Jongdae had successfully managed to calm a crying MinDae by the time he made it back to their home.  Stepping into the apartment, Jongdae gently places his little sister into her bed, kissing her softly on the forehead and encouraging her into sleep.  Satisfied by her peaceful breaths, he makes his way into his own room, depositing himself exhaustedly into his bed.

Though he knows he should be feeling upset by Joonmyun's mother behaving poorly towards him and his sister once again, he finds he just doesn't care. Instead, he can't take his mind off of how beautiful Joonmyun looked in the moment before their interruption as he nestled his face into Jongdae's calloused palm.  His heart is still fluttering at the intense expression that had been on the other's face.

Sighing heavily and rolling up and out of bed, Jongdae makes his way into the kitchen to cook dinner.

Three hours and some homework later, Jongdae is perched on his windowsill, chain smoking cigarettes and watching the tendrils of white smoke curl lazily out the window and dissipate into the night air.  The nicotine is doing little to calm his nerves, and just as he is lighting his fourth cigarette of the hour, he is startled by the sound of his phone ringing.

Staring down at the caller ID, Jongdae feels his chest constrict and his nervous system shot through with energy.

"Hello?" His calm voice does nothing to portray the state of his nerves.

"Jongdae?" Joonmyun's voice on the other hand is quite strained.

Instantly on high alert, Jongdae breaths out a soft, "Yeah, what's up?"

"Um, I'm sorry once again for the way my mother treated you."

"Hey man, it's nothing you need to apologize for."

Joonmyun answers with a gentle hum, but is otherwise silent.  Jongdae waits patiently for him to continue, knowing that that's not all he called about.

"Is there anything else?" He prods gently after a few more moments of silence.

"Y-yes, actually," he stutters out, and Jongdae is surprised to note that he sounds almost embarrassed. "I'm outside your apartment, could you possibly let me in?"

Jongdae is jolted with an electric current, but he still manages to keep his calm when he answers with a gentle, "sure," before cutting off the call and hastily making his way through the living room.

Opening the door as quietly as possible so as not to disturb his sleeping family, Jongdae see Joonmyun fidgeting nervously on his doorstep.

"Hey, come in." Joonmyun snaps his head up, surprised at the voice that had called him out of his anxious reverie.

Stepping aside, Jongdae watches as the other boy cautiously makes his way into his home, kicking off his shoes before standing awkwardly in the living room and waiting for Jongdae to take the lead.

As soon as the two boys are in Jongdae's room, Joonmyun immediately begins an apology. "I'm sorry for intruding and everything, but your mom said I was welcome any time and I just didn't feel like being at home, and, well - "

"Joonmyun, that's enough. As my mom said, you are welcome here any time. Why don't you sit down or something, and I'll go get us something to drink. Is cola okay?"

"Just water is good, thanks," Joonmyun mutters out as he sits tentatively on the edge of Jongdae's bed.

While Jongdae is bustling around the kitchen, Joonmyun takes to looking at all of the drawings on the wall.  A lot of them are clearly done by MinDae, but a lot of them are done by a clearly skilled hand.  The drawings all seem to have a singular illustrative quality, and while some of them are simple observation drawings, a lot of them are intensely imaginative and make him feel as if he's being in to a whole other world. 

Leaning closer to one particular drawing of a giant squid sensually wrapping its tentacles around a woman, Joonmyun is surpised to see a signature at the corner of the drawing.

"Here's your water," Jongdae says as he enters the room, sipping at his own glass of cola.

"Jongdae!" Joonmyun exclaims suddenly, startling the other into spilling a little bit of the water over his hand.

"What?" He asks, clearly confused and simultaneously nervous.

"You didn't tell me you could draw!"

"Oh, that," Jongdae replies, tension visibly leaving his body as he places both their glasses down on his bedside table. "You never asked."

"Well, you're amazing," Joonmyun praises candidly, missing Jongdae's blush as his eyes continue to scan the room. Zeroing in on a drawing by MinDae that seems to hold a special place of honor above his desk, Joonmyun stands and walks over to inspect it more closely.

"Hey, wait! Don't look at that -" Jongdae exclaims as he frantically tries to prevent Joonmyun from seeing it. But he's too late, the damage has already been done.

"Why am I the princess?" Joonmyun asks curiously as he examines MinDae's drawing. He's surprisingly pleased to see the hearts drawn around the two of them, but he's not too happy about being depicted as the damsel in distress.

"It's because you're pretty." Jongdae mumbles out.

"What?" Joonmyun flushes as he once more stands upright and looks at Jongdae who appears to have gotten considerably closer to him in this small room.

"You're the princess because you're prettier than me. Minnie-Me's words, not mine. Also, I'm the prince because I saved you from the bad guys. Twice now, I guess."

"O-oh," Joonmyun stammers out, finally taking a sip of his water as if to distract himself.  "So you don't think I'm pretty, then?" It meant to come out as teasing, but ended up just sounding terribly insecure.

"No." Jongdae says as he steps closer. Encouraged by Joonmyun's disheartened look as he says these words, Jongdae finds the courage to finish the rest of his thought. "I think you're beautiful."

"O-oh," Joonmyun stutters once again, but this time there is a gentle flush to his face as he looks up into Jongdae's eyes, surprised by their suddenly close proximity.

"Joonmyun," Jongdae breathes out, his warm hand coming up to caress Joonmyun's smooth cheeks once again.

"Yes?" He's breathy and more than a little bit nervous.

"I know that you hate me and I smell of cigarettes, but do you think maybe I could kiss you?" Jongdae is surprised by his own confidence as he moves even closer to the other boy, so close that their chests are now touching and Joonmyun has to look upwards, just ever so slightly, to be able to see Jongdae's face.

"I don't hate you."

"Good," Jongdae exhales the word softly as he leans forward to capture the other's lips with his own. The kiss is gentle and Joonmyun's lips are remarkably soft as Jongdae places his free hand in the small of Joonmyun's back, drawing him closer to himself.

His body is humming with heat and electricity and elation at the thought and feeling of Joonmyun kissing him. Smiling into the kiss, he separates their lips, resting his forehead against Joonmyun's, watching the others lashes flutter as his eyes open.  Still rubbing his thumb in soothing circles on the other's cheek, his small smile turns into a full on grin.

"Was that okay?" he asks, keeping their faces close.

Instead of answering, Joonmyun simply leans up and gives him one more small peck to the lips. "I think so."

A/N:

Hello my dears! I apologize profusely for the looong gap between updates. I have plenty of excuses, but they don't really matter. I hope that this fluff is enough to appease your poor angsty souls. I'm so unbelievably glad to have finally written them kissing. I probably should have waited another chapter or two, but I was just as anxious about it as all of you.

As always, I encourage you to comment because it always makes me so happy to read the things you all have to say to me. <3 <3