Why is this so hard?

Sehun glares at the tube in his hand. He swears this had looked really easy in the YouTube video. 

"You're not doing it right," Jongin snorts as Sehun slides the Cherry Crush across his ever so slightly plump bottom lip. He's standing behind Sehun with an eyebrow raised—judgement written all over his face.

"What do you know about applying lipstick the right way?" Sehun asks defensively.

"I've got two older sisters and a mom."

"Well, I've got a mom, so?" Sehun argues stubbornly.

"Well you haven't been paying enough attention to your mom when she applies her lipstick then. Because you're doing it all wrong."

"I think you're full of ," Sehun decides to ignore him as he puckers his lips at the mirror, and examines his own reflection before pressing the pale pink tip to his upper lip. 

"Am not. My noonas used to practice on me. I know all there is to know about lipstick and how to use it," Jongin's voice is nonchalant as he slides his hands into his pockets.

"No ing way!" Sehun is so shocked he smears his lipstick. He hisses in annoyance and tells himself he's not by the idea of Jongin with lipstick on his mouth. Then he reminds himself that this is his best friend. Best friends don't think about kissing the lipstick off each other's mouths. 

He doubts Jongin thinks about his lips at all—lipstick or no lipstick. So he needs to stop thinking about Jongin's lips and the things he wants to do with them. Immediately. Because this crush he has on his best friend is going nowhere fast.

"You can ask them yourself if you don't believe me. You have their cell phone numbers don't you? CALL THEM. I DARE YOU."

"I'm not calling them. They're scary as ."

"No they're not," Jongin snorted again, "They're just my noonas. No one is allowed to diss my noonas. Not even my best friend."

"Fine, Jongin! Your noonas are not scary at all. But me saying that doesn't fix this mess you've made of my lipstick with your story. Goddammit, you ! Now I'm going to have to wipe all this off—" Sehun's agitated words tumble out in a rush, but they're cut off all of a sudden when Jongin's thumb makes contact with his upper lip.

"Shhh," Jongin tells him as he swipes the smudges of lipstick from the edges of Sehun's mouth. "Don't move," he says as he peels the lipstick from Sehun's frozen fingers.

"What are you—?" 

"Don't. Move."

"But—"

"I said shhh," Jongin says softly—not scoffing like he normally would. Then, gently, very gently, he guides the lipstick over Sehun's upper lip (probably in the exact same way Jongin's noonas used to do when they experimented on him). It's the most delicate sensation because Jongin is so careful and so gentle. Either way, Sehun is too stunned to speak.

Jongin screws all the pink back in and caps it, "There. Now it's almost perfect." Hands on Sehun's shoulders, he turns his best friend's body so Sehun faces the mirror. His upper lip is now sporting an impeccable coat of lipstick. Who knew his best friend was this good with make up?

"What do you mean by almost perfect?" Sehun asks, curious, as he stares at his reflection in the mirror. He doesn't even try to pretend that he's not staring at Jongin's reflection too. 

Life would have been so much less complicated if he didn't find Jongin handsome, didn't find him the best listener (even if he could be a bit of a prick sometimes), the best company, the best friend he'd ever had. So much less complicated. 

But you can't choose who you like, Sehun's grandmother had told him years ago, when he was ten. He hadn't known the significance of the advice when he was ten but now he's too painfully aware of the wisdom in his grandmother's words. 

"Jongin? What do you mean by almost perfect?"

Sehun makes a small noise of surprise as strong hands turn him around. Then his eyes shut as Jongin's face moves closer to his own. Strong hands cup his jaw, and he feels the warm breath caressing his cheek. If this is a joke, Sehun swears he'll never speak to Jongin again (well, he won't speak to him for three days at least because Sehun isn't sure he can survive any longer than that without seeing Jongin).

But there's nothing remotely funny about the way Jongin's lips fit over his, nothing funny about the way his tongue and mouth feel as they move over his own. And there's especially nothing funny about the way their bodies fit so well together—Sehun just a little taller and his shoulders just a little bit broader. 

If this is a joke, Sehun never wants to hear the punch line because he wants the joke to go on forever. But Jongin's kiss eventually ends and Sehun's on tenterhooks because what now? They've always been best friends and Sehun doesn't want to lose that.

"There," is all Jongin says and it's ridiculously cryptic. Jongin is hardly ever cryptic and this makes Sehun even more nervous. 

There's Cranberry Crush smudged all over Jongin's lips and it looks awful and endearing all at the same time. Sehun's fingers itch to clean up all the pink but he stops himself. 

"What do you mean?" he asks instead. 

"Now that I've kissed it all off, it's perfect," Jongin smiles just before he pulls Sehun closer and kisses him again. Maybe...just maybe, Sehun isn't the only one with a crush on his best friend.