It had been weeks since Daehyun and Yongguk woke up leaning against each other, both disoriented and in disbelief. They had decided not to make a big deal out of it and just kept going.

Switching rooms had become more frequent, despite Daehyun thinking that their relationship would get weird. It was quite the opposite.

There was some progress at first but then it just went static. So much so that Daehyun had gotten used to being close to Yongguk. Can you imagine that? No longer getting flustered when Yongguk touched him or when they were sitting next to each other.

Sleeping in the same bad had become normal. They were also starting to be seen together on campus. It made Daehyun feel like he could hear whispers behind his back, but he always forced himself not to look.

It was all in his head anyway.

He missed Mrs. Dakko. He would bring it up every now and again but Yongguk would usually end the conversation quickly. The most Daehyun had gotten out of him was one especially depressing, snowless and gray Monday.

They were sitting on the twin desks by the window, both looking somewhere in the distance.

“I really miss Mrs. Dakko,” Daehyun blurted out.

Yongguk nodded in agreement. “She’d make this ty day better.”

“But you get to see her.”

Yongguk buried his nose in the hem of his turtleneck. “It’s not enough. I want her here…”

“Would it be considered bad influence if I asked you to bring her back?” Daehyun asked jokingly.

Yongguk gave a small smile. “You’ve been a bad influence since we met, actually. You’re the one who suggested sneaking her in.”

Daehyun nudged him. “Yah but I also suggested taking her home! That was responsible.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “But also turned out to be a bad idea… I guess it’s not so much whether my ideas are responsible, they’re just bad.”

“It wasn’t a bad decision to take her in,” Yongguk said. “The problem is that she’s not here.”

“I really wanna see her,” Daehyun muttered. “Wouldn’t it be cool if— no forget it.”

Yongguk perked up, raising his eyebrows. “What? What would be cool?”

“Just – but it’s really stupid it would never work – I was thinking that if Mrs. Dakko can’t come over I could.. But that’s dumb.” It wasn’t that Daehyun thought it wouldn’t work, the thing was that he felt like it was too pushy to suggest visiting Yongguk’s home.

“It’s not dumb,” Yongguk said softly. “It’s just that… That’s not a good idea.”

“Why?” Daehyun shuffled over, nudging him lightly to try and get him to talk.

“Well.” Yongguk glanced at Daehyun briefly before looking out the window again. “It’s my parents,” he said at last as something he’d been holding in for a while.

“What about them?” Daehyun asked, trying not to sound nosy but ultimately failing.

“They’re, uh... Let’s say old-fashioned. About everything. It’s brought a lot of conflict in the past.” He paused, eyes cold. It looked like he wasn’t going to say anything else, but he continued, his voice filled with irritability,

“They refused to get me professional help until I was literally seconds away from—and even so they were sceptical of me actually needing help.” He shook his head. “If I brought you home they would definitely have a hard time believing that we really are just friends. They’ve been suspicious of me since high school even though I wasn’t stupid enough to tell them anything.”

Daehyun let out a quiet “oh.” As hurt as he might have been for Yongguk insisting that they were friends, he knew that they had a bigger problem at hand, so he pushed the thought aside.

“Alright, I get it. Thank you for telling me.” Daehyun reached out and took Yongguk’s hand.

Instead of pulling away, Yongguk pulled him closer. Before he even knew what was going on, Daehyun was leaning against Yongguk and being held by him. Not that he was complaining.

They cuddled it out by the window.

They didn’t really talk about it afterwards. Daehyun didn’t bring up Mrs. Dakko or the possibility of him visiting Incheon.

That was, until one day when they had morning classes. Daehyun had his head laid on the desk, waiting to see whether Yongguk would sit with him or not. It was a daily stress for him – when he wasn’t sitting with Jongup – if Yongguk would bail on him. Not that he ever did, but Daehyun was still paranoid.

And how could he not be when the whispers he had thought he was imagining turned out to be real. More real than he had thought.

That morning as he was dragging himself to the classroom, two girls approached him. Girls he definitely didn’t know, but who seemed to know him. They asked him about Yongguk and the “nature of their relationship.” He wasn’t sure how to respond and threw them a quick generic answer before hastily walking the hell away.

He was still thinking about the incident when Yongguk not-so-gracefully placed his on the seat beside Daehyun.

“Hey,” he greeted. There was a subtle note of excitement in his voice, one that Daehyun couldn’t miss.

So he sat up properly to look at Yongguk. “Hi! Something good happened?”

Yongguk seemed to hesitate for a second. “Yes, actually,” he said, resting his leg on Daehyun’s – another thing that’s become normal for them. Since Yongguk no longer had an empty space beside him to rest his legs on, they resolved to that.

“Remember what you’ve asked me about visiting Mrs. Dakko? Well, my parents are out of town for the weekend. A prolonged weekend actually. Yongnam will be busy working on an important assignment and if I ask Natasha nicely she might leave the house… to us.”

Daehyun stared at him with wide eyes, blinking a few times in disbelief. “You’re taking me to Incheon?”

“I’d love to, but we’ll see, okay?” That seemed to be the end. Yongguk took out his notebook – he was no longer hiding it from Daehyun even though he wouldn’t let him read it – and began scribbling in it. “You just seemed to like the idea a lot and I wanted to make it happen,” he said without looking up.

Daehyun was stunned. He smiled brightly, resisting the urge to tackle-hug Yongguk right then and there. He nudged him instead. “Thank you. It means a lot.”

For a few days Daehyun had to stop himself from bothering Yongguk about the trip. He just really needed to know if it was happening. He tried not to get his hopes up, in case it wasn’t but… Who was he kidding? His hopes were way up.

Just thinking about it made him smile like an idiot and it made Jongup concerned.

“Are you actually going with him? I mean, did he confirm it?” Jongup questioned that Thursday evening.

“Uh, no,” Daehyun admitted.

Jongup sighed and flicked his forehead. “Then stop daydreaming! What if he says no? You’ll just be disappointed.”

“Wow, how optimistic of you, geez...” Daehyun rolled his eyes. “I tried not to get my hopes up, but…” His gaze turned distant once again. “If you’d heard how he’d said it you would understand…”

Jongup rolled his eyes and booed Daehyun. “You’re gross when you’re love-struck.”

Daehyun was about to say something when his phone rang. He jumped up and grabbed it, gasping.

“It’s Yongguk,” he whispered. That was the one thing that hadn’t changed. Every time Yongguk called, Daehyun’s heart still raced.

Little did he know that Yongguk needed a mental preparation before every call.

“Hey hyung!” Daehyun said, mentally cursing himself for sounding so excited.

“Hey Dae,” Yongguk said. He sounded cheerful, Daehyun knew from experience that when he sounded like that he must also be smiling.

“Let me get straight to the point – we’re going to Incheon.” Yongguk took Daehyun’s silence the wrong way. “I mean, if you still want to…”

But of course he did. Daehyun just needed a moment to silently scream with Jongup cheering him on just as silently.

“No, no, I’d love to!” Daehyun said once he’d composed himself.

“Yeah, okay then,” Yongguk said, clearly relieved. “We’re leaving Friday evening, that okay?”

“That’s perfect,” Daehyun said, falling back on the bed.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Bye hyung.”

After squealing into a pillow that was laid in Jongup’s lap for about ten minutes, the two spent the night listening to the best indie rock love songs they could find.

After five albums by Arctic Monkeys and two more by The 1975 with little sleep until the morning, it was time for classes again.

Daehyun couldn’t get the silly smile off his face the entire day. Jongup was getting a bit tired of it but he was supportive nonetheless. The best thing was that Yongguk seemed to be picking up Daehyun’s good mood.

Daehyun got the privilege of seeing Yongguk’s smile almost the entire day.

The best thing had to be when the classes ended; Yongguk gave Daehyun a hug, complete with a kiss on the cheek and a “see you later.”

Jongup and Daehyun had saved The Killers for last, while Daehyun was packing. Well, Jongup ended up packing Daehyun’s things since he was in no condition to do it himself.

“Get yourself together. You’re supposed to be out in half an hour,” Jongup said and threw a pillow at Daehyun, who was lying on the bed.

But he didn’t react. He grabbed the pillow previously thrown at him and cuddled it. “He kissed me,” he said in a high pitched voice.

“You’re hopeless,” Jongup said, crossing his arms. “I’ve packed your stuff Daehyun. Try to collect yourself before Yongguk gets here.”

As soon as he said that, there was a knock.

Jongup sighed. “Too late now.” He went to open the door.

Yongguk waved, smiling brightly like he had the entire time they were in class that day.

“Will you have him home by nine?” Jongup joked.

Yongguk chuckled. “By nine this Sunday,” he said. He leaned to the side to look at Daehyun. “We do have to leave though, are you ready?”

Daehyun jumped up and nodded. “Yeah, yeah, just, uh… I need a moment.”

He went to the corner of the room that couldn’t be seen from the doorway. He gave Jongup a quick look, who was smiling at him reassuringly, then he caught his reflection in the nearby mirror.

This was happening. He was going to spend a weekend with Yongguk in his home. And he wouldn’t mess it up. After giving himself the silent pep talk, Daehyun grabbed the bag Jongup had prepared for him, checking once again if he had the most important things. Then he put his jacket on and gave Jongup a quick hug.

“Thank you,” he mumbled and skipped over to Yongguk.

He wasn’t sure how it had happened, but soon their hands were intertwined. And while it may have looked casual, Daehyun didn’t know that Himchan had spent half an hour convincing Yongguk to do that, after spending half an hour more reassuring him that he hadn’t made the wrong move when he’d kissed Daehyun on the cheek earlier that day.

On their way to the train station Yongguk was quiet. It was to be expected of him, but it wasn’t his usual silence – the one that either meant that he was deep in thought or that he needed to recharge.

This was more like when they were going to get coffee after taking Mrs. Dakko to the vet. He was smiling and he kept stealing glances at Daehyun as if he had something to say. But every time he would drop his gaze to their hands and then back to the ground, staying quiet.

Daehyun understood him completely. He himself was in a similar state of mind. It took him until they were aboard the train to collect himself enough to speak. Up until that point, he was afraid that if he spoke his voice would break.

“So… Your siblings won’t be home?” Daehyun asked as casually as he could.

“Nope,” Yongguk said, “Just us.”

As if they didn’t know that already, they let a moment of silence pass to let the information sink in.

“I have even more CDs and books at home,” Yongguk said, breaking the silence. “I was thinking, if you want to, we can watch some movies again. I’m pretty sure I have all of Marvel’s, even the ty ones, from the time when DVDs were still relevant.”

Daehyun nodded. “Sounds perfect,” he said, painfully aware that he had a huge smile on his face.

“Or we could play video games, or… Anything you want.”

Daehyun just nodded.

“Are you okay?” Yongguk asked and waved his hand in front of Daehyun’s face.

“Of course!” He smiled and nodded. “I’m just a little excited.”

“You’re quiet when you’re excited? Because that’s not like you.”

Daehyun lightly shoved Yongguk. “I can be loud if you want me to. I can yell right now.” He took a deep breath and even started the scream, but Yongguk quickly clasped his hand over Daehyun’s mouth.

“Please do not scream, we’re in a public place,” he said, but he was giggling.

Daehyun raised his arms to admit defeat. Yongguk carefully let go of him, still sceptical. Daehyun could start screaming any time now…

But he didn’t. He was again looking at Yongguk with a huge smile.

“Show me pictures of Tigger again, please.”

Yongguk didn’t need to be told twice. He whipped out his phone and leaned closer, showing him once again. Every time they went through Yongguk’s camera roll, they always found some Tigger images or footage that he had not yet shown Daehyun. Newer ones showed the dog and Mrs. Dakko playing around, cuddling or sleeping together. The kitten loved to sit on Tigger’s head and, being as weak as he was, Yongguk took a picture every time that happened, which was a lot. The best part was that the three siblings had a group chat where they sent their own photos and videos of cute things the pets had done that the other two might have missed. Daehyun could only admire Yongguk’s SD card’s memory capacity.

This was how they spent the ride – ‘aww’ing at Tigger and Mrs. Dakko.

Upon arriving, Daehyun was extremely hyped to finally meet Tigger and see Mrs. Dakko again. However, once again he was given something else to think about as Yongguk took his hand. Daehyun was looking around, anywhere but Yongguk.

They took a walk through and Yongguk stopped at a bridge overlooking the centre to snap a few pictures. Daehyun stood on the side while Yongguk did his magic, which would surely later end up on instagram. Then he turned his phone towards Daehyun.

His eyes widened and he covered his face. “Take pictures of the scenery, leave me out of it!” He whined, trying desperately to hide from Yongguk’s phone, but he kept taking pictures anyway.

“Come on! I want to let my loyal followers know that we’re hanging out.”

Daehyun huffed. Yongguk was undoubtedly referring to the time when Daehyun told him about his fanbase, which the other was completely unaware of. Now it was sort of an inside joke, whenever Yongguk was about to post something in Daehyun’s presence, the ‘loyal fans’ would be mentioned.

“Your loyal fans don’t care about us hanging out. They only want to know if we’re dating.” It just flew out. Daehyun wasn’t thinking about what he was saying and he froze when he realized what exactly he had said.

Yongguk lowered his phone and frowned. “What do you mean?”

Daehyun shoved his hands in the pockets of his coat and shrugged. “It’s just that… Oh, this is so stupid. People on campus, they actually approach me sometimes and ask what’s ‘the nature of our relationship’.” He tried to laugh it off.

Yongguk didn’t share this enthusiasm. Instead of chuckling along, he looked baffled. He walked over and reached out, but pulled his hand back as Daehyun’s were still in his pockets. “I’m sorry. That’s… Why should anyone give a damn?”

It was as if the air changed. Yongguk was staring at the ground, radiating frustration.

“Hey, it’s fine! You’ve made me popular, I should be thanking you.” Daehyun nudged Yongguk, trying to get him to cheer up.

He sighed and glanced up. “Are you sure it doesn’t bother you?”

The truth was that it would bother Daehyun much less if he himself knew the ‘nature of their relationship.’ But did he say it? Of course not. He wasn’t about to ruin this weekend for the both of them.

“No, no, it’s alright, I promise! I’m just too awkward, that’s all.” He smiled brightly. Yongguk was still hesitant, so Daehyun added. “If you promise to let it go, I’ll let you post some pictures of me – as long as they’re decent!”

This did it. Even if it was a bit strained, Yongguk smiled. “Fair enough.”

They stopped to pick the photos, Daehyun mostly cringing at his own appearance. Yongguk wanted to post every picture he’d taken of him – there were only a few – but Daehyun could only accept the one where pretty much all of his face was covered by his arm.

“But I like the one where you’re smiling,” Yongguk mumbled, swiping through the pictures until he reached the one he was talking about.

Daehyun chewed on his lip. The longer he looked at it the worse it got. He closed his eyes and opened them again. That way, it was actually acceptable. Not that people would stop to analyze pictures of him anyway. His arms were in the air, in one of his attempts to hide his face, but his smile could be seen as well as the look he was giving Yongguk at the moment.

“Fine, you can post it. But post both of them together and make this the second one so it’s not the first picture on display.”

Yongguk nodded. “Acceptable.”

After the pictures were posted, they made their way to Yongguk’s house.

The padding of paws and barking could be heard when they were at the door. Daehyun and Yongguk exchanged looks, both of them grinning excitedly. Upon opening the door, Yongguk immediately dropped to his knees, letting Tigger jump into his open arms.

“Teezy I’ve missed you!” He exclaimed, his usually deep voice now at least an octave higher. Daehyun didn’t even know he could do that. The sight was so heart-warming that Daehyun had to stop to admire the scene of Yongguk cuddling his dog and baby-talking to him.

Then something bumped his leg. Daehyun glanced down and gasped. Mrs. Dakko, who was much more subtle about her excitement of the two coming home, was standing by his foot. After bumping her head against Daehyun’s leg, she just sat and her paw as if nothing had happened.

Now Daehyun was on his knees, cuddling the kitten – although she was no longer so small to fit into his two palms – and doing the same baby-talk to her. Mrs. Dakko simply pretended that she wasn’t receiving the affection she had so subtly asked for.

For a second Yongguk and Daehyun made eye contact. They both stopped the cuddling and just stayed quiet for a moment of silence. Daehyun had no idea what Yongguk was thinking about during that brief moment, but he himself could only think, “This is the guy everyone on campus idolizes and finds scary.”

They burst out laughing.

“Let me show you around,” Yongguk said, placing Tigger down. The moment his paws touched the ground he started running around the living room, occasionally letting out an excited bark.

Daehyun placed his own fluff ball down, but before they parted ways, Mrs. Dakko his cheek as thanks for the cuddling provided. Daehyun couldn’t help but gasp, melting. At least he could make a kitten love him.

Yongguk was now next to him, offering his hand. He helped Daehyun up, but they parted rather quickly.

The shared bedroom was upstairs. Mrs. Dakko and Tigger followed them there, but got busy playing together in the hallway.

Yongguk and Yongnam had a bunk bed, which Daehyun found adorable; however Yongguk claimed that it was extremely difficult sharing a room with a sibling.

“If we had to share with Natasha as well, it would have been even worse,” he said, huffing.

Daehyun was studying the posters which covered one entire wall. “Was it never interesting? Or less lonely?”

Yongguk shrugged one shoulder, leaning against the doorframe. “I guess so. Having siblings is nice, but sharing a room? Not so much.”

“You didn’t get along?” Daehyun asked, voice softening as if to not upset Yongguk with the question.

“We got along much worse when we lived together. But it wasn’t bad or anything.”

Daehyun nodded. “Which one is yours?”

“The bottom. Come on,” Yongguk’s small smile was an excited one, beckoning Daehyun as he climbed into his bed.

Daehyun was a bit surprised at the request, but he followed just as excitedly. What Yongguk was showing him were photos on the board above. Daehyun recalled that something similar was in Yongguk’s dorm, on the side of the wardrobe, which was by his bed. He’d learned that the photos were taken by him, and he recognized some of them from Yongguk’s instagram.

“It’s so beautiful… You’re really good at aesthetics, aren’t you?” Daehyun said, nudging the other.

He chuckled, tilting his head at his own creation. “I guess so.”

“Do you sleep here when you visit?” Daehyun asked.

“If my parents aren’t home, then I take their bed for myself. Otherwise, I sleep here.”

They both giggled, turning to look up at the display above. As they were both lying down horizontally, they also shared Yongguk’s pillow. All Daehyun had to do was move his hand a little and their hands were touching. It made them both horribly aware of how little space there was between them and they refused to look at each other, instead examining the board. They pretended not to notice anything as they moved closer, closer until their hands were intertwined and both of their hearts trying to jump out of their chest.

Both Yongguk and Daehyun were contemplating the great question of whether they should make a move, say something or simply stay like that forever. They didn’t dare make eye contact.

“I’m a bad host,” Yongguk was the first one to speak, quietly. “I never asked you if you wanted to drink something or if you were hungry.”

“I’m good,” Daehyun answered, his voice a bit more stable than Yongguk’s. “Although you have raised a very important question.”

Yongguk shifted, turning his head to look at Daehyun. “Which is?”

“Does either of us actually know how to cook?”

Yongguk burst out laughing. Daehyun was delighted to see Yongguk so relaxed. It was a rare occurrence and Daehyun was glad to be one of the people Yongguk was comfortable enough around.

“Do instant noodles count?”

“No, sorry,” Daehyun said, now looking back at him.

Was he… was he imagining or was Yongguk blushing? Daehyun blinked a few times, then looked at the other again. The red tint was still there, colouring Yongguk’s cheeks.

“Dang it… I assume microwavable food doesn’t count either?”

Daehyun shook his head, now matching Yongguk’s bright smile.

“Then I’ve lost. But what about you? Don’t take it the wrong way, but I don’t see you as a culinary expert,” Yongguk said in a teasing tone.

Daehyun nudged his shoulder. “Not an expert, but I can cook! Basic things… I can make tamagoyaki and perhaps something to go with the noodles you can make, like boiled eggs or chicken… And my mom has taught me to make rice cakes, so there! At least we’re not doomed to take-out.”

“Don’t be a show-off,” Yongguk said, suddenly all pouty.

For reasons completely unknown, Daehyun couldn’t look away from Yongguk’s lips. Not while he was pouting like that.

“Besides,” Yongguk spoke again and Daehyun’s gaze snapped up. “It’s not so much what we make, the bigger concern is not messing up the kitchen in any way. No one messes up my mom’s kitchen and gets out alive.”

Yongguk yet again pouted, this time in thought, and Daehyun’s heart made a back flip in his chest.

“Come to think of it, since that’s the case I shouldn’t let you in the kitchen at all, even if it dooms us to instant noodles and take-out for two days.”

Daehyun yet again nudged Yongguk, a bit harder this time. “Don’t be a prick! I’m not that bad...”

Yongguk laughed; the light, bubbly sound made Daehyun’s heart jump as much as his pout had. “I’m kidding! It’ll be fun trying not to anything up.” He grinned.

Tigger suddenly started barking, and it got louder as well as the sound of approaching paws. Yongguk gasped and sat up so quickly that he almost hit his head on the board above. Because Mrs. Dakko was once again on Tigger’s head and Yongguk yet again had to capture it. This was the moment when he let go of Daehyun’s hand in order to take his phone, and it did make Daehyun a bit sad but he was also thrilled to witness the puppy-kitten friendship.

“They’re adorable!” he said, melting.

“I love them so much,” Yongguk spoke softly, snapping many pictures.

Mrs. Dakko hopped off of Tigger’s head and onto the bed, squeezing between Yongguk and Daehyun’s thighs. They both ‘awww’ed at her, petting her gently.

Feeling the lack of attention, Tigger tried to hop on as well.

“They shouldn’t be allowed on the bed,” Yongguk informed while lifting Tigger up and into his lap.

“So, you really are a bad boy who breaks a lot of rules?” Daehyun teased.

Yongguk glanced down, shaking his head. “I’m afraid not… I’m just a loser who loves his pets too much.” He pulled Tigger into a hug. The dog must have been used to this kind of attention because he made little to no effort to break away, but he did seem a bit restless and kept trying to Yongguk’s cheek.

Mrs. Dakko only purred contently at Daehyun’s petting, not daring to seek more affection. Daehyun decided to try something, although he was quite positive it would work since they’d done it before, when Mrs. Dakko was much smaller. He picked her up and placed her on his head. He had to duck a bit for it to work, since the top bed was a bit low, but he managed.

It made Yongguk smile brightly and he was immediately grabbing his phone to capture the moment. “I have to, it’s too adorable. Please?”

“Oh, fine...” Daehyun knew nothing about angles or how to make himself look decent on a picture, but at this point he trusted Yongguk. He only hid his face up to his lips, although Yongguk had gotten a few pictures without Daehyun’s hand in the way.

“Why do you keep taking pictures of me?” Daehyun asked as they were once again looking at Yongguk’s phone to choose pictures for instagram. Mrs. Dakko was now on Daehyun’s shoulder rather than his head, which was a more comfortable position for both of them. Tigger, on the other hand, kept shuffling in Yongguk’s lap, occasionally barking to which Mrs. Dakko would reply with a meow.

Yongguk shrugged one shoulder, seemingly concentrating even more on the task of filtering the photos.

“I guess because you’re natural. It’s something photographers constantly look for in their models. You can’t artificially recreate happiness; you have to have someone who genuinely is happy. Capture that, and it’s something truly beautiful.” He paused.

This much was enough to stun Daehyun, but there was more. “Don’t take it the wrong way, but it’s not your looks that make you beautiful in this context.”

“But you do think I’m handsome?” Daehyun teased, mostly to ease the tension. Or was he the only one who felt the tension? Because receiving compliments wasn’t something he was used to, other than from Jongup which was also a rare occurrence since he didn’t like purposely putting Daehyun into awkward situations.

Yongguk did not answer. He only bowed his head, his curls getting into his eyes and covering his red cheeks.

This somehow also made Daehyun blush. It didn’t mean anything, he told himself. It didn’t mean anything.

Both cuddled up with a fluff ball, they took a little break. Somewhere along the way they’d leaned on each other, while each of them scrolled on their own phone.

Daehyun knew he shouldn’t but it was too tempting. Even as Jongup’s words, “Don’t do this to yourself,” echoed in his head, Daehyun didn’t resist. He went under Yongguk’s most recent post and read the comments.

‘ok but who is this guy?’

‘anyone notice how this kid is the only one who appears on bbang’s account? other than chanie sometimes’

‘so are they like a thing or..?’

‘where did this guy even come from lmao stay away from gukkie!!!’

‘@xxx your spot’s been taken this nerd beat you better start looking for another boyfriend’

‘sooo does this guy think hell become the next big thing cause hes hanging out with yongguk? what an attention ’

It wasn’t that this bothered Daehyun. They were just stupid comments by people who didn’t matter. As he’d learned, Yongguk never even read his comments unless it was one of his friends who tagged him.

He’d told Daehyun about how he used to waste his life on instagram and care so much about everyone and everything. That was the time when he’d become so popular, but after uninstalling the app for a few months, he’d become less addicted to it. Now he didn’t care as much and only had fun with it. And Yongguk had little to no s to give about what went on on instagram

Daehyun wasn’t so fortunate. He wasn’t addicted, but he definitely cared a bit too much.

No, this didn’t bother him. It just made his chest tighten uncomfortably, made his mood drop and brought tears to his eyes. But it was nothing, because those were just stupid comments.

He shouldn’t have looked. He should have listened to Jongup.

But it was fine.

“Are you okay?”

Daehyun jolted, almost hitting Yongguk and tossing Mrs. Dakko of his shoulder in the process.

“Huh? Yeah, of course!” Daehyun gave a bright smile, hoping it would fool Yongguk.

It did not. Yongguk reached out but change his mind halfway and lowered his hand to pat Tigger instead. “Then what’re your eyes misty for?”

“They’re not,” was all Daehyun could say, quite stupidly so.

Yongguk frowned and threw a glance at Daehyun’s phone. “Wait, what are you even…?”

Before Yongguk could be sure what he saw, Daehyun closed the app and smiled at him.

Yongguk watched Daehyun for a little while, in such a way that melted Daehyun’s already unsure smile away.

“This is about the instagram thing, isn’t it?”

Daehyun laughed nervously. “I swear you’re a mind reader or something.”

“I knew it wasn’t okay. I knew you were lying.”

Daehyun glanced down, biting his lip. “I wasn’t lying. It’s really not a big deal. I mean, it’s social media, people will always be jerks online, right? It shouldn’t matter to me, it’s just…” He trailed off, realizing that Yongguk likely wasn’t listening. And when he glanced up, Daehyun realized he was right. He had never regretted being right so much.

Yongguk was reading those damned comments, his frown deepening by the second. “I didn’t know it was this bad.”

“No, no, it’s not a big deal, really!” Daehyun tried.

Yongguk ended up tossing his phone on the bed and it bounced off, onto the ground. This reaction startled Daehyun and he went silent. Yongguk hugged Tigger, looking both angry and crushed.

“Hyung, it’s fine,” Daehyun said once he found his voice.

Tigger started squirming in Yongguk's arms and he let the impatient puppy go. He sighed, resting his chin on his knees in such a way that made his cheeks squish up.

“I’m sorry, that was stupid of me. I’m just upset cause—you don’t deserve this and it’s all my fault. My fault because I can’t keep anything to myself,” Daehyun would have argued that Yongguk might keep too much to himself, but it wasn’t the time, “I just wanted to—I don’t ing know, I wanted everyone to know you’re my friend and I wanted others to see you like I do. But it turned out the complete opposite… I’m sorry.”

There it was again, the proclamation that they were friends. Daehyun brushed it off yet again, “Hey, it’s not your fault people are jerks. They’re just jealous.”

In that moment he realized the meaning of that sentence; people were jealous of him? It was so absurd that it made him laugh. “As crazy as that sounds… But that’s the point; they don’t even know what they’re jealous of. They want you, not your company, not to be your friend, they just want to have you. They think I have you and that’s why they’re jealous. Which isn’t the case at all...”

Yongguk huffed, staring ahead. “I don’t care what others think of me, I don’t give a damn what they write in the comments or what they expect of me, I couldn’t care less. But I absolutely can’t stand anyone insulting my friends.”

“You know, if this keeps up Himchan's spot of your best friend might become endangered,” Daehyun blurted out. He knew it was petty. He knew he should have been happy for having gotten this close to Yongguk at all, that the older had opened up to him and grouped him up with his few good friends. He shouldn’t have been salty just because of a crush.

“I—What?”

“Well, you keep saying that, so…” Daehyun trailed off, having no good excuse that wouldn’t also out his crush on Yongguk.

“You know, when you have a few friends, like me, it’s not difficult to be very close with all of them. So I don’t necessarily have to have a single best friend.”

“Yeah, but that’s not it.” Daehyun regretted saying it as soon as he did. Why couldn’t he for once just shut the hell up? Damn, it was like he wanted Yongguk to find out and reject him.

“Then what is it?” Yongguk unfolded from his position of hugging his knees. Instead he sat with his foot tucked under his thigh. He was looking at Daehyun steadily and it made the other look away.

“Forget it.”

“I can’t forget it. I know it’s stupid to dumb it down like this, but you basically said that you don’t want to be my friend. It’s silly, but I can’t let that go.”

“I guess I did say that…”

“Then tell me what’s wrong.”

Daehyun felt like he was going to lose it. He ran a hand through his hair in distress. Mrs. Dakko hopped off of his shoulder and looked at him judgingly. ‘I don’t want to pick up your bad vibes,’ she seemed to be saying. Or Daehyun was just going crazy. Either way, she shuffled off to the corner and sat there, watching them.

Even Tigger had settled down, his head rested on Yongguk’s thigh, blinking up with curious eyes at the two.

“Oh, no, nothing’s wrong. When you exclude the fact that my crush keeps calling me his friend, thereby destroying any chances I may or may not have ever had with him – everything’s fine.”

Tigger barked. Mrs. Dakko stared at Daehyun as if to say, ‘Man, chill.’

He took a deep breath. Yongguk was silent and Daehyun was terrified of what he might say.

They were in Incheon. They were an hour away from Seoul. They weren’t in Himchan and Yongguk’s shared dorm room from which Daehyun could easily escape to his own. They were in Incheon and if Daehyun had said the wrong thing – which he definitely had – this weekend would either become extremely uncomfortable, or he would have to find a night train home.

And then die in a ditch.

Alright, perhaps that was too dramatic.

But Yongguk still wasn’t speaking and Daehyun felt like his soul was going to leave his body.

“You have a crush on me?”

Daehyun stared at Yongguk. He stared at a timid smile and flushed cheeks and eyes like crescents. What the hell was going on?

“Yeah, I—Isn’t that what I just said?”

Tigger barked. Yongguk let himself fall forward like a timber and his face ended up in Daehyun’s lap. Then he giggled, while Daehyun only stared at him. Tigger kept barking, and soon Mrs. Dakko mewed to shush him.

“What’s with you?” Daehyun whined, feeling the heat rush to his face. He didn’t know what was worse; the fact that Yongguk’s reaction was unreadable to him or that his head was in his lap. But Daehyun had to face the facts here; he was probably just being mocked.

At least Yongguk didn’t kick him out, so that meant something, right…?

Yongguk ended up giggling for a while longer before he sat back up, his entire face red and eyes bright. “Okay so… You’re not gonna believe this. I’ve actually been calling you a friend all this time cause—” he suddenly seemed more uncomfortable, rather than amused, “—well, I actually had no idea how to address the situation, cause I’m crushing on you too and I had no idea how to act since I am definitely not the one to flirt or anything like that so…” He said it all in one breath and hid his face when he finished.

It was Daehyun’s turn to burst out laughing. “You absolute dork! There are thousands of people who think you’re some smooth er and you couldn’t even—I mean me? I am so easy to impress! You literally don’t have to do anything and I’m swooning!”

Yongguk shrugged sheepishly. Daehyun leaned forward and rested his forehead against Yongguk’s shoulder while giggling.

When they both settled down it took them another moment to realize what this actually meant. Daehyun, as cliché as it was to think that, had been convinced that Yongguk was friend-zoning him. He thought he had no chances, even after learning that Yongguk did in fact like guys. Because why would it be him, of all?

But it was. If he could trust Yongguk’s words which he could. This situation didn’t exactly seem like a prank, neither did Yongguk’s reaction to Daehyun’s confession.

So what did all of this mean for them?

It meant that Yongguk could rest his head on Daehyun’s shoulder and wrap his arms around his waist without worrying that Daehyun might take it the wrong way. It meant that Daehyun could play with Yongguk’s curls without asking or being afraid that the other would move away.

“Do you think they knew?” Daehyun asked.

Yongguk looked up. “Himchan and Jongup?”

Daehyun nodded. Yongguk narrowed his eyes in thought. “Maybe… No, they did. They definitely did. At least Himchan did. He was way too positive about it all, and very interested in it. I know he’d support me no matter what, but he somehow really wanted this, us, to work out.”

“Come to think of it, Jongup had a similar approach to it. Gukkie, they conspired behind our backs,” Daehyun decided.

“I’ll kick his ,” Yongguk said, huffing. “Why hasn’t he told me anything, that !? Instead he left me here to agonize over whether you just wanted to chill or become popular through me, or something…”

“I think they wanted us to figure it out on our own. Playing matchmakers rarely ever turns out well.” Suddenly Daehyun stopped playing with Yongguk’s hair and pulled away to be able to look at him properly. “Wait a second – ‘become popular through me’?”

Yongguk shrugged. “I was paranoid,” he said, losing his voice all of a sudden. “I thought you’d never like me back and I guess in really low moments I thought you were just using me…”

Daehyun blinked. “You know I’m not a mastermind, when would I ever think of such a plan?”

Yongguk shrugged, smiling weakly. “I told you, I was paranoid.”

Daehyun shook his head and pulled Yongguk closer, squishing him into a tight hug. “I really, really like you and I would never do such a thing to you, okay?”

Yongguk nodded, nuzzling into Daehyun.

“Hyung,” Daehyun called, interrupting Yongguk’s nuzzling.

He just looked up.

“I’m hungry.”

Yongguk giggled, pulling away and rubbing his eyes. “So, what’s it gonna be? Your cooking or mine?”

“Take-out?” Daehyun suggested.

“Take-out.”

While waiting, Yongguk played some CD, a band Daehyun didn’t know but sounded amazing. Or maybe everything sounded great in such a situation, even the weird mixture of rap and rock.

Yongguk was yelling the lyrics, nailing the rap parts just a bit better than the singing parts, but only because his voice was significantly deeper than the original singer’s. Meanwhile Daehyun laughed, applauded and danced. Yongguk’s dancing wasn’t the best, but Daehyun still invited him to the dance floor – which was the couch.

For once, Yongguk wasn’t worried if they’d break something or if his parents would be angry at him. It didn’t matter anyway. What mattered was that he was with Daehyun and while they were together, jumping hand in hand and singing at the top of their lungs, the usual heaviness was completely gone from Yongguk’s chest.

At some point Daehyun got a bit overexcited and tripped, knocking Yongguk over since they were holding onto each other. As they fell back on the couch, Daehyun’s knee miraculously ended up between Yongguk’s legs.

The older let out a series of curses, his cheeks turning red.

Daehyun was laughing hysterically, although a little embarrassed himself as the one who’d caused the problem. “Are you okay?” He asked through fits of giggles.

“Yeah, yeah… My dignity isn’t.”

Daehyun laughed harder. He’d been holding himself up up until that point, but his arms gave out and he fell against Yongguk, possibly making everything worse for the poor guy. Daehyun was laughing so hard he ended up hiccupping.

Yongguk whined. “I hate you.”

The doorbell rang. Yongguk felt like he’d die.

“I’ll get it,” Daehyun hummed and stood up quickly. “You’ll be okay without me?”

“At the moment I’m better off without you,” Yongguk mumbled.

Daehyun burst out laughing yet again. He barely made it to the door because he kept stumbling. The delivery guy gave him a weird look while he was receiving his tip, since Daehyun was laughing like crazy and it looked like he was alone even though he wasn’t. It must have looked like he was on some serious drugs.

If only. Daehyun didn’t need drugs to act that way, it was just his personality.

And, well, funny situations.

Daehyun took it upon himself to go to the kitchen and serve the food, so they at least didn’t eat out of the cardboard containers. When that was done he skipped over to the living room, grinning at the sight of Yongguk.

He was curled up in the corner of the couch his entire face red, but he seemed to be breathing normally at least.

Daehyun sat on the opposite armrest. “You doing okay?”

“Better,” Yongguk mumbled.

“I never knew I was that hot.”

Yongguk flung a pillow at Daehyun.

He caught it and threw it back. “Stop sulking, let’s go eat.”

Yongguk hugged the pillow for a second before he decided he was feeling well enough to follow Daehyun into the kitchen.

“I’ll get back at you,” he announced, sitting down not-so-gracefully.

Daehyun grinned and hopped onto the table, munching on his sweet and sour chicken. Not that the threat got to him or anything, but his face did become red.

“Come on hyung, no hard feelings, right?”

Yongguk almost dropped his chopsticks, his cheeks just as red as Daehyun’s. “I swear to God—”

Before he could continue the threat, Daehyun leaned in and pecked his forehead. “I’m just messing with you. It’s cute when you get all worked up.”

Yongguk immediately melted, his shoulders dropped and he glanced down at his plate.

“You know my parents wouldn’t like to see anyone sitting on the dining table,” he mumbled, maybe to change the subject.

Daehyun raised his eyebrows. “I can always sit in your lap.”

It was insane how confident Daehyun felt just because Yongguk slipped up once. Or maybe it was because they’d become very comfortable with each other and both of them knew they were safe.

Yongguk sighed, shaking his head. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“Stop being so cute and I’ll stop teasing you.”

“I’m starting to question everything I know about you.”

Daehyun grinned. “Well, you have to get to know me before I can become weird. Besides, I’m learning new things about you as well. All the time, in fact.”

Yongguk smiled, looking away again. “I might just let you get to know me.”

Daehyun felt something he couldn’t quite explain. He was happy, there was this odd bubbly feeling in his chest – and Yongguk was in the centre of it all. Daehyun was just so proud – that was it, there was the word he’d been looking for – proud of himself for getting this far with Yongguk and proud of Yongguk for opening up, slowly but surely.

After dinner Yongguk and Daehyun went back upstairs to cuddle with Tigger and Mrs. Dakko, but also with each other. Yongguk needed a reminder to take his meds, but he didn’t complain like the first time. He did it quickly so that he could return to cuddling Daehyun as soon as possible.

“So,” Daehyun began. He was leaning against the wall with Yongguk’s head in his lap. Mrs. Dakko was asleep on Daehyun’s shoulder while Tigger was on Yongguk’s chest. Daehyun was playing with Yongguk’s hair, while the other had his eyes closed, just resting.

“I’m sorry, I really don’t want to seem annoying but… I kind of need closure. If I’m not your friend, what am I? What… are we?”

Yongguk kept his eyes closed. “I don’t know. What do you want us to be?”

Daehyun leaned over, purposely getting into Yongguk’s face to get his attention.

“Can I be completely honest without freaking you out? Cause I don’t know what you’re comfortable with so—”

Yongguk opened his eyes and pecked Daehyun’s nose. “Just say it.”

Daehyun blushed. “I w-wanna be with you. I want to be your boyfriend. I’m – – I don’t know—” He was cut off in the best possible way. It seemed like something that only happens in movies or dramas.

Yongguk tangled his fingers in Daehyun’s hair and pulled him into a kiss. Daehyun couldn’t move too much because then Mrs. Dakko and Tigger would suffer the consequences. And also because he had no idea how to react, leaving Yongguk to do all the work.

Yongguk couldn’t exactly handle it either so he pulled away sooner than he intended, glancing to the side.

Daehyun carefully scooped Mrs. Dakko up in his arms and Yongguk did the same with Tigger. They took the sleeping fluff balls to their bed – Yongguk had told Daehyun how even though they had their separate beds, they liked to share – and placed them down together.

They went back to the bottom bunk bed and cuddled up together. It occurred to Daehyun that they used to do this even before, only they were both a bit anxious and confused. They no longer felt that way. Yongguk curled up into Daehyun without hesitation and clung onto him.

“Hyung?” Daehyun mumbled.

Yongguk looked up.

“Can you do the thing again?”

“What thing?”

“… Kiss me.”

Yongguk grinned and did as Daehyun asked, pulling him in and kissing him softly. This time Daehyun wasn’t as frozen up, though he was still timid.

Yongguk pulled away, smiling faintly. “I’m really thankful for you, you know.”

Daehyun tilted his head. “Thankful?”

“Yeah. I’ve been a lot better ever since I met you. I don’t – even know how, but I’ve stopped bottling everything up and around you I just feel better. You’re really bright and kind, kind of like – an energy source. I don’t know if that makes sense…”

Daehyun pecked Yongguk’s cheek. “I understand. You have no idea how happy I am that I’ve managed that.”

“I hope I won’t suffocate you,” he mumbled.

“Never,” Daehyun assured, holding him closer. “You’ve helped me grow too and you’ve never drained me. I never felt like I was obliged to fix you. But I’m glad I could help.”

Yongguk sighed and he seemed relieved more than anything. Maybe he would think about how lucky he’d gotten if he wasn’t too busy thinking about how he would have to make an effort to keep Daehyun and not hurt him accidentally.

As if reading his mind, Daehyun spoke up, quietly and reassuringly, “Stop worrying. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Yongguk tried to pretend to be sulking, but Daehyun foiled his plans by kissing his forehead.

“Sleep, hyung,” he whispered.

Yongguk didn’t need to be told twice. He was slowly getting knocked out anyway.

As for Daehyun, he was just so relieved to be the one Yongguk felt safe around and he was happy to be the one who gets to hold Yongguk while he falls asleep.