“Should I hold your hand, hyung?”

The question hung heavily in the air, dulling all the white noises in the background. As Taeil looked up at the source of the sound, Jihoon was staring back at him innocuously.

“Why?” Taeil asked back after a brief pause, raising both of his brows at the peculiar offer.

As if he’d foreseen his hyung’s reaction, Jihoon’s lips quirked up a sheepish smile. “It’s really crowded here,” He muttered, sweeping his gaze through the group of people within his sight. “You’re so tiny, hyung, I’m afraid I’ll lose you.”

His words were followed by a light chuckle that Taeil blatantly ignored, but not because he was particularly annoyed. He was too busy sorting out Jihoon’s offer in his head and how it made Taeil’s own hand grow cold and twitchy, as if it became aware of him.

“Hyung?”

Taeil brought his gaze back to the road before him, and he didn’t dare to look up as he quietly entwined his pinky with Jihoon’s. “Sure, whatever.” He said imperturbably with a shrug of his shoulder.

None of them said anything after that, or when Jihoon slowly slid his hand into Taeil. And as Jihoon tightened his fingers around him, he unconsciously squeezed him back.

It wasn’t a one-time occurrence, that hand holding. Apparently it became a thing for Jihoon to suddenly intertwine their fingers together; whether it was at the airport, or after they finished having dinner at a crowded place, or even in a middle of shooting – where Taeil was forced to keep up with the pace of his long-legged crew members.

But there were times when Taeil became extremely skeptical at the gesture – like this time, for example. There were no crowd or mob of fans or crew whatsoever, it was just him, Jihoon, Minhyuk and their managers.

Jihoon had his long fingers draped around his as they were seated in the waiting room, and it was completely unnerving because there was a lot of thing he wanted to do; like playing mobile games for example. And no, Taeil wasn’t trying to make up excuses just because he felt conscious. Of course not. He tried sneaking glances at Minhyuk, but obviously, he didn’t even bother to bat an eye at their direction.

If he were to be honest with himself, he could just yank his hand free without saying anything. He knew that giant baby wouldn’t even say anything in his defense but…

If he unintentionally made Pyo Jihoon feel rejected, he’d definitely regret it.

After a fleeting moment of silence with nothing but the faint sound of his manager talking through the phone, Taeil exhaled through his nose and whined. “Jihoonie, my palm is sweating.”

“Ah,” instinctively, Jihoon released his iron grip and drew his hand back, a familiar grin on his face. “Sorry, hyung.”

“Ah, seriously, you,” Taeil wiped his palm on his jeans, unsure of what to do now that he got his hand free. Now it was just sitting awkwardly at his thigh, somehow a little jittery. “Why do you keep taking my hand?” He asked out of pure curiosity, though a little wary of how the answer would come out. He felt Jihoon shifted beside him, followed by a questioning look thrown at his direction by Minhyuk. Well at the very least, the question peaked his interest too.

“Because…” Jihoon started quietly. “Taeil hyung’s hand is so chubby and tiny, it’s cute. You’re really cute.”

Taeil couldn’t even bring himself to feel angry nor annoyed – he just sat there watching as Minhyuk’s smile slowly grew into a sneaky one before that little exited the waiting room. Now, Taeil had heard those words hundreds of times – yes, Jihoon had mentioned it that much. But hearing it directly when there was no camera in sight and no fans to please; it felt unexpectedly odd for him. Too intimate, he might have added.

“Aish, you,” Taeil gave up on whatever he was about to say as he slowly turned his face to the side. He was being weird, but so was Jihoon. His fingers unconsciously twitched.

“Isn’t it cold, hyung?”

Taeil didn’t reply; but the two of them knew better. Taeil didn’t complain either when he felt the heat of Jihoon’s palm against his own, gradually enveloping him with a different kind of warmth.