It’s obvious.

Seongwoo tries to hide his smile, pretending to wipe his nose instead. Even without looking, he can feel the stare directed right at him from across the room. Just for the heck of it, he turns his body slightly in a fake stretch to catch the eyes of a certain pink-haired boy. Their eyes meet for a millisecond, and the boy turns away in the next. Seongwoo can see the side of his face turning pink, all the way to the tip of his ears.

It’s so obvious.

* * *

Daniel has always been pale. Seongwoo has no idea why, considering the boy has put down skateboarding as one of his hobbies and specialties. Coupled with his light pink hair and bunny teeth, his fair complexion gives him a soft appearance, much contrasting to his wide shoulders, Busan accent, and husky voice.

Seongwoo finds that charming, though. His contrasting features were what made the boy stand out the first time he saw him, actually, aside from the fact that the constant chatter and fidgeting of his friends made the MMO bunch hard to miss even all the way up from where he was sitting. The two are close in age too, so it was not long before they become friends. It’s nice, Seongwoo thinks, to have friends in an otherwise war-like atmosphere that people call a survival show.

It is never Seongwoo’s intention to find out about Daniel’s not-so-secret crush. They only started interacting often after Daniel was re-evaluated into A class, but not as often as there are literally so many people and Seongwoo is nothing less than a social butterfly. In fact, it takes him many runs of Super Junior’s Sorry Sorry for him to realise the other boy’s feelings are definitely not platonic.

The group is taking a break after rehearsing for what seems like hours. Minhyun has gone to get more water and some snacks, Jonghyun is going through some moves with Hyunbin, and Jaehwan is sitting in a corner practicing his parts, high notes bouncing off the walls of the practice room occasionally. Daniel, however, is sprawled out on the floor with his cap covering his face. The only sign of him being alive is the rise and fall of his chest. Seongwoo would have thought he has fallen asleep if not for his hard breathing.

Seongwoo grabs a water bottle — he would have grabbed two if there were anymore left — and stands next to Daniel, still on the floor. He gives a playful kick to his side and is rewarded with a grunt. He then flops on the ground as Daniel pulls the cap off his face.

“That hurts,” He whines, and it sounds funny if not endearing to Seongwoo.

“You’re all sweaty and sticky and now all your sweat is on the floor, gross,” He comments, screwing open the bottle cap before taking a large gulp. Daniel rolls his eyes.

“What, you didn’t take a water bottle for me too?”

“There’s no more left, okay. Minhyun-hyung went to get more,” He replies. Daniel makes a huffing sound and Seongwoo looks at the water in his hand. “Here, just drink mine first. He’ll be back soon.”

Seongwoo looks up when there is no immediate response from the other. Daniel stares at the water in his outstretched hand, but is not taking it.

“Um. Niel?” He says. The said boy glances up at him before quickly taking the water.

“Thanks.”

Seongwoo gives a small laugh at his succinct reply. However, he doesn’t drink the water. He just holds it while his eyes start to wonder to other things.

“Aren’t you going to drink it? Yah, I’m giving you my water. Be grateful and drink it!” He says jokingly, knocking on Daniel’s head lightly, though he’s actually confused.  The younger boy swats his hand away.

“Okay, I’m drinking it, I’m drinking it!” He opens the bottle takes a sip, but not before slightly turning away from him. Then he caps it back, throws the bottle into Seongwoo’s lap, and starts to get up. “I think it’s time we start practice again. Jonghyun-hyung!” He walks away.

Seongwoo watches as he goes. Even as Minhyun comes back with snacks, greeted with cheers from others, he cannot take his eyes off of the boy who is now standing by himself across the room, leaning on the wall as he laughs at Hyunbin and Minhyun bickering, face half hidden behind pale hands.

How can he, when the boy’s fair skin is blushed pink to match his hair.

* * *

Seongwoo is not dumb. He knew right away that it was the “indirect kiss” that made Daniel’s cheeks become tinged with the colour of peaches. (But really, indirect kiss? What is he, 12?) The incident makes him suddenly hyper-aware of the boy’s reactions to him. He now notices how the boy laughs differently when it’s only the two of them, how he seems to soften when Seongwoo touches him out of habit, and how he is less quiet when alone with him.

The most obvious tell-tale sign, of course, is how easily his skin turns pink, his pale complexion betraying him all the time. Since then, Seongwoo makes it his mission to make Daniel blush as much as possible. It’s not a hard feat, really. He takes a certain pride in being the one to make the Busan boy—tall, broad, and all boyish smiles—get all flustered and shy as he tries to hide the heart Seongwoo now knows he wears on his sleeve. He guesses it’s the same reason why people like to watch cats or baby videos. The sight is just so precious, and it makes him feel a certain kind of way.

His favourite thing to do is to initiate skinship with Daniel when they are messing around with others, because then the boy cannot escape without drawing attention, and will be forced to deal with managing the heat and colour rising under his skin while trying to act natural. It’s fun to watch.

He likes to see the pink bloom on his pale cheeks, spreading to the tip of his ears, and even down his neck. Sometimes, when he pushes him far enough, and when he’s wearing a sleeveless top, the colour goes all the way down to the top of his shoulders, and Seongwoo just... He just loves it. He loves seeing the boy try to cover up, aware of his involuntary response to Seongwoo’s touch. Sometimes he even glares at the older boy, and that just makes him want to more.

Today too, he naturally leans against the taller boy as their Sorry Sorry team huddles together to watch their most recent practice video, arm casually slung over his shoulder. He feels the other stiffen a little at the first touch, but relaxes right away as Seongwoo’s body weight is pressed to his side, warmth seeping through layer of the white sweatshirt everybody also owns. As they listen to Jonghyun pointing out a few details in formation they can still improve on, Seongwoo thoughtlessly starts playing with Daniel’s fingers, though his eyes are still focused on the leader. Skinship has always come naturally to him, always ready to throw a hug or two at his friends or let himself be cuddled by the younger trainees. He and Daniel are close too, having been sharing a dorm for a while now, so he doesn’t think much of the action. The other boy obviously thinks otherwise, though, as colour starts to rise on his face and even on his fingers. He immediately shakes Seongwoo’s hand off and pulls the sleeves of his sweater to cover his own, much to the elder’s amusement.

When Jonghyun finally announces a well-deserved break, the group erupts in a series of cheers and relieved sighs. Hyunbin especially is relieved, as he is finally nailing the dance moves with much support from the others. Daniel leaves the room to get snacks, albeit dragged by Jaehwan, and Seongwoo snickers as he watches them go.

“Don’t be jealous, okay, Seongwoo-ah,” Minhyun says from his side. Seongwoo laughs.

“Of course, hyung,” He replies, adding a playful wink. Minhyun raises a brow.

“Really?” He questions. “You know, you guys are awfully close,” He adds thoughtfully.

Now Seongwoo is confused. Where is he going with this? “Yeah, well, I’m close with a lot of people...” He trails off. “I can’t be jealous every time my friend hangs out with other people. I’m not that possessive,” He resumes with a laugh.

 “It’s just, you know, you too much.”

“Okay...” He drags his response, unsure. “So?”

 “Like, when an elementary boy bullies a girl he likes in class. That kind of teasing.”

Seongwoo stares at the older guy. “Okay, hyung, you lost me there. I feel like you are insinuating that I like Daniel — which I don’t, by the way — but I can’t really tell if you are being serious or not.”

Minhyun just shrugs. “I’m not insinuating anything, really. It’s just kinda obvious, y’know.”

Seongwoo gets up. “I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about, but anyway I’m gonna go check up on Jaehwannie and Niel. Just in case they get distracted again and don’t come back.” With that, he exits the practice room.

As soon as he’s gone, Minhyun and Jonghyun, who has been listening to the conversation the entire time, share a look.

“Is he even for real?” Jonghyun comments with an amused chuckle. Minhyun gives another shrug.

That’s when Kwon Hyunbin, bless his soul, decides to poke his nose into their business after having a short power nap. “What? What did I miss? And why did Seongwoo-hyung run out of the room like that?”

“Nothing,” Minhyun answers curtly, ruffling the youngest of the six’s hair.

Meanwhile, Seongwoo is having the biggest existential crisis in his life. Even bigger than when he decided to enter an entertainment company and pursue his dreams full time, or when he decided to enter this TV show that is actually hell in disguise.

He was planning to look for Jaehwan and Daniel when he bolted out of that practice room because getting snacks shouldn’t take this long — even though the two have only been gone for 15 minutes, tops, but hey who’s counting right? Definitely not him! — but now he abandons that plan completely and has started pacing around the corridors of the training centre. The corridors are empty save for a few staff roaming around, as the other trainees are busy with their own practices.

He feels like he needs to mull over what Minhyun has said. He admits he likes teasing Daniel, but that’s just how he is with his friends: playful, touchy, and borderline annoying, except he’s too likeable to be disliked; no printer, just fax.

A part of him also feels like he may not like what his hyung meant, so that’s that.

* * *

Seongwoo attempts to forget the discussion he had with Minhyun and carries on as normal—keyword: attempts. The truth is, it’s hard to act normally around Daniel since then. He’s suddenly self-conscious of how he behaves around the younger boy, which is very unlike him, and if the other boy notices, he doesn’t say anything.

He has, though, started to a little less. He only realises how touchy he has been with Daniel when he finds it hard to keep his hands to himself. Another thing he also finds hard is watching Daniel being touched by someone else, be it their own Sorry Sorry teammates or other trainees Daniel is close with, like Jisung, Jinwoo, and Woojin. He didn’t mind it before because then he could casually drape himself over the taller boy and drag him away smoothly, naturally monopolising the boy, but now he can barely touch him without being self-conscious and a wee bit awkward.

And then Daniel dyes his hair ash brown after the team evaluation, and Seongwoo also finds it hard to breathe.

With his hair no longer pink, the urge to make the boy’s skin compensate for the loss of the colour is stronger, and it’s driving Seongwoo crazy. He wants to say the things he knows will make the boy blush, or touch him until only pink is left in the wake of his fingers.  He wants to see the boy tinted pink in his cheeks, to his ears, down his neck and shoulders. He wants to see the boy be all flustered and shy, maybe laughing that low husky laughter he does when he’s embarrassed or in a situation he can’t get out of. He wants to see him lying down, topless, absolutely wrecked and flushed all the way down to his chest, writhing and panting and saying his name in that voice of his and—

Seongwoo blinks. No way.

That night, he lays in his top bunk staring at the white ceiling, listening to the soft snores of the boy who has been on his mind twenty four-seven sleeping in the bunk across from his. When he feels a fluttering feeling in his chest as the younger boy starts his nightly sleep-talking, evoking some sort of fondness in him, he decides that it’s no longer about him liking to and making him blush, and that it needs to stop.

* * *

Seongwoo has tried his best to avoid Daniel, he really has, but it’s just his luck to end up in the same team as him again for the next evaluation. As a bonus, they are still sharing a dorm, and still using the top bunks right beside each other. Great.

He doesn’t want to act weird around him in front of the other trainees, or, god forbid, the cameras, so he settles with minimising physical contact with him.

He has no idea if the universe is against him or something, but when he walks into the dorm one evening, there is no one else inside. That is, except for Daniel. He unintentionally lets out a surprised “oh” and paused by the door, causing the said boy to get up from his lying down position to peer down at him.

Did he mention that the boy is lying on Seongwoo’s bunk?

“Oh, hi Seongwoo,” He greets, not saying ‘hyung’ out of habit, that little , and immediately moving to his own bed. “I was just, um—“

“Where are the others?” Seongwoo cuts in, slowly closing the door behind him. Daniel just shrugs noncommittally.

“I don’t know, probably playing around with the others somewhere...”

Seongwoo hums in acknowledgement, and secretly curses the younger trainees for ditching him alone with the root cause of the emotional torture he’s been going through. When Daniel starts fidgeting, he brings his eyes back up to him.

“If you— I mean, that is, um,” He stutters, “Do you want me to leave? Or something?”

Seongwoo’s eyes widen. “Why would I want you to leave?”

Daniel scratches the side of his face. “Oh. I don’t know,” He starts carefully. “’Cause you’ve been, like, kinda avoiding me recently. Not really avoiding, but... I don’t know. You’ve been kinda distant with me.” Almost immediately, as though just realising what he’s said, his face turns pink and his hands frantically move about to defend himself. “Or maybe I’m just imagining things, sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so self-important, I know you have better things to do than hang out with me and stuff, I just, um...”

Seongwoo hushes him. “Okay now you’re just rambling.” The other boy shuts up, face turning a darker shade of pink with each second that passes. Seongwoo will be lying if he says he doesn’t feel guilty about making Daniel think that way. And he will also be lying if he says he’s not staring at the boy’s reddening face.

He climbs the short ladder to his own bunk so that he’s sitting facing the younger. “I’m sorry,” He finally says.

Daniel blinks at him. “What for?”

“For...being distant, as you said. I just have a lot of things on my mind recently.” If those ‘things’ start with ‘Kang’ and end with ‘Daniel’, that is.

“No, you don’t have to apologize! I figured that you need time to think about things, you know, this show and everything else,” Daniel says. Then his voice gets a little softer, and a little lower, that Seongwoo almost misses it. Almost. “I was just...scared, that you, you know, change your mind and, um, you don’t like me anymore, or something.”

Seongwoo swears his heart almost stops. “What?” He says instead, feeling slightly breathless and lightheaded.

Daniel’s blush deepens, and it’s starting to go down his neck. Seongwoo lets himself be distracted by the fingers that are awkwardly scratching the neck, as though doing so will rid it of the unwanted redness, before the taller boy starts to speak again.

“Oh. Seongwoo... Hyung, Seongwoo-hyung, you know that I...?” He gets shy again, and Seongwoo must have looked confused because he takes a deep breath before bringing himself to continue his sentence. “You know that I like you, too...right?”

Seongwoo is definitely feeling lightheaded now, heart pounding in his chest, and he can feel something blocking his throat, like a lump, which is strange because he also kind of feels like throwing up. There is the weird fluttering that he always gets when thinking about Daniel being soft, but the feeling has intensified and if it was butterflies in his stomach before, this is definitely a whole zoo. He’s not sure if he’s blinking, heck he’s not even sure if he’s breathing, until his brain tells him to pause and rewind what Daniel has just said.

He likes me too.

Pause.

Wait, ‘too’?

“’Too’?” He repeats the question out loud. His sudden outburst must have caught the other boy off guard after being silent for so long as he flinches. “What do you mean, ‘too’?”

Now it’s Daniel’s turn to freeze. “Oh,” He simply says, looking blankly at the older boy. “I thought— I thought that you— Because you always tease me and touch me a lot and gets kind of jealous when I’m hanging out with the other guys, I mean it’s kind of obvious,” He laughs nervously. “...Or not?”

When he receives no reply from the black-haired boy, Daniel can only manage another “Oh.”, like something finally clicks in his head.

Seongwoo wishes he knows what kind of face he was making, or that he has said something, anything, because the next thing he knows Daniel is scrambling down the ladder onto the floor.

“God, I can’t believe it,” He mumbles, rubbing his face. “I’m sorry. I guess I was mistaken.” He’s not looking at him, eyes trained to the floor. His face is flushed, but not the kind of flush Seongwoo likes to see on him, more like he’s embarrassed, or ashamed, and he never wants to see this expression on him again. He lets out another nervous laughter, then a sigh, and his eyes shift to Seongwoo, still seated on his bed, for a moment. “I’m sorry.” With that, he bolts out the room.

Seongwoo can only stare at the half-opened door in silence.

* * *

If Seongwoo wasn’t obvious in his attempt to avoid Daniel before, the other boy is definitely showing him up with the way he treats Seongwoo.

To say that the next few days are awkward is the biggest understatement of the century. First of all, they are still in the same team for the position evaluation. They have to spend most of the hours in a day cooped up in the same practice room. Moreover, Daniel is the leader. However, he manages to avoid talking to Seongwoo entirely by never addressing him directly, and making sure that they are never left alone. He still acts the way he normally does though, cheerful and full of smiles. He just pretends not to see Seongwoo, that is.

The other trainees are starting to notice, of course, if not by Daniel blatantly leaving the room when Seongwoo walks in every chance he gets, then by Seongwoo’s dwindling trademark enthusiasm and optimism.

It’s the fifth day of The OngNiel Crisis, as titled by Daehwi despite Seongwoo’s protests, and Minhyun can’t take it anymore.

“Okay that’s it,” He says, dragging Seongwoo away during one of the breaks. His other ‘Get Ugly’ team members, minus Kang Daniel who has once again escaped to God knows where the moment a break is called, can only look on at him. Samuel even has the nerve to call out “Fighting!” after him, that punk.

Minhyun brings Seongwoo to the small booth where his vocal team was practicing—by force, Seongwoo will argue—and closes the door after chasing his other teammates out (because 1. This room has no cameras and 2. This room is sound-proof).

“That hurts,” He complains when Minhyun finally lets go of his hand.

“Stop being a baby. Now will you tell me what’s going on between you and Niel, or do I need to force it out of you?”

“Why are you being so violent suddenly,” Seongwoo replies, pouting. “And, it’s nothing, okay.”

Minhyun rolls his eyes. “If it’s nothing, why is Daehwi announcing every morning what day it is of The OngNiel Crisis?” He says, finger-quoting the last phrase.

Seongwoo curses under his breath.

“Did you and Niel-hyung break up or something?” A voice suddenly says, and they both turn in shock to see Hyunbin’s head poking in through the door that is, in fact, not closed at all.

“Yah, I told you to be quiet!” Jaehwan appears next to him, smacking his head. Then, realising their cover is blown, he immediately adds, “Sorry, we’re gonna go now.”

After making sure the two eavesdroppers are indeed gone, and that the door is closed properly, Minhyun turns back to the matter at hand. He raises his eyebrows at the other boy, as though asking “So?”

“We just have a bit of a misunderstanding,” Seongwoo finally says. “And, for the records, we didn’t ‘break up’, because we were never together in the first place.”

Minhyun laughs at that. “Yeah, and I think that’s exactly the problem here.”

Seongwoo frowns. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

“Really. You’re not sure you know what I mean,” He repeats, unimpressed. “Try again.”

Seongwoo huffs. He, in all honesty, doesn’t know what to say. Or, more precisely, how to say the fact that I think I’m in love with Daniel.

“That’s it?”

Seongwoo blinks. “What?” Then, realising that he’s said it out loud, he curses his own stupidity and big mouth.

Minhyun barks a laugh. “That’s all? What the hell,” He says in between laughter.

“Stop laughing at me, this isn’t funny!”

“Well, I mean, no ,” Minhyun says. “I know you like him— actually we all know. It’s so obvious you’ll have to be blind not to see it.”

 “Me? I was obvious?” Seongwoo just can’t believe what he’s hearing. Now that he mentions it, Daniel said something similar. “He was being obvious, the way he blushes like that! I just like to !”

Minhyun pulls a face and Seongwoo swears if there are cameras around, he’ll be losing half his fans already. Where is the calm and reserved Hwang Minhyun everybody loves?

“Yah, Ong Seongwoo. Everybody can tell that you like him, the way you treat him! You just like to to see him blush, because you think he looks cute, don’t you?” Seongwoo just stares at him with his mouth agape, not knowing how to respond. “You like having him near you, and making him laugh too. You like being the reason he doesn’t act like himself. And you don’t like it when other people do the same. Right?”

And the thing is, Minhyun is right. Seongwoo can’t say anything because he knows he’s right.

“Hyung is right. Just admit it already, Seongwoo-hyung. You are kind of obvious.” Hyunbin has somehow made his way back and opened the door without the two noticing, a bag of potato chips in hand.

“I hate to agree with Hyunbin, but I agree,” Jaehwan adds, nodding thoughtfully, next to the model. “Also, your reaction was kinda . No wonder Niel is ignoring you,” He bites, proving that they have been there listening for a while.

Minhyun can only sigh at the two, deciding that kicking them out again will do no good, so he, instead, gets up. “I don’t know about you, but I think you should go and talk it out with him. I’d better see you two made up and disgustingly all over each other again tomorrow,” He says, his tone making it sound like a threat. As he exits the room finally, he shoos the two other boys, leaving Seongwoo alone in the room.

* * *

Seongwoo spends some time pacing outside the door. He has somehow managed to convince Jihoon, Samuel, Woojin and Hyungseob to stay out a while to give him time to talk with Daniel alone (albeit at the cost of him treating them to snacks next time). After loitering for a few more minutes, he decides that it, he’s just gonna go in there and do it fast, and get it over with. Like ripping off a band aid.

Except he forgets how painful ripping off a band aid actually is, and now he’s standing at the doorway again looking at Daniel lying on his own bed, hand still on the doorknob. A weird sense of déjà vu hits him, but it’s not pleasant and makes him even more nervous.

Daniel looks up from his tablet. The moment their eyes meet, his expression turns blank.

“Oh. Hi, Seongwoo-hyung.” The unfamiliar formality sends chills down Seongwoo’s back, and he makes up his mind that yes, he needs to do this now.

But before he can say anything, Daniel comes down from his bunk and makes for the door, the intention to leave the room clear. Seongwoo isn’t gonna let him leave just like that though, not after doing so a few days ago. Never again.

“Wait,” He rushes, grabbing onto the younger boy’s hand. His skin is soft, and he can feel the muscles tensing underneath it, and it’s been a long while since he last touches this light-haired boy and God, he misses him so much. He comes back to his senses though, letting go Daniel’s hand as quickly as he has grabbed a hold of it, and his eyes may be playing a trick on him but he thinks he sees something resembling disappointment in the other boy’s eyes.

“I, uh...” He starts, wincing at the way his voice cracks. “I’m sorry. For being an .”

Daniel just stares at him, hands now hanging by his sides. He then lets out a deep sigh and shifts his weight to another foot. “No, I’m sorry. I know I haven’t been treating you nicely these past days, but, , you need to understand that I was really embarrassed...that time. It was humiliating,” He says. “I thought you liked me, I just feel stupid,” He laughs bitterly, looking down.

“Yes, no, that’s what I wanted to talk about!” Seongwoo says. “That time, I’m, I just, my brain failed on me, and, it just kind of short-circuited when you said you li—you like me,” He tumbles over his words. Daniel flinches at the word ‘like’. “Please don’t apologize, okay, it was my fault for just letting you misunderstand and leave like that, you know how stupid I can get,” He pauses for a breath. “Okay, the truth is, I was just scared to tell you. I have been thinking about you a lot.”

Daniel’s expression softens, and in fact, he looks a little surprised, but also a little confused. Seongwoo takes a deep breath.

“I just can’t stop thinking about you. And, yes, I know you like me, even before you told me.”

Daniel just continues to stare at him, a soft pink blooming in his cheeks, but doesn’t say anything. His lips are pursed into a tight line, and Seongwoo knows that is not a good sign.

“And, I like you too,” He finally says, feeling a little breathless.

Daniel narrows his eyes a little. “Do you?” He whispers, unsure, but unthreatening. “Because, the last time I thought you did, you just sit there, not saying anything.”

His brain must have short-circuited again, because his body is definitely acting without him thinking when he suddenly grabs the front of Daniel’s shirt and kisses him. Square, on the lips.

The kiss lasts a mere few seconds, just a quick peck if anything, just lips on lips, but in those few seconds Seongwoo can feel how plush the other’s lips are and smelled the peach scent from his lip balm. He is, definitely, breathless now.

“Yes, I’m sure. I like you.”

Daniel flushes scarlet now, and his fingers go to his lips.

Seongwoo chuckles. “Also, I like the way you blush.”

“.”

“I know.”

* * *

Seongwoo still likes teasing Daniel to see him blush. He likes to see the colour rise on his cheeks to his ears, down his neck and onto his shoulders.

But now he also learns that his blush can go all the way down to his chest, flushed and heaving. He also learns that there are other parts of him he can colour, and now if Daniel walks around the training centre with his lips swollen and redder than any tint can make them look, or with a few marks littering his neck, reddish, he can only smile as Minhyun frantically tries to hide them from the others and cameras, because the boy is finally his.