar closets and drawers set up along the other.

He peels the blankets off his body cautiously – he’s wearing the same clothes he was in the night before, at Seungri’s party.

Wait. Jiyong’s eyes flashed as realization dawned on him. Seungri’s party.

The events of last night pour in to his head like a bad hangover, and Jiyong clenches his eyes shut tightly as he recalls all of the happenings – Seunghyun storming out, Jiyong following him, leaving together in Jiyong’s car.

Jiyong impulsively touches two fingers to a spot on his forehead, only to wince and withdraw them at the sharp pain caused by the action. We crashed.

He imagines a large, ugly blue and black bruise blossoming across his head and groans quietly at the thought, burying his face in to his hands and mentally reprimanding himself for not looking carefully at the road as he drove.

Then, abruptly, Seunghyun’s face comes back to his muddles thoughts once more. Jiyong lifts his head up instantly, once again allowing the weight of the situation to fall upon him.

All signs point to this: I’m in Choi Seunghyun’s house, inside his bedroom and in his ing bed. Jiyong thinks someone is testing him or something because how can this actually happen.

Well, he has conjured some sort of an estimate as to how he ended up under Seunghyun’s sheets – from what he can remember, Jiyong believes he must have out after hitting his head a bit too harshly. Seunghyun must have driven me here.

The younger feels like a burdensome existence as he removes himself from the comfort of Seunghyun’s bed and spots his shoes – obviously having been removed – neatly placed beside the bedroom door.

Not only is he the one who caused the car to crash, but Jiyong admits that he is also to blame for pressuring Seunghyun to ‘live a little’ and leave the party. Jiyong shakes his head as his own immature behaviour, cringing regretfully at the memory.

And now, Seunghyun’s the one who’s brought Jiyong inside his house and allowed him to sleep inside his bed.

That ing pushover, Jiyong can’t help but pass the snide thought as he steps carefully outside of the bedroom, eyes big and curious as he tested new waters.

It’s an apartment; he realizes quickly; a massive one that possessed suite-like luxuries and a pretty, city view.  

He takes two full steps out of the room, eyeing the black and white marble that decorated the kitchen counters with appreciation. Jiyong allows his gaze to travel down to what looks like the living room area, taking in the foreign-looking rugs and black leather sofas

And that’s when he sees him.

Seunghyun is splayed across the longer of two couches, a patterned blanket barely covering his tall limbs and his lips parted slightly in a soundless state of sleep.

And if Jiyong hadn’t been feeling like a piece of utter before, he certainly is now.

He hadn’t really pondered on Seunghyun’s location from the moment he’d woken up, despite the fact he had been the only one sleeping in the older’s room – and so, the sight before him has Jiyong positively transfixed with guilt.

Jiyong hates Seunghyun and his kindness because he has no clue why the man insists on doing these all of these things when Jiyong is so, incredibly undeserving of it.  He has not even the tiniest of ideas as to how he’s meant to respond, what he’s meant to do to  make up for all of the unnecessary trouble he’s caused for the older.

The cowardly brat inside of his conscience is telling Jiyong to slip his shoes back on and run for the exit – before Seunghyun wakes up and Jiyong has to word out an actual apology.

However, there’s an ill feeling inside of Jiyong’s chest that holds him in place, which only grows as he continues to stare at Seunghyun sleeping on the narrow leather couch, alongside a complete and absolute warmth towards the older man.

I have to do something.

‘Something’ turns out to be breakfast.

Jiyong doesn’t consider himself to possess the ability to apologise to Seunghyun through words – his god dam pride – yet he doesn’t know what has pushed him to believe that cooking something for the man is a better alternative.

He reckons it involves the least effort, the kitchen is right in front of him, and Jiyong can just leave the plate on the table and then disappear before Seunghyun has the chance to wake up.

Then they would be even, right? One good deed for another and then I don’t owe him anything else.

There’s something about the idea that remains a little off inside of Jiyong’s head, but he doesn’t consider it at all, ignores it in favour of a simple way out of this situation.
 

Jiyong wonders why on earth he also doesn’t find it an issue that he has never been particularly, well, skilled in any culinary talents. His efforts have never really ventured past fruit and cereal, or flipping pre-marinated meat over on a grill.

But then again, Jiyong has never been one to act against his impulsive thoughts, which as of right now, are leading him in to Seunghyun’s sleek and shiny kitchen area.

He opens up the pantry to reveal fully and extensively stocked columns of food product. His eyes widen as they helplessly flit across the various items in vain – and then pause at some fresh looking loaves of white bread cut up inside a container.

Bread. Jiyong can deal with bread.

It takes him less than five minutes to work out where the toaster is after that, and Jiyong believes he is experiencing a streak of good luck, humming a happy little tune under his breath as he tucks the bread pieces in to the toaster slots.

He definitely knows how to press buttons and command a coffee machine and is delighted to find one of an identical kind to his own, inside Seunghyun’s kitchen.

It’s because of this distraction, as he is in the middle of deciding how he should make Seunghyun’s coffee, that Jiyong is incredibly startled and jumps up at a sudden voice from behind him:

“...Jiyong?”

Oh my ing god.

In all of his internal planning, Jiyong had somehow forgotten to work out what he would do if Seunghyun did happen to wake up.

The long packet of coffee pods he had been analysing in his hands have now all toppled to the ground,  as Jiyong’s fingers lost all sense of grip at the sound of the deep, rumbling voice.

He suddenly feels incredibly stupid and intrusive, bustling around Seunghyun’s home as if it were his own or as if they were close – his cheeks begin to burn at the feeling of Seunghyun’s stare on his back and he can do nothing to mask his embarrassment as he tentatively turns around to face the older, wringing his fingers in front of himself nervously.

Jiyong only meets Seunghyun’s bemused and puzzled eyes for the smallest moment before he immediately looks down at the wood floor, feeling almost like a child being caught misbehaving.

“I...I was just,” Jiyong stutters uncertainly, not sure what to make of the look he saw on Seunghyun’s face. Why do I always ing do things without thinking it through? He continues playing with his hands as he struggles to continue, “Y-you let me crash here...so, I-”

“You were making breakfast?” Seunghyun supplies in a voice that, surprisingly, doesn’t sound angry or irritated in the slightest.

Confused, Jiyong chances a glimpse up at the older and his breath almost catches at the dimpled smile that is present of Seunghyun’s face. Seunghyun is smiling at him, widely.

For some reason, instead of assuring Jiyong, this only causes him more unsettlement and his cheeks feel much more heated in an instant. He feels like it’s a habit now for his emotions to run wild and amok around Seunghyun. He averts his gaze and nods, “Yeah, just, y-you know, it’s nothing special, just-”

“Why’s there only one mug out?” Jiyong follows Seunghyun stare to the counter, where he’d set an empty mug to be filled for the older. “Were you not...staying to eat?”

Jiyong can’t help but feel a bit warmer at the fact that Seunghyun’s voice sounds more deflated knowing he hadn’t been planning on staying. He masks the feeling behind a small, embarrassed laugh, scratching the back of his neck, “I think I’ve been enough of a burden for you,”

And it would be out of character for Seunghyun to not oppose that, so Jiyong isn’t surprised as the older begins to assure him otherwise, a slightly distressed look painted across his features, “No, don’t be silly – you were hurt,”

Seunghyun abruptly pauses mid-speech.

His thick eyebrows furrow together and his nose scrunches up and Jiyong is about to ask what the hell happened – when an unpleasant smell suddenly invades all of his senses.

“Jiyong,” Seunghyun’s eyes are scanning the kitchen in a state of panic, “Is something burning?”

“.” Jiyong’s eyes widen in horror as the realization sinks in to him. “Oh .” Absorbed by dread, the boy slowly turns his head back – only to see swirls of smoke forming above the little, forgotten toaster.  

“No!” Jiyong yells out as he scrambles for the machine, continuing to whisper his distraught chant of ‘no, no, no, no’ as he takes out two pathetic pieces of completely blackened and charred toast. He continues to stare at the ruined breakfast helplessly, even as he feels Seunghyun walking up behind him.

“I literally can’t do anything right, what the !” Jiyong snarls out as he carelessly tosses the burnt toast on to the plate he had set out earlier. He wants to kick himself. Even in trying to do a nice thing for Seunghyun, what Jiyong causes is wasted food and a mess of a kitchen smelling awful.

He doesn’t notice Seunghyun quietly stepping beside him to pick up the plate until the older says, “It’s not that bad, I like my toast on the crispier side, anyway.” Jiyong’s internal scoldings come to an immediate halt, and he turns to Seunghyun with an utterly horrified expression. The man is already walking towards a glass dining table with the burnt toast in hand.

“What the hell!? No, you are not eating that piece of crap toast! Seunghyun!”

The older appears to be completely unaware of the fact that Jiyong has rendered the bread inedible as he pulls out a chair. He looks up at Jiyong with a slightly bashful smile as the younger stares back irately, “You made me breakfast, I can’t just throw it away.”

And Jiyong wants to melt at the warm, touched tone of Seunghyun’s voice and the gentle glint in his eye but the younger is more concerned that the man is going to develop a severe case of food poisoning or upchuck or something else terrible and so before Seunghyun can actually sit down, Jiyong lunges at him, hands reaching out to take away the plate.

Seunghyun obviously had not perceived this, and yells out in surprise as Jiyong’s body collides with his, arms tangling around his form and Jiyong gasps as he feels his foot slip over Seunghyun’s – causing the both of them to lose their balance.

Jiyong’s breath catches tightly at the back of his throat, eyes clenching shut as he and Seunghyun topple over each other and land on the ground with a loud thud. Seunghyun lets out a disgruntled ‘oof’ as Jiyong falls flat on to his chest.

After a moment of regaining his senses, with heavy panting regulating back to normal breaths of in-and-out, Jiyong carefully cracks one eye open, cautious of any damage caused.

But what he finds is ten folds worse – Oh, god I'm lying on top of Seunghyun.
 

Not only that, but Seunghyun’s hands are splayed across Jiyong’s back, scrunching in to his shirt and holding him steady. Jiyong can feel the warmth radiating from everywhere the older man is touching him –feels like he’s on fire.

It doesn’t help that when he does manage to get both eyes open, Seunghyun’s nose is just centimetres from his own, the deep black pools of his eyes boring intensely in to Jiyong’s own, too intensely.

So close. Jiyong can feel his heart rapidly pounding against his chest as their gazes continue to lock with each other’s – or maybe that’s Seunghyun’s heartbeat – Jiyong cannot be bothered to tell, not when he is able to count the individual strands of Seunghyun’s thick, dark eyelashes.

The younger swallows thickly as he feels Seunghyun’s outward breaths fan across his parted lips. If I just move the tiniest bit closer, then...

The sudden, blearing ring of a phone breaks the spell.

As if snapped out of a trance, Jiyong jerks himself back, eyes bulging out in disbelief as he feels his whole form grow warm and blush a vibrant red. He begins to mutter little embarrassed curses under his breath as he peels himself off of the other and struggles to stand.

Seunghyun seems to be in the same state of shock as he blinks up at Jiyong with wide eyes, seemingly dazed and it just serves to render the boy to a greater a level of mortification.

What the was I just about to do?

a/n: longest chapter i've written but at the same time i'm just like what the hell am i writing ahhah