Chapter 4

Once they arrive at Jongin's house, safely in the garage, Kyungsoo wonders aloud.

"Wait, should I change into comfier clothes also?"

"You can borrow some of mine." Jongin pauses. "Hey, do you maybe wanna stay over tonight?"

“Are your parents all right with it?” Kyungsoo asks out of reflex.

“This asking your parents thing is really cute, Kyungsoo,” Kai teases laughing at him a little. “Of course, my parents are okay with it. Especially if it’s you. My friends come over all the time but you’re my sister’s babysitter. They love you.” Kyungsoo blushes a little, embarrassed that he is Jongin’s sister’s babysitter. He wonders if he’ll always be seen as that in Jongin’s eyes. Maybe not, it’s how they met so of course Jongin remembers it.

“Okay. I’ll just tell my parents so they don’t think I’m dying or something.” Kyungsoo quickly texts his parents that he is at Jongin’s house.

“Ready?” Kyungsoo nods. They both get out of the car and Kyungsoo follows Jongin into his house and up to his bedroom. Jongin picks out his smallest shirt for Kyungsoo and his old pair of black sweatpants that no longer fit. Jongin hands the clothes over to Kyungsoo and just in time, the doorbell rings.

“I’ll go get the door, you can change in here.” Kyungsoo nods and Jongin jogs out the door. Kyungsoo sees that he forgot to close the door behind him and goes to close it. As he grabs onto the door knob, Jongin comes running back into the room. He also places his hand on the doorknob. With Jongin’s hand over his, Kyungsoo begins to feel warm, feeling shy at the skinship even though they’ve held hands before. He shouldn’t feel like this but suddenly all the things that Kyungsoo used to think was innocent were making him nervous.

“I forgot to close the door,” Jongin says somewhat out of breath. Kyungsoo just nods in agreement. They just stare at each other for a while. Kyungsoo begins to smile at how awkward the situation is. Jongin smiles back and soon they’re laughing together, but the doorbell ringing again ruins their moment.

“I should get that,” Jongin says, though he’s not really moving to do so.

“Yup,” Kyungsoo agrees.

“Okay, I’m going,” Jongin announces.

“Okay,” Kyungsoo nods. Jongin doesn’t react. “Bye, Jongin. Unless you want to watch me change and let Sehun, Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Jongdae melt in the heat, you should go.” Jongin tries not to show that he is considering this option. Kyungsoo begins closing the door but he is smiling nonetheless, showing Jongin that he is just being playful. Jongin finally lets go of the knob and jogs down the stairs as he did before.

Kyungsoo changes quickly so that there’s no chance of Jongin walking in on him, especially if the other two couples would be in tow. Once he’s done getting dressed, he checks himself in the mirror and smooths out the fabric of the loose shirt. He pulls down on the hem and makes a face at himself in the mirror.

“Hi!” Jongin pops his head in the door and Kyungsoo almost screams. He is still trying to calm down from the scare but Jongin just cackles, slapping his knees and holding his stomach.

“Do you knock?! What if I was still changing?” Kyungsoo bellows. Jongin doesn’t answer, still too busy laughing but holds up a finger to ask Kyungsoo to wait for his explanation.

“Sorry, I had to. But you weren’t changing, so it’s okay,” Jongin breathes out once he’s calmed himself down.

“No it’s not.” Kyungsoo punches Jongin’s arm for good measure and sneaks past him to make his way downstairs.

“Hyung!” Sehun yells. He untangles himself from Baekhyun’s embrace and meets Kyungsoo halfway up the stairs to give him a hug. Kyungsoo is surprised at Sehun’s apparent excitement to see him but wraps his arms around the younger anyway. Jongin walks past them on the stairs and glares at Sehun’s back. Kyungsoo is facing him though and uses the opportunity to stick his tongue out at him, still angry about Jongin’s prank. Jongin begins his laughing fit again at this. By the time he makes it down the stairs he’s coughing and Jongdae is hitting his back to help him live.

“Stop dying!” Chanyeol yells in encouragement. Kyungsoo laughs as he pulls away from Sehun. Sehun takes his hand and leads him down the stairs.

“Hyung, what movie do you want to watch? Since it’s your first time, you get to choose,” Sehun says, pushing Kyungsoo down onto the couch. He goes to the movie shelf and points out different movies like a model on The Price is Right. Jongin’s collection is quite large.

“Can we watch Happy Feet?” Kyungsoo chooses. Jongin chuckles off to the side.

“Well, that’s from Julia’s collection but I don’t think she’ll mind.” Sehun goes to put the movie in and the two couples get comfortable together in different spots around the room. Jongdae has his legs hanging over Chanyeol’s lap. Baekhyun is in Sehun’s lap while Kyungsoo and Jongin simply sit next to each other. None of their body parts are touching and they are both using significant muscle power to keep it that way.

The movie begins and Jongin thinks again how cute it is that Kyungsoo picked a kids movie. Sometimes Kyungsoo seems like an old man, and other times, he reveals his inner child in ways like this. Jongin is learning about Kyungsoo, taking mental notes, making sure not to miss a detail. Jongin listens to the way Kyungsoo hums to the songs throughout the movie. He knows which songs are Kyungsoo’s favorites by how well he knows them. For some songs, Kyungsoo hums the R&B runs and the adlibs and for others, he just hums the plain tune. Jongin watches how Kyungsoo’s lips move slightly as if mumbling because he can’t help but to mouth the lyrics. It’s all so interesting to Jongin. Well, really everything about Kyungsoo is interesting to Jongin.

“You must sing really well,” Jongin compliments in a whisper. He looks down at Kyungsoo and Kyungsoo meets his eyes with confusion.

“Huh?”

“The way you hum. I can tell you are a really great singer. You should let me hear it some time.” With this, Kyungsoo realizes how close their faces are. As he thinks over Jongin’s words, he’s flattered and would love to close the distance between them and let his lips meet Jongin’s over and over until he’s satisfied but he does otherwise. He feels the heat rise in his cheeks and whispers back.

“I’ll think about it. Now watch my favorite movie.” Jongin also took note of that. Happy Feet is Kyungsoo’s favorite movie. That’s adorable. He and Julia were really meant to be. It’s her favorite movie as well. If he dates Kyungsoo, he’ll probably have to watch the movie twice as much. He already knows some of the lyrics to almost all of the songs and he’s never even watched it fully until now. Really though, he shouldn’t be thinking that far ahead when he hasn’t even told Kyungsoo how he feels. Jongin sighs at this. Will he ever? He has to though. Jongin decides that he has to tell him tonight. He just has to. He will even make up some kind of punishment if he doesn’t.

“You kind of look like Mumble,” Jongin whispers in Kyungsoo’s ear a little later on. Kyungsoo looks away from the screen only to glare at Jongin. Jongin puts his hands up in surrender. “What? It’s true.” He brings a hand up to cup Kyungsoo’s cheek, unconsciously it with his thumb. “Like a cute little penguin.” Kyungsoo is still glaring but his expression softens and Jongin’s gesture. However, he reminds himself where he is and brings his hand up to rest above Jongin’s, moving both of their hands down and intertwining their fingers. Kyungsoo turns his attention back to the film and Jongin does the same even though he is still in shock that he is holding hands with Kyungsoo. While Jongin is turning his head towards the television, he makes eye contact with Chanyeol, who smirks and gives him a thumbs up and a wink. Jongin’s face flushes immediately and vows to never look in that direction again, or at least for the rest of the movie.

Jongin recognizes the movie coming to an end when he feels the weight of Kyungsoo’s head on his shoulder. He hadn’t really been watching. He was thinking of a punishment for himself if he didn’t confess to Kyungsoo and he found one. It would cause him enough embarrassment to last a lifetime. If he didn’t confess, he would have to ask Kyungsoo to go to Homecoming with him on the college campus in front of all of their friends. Jongin feels embarrassed just thinking about it. He hates public confessions or proposals or prom-posals or anything of the sort. He will never do that so he knows that he can tell Kyungsoo how he feels. Kyungsoo is still humming to the songs and Jongin can feel the vibrations of his voice through the fabric of his t-shirt on his shoulder. He looks down at Kyungsoo’s peaceful face and makes a promise to himself to tell him. If Kyungsoo feels the same way, the longer he waits the more time he’ll miss spending with Kyungsoo. If Kyungsoo doesn’t feel the same way…well, he won’t think about that. Jongin gives himself the permission to admit that if he is reading the signs correctly, Kyungsoo does have feelings for him as well. He gives himself some confidence because he knows that he needs it.

The movie is finally over and Kyungsoo is fully asleep on his shoulder. Sehun goes to take the disc out of the DVD player and replace it in its spot on the shelf. Chanyeol comes over with Jongdae and begins making lewd gestures with his fingers. Jongin can only blush and hope that Kyungsoo won’t wake up to see his immature friends making fun of him. Jongin mouths for him to shut up and Chanyeol begins laughing loudly. Unfortunately, his boisterous laugh wakes Kyungsoo.

“What’s going on?” Kyungsoo asks, snuggling into Jongin’s shoulder more though his eyes are open.

“The movie’s over so we’re gonna head home,” Baekhyun explains while Kyungsoo’s hair from behind the couch. Kyungsoo looks up to see who it is and his head momentarily leaves Jongin’s shoulder. Jongin resists the urge to glare at his friend for ruining his moment.

“Oh okay. Bye bye,” Kyungsoo mumbles.

“Wah, Kyungsoo is so cute when he’s falling asleep,” Baekhyun notes. Jongin smiles down at his hyung.

“Kyungsoo, I’m going to go walk them to the door. Why don’t you head upstairs?” Jongin tells Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo just nods and walks upstairs like a zombie. Jongin hopes he doesn’t fall asleep on the way and fall down the stairs or run into a wall or something. He quickly rushes the other four guys out the door.

“Use protection!” Jongdae whisper-yells.

“He looks tired already, don’t keep him up too late!” Chanyeol adds at full volume because he doesn’t care about neighbors.

“See you later Kai.” Baekhyun pats his cheek. Sehun simply gives Jongin a bro hug and goes to hold Baekhyun’s waist as they cross the yard to the car. Jongin waits until their tail lights disappear down the road before sprinting up the stairs and down the hallway to his door. He takes a deep breath before entering. He knows what he needs to do. He didn’t really think of what to say but he’ll just wing it. Don’t they say that it sounds more genuine that way? He hopes so. Once he opens the door though, he sees Kyungsoo splayed out on his bed asleep. At least he took off his slippers before flopping on the bed, Jongin thinks. Jongin changes into some shorts and a t-shirt in the closet before re-entering the room. He debates whether he should wake up Kyungsoo for his big moment. Kyungsoo looks so peaceful but then Jongin remembers his punishment and knows he has to.

He goes over to the bed and covers Kyungsoo with his comforter. He is nervous but joins him under the blanket, making sure to keep his distance though. He shakes Kyungsoo’s shoulder a little.

“Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo,” he repeats. Kyungsoo’s eyes open suddenly and Jongin startles a little. Kyungsoo seems to be looking straight into his soul but Jongin keeps reminding himself of the punishment. He thinks of intimidating college students laughing at him and Kyungsoo dumping his tray of food on him in the dining hall. He knows that Kyungsoo would never do that but he needs motivation.

“I want to tell you something,” Jongin starts, looking down at Kyungsoo for permission to say what he needs to say. Kyungsoo nods against the mattress. His eyes are open wider now. Kyungsoo is listening intently even though he is still slightly out of it.

“So, I made this stupid punishment for myself so I kind of have to do this now. Um…from the first time I saw you… no that sounds like too much. Um…I kind of sort of like… no um…I do like you, a lot, so will you go on a date with me?” Jongin struggles through it but he finally lets out a question that communicates his feelings while not making it sound like he’s ready to marry Kyungsoo. They still don’t know each other that well.

Kyungsoo sits up in order to process more readily what Jongin just said. If he were more awake he would have responded in a heartbeat but he wasn’t expecting this to come out now. Kyungsoo looks up at Jongin as he sits with his back on the headboard. He remembers that this is the guy who makes his heart beat quicken. This is the guy who came up to him during his little sister’s funeral, asking him questions and wanting to get to know him. This is the guy who introduced him to all of his friends and made Kyungsoo feel less lonely in this new city for once. This is the guy he likes. Kyungsoo isn’t thinking anymore when he leans in and lets his lips meet Jongin’s. It only lasts a second though because Kyungsoo doesn’t just stop thinking. He thinks all the time. It’s a blessing and a curse.

Jongin is staring at him once he pulls away and Kyungsoo brings the blanket up over his head to hide. Jongin here’s Kyungsoo laughing nervously. He pulls the blanket away and Kyungsoo tries to cover his face with his hands. Jongin pulls his hands away and leans down to kiss Kyungsoo himself. Jongin brings a hand to the back of Kyungsoo’s neck to pull him closer and presses his lips onto Kyungsoo’s harder than the first time. Kyungsoo just leans into Jongin’s touch, kissing back because though he’s tired, Jongin is making him feel wide awake. Jongin moves his lips against Kyungsoo’s though their mouths are still closed. Jongin doesn’t want to take that step just yet and save it for a later time once they’ve known each other better. Kyungsoo bites Jongin’s lips as he pulls away and Jongin is surprised that he was capable of that in such a state. Jongin feels like a ert but his lips anyway and hopes Kyungsoo can’t see it in the darkness.

“Let’s sleep. I know you’re tired.” They both lay down and Kyungsoo makes the first move to snuggle into Jongin’s chest. Jongin lets his arm drop to rest on Kyungsoo’s waist and before he knows it, Kyungsoo’s asleep. As Jongin begins to fall asleep he prays that this wasn’t just a dream.

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Hello friends! Long time no see! I hope you all like this chapter of the story. Thank you for supporting me so far. Comment please! I would love your feedback! Subscribe, upvote too if you like it. Thanks for reading!