Chapter three: Wait, Actually, I'd Like To Stay in This Dream Forever

Seungcheol was only a little bit surprised when Jihoon had sat next to him. Not that it was unusual for them to sit by each other, but because today, Jihoon seemed to be avoiding him like the plague.

Starting with the team meeting, he hardly spared him a glance, and, he didn’t say ANYTHING, not even a simple ‘thank’s hyung! You’re the best!’ when he offered to buy them food. During vocal practise, when he messed up the verse Jihoon was teaching him, he didn’t even scold him. He just ing, avoided eye contact until Seungcheol’s part was finished. The personality shift was discerning on it’s own, but more importantly, the only person he was acting differently with was Seungcheol. In fact, with everybody else, Jihoon seemed to be having the best day he’s had all month. In the matter of, oh, I don’t know, one night? The difference was so drastic, Seungcheol couldn’t help but wonder what the hell had happened last night.

Needless to say, as Seungcheol watched Jihoon sit stiffly at the table, face hidden behind a booklet menu, his patience was getting to it’s limit. Distracting himself from the situation, Seungcheol called across the table at the others, and held his usual smile.

He would hold back on questioning it for now. With Jihoon, he understood that his personality was practically impossible to keep track of. It all depended on the phase of the moon and the state of their new album, or whatever. Plus, maybe after today Jihoon would see past whatever was happening and realize Seungcheol is the best god damn friend ever, one that doesn’t deserve to be ignored. He had chosen this restaurant for a reason.

Just as he thought, the boy perked up, letting out a breathy, excited noise. “They mix the noodles!”

Seungcheol let out a laugh, already smiling when Jihoon turned towards him. This kid should know without him even saying it, that he’d thought of him when choosing the restaurant. He’s got to realize how difficult it was to find a place with such specific preferences. Yet, as quickly as their eyes had met, Jihoon had hidden behind the menu once again, even before Seungcheol could wiggle his eyebrows in triumph.

The owner of the restaurant, and a few other employees, circled the table taking orders. Seungcheol took notice of Jihoon peering interestedly into the adult drink section of the menu. “Ma’m! Could we get round of Soju?”

“I’ll get that for you right away!” She chirped, smiling politely before skipping out of the room with their orders.

They ate first, 13 rowdy boys joking around with mouths full of food. Even Jihoon was playing with everyone, smiling across the table at Soonyoung as they chatted about some dumb choreography idea. Seungcheol spotted his eyes flicker to the side, at him, but it didn’t last longer than a second.

Did Jihoon think he couldn’t tell something was up? More importantly, did he think it was okay to treat him like this without even telling him why?

He shoved a spoonful of rice in his mouth, chewing with a hint of frustration. Down the table, he spotted Dino fumbling with the soju bottle and nearly choked trying to take action. “Dino, you put that shot glass down now!”

Jeonghan gasped, snatching the bottle away in shock.

“But Hyung!”

“No buts!” Jeonghan placed the bottle far away from Dino’s reach. “You’re not allowed to drink until you’re 19.”

Dino whined.

Vernon opened the bottle with a smirk, but Jisoo brought a hand up to stop him before he could pour, whispering to him in English. “You know how you get with alcohol, Vernon.” His shoulder’s slumped, but he didn’t protest as the bottle was taken from his grip. He was right. “Drink water, okay?”

Soonyoung watched as alcohol poured with a devilish smirk. Sure, getting smashed would be fun, but what better way to do it than through a game?

“Guys!” Head’s turned to acknowledge their choreography leader. “Let’s play truth or dare!”

Jihoon groaned. “What is this, middle school?”

He shook his finger with a smug expression. “No, my dear Jihoon, in middle school when someone refused to do a dare, they drank salty coke.” He held up the soju bottle triumphantly. “Today, we are men.”

“Dear?” He glowered.

“That’s aside the point!” He filled Jihoon’s shot glass gleefully. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“Does this mean I can drink?” Dino called from across the table.

Jeonghan shot him an offended expression. “No! You get a… punishment juice, or something.”

Jeonghan and Soonyoung worked together to find something gross on the drink menu, settling for tonic water and lime juice as the worst solution.

When Soonyoung moved to pour Seungcheol’s drink, he held a hand over the glass with an awkward smile. “Uh, no thanks. I’ll take the juice.” He’d promised his manager he would keep an eye on them. He couldn’t exactly do that if he got wasted, he supposed.

As the game progressed, Seungcheol didn’t regret being sober, it made watching the other members get progressively more enamored all the more hilarious. Every single turn Seokmin had taken, he’d chosen dare, and sure enough Soonyoung was there with the absolute worst (best) idea’s.

“Dare him to try to flirt the restaurant staff out of the bill!” He yelled to Jeonghan, who bursted out laughing at the imagery.

“You’ve got to be joking…” Seokmin’s mouth hung open, his body swaying slightly.

“You heard the man.” Jeonghan encouraged. “It’s in your hands to save Seungcheol’s wallet.”

Seokmin peered through the opening of their booth, catching the owner of the place, a middle-aged woman who was acting like she’d never met a man in her life, smile flirtatiously as she caught his eye. He shuddered at the very idea, and without dwelling on it, he downed his shot.

“Jihoney.” Seungcheol switched his gaze from a drunken Seokmin, to Jihoon, watching his smile fall. “Truth or dare.”

Jihoon and Seokmin began to banter over the table, and Seungcheol watched the scene unfold with a humored grin. Maybe he wasn’t going to have fun with Seungcheol, but he was glad Jihoon was showing emotion, anyways. Unfortunately, he was filling in for the ‘responsible adult’ position their manager usually took, so when Jihoon stood up clenching his fists, Seungcheol forced himself to bite back the need to instigate a wrestling match, and instead held Jihoon’s wrist to stop him.

Jihoon was warm, he’d already had a few shots on his own, so he was a little bit tipsy; Seungcheol could tell. When he turned to face Seungcheol, he appeared to completely sober up, though. His anger faded into a nervous bite of his lips, and an unexpected compliance. Seungcheol felt his heart ache as Jihoon said nothing in protest, obediently sitting back down to face Seokmin.

“, fine… Truth.”

“Tell the truth, Jihoonie. You watch in your studio, don’t you!”

Jihoon went red up to his ears, denying with such an unexpected level of offence, that Seungcheol couldn’t help but wonder for himself. He barged into that studio without warning, like, all the time. What if one day he walked in on Jihoon… Pants pooled around his ankles, writhing against that leather sea-

He shook himself out of his ridiculous imagination and tried to focus. He missed their back and forth, only catching the aftermath of Jihoon downing another shot. (Which did not help his imagination settle)

When Jihoon dared Soonyoung to kiss Seokmin, obviously he never actually expected him to do it. The face Jihoon made when Soonyoung passionately smashed his mouth against the boy, was more than enough to make Seungcheol burst out laughing.

“Seungcheol! Truth or dare?” He leaned back in the chair, breathing through spirts of laughter in an attempt to respond properly.

“Dare!” He gave a naïve grin.

Soonyoung didn’t look at Seungcheol as he spoke, he looked at Jihoon. Which was confusing, right up until his word’s made everything clear.

“Seungcheol, I dare you to kiss Jihoon. Right on the mouth, for at least ten seconds.”

Seungcheol froze. Whatever Jihoon and Soonyoung were yelling about in the moments following flew over his head as he tried to grasp the situation. Kiss Jihoon? Sure, maybe that wasn’t a big deal. They had kissed before… Except, never for longer than a peck. Plus, right now? When Jihoon wasn’t even talking to him? Not the best mood for them to be smooching.

If Jihoon didn’t want him to, he wouldn’t… Yeah, so he didn’t have to stress about it. Seungcheol stared at his friend, waiting for either affirmation or a potential beating. When their eyes met, there was neither. Jihoon looked scared, desperate to be out of this situation, which was understandable, but... It was almost like it wasn’t the kiss he was against… It was a kiss with Seungcheol that panicked him, and, well, that pissed him off.

Seungcheol wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but when Jihoon shied away from their eye contact, he snapped. He pushed his chair out so that he was facing the younger boy, and grabbed him by the shoulders firmly. Jihoon spun to face him again, and Seungcheol’s eyes immediately locked onto petal-pink lips. Jihoon’s tooth pushed into the plump flesh of his bottom lip, and Seungcheol instinctively his own as he leaned in closer.

Jihoon shut his eyes tight, and Seungcheol did the same. As their noses brushed together, nothing but the hot breath expelled from his mouth was left between them. He almost connected them, it was the only thought on his mind.

Jihoon’s body was shaking under his hold, but what really threw him off was the trembling in his voice when he spoke. “S-Seungcheol?”

He opened his eyes, heart catching as he inspected Jihoon, flushed red, eyes squeezed shut, lips quivering nervously. He released his hold immediately. This wasn’t what he wanted. He was frustrated, but kissing Jihoon out of spite wasn’t going to solve anything.

Seungcheol grabbed the shot of tonic juice and downed it, gagging as the bitterness washed over his tongue.

Jihoon opened his eyes when he felt the space in front of him become empty. There was an awkward silence among the previously teasing members as Seungcheol leaned back in his seat and breathed, an air of anger hanging over him as he chugged water to relieve the taste in his mouth.

Jihoon was still trying to bring himself back to reality, but he hovered a hand over his mouth, attempting-but failing-to hide the far-too-obvious flush of heat that had over taken the natural color of his face.

Seungcheol, after collecting himself, took note of Jihoon’s reaction with a twitch in his gut, the grip he had around his glass tightening. Enough was enough.

“Uh, Hyung, it’s your turn…” Soonyoung offered sheepishly, trying to break the tense atmosphere.

Seungcheol stood up abruptly, brushing off Soonyoung as he loomed over Jihoon. Here, in front of all the members, was not the place to be confronting his friend. However, Seungcheol’s patience had run thin. Jihoon’s mouth hung open at Seungcheol, word’s wavering against his tongue. Before he could spit it out, Seungcheol had grabbed him by the wrist.

“Seungcheol? What are you-hey!” Seungcheol faced forward, tugging him out of the restaurant in silence. The door was thrown closed behind them, and soon they found themselves standing within a neighboring alley-way for some much-needed privacy.

Jihoon leaned against a brick wall, cold prickling goosebumps over his skin. He looked up, nervously investigating Seungcheol’s back. For reasons that Jihoon couldn’t get a grasp of, Seungcheol seemed really angry. “What’s… What was that about?”

Seungcheol turned to face him. As anticipated, Jihoon avoided his eyes and stared a hole into the sidewalk below him. “Jihoon, look at me.”

“We should go back inside...”

Seungcheol slammed his hands against the wall, bringing their bodies close together. “What’s up with you? Why are you avoiding me?”

He was trapped, Seungcheol was so close that Jihoon couldn’t help but feel dizzy as he inhaled musky cologne. “It’s nothing, I’m just… You know, I’m stressed about work.” He lied, eyes locked onto Seungcheol’s chest to avoid his face. “It’s not anything you did.”

Seungcheol breathed out, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “Come on Jihoon, you’re transparent. You’re not acting like this with everyone else.” Jihoon bit his tongue. “Do you really think I didn’t notice? I’m your best friend, how can I not?”

God, was he that obvious? Curse Seungcheol for being so observing. What was he supposed to say? ‘Oh yeah, sorry, I spent the whole night looking at romantic video’s of us and had a dirty dream about you, and now I’m questioning the state of our entire friendship.’ Honestly, there was no ing way to make that sound sane.

“What did I do? Just tell me and we can work this out.” His voice was a little less intimidating, a tone of worry behind the demand.

Jihoon felt a pang of guilt. “You didn’t do anything…”

“Come on.” He persisted.

“Really, it’s not you.”

“Jihoon.”

Jihoon peaked briefly at the taller boy, who was completely overwhelming his personal space. How many times had he almost kissed Seungcheol today? Either mentally or physically. “Hyung, you’re too close.”

Annoyed, Seungcheol took Jihoon’s face in his hands, threatening. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll come closer.”

His mouth parted in disbelief. “What? Don’t be stupid.”

Ignoring him, Seungcheol leaned in slowly, his expression serious.

He struggled, but he had big dumb strong hands; it was useless. “D-don’t.”

He didn’t waver, but even Seungcheol felt a little nervous about this game of chicken. Was Jihoon really going to risk getting kissed to keep his dumb secret? He held his breath, and it took their foreheads pressing together for the younger boy to finally snap, pulling his head away from Seungcheol’s pull with a nervous shaking of his voice. “Fine! I’ll tell you, just stop!”

Pulling away, Seungcheol hid his disappointment. “Then tell me.”

He breathed, eyes shaking as they searched for a safe place to stay. “I, last night… Jisoo came into the studio to talk, ‘cause I was having a hard time.”

“What? What happened? You should have come to me if something was wrong.” Seungcheol frowned.

“It was dumb, I didn’t want to talk to anyone about it.” He sighed. “My self esteem was just low, so he told me I would feel better if I saw what my fans wrote about me, online. It worked, but…”

Curious, Seungcheol said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

“Ugh, , okay. Do you know about jicheol?”

Seungcheol blinked a few times. “Our ship name?”

“So, you do know! Since when was that going on? You’ve been giving them fanservice from us, and you didn’t even tell me? There’s so much about it online!” Jihoon’s face was the same shade of red his hair was.

“I didn’t really do it on purpose, some fans just think we have chemistry.” Seungcheol looked to the side, scratching his chin with an embarrassed look. “Why? I mean, I’m pretty sure your ship with Soonyoung is more popular, anyways.”

“Yeah, but, me and Soonyoung do that on purpose. Manager told us the fans like us together.”

Seungcheol frowned, irked.

“Why us, though?” Jihoon’s voice shook slightly.

When Seungcheol looked down at him again, Jihoon was making an expression that could make any man weak. He was flushed red, flustered, but not in a manner that made Seungcheol feel angry. Pinning him against a wall and talking about their relationship… it was, sort of ? Seeing as the mood was good, he decided to test his luck. “Well, don’t you think we have it?”

“What?” He matched Seungcheol’s stare, feeling nervous as his eyes darkened, barely noticeably.

“Chemistry.”

Jihoon swallowed. “That’s not funny, Hyung. I’m being serious.” He was a bit weak at the knees when it dawned on him what Seungcheol was implying. So when he leaned in, breathing against the shell of his ear, he felt on the verge of a heart attack.

“What makes you think I’m not?”

Jihoon was silent as Seungcheol stared into his eyes, almost as if searching for last minute approval. This time, when he leaned in, Jihoon didn’t feel like it was a dream, or a nightmare, or a delusion. The flickering of street lamps, the whirring of cars driving past, the shiver Jihoon felt as wind passed through him, it was all real. More than anything, Seungcheol looming over him with parted lips and closed eyes, the warm hands caressing his cheeks, those things was more real than anything he’d ever experienced.

When their lips connected it was chaste, tentative movements as Seungcheol eased in, waiting for Jihoon’s body to relax. At first, he had expected Jihoon to tense away and slap him, so when he felt soft lips parting against his, letting him go deeper, Seungcheol felt the need to absolutely ravish him.

Jihoon gasped as he was pushed against the wall, bringing his arms up to wrap over Seungcheol’s neck, desperately clinging on to him. He intertwined his fingers with the feathery hairs at the nape of his neck, going on his tippy toes for better access.

Seungcheol felt him reaching, and wrapped his arms under the smaller boy, anchoring him against the wall, never once disconnecting the kiss. He slid his tongue against Jihoon’s lips, a bit tentative. His mouth opened easily, and Seungcheol slipped inside him, feeling hot as Jihoon moaned around him, the sound reverberating through his core. There was nobody walking around them, it was late and the alleyway wasn’t really a hot spot for observers. Even if someone did see them in this moment, Seungcheol didn’t care. All that mattered was Jihoon was here, giving him complete access to the fantasies that had haunted his dreams, in the many years he’d been pinning over this stubborn boy. How many times had he imagined this scenario? How many long showers had he entertained with fantasies of Jihoon, only to go back to being ‘friends’ the moment the real Jihoon was before him.

He supposed all that pent-up frustration was pouring out of him in this moment, rolling his hips against the smaller boy, who gasped into his mouth and wrapped his legs tighter around Seungcheol's waist. If it counted for anything, Seungcheol prayed Jihoon wouldn’t come back to his senses any time soon.

~

When Seungcheol and Jihoon stormed out of the room, the only thing jisoo could think was that it was his fault. He’s the one who gave Jihoon that dumb idea. And, when he opened up earlier, all Jisoo did was laugh at him. He never actually considered it was a real problem until it was too late. He was the worst Hyung in all of Hyung history, and because of that, those two were probably having an argument outside this very moment.

Soonyoung had initiated a new game, trying to bring back the good atmosphere from before. He couldn’t just sit here, though! He had to help Jihoon and Seungcheol work through this.

Standing up abruptly, Jisoo made his way out of the booth, excusing himself to the bathroom. It was cold outside, and he immediately regretted leaving his jacket as his eyes scanned the area for the two in question. They weren’t in sight, and Jisoo felt his heart thudding with worry.

“Ahh, Seung-mhh!” Was that Jihoon? Jisoo followed the voice. Seungcheol couldn’t possibly be beating him up, right? Sure, they argued, but they’d never resorted to violence before. Gulping, he peaked around the corner to the source of the noise, and felt himself freeze.

There wasn’t any ‘PG’ way to explain it, Seungcheol and Jihoon were grinding mouths and bodies together like a couple of horn-dogs in a back alleyway. He wanted to look away, but he couldn’t move. Suddenly everything was making sense. Jihoon getting flustered about their ship, Seungcheol acting so serious during the kiss dare? Jisoo had just assumed they were mad at each other, but this explained it a lot more clearly.

Jisoo flinched when Jihoon turned his head to face him with eyes squeezed shut, as Seungcheol attacked his neck like a vampire. Why didn’t he look away!? Anyone walking past would assume Jisoo was a voyeurist, and honestly? He didn’t have a single excuse. He was in the middle of a mental breakdown when jihoon’s eyes parted open, taking immediate attention to the fact that they were being watched.

“J- Jisoo!” he shoved Seungcheol away, who stumbled back in confusion. Jihoon fell on his with a painful thud, but quickly scurried to his feet to explain.

Jisoo threw his arms up to-belatedly-cover his eyes. “I didn’t see anything!”

Seungcheol twiddled his thumbs, unsure of what to do. When he was thinking he didn’t care if someone saw, he was serious. Though, the block did make him question that mindset. It was only a little awkward to be rocking a hard-on while Jihoon and Jisoo panicked at each other. 

Jihoon smoothed out the dishevelling’s of his clothing, trying to make himself decent. “We were just, uh, fighting!”

Seungcheol laughed, and Jihoon shot him an embarrassed glare. Fighting? Sure, their tongues wrestled a little bit, but…

Jisoo cut in. “It’s okay, don’t explain.” He let out a breath, collecting himself. “I’m going to go back inside, you guys should join us. Uh, everyone is worried… Sorry to interrupt!” Jisoo scurried out of sight, and Seungcheol immediately locked back onto Jihoon.

“Hey-Cut it out!” Jihoon wrestled out of his grip, turning away. Seungcheol’s balls deflated.

“Why? Did Jisoo kill the mood? Cause, I can bring it back.” Seungcheol smirked, but he was truly desperate to continue where they left off.

Jihoon smacked him. “Yah! I said no. What if somebody else finds us? God, what if someone recognized us?” Was he crazy?

How many times was he going to have to say he didn’t care? Oh, right, he hadn’t “Nobody else is going to come, Jisoo will tell them not to bother us.”

Jihoon gaped, mind running at a million miles an hour. “Wha- that’s worse!” He grabbed Seungcheol by the wrist, dragging him along like a stubborn child. “We’re going back, right now.”

Seungcheol wanted to protest, but he knew nothing he said now was going to get Jihoon back in the mood, as unfortunate as that was. When Jihoon’s hand slipped down his wrist, intertwining their fingers together, his stubborn front melted, chuckling and squeezing Jihoon’s hand in his. When they entered the booth, all eyes turned to them, nervously watching their expressions.

Jihoon released Seungcheol’s hand with an awkward cough before anybody could notice. He was half expecting somebody to confront them, but nobody said a word. Jisoo, who was sitting stiffly in his seat, smiled to Jihoon as if to reassure him. It sort of did. Nobody was immediately harassing them, so he could pretty much assume Jisoo didn’t spill the beans about their spontaneous make-out session. He sat down with a breath, grabbing the shot glass closest to him and downing it.

~

Jeonghan took notice of three things in particular when Jihoon and Seungcheol returned from their little rendezvous.

One, Jisoo looked like he was malfunctioning. Either he’d seen god while he was taking a piss, or he’d seen something equally incredible and fried his brain. Seeing as those three had returned within a suspiciously close timeframe, Jeonghan had a sneaky suspicion the outcome was related.

Two, Seungcheol was grinning like a moron. Not that that was unusual for Seungcheol, but since he’d left looking on the verge of becoming the hulk, and returned acting as if he’d learned the true meaning of Christmas, he couldn’t help but be suspicious.

Three, and the most obvious clue Jeonghan could deduct: Jihoon looked absolutely deflowered. His hair was messy, his lips were raw and red, was that a kiss mark? He was too far down the table for Jeonghan to be certain, but nonetheless…

It would seem their boring break was starting to get interesting.

A/N: One more chapter to go (￣▽￣)ノOne time I had a reader comment "IM 12 PLEASE DONT ADD ANYTHING TO THIS STORY" on my other story, and it made me nervous about adding ual content cause I wasn't sure if that's how the majority felt. SO, I am asking: Should I end this story with fluff or with ? Lmk or i'll have to guess and I'm bad at guessing lmaoo Thanks for reading (─‿‿─) (Also I don't know how AFF works so if it does end up being do I have to flag the whole story as mature? or can I just add warnings and make the one chapter mature? Ty)