It’s twenty minutes to last call and the bar is almost empty. The team all arrived together after practise, but now it’s well after one in the morning and it’s just Minseok, Luhan, and a couple of the other Chinese guys. Luhan knows he should probably go home, but somehow he can’t bring himself to leave.

Sure, he’s a couple of beers down, but Luhan thinks he’s more drunk on the sound of Minseok’s voice than anything else.

Minseok has been nursing one rum and coke all evening. At this point it’s about fifty percent melted ice, but Minseok is still sipping happily at it between bursts of excited chatter, his hands waving wildly to emphasise each point. Luhan, for his part, is leaning on one hand, watching Minseok talk, watching Minseok drink, watching Minseok exist in the beautiful space next to him. He’s not too sure what his face is doing at the moment, but he hopes his smile just looks tipsy rather than sappy.

Over the last few weeks, the two of them have grown closer. Since that semifinal game (which they won) and the final (which they lost), Luhan has found himself gravitating towards Minseok, stealing odd moments at practise to share a comment or a joke or even just a look - Luhan will glance down the pitch and find Minseok looking back at him, and they’ll share a grin for the briefest of seconds before Suho calls the next drill.

In the locker room, Luhan finds himself protecting Minseok’s space without even realising it. When Minseok slips off to the toilets to change, Luhan talks louder to draw attention away from his absence. When Sehun snaps the waistband of Minseok’s shorts, Luhan whips a towel at him before Minseok even has a chance to crunch forward. He makes sure to fend off any contact that might expose Minseok or force him to out himself. He keeps a tampon tucked away in the inside pocket of his gear bag in case of an emergency.

Minseok’s very good at looking after himself, though. Of course he is - he managed to go a whole year without coming out to anyone, and probably could have gone longer if not for that surprise period. He weaves easily through a team of what Luhan has learned are called “cis men” without giving any hint that he is different. On the field he is a perfect part of the team, with lightning feet and a keen eye for the goal. He’s won them more than a few games with the knack he has for predicting holes in the defense. Watching him play sometimes makes it hard for Luhan to concentrate on his own footwork.

Right now it’s very difficult to concentrate on anything with that laughter in Minseok’s eyes, the tiny purse of his lips around his straw, the tap of his hand against the bar to illustrate whatever point he’s making.

“What do you think?” he asks as he straightens up and the soda off his lips.

What does Luhan think? He hasn’t been paying attention, too lost in the glow of Minseok’s face, the pink flush across his cheeks and the sparkle in his eyes.

Luhan thinks Minseok is very handsome.

Luhan thinks they might be more than friends.

Luhan thinks maybe he should let Minseok in on that realisation.

He shifts in his seat and leans forward, closing his eyes as he sways across the space between their seats to plant a kiss on Minseok’s lips.

Minseok freezes, then jerks back. Luhan tries to chase him, leaning so far forward he almost falls out of his seat, but Minseok is recoiling, and after a moment Luhan realises maybe that’s not a good sign.

He opens his eyes.

Minseok is staring at him, his fingers on his lips like he can’t quite believe Luhan’s mouth was just there. He looks horrified. He looks heartbroken.

It occurs to Luhan that he might have just ed everything up.

“No,” Minseok whispers. “Oh god, no.”

In the next second he’s slipping out of his seat and running for the door.

“.” Luhan jumps up and shoots a glance down the bar, but Tao and Kris are still deep in conversation and apparently haven’t noticed a thing. Luhan hesitates only a moment - at this time of night they’re his best shot at a ride home, and Minseok’s too - before deciding he probably deserves to spring for a taxi if he’s screwed things up this momentously. He turns on his heel and dashes out of the bar after Minseok.

“Min!”

The street is deserted, so it’s easy to spot Minseok, already half a block away and sprinting for his life.

“Oh , Minseok! Wait!”

Luhan tears after him, but Minseok isn’t a striker for nothing - he’s small and fast, and it takes Luhan a whole block to catch up with him.

“Minseok-” Luhan grabs him by the wrist, and while Minseok does yank it away from him he also stops, allowing Luhan to double over and catch his breath for a second.

When he straightens up, Minseok is standing a careful six feet away, his arms wrapped protectively around himself, shoulders hunched, lips pinched shut.

“Minseok, I’m sorry,” Luhan begins, “I’m really sorry, I shouldn’t have done that, I didn’t realise, I just- I really like you, and I thought-”

“I don’t want you to like me!” Minseok shouts at him.

It’s about as angry as Luhan expected, but there’s also an undercurrent of hurt there that aches at him. “I-”

“I knew this would happen!” Minseok continues. “I should have kept it to myself, I shouldn’t have told you-”

“No, Minseok, I promise, it’s not like that-”

“I don’t want you to like me just because you think I’m a girl!”

Oh. Right. Of course.

And that’s a fair assumption for Minseok to make, Luhan figures. It’s wrong, but it’s not unreasonable.

“Minseok,” he says carefully, “if I thought you were a girl, I wouldn’t be into you.”

Minseok is still glaring at him, so Luhan elaborates.

“I’m gay.” That doesn’t quite take the suspicion out of Minseok’s eyes. “Minseok, I am so, so gay. Seriously. If I were any gayer I’d be Freddie Mercury.”

A little smile twitches into the corner of Minseok’s mouth at that. “Freddie Mercury was biual.”

“Really? , okay, Elton John, Neil Patrick Harris, whatever, point is: I’m not into girls. I’m into guys. I’m into you. And like. If that’s not a thing you feel too then that’s fine and I can try forget about it, but I promise you it’s not because I think you’re a girl.”

Minseok just stares at him impassively, not a hint of emotion on his face. He doesn’t look angry anymore, but he doesn’t exactly look happy either.

“So…” Luhan shifts his weight, trying to figure the best way to get out of this conversation with friendship intact. “I should probably forget it, huh?”

Minseok pulls a frustrated expression. “No, I- Christ. Can I have a minute to think about it? You can’t blindside me like that and expect a yes or no right away.”

“Oh- yeah, yeah, absolutely.” Luhan nods. That’s a better answer than he was expecting, at any rate. “Uh, do you- do you wanna walk back, or something? If we hurry we might still be able to catch a ride with Kris.”

Minseok purses his lips. “I’m happy catching the night bus.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“We can go for a walk though, if you want. Just. Not back to the bar.”

Not back to the team , Luhan hears. “Yeah, sure. Lead the way.”

He falls into step beside Minseok, who has his hands shoved in his pockets, shoulders still protectively hunched around his ears. They walk in silence for about half a block, their footsteps on the pavement the only sound between them.

“Tell me something,” Minseok says, just as Luhan is beginning to feel the cold and wondering whether he should offer his jacket to Minseok, “how long have you been… thinking about me like this?”

“Uh.” Luhan suddenly isn’t sure. The lightning bolt realisation happened just now in the bar, obviously, but it’s not like that’s the first time he’s looked at Minseok and wondered whether his lips taste as soft as they look.

“Cause you’ve started paying a lot of attention to me since the semifinals,” Minseok continues, “and I find it very hard to believe it has nothing to do with-”

“Oh my god, no,” Luhan hurries to assure him. “I mean, yes, since then, I guess, but not because- I mean, it was- it’s just that- I’d never really noticed you before? I mean, I mean- I’d noticed you, obviously, but that was the first time I really… really looked at you. You know?”

“Uh huh?” Minseok sounds unconvinced. “And when you looked, what did you see?”

Luhan shrugs, hands twisting together in the pocket of his hoodie. “A cute guy that I thought maybe I’d like to spend more time with?”

Minseok squints at him. “So, you saw a trans dude standing in the bathroom, covered in blood and freaking out about being outed to his entire team, and you were like, ‘nice’. Am I getting that right?”

Embarrassment rises hot through Luhan’s cheeks. “No. Dude, no, I- oh god. It was just the first time I’d considered you separate from the rest of the team. Like, I started to see you as a person I could get to know. And I guess, I guess I felt close to you. It meant a lot to me that you trusted me with… y’know, that info.”

“I didn’t really have a choice, did I?”

“No.” Luhan can feel the wry little twist of his own mouth. “I guess not. But you know. It was like I saw you as more than just a teammate for the first time. And after that I kind of… just started liking you more and more.”

Minseok makes a noise that might be considering, might be disbelieving.

“Okay,” he says, “I want you to name three things you like about me - and they gotta be things that have nothing to do with my body.”

“Uh-” Luhan blinks. All his brain can conjure up, suddenly, is your muscular arms, your apple cheeks, and god, dat  . “Jeez, I dunno.”

Minseok gives him a withering look.

“Okay.” Luhan holds up a hand to try and fend off that glare. “I like the way you can spot a hole in a team’s defense before it even opens up. You’ve got a real eye for that kind of thing, and I’m kind of in awe if I’m being honest.” He takes a deep breath, keeps talking despite the little noise of surprise Minseok makes. “I like your smile. Is that to do with your body? Whatever, I like the way you smile with your whole face, that smile where I can see your gums and your eyes are almost shut. I like the baozi faces you make at practise behind Coach’s back. I like that you’re the only person who can make Kyungsoo laugh until he cries. I like that you actually hit Baekhyun when he dared you to put that spider in Tao’s pants. I like-”

“Alright, you can stop.” Minseok is biting his lip now, like he’s trying to hold back one of those full-face smiles. “I believe you.”

“Yeah?” Luhan can’t help studying Minseok’s expression for any hint that he might have a chance here.

“Yeah.” Minseok nods, then turns and starts walking backwards in front of Luhan so he can eyeball him. “My next question is, why should I like you?”

Luhan’s face falls. “Oh man. . Hold on, lemme think.”

Minseok laughs. “You mean you haven’t got a dozen of your best qualities ready to list off the top of your head?”

Luhan pulls a face. “Come on, dude. , uh… okay, I make a really good tomato stir fry. I’m a good cook, my fridge is always full of leftovers and they’re all diet plan compliant. And, uh… Sehun says I ‘run hot,’ so if you’re ever cold, you can just hug me and I’ll warm you up. Um. . I dunno, man, I’m not good at this. Can you think of anything?”

“Oh yes,” Minseok is grinning at him now, “plenty. I mostly just wanted to see if you were gonna include the fact that you’ve been white knighting for me in the locker room for the past few weeks.”

“I… huh?”

“It’s adorable that you want to protect me,” Minseok says, still walking backwards and smirking up at Luhan. “Completely unnecessary - but adorable.”

“… Oh.”

“I can take care of myself, you know.”

“I know, I know-”

“But it means a lot to me that you want to help.”

Minseok suddenly stops walking, and Luhan almost trips over trying not to run into him. Minseok catches him with a hand on his shoulder and holds him at a careful distance.

“You’ve got a good heart, Luhan.”

Luhan doesn’t know what to say other than ask if he can give it to Minseok, so he keeps his mouth shut.

“I trust you,” Minseok murmurs, almost as if he’s convincing himself. “I trust you.”

When Luhan just looks at him uncertainly, Minseok lifts a careful hand and places it on Luhan’s cheek.

“I don’t think you’re gonna hurt me.”

Luhan shakes his head. The idea of hurting Minseok, of seeing that tear-stained face and trembling lip on his own conscience, is abhorrent to him.

Minseok cups Luhan’s other cheek to hold his head still, then rises onto his tiptoes and very slowly, very gently, kisses him.

Oh.

Luhan’s entire body thrills to that touch. Every cell demands he throw his arms around Minseok and kiss him back, but he doesn’t want to push him too hard. Instead he lifts his hands to hold Minseok’s elbows, just firmly enough to tell him he wants him close, not so tight that Minseok can’t pull away if he wants to. He holds his breath and rests into the gentle sweetness of Minseok’s proximity.

Minseok pulls back after a handful of seconds, and then there’s something hopeful in his expression as his eyes flick back and forth between Luhan’s.

“I like that,” he whispers.

Luhan nods, still hardly daring to breathe. Minseok grins and draws him back in, holding Luhan’s face between his hands as he kisses him again.

When Minseok lets go and steps back, Luhan misses him already. A moment later, Minseok’s hand is sliding into his, shyly pressing their palms together as Luhan’s heart moves in his chest.

“Shall we go wait for the bus?”

“I can pay for a taxi,” Luhan offers.

Minseok tilts his head to the side. “But then I’ll have to say goodnight to you sooner.”

Luhan can’t help the giddy smile he can feel creasing into his cheeks. “Okay. Let’s catch the bus.”

He squeezes Minseok’s hand, and together they turn to head for the bus stop.

-

A/N: There's gonna be one more chapter after this one.