It’s been a slow month. In truth, Youngjae has always thought that a break like this is exactly what he wants, what the whole group needs, but now that it’s happening, it’s really more dull than anything else. After getting so used to the fast-paced life they normally lead, he supposes this much free time is more than he knows what to do with. There’s only so many times he can watch Jongup’s favorite anime or take advantage of Himchan’s cooking or play games all day before the novelty of it all wears off.

It doesn’t help that the group chat has been pretty dead, too. Sometimes Yongguk sends a random inspirational quote he thought of, and sometimes Himchan sends a random update about some exciting thing he did, and sometimes Junhong sends a random meme he found in the deep corners of the internet, and sometimes Daehyun sends a random picture or video of Ganji being the precious little ball of fluff he is. (And yeah, maybe Youngjae is a little in love with that dog. It’s not a big deal, and the owner of said dog has nothing to do with it, no matter what Junhong says.)

Overall, though, it’s mostly silent, and Youngjae has to entertain himself in some other way, which is why he finds himself scrolling through his Twitter feed, bored out of his mind. He always forgets that he barely follows anyone, though, so unfortunately, his feed is about as interesting as the group chat. To pass time, he spends a while replying to fans, knowing they must be as frustrated as him about the lack of activities lately.

Daehyun, it seems, is the only person he follows who’s been active recently, because his tweet is the only new thing Youngjae can see, and it’s just a link to his latest Instagram post. And the truth is, Youngjae hasn’t actually seen or talked to Daehyun in a few days. (He kind of hates that he knows the exact amount of time it’s been, down to the hour.)

He’s extremely grateful for the large and pretty luxurious apartment he shares with Himchan and Jongup, but sometimes he misses all six of them living together. If nothing else, it at least ensured that they would always be in communication with each other.

Oho, he types in reply to Daehyun’s tweet. It’s stupid, he knows, and he’s not jealous that Daehyun is hanging out with his friends or anything, because he’s not a clingy possessive boyfriend (nor is he a boyfriend at all, but that’s beside the point). But maybe he is a little put out that Daehyun has been going on shopping trips but hasn’t bothered texting him in four days. (Sure, he hasn’t exactly tried texting first, but it’s not his fault that Daehyun usually initiates their conversations, and he’s just used to it now, okay?)

Let’s go to Han River with Ganji later and do a V live, how about it, he tweets a few seconds later, because he’s bored and he can. It’s something he’s wanted to do for a while, to be honest, and for some reason, he’s kept forgetting to bring it up. Hopefully now, with the added pressure of the fans expecting it from them, it’ll actually happen.

Answer me, he adds after a few minutes. He’s aware that he’s being ridiculous, but it’s all in good fun. Daehyun knows him better than anyone, and he’ll know that Youngjae is being overdramatic on purpose.

“Well, time to find something to do,” he mumbles to himself, closing the app and finally pulling himself off the couch, where he’s been vegetating for at least a few hours now.

He promptly forgets about the whole tweeting thing when he impulsively decides to clean his room; it really should have been done weeks ago, but he’s kept putting it off until now. It isn’t until a few hours later when he glances at his phone to find a notification from Twitter that he remembers his request.

Seeing that Daehyun has replied to his tweet but still hasn’t sent so much as a simple “hello” text gets Youngjae feeling irrationally restless. So he picks up the phone and before he can really second-guess himself, Daehyun is already answering his call.

“Youngjae,” Daehyun’s amused voice greets him through the speaker. “You do know you don’t have to tweet at me to get my attention, right? There’s this great thing called texting.”

“Oh, really?” Youngjae retorts. “I hadn’t realized, considering you’ve apparently forgotten it exists too.”

“Aww, did you miss me?” Daehyun asks, and Youngjae can just hear the stupid, annoyingly attractive smirk on his face.

“Not even a little,” Youngjae scoffs. Daehyun’s warm laughter filters through the phone, and it’s only then that Youngjae realizes how much he’s missed the sound. “You could have texted or something, though,” he adds, grateful that Daehyun can’t see how embarrassed he feels for saying it.

“You could have, too,” Daehyun returns cheekily. “But I’ll keep that in mind for next time so big baby Youngjae won’t feel lonely without me.”

“Oh please,” Youngjae grumbles. “I was fine.”

“No need to be embarrassed,” Daehyun says cheerfully. “I was getting bored without you too.”

“I guess we’re pretty bad at this whole long-distance thing, huh,” Youngjae says before he can think about it.

“We sure are,” Daehyun agrees, not even hesitating for a second, apparently unfazed by the connotations associated with the term “long-distance.” After a pause, he tentatively speaks again. “Also. I’m sure you know this, but you don’t need to use V lives as an excuse to walk Ganji with me. We can literally do that any time you want.”

“I know that,” Youngjae says defensively, even though it’s actually never occurred to him before. “I just thought the fans might like it.”

“Right, right, I should have known.” Daehyun’s tone is playful, and Youngjae rolls his eyes out of habit, though he can’t keep a smile off his face. “But just so you know, I think he misses you. The other night, we were listening to your V live radio thing and he started whining at the sound of your voice.”

“You listened to that?” Youngjae asks, genuinely surprised to hear it. He sometimes goes back and watches the solo broadcasts the other members have done in the past, but it’s not like any of them really make a habit of doing it.

“Of course,” Daehyun says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “He isn’t the only one who’s allowed to miss you, you know.”

“Just come over then, idiot,” Youngjae says affectionately, trying to ignore the fluttery feeling Daehyun’s words spark in his stomach. “Or invite me over. We live in the same city.”

Daehyun is silent for a few moments. “Youngjae,” he finally says, and his voice is more gentle than Youngjae was expecting. “You have to know that you’re always invited. Or are we not best friends anymore?”

“What are we, in elementary school?” Youngjae retorts jokingly, because it’s easier than listening to the part of his brain (pretty much the whole thing, actually) that kind of maybe doesn’t want to just be best friends anymore. He wonders if this is what being in love with his best friend is supposed to feel like.

“I’m just checking,” Daehyun says, his tone back to amused. “It seemed like maybe you forgot.”

“Dumb,” Youngjae huffs, feeling overwhelmingly fond. “But whatever. I’ll come over soon.”

“You better,” Daehyun warns, and Youngjae can picture exactly what Daehyun’s grin looks like.

They somehow end up spending another hour talking before Ganji’s barking in the background signals that Daehyun needs to go feed him. After all, there’s a reason they’ve remained such close friends for so long - they know how to talk about anything and everything.

(And if, after they hang up, Youngjae spends the rest of the day with a stupidly dopey smile on his face, well, no one else is at home to see it.)

~~~

Junhongie<3: heheh dont get mad but

Junhongie<3: i maybe hurt my arm a little

Junhongie<3: i just got out of surgery hehhe

Himchannie-hyung<3: WHAT

Himchannie-hyung<3: CHOI JUNHONG

Himchannie-hyung<3: WHAT HAPPENED

Junhongie<3: i said dont get mad :(

Yonggukkie-hyung<3: he’s just worried junhongie

Yonggukkie-hyung<3: are you okay?

Junhongie<3: im fine i just fell off my skateboard hehe

Himchannie-hyung<3: how many times have i said that thing is dangerous

Himchannie-hyung<3: but why listen to himchan hyung right? -_-

Yonggukkie-hyung<3: channie calm down i’m sure it’s nothing serious

Yonggukkie-hyung<3: junhong if it is something serious you’re banned from using the skateboard

Junhongie<3: im FINE hyung both of u calm down :(

Damchu<33: klutz

Damchu<33: how are u the main dancer again lmao

Uppie<3: where are u

Uppie<3: im on my way

Youngjae wakes up at noon to find the group chat the most active it’s been in weeks. He’ll never admit it to anyone, but he has a ridiculous smile on his face by the time he’s finished reading through the messages. (The members, of course, have long since figured out that Youngjae is really a huge softie, so there’s no real reason for him to be so against admitting something like this, but still. He has an image to uphold, okay?)

He’s missed this kind of interaction between all of them, and the whole situation is just so typical. Of course Junhong did something silly and dangerous, and of course Himchan was the first to reply all panicked and overprotective, and of course Yongguk simultaneously expressed concern and tried to pacify Himchan, and of course Daehyun contributed absolutely nothing of merit, and of course Jongup finally emerged after many days of complete silence solely because of Junhong.

Sitting up in his bed, Youngjae sends a simple “feel better junhongie” to the group chat and a long personal text to Junhong berating him over not being careful.

From: Junhongie<3

its not a big deal hyung stop being like this :(

To: Junhongie<3

why cant u be more careful then >:(

From: Junhongie<3

why cant u ask daehyun hyung out then >:(

To: Junhongie<3

kjhdhjkfhlgsfdkjkfshla

what kind of nonsense

that is IRRELEVANT choi junhong

From: Junhongie<3

lmao

o srry gtg uppie hyung is here

u know. my boyfriend. who actually uhhh asked me out

To: Junhongie<3

good BYE u brat

It’s pretty much a normal conversation between them, and Youngjae isn’t actually annoyed, because Junhong might be a brat but Youngjae loves him anyway.

Once he’s up, he showers, eats some random leftovers from the fridge (Himchan’s cooking tastes good even days later), and finds himself driving to Daehyun’s apartment. Halfway there, he realizes he probably should have checked to see if Daehyun is actually home first, but it’s too late to turn back now, so he keeps driving.

Fortunately, when Youngjae rings Daehyun’s doorbell, Daehyun opens the door promptly, looking pleasantly surprised to see his visitor. “Well, well. What brings you here?”

“Let me think,” Youngjae replies, strolling through the door and flashing a mischievous grin at Daehyun before directing all his attention to the very excitable dog standing by the couch. “Only the cutest puppy in the world.”

“I should have guessed,” Daehyun sighs overdramatically, shutting the door as Youngjae sits down on the floor and coos over Ganji. “And here I was thinking you finally wanted to rekindle our friendship.”

“Sounds like that’s your fault for thinking our friendship went out in the first place,” Youngjae reasons, looking up at Daehyun cheekily as Ganji eagerly tries to nibble at his fingers.

Daehyun laughs and sits next to Youngjae on the floor, absentmindedly reaching out to Ganji’s ear. “Good point, smarty pants.”

“I always make good points,” Youngjae says, and it’s hard to keep a smile off his face because here he is - sitting on the floor of his best friend’s apartment, playing with his best friend’s dog while said best friend watches him fondly and one of the music shows plays on TV even though neither of them is really paying attention - and there’s not a single place he would rather be.

“Hey, Youngjae,” Daehyun says after a while.

“Yeah?” Youngjae turns to look at him, and before he can even try to react, Daehyun is kissing him.

It’s not even remotely what Youngjae was expecting, but then again, it never is. Daehyun has kissed Youngjae on three previous occasions. The first time was years ago, in the dorm after their first win (but they were high on adrenaline and excitement, so it didn’t count). The second time was right before their hiatus started (but they were all terrified of what the future would bring and were acting irrationally, so it didn’t count). And the last time was in the middle of the hiatus, when Daehyun was at his worst and Youngjae went to visit him, afraid that something bad would happen (but Daehyun was inebriated and sad and self-destructing, so it didn’t count).

Youngjae is not Daehyun’s boyfriend, but he’s probably kissed Daehyun more times than anyone else, even though none of those kisses counted. This one, though - this one counts. It has to. Because now there’s nothing to blame it on, nothing happening except for Daehyun and Youngjae sitting next to each other on the floor, Daehyun leaning closer to Youngjae and threading his fingers through Youngjae’s hair, Youngjae kissing back like there’s nothing he’s ever wanted more.

“Look at you,” Daehyun breathes when they pull apart, bringing his hand down to caress Youngjae’s face, his eyes full of awe as they take in Youngjae’s flushed cheeks and kiss-bitten lips. “Why don’t we do this all the time?”

“You tell me,” Youngjae says, trying not to sound as breathless as he feels. “It’s not like we haven’t done it before. But you’ve never brought it up, so I didn’t think you wanted to.”

“Dumb,” Daehyun says with an amused smile, pulling off a perfect imitation of every time Youngjae has ever said it to him. “Both of us. I never said anything because you never brought it up. We could have been doing this all along.”

“You wanted to?” Youngjae asks tentatively, feeling the hope in his heart seep into his words.

“Since the day we became best friends,” Daehyun declares. “But I guess now is as good a time as any to finally actually do it.”

“So you’re my boyfriend,” Youngjae clarifies (because he’s waited a long time for this, okay? He has to know for sure).

“And you’re mine!” Daehyun confirms with a delighted smile. “Just so you know, though, this means you’re Ganji’s other dad now, too. I hope you’re willing to accept that responsibility or this relationship just won’t work out.”

“I think I can handle it,” Youngjae says, unable to keep the smile on his face from growing. “I mean, I do love him more than you.”

Daehyun pretends to be scandalized as he lunges at Youngjae playfully. “You take that back, you brat!”

Youngjae just giggles and Daehyun melts into a smile, and then Youngjae is lying on the floor as Daehyun peppers kisses all over his face and they’re both laughing breathlessly, and maybe this is what being in love with his best friend is supposed to feel like.

(They never do end up doing the V live with Ganji, but Youngjae isn’t too worried about it. After all, Ganji is like, partly his, and they can do that any time they want.)