If there was something everyone around Dahyun and Jihyo on a daily basis hated, it was how they fed off dancing around each other and pissing everybody off. Their parents had already declared their relationship official because they couldn’t bear it any longer, still the two were absolutely not dating yet. Joohyun seems to be the only one not that affected by it, sure he got pissed from time to time as well, but he was mostly fine with the insufferable duo. 

Right now we have Jihyo and Dahyun at the Parks’ residence, sitting in the living room with everything they had for their research scattered around them, sitting close together and speaking softly with each other. Mama Park was still at work, but her husband had already texted their group chat with the Baes many photos of the two and long rants about the boys not just jumping each other. A bit wrong for parents to do that, but neither the Parks nor the Baes could take this anymore, everyone saw that the two were made for each other but neither had come out and said they were together, and that was making them lose a few years of their lives.

Dahyun was a genius artist, he had ‘The Midas’ Touch’ as many claimed, critics went crazy for his work and gallery curators clawed at each other to get his pieces on their exhibits. He was also a middle aged man in his free time, loved tracksuits and flip-flops, eating old people food and sleeping early. He was endearing, honestly, but also knew just how to play the media and his buyers like a fiddle, having been in the spotlight since he was tall and steady enough to hold a brush against a canvas. And the big bright smile he always wore whenever he was around his better half.

Jihyo, in turn, was the astonishing dark horse of greco-roman fighting, he was small, looked a little lanky in his usual clothes, and his face was too much on the adorable side to honestly intimidate anyone. His big eyes, fluffy cheeks, bright smile and adorable little nose scrunch whenever said smile showed up were a shot through Dahyun’s heart at their first meeting, and certainly a huge X for doubt on anyone fighting him. The boy was a monster in the circle, much stronger than he looked, completely flexible and surprisingly agile, all qualities that got him to national level, he was also scouted for the olympics the previous year, but chose to not participate, as he was aiming for an academic scholarship and missing so much of his junior highschool year would do some great damage to his GPA.

They were an impressive pairing, honestly, and worked really well together, they understood each other in levels nobody else could, to the point one was so attuned to the other’s needs no words were necessary. The main issue to everyone else around them, was that both seemed to have this weird for courting each other and neither had a single problem with that. Their slow burn relationship was the main source of frustration for both families, and the boys loved it, they were very well aware that their parents were frustrated and just liked to enjoy all of it.

“Hyo, how about we eat something?” Dahyun suggests when he notices it’s already very dark outside.

“That’s a good idea, I’ll ask mom and dad if they are planning something. Then I might just make us some quick dinner.” Jihyo agreed, getting up to find his parents.

Mr and mrs Park were in their shared office, on the second floor. It wasn’t really needed, neither worked from home, but they wanted a room for themselves and needed to put some space between their own room and their son’s, so it became an office. All the rooms on the second floor had been soundproofed, days of Jihyo blasting his stereo during his home workouts in middle school drove his parents crazy enough to decide to invest a little more in their home for their own peace of mind. They loved their kid, but heavy metal was something both had stopped quite enjoyable back in their college days. Mr Park was lounging around with half his suit on and mrs Park was in a dilemma between her green shoes and her black ones.

“The green ones, mom.” Jihyo suggests as he enters the room. “You two are going out?”

“Thanks sweetheart.” Mrs Park kisses her son’s head as she exits the room.

“We just decided to go out with the Baes, looks like Joohyun and Seungwan are having a laundry party and we just figured a night out would be great.”

“That’s nice, dad. I’ll just fix something for Dubs and I, then. Oh, he said Joonie finally got Wannie to do his laundry properly, all it took was a little taunting.”

“Those two are little devils when they join forces. Be sure to not get on their bad sides.”

“That’s not happening, dad. If anything, Joonie will drop Wan and fight Dubs for me.”

“Uh, cocky much?”

“I only speak truths. Now, go finish getting ready, mom might come and drag you out any minute now. Also, Dubs and I will probably take the living room until we are finished, so try not to come home too wasted and pass out on the couch, it’s full of our research.”

“I’ll make sure we both head directly to our room when we arrive.”

“Thank you, mom. You look beautiful, by the way.”

“Well, thank you darling. Just try not to get too angry with Dahyun, I know you two are doing the work of six, but do remember to go to sleep at some point.”

“Yes ma’am. I’ll be off to the kitchen now.”

Jihyo kisses his mother and hugs his father before heading back down. His parents and Dahyun’s got really close ever since Seungwan and Joohyun started dating, and if they were all out tonight, there was a big chance the Sons were joining as well. Whenever the parent group went out together, they were bound to lose themselves too much and forget they are no longer college freshmen while trying to drink and dance like they are. Tonight was just one of those nights when Jihyo and Dahyun were focusing on their college applications and doing everything they needed to do to ensure their grades and a scholarship. The boys might be young to be thinking like that, but they worked hard and their social life wasn’t lacking as well, obviously their love life was thriving, so their parents just let them be.

Dahyun had stayed and kept working on their project, he knew Jihyo would talk to his parents a little before coming back down, the Park family would always talk a little whenever they got together, it was never ‘ask one question’ and ‘get one answer’ with them, and Dahyun loved it. It wasn’t that he didn’t have a great relationship with his own family, it was just how Jihyo and his parents showed love with those little unconscious things. Plus, he couldn’t wait for Jihyo to cook for them, so he just hoped mr and mrs Park to have other plans. Don’t get him wrong, mrs Park was an amazing chef, but she cooked all day as a job, so neither her husband nor her son allowed her to cook at home.

Jihyo learned everything he knew with his mother, and the boy was also a culinary genius. He had been helping mrs Park since he could hold a spoon properly and stirr without dropping everything, and the skill must be genetic because like mother like son indeed. And Dahyun felt blessed and grateful every single time Jihyo made anything for him, he even started learning a few things here and there too. It’s been a couple of years since he had asked mrs Park to teach him, and boy did he improve. It was nothing two Michelin stars worthy like mrs Park (or her son), but he did a great job with what he learned.

Seungwan and Jihyo had been friends from the crib, mrs Park was trying for her first restaurant back then and mr Son was (still is) one of the best sommeliers in the market, they were a fated meeting when the woman was looking for an A grade professional and Mr Son was looking for better hours, when he was offered a better salary right off the bat as well, he took the chance and held onto it with everything he had. That was a few weeks before mrs Park found out she was pregnant, and then mr Son said he and his wife were expecting their first child as well, and both families bonded over that. 

The kids grew up together, and when Chaeyoung came along a year later, Jihyo was more of the big brother than Seungwan, sometimes even being the most responsible one among them, despite being the second oldest. The big reason why Joohyun believed right away that his boyfriend wasn’t together with the big eyed boy was how their dynamics worked, even back then, it was clear that Jihyo could never see Seungwan as anything more than his little older brother, there were absolutely no romantic feelings there, it was clear as day for everyone to see. One just had to look. But most people didn’t bother and just thought their closeness was romance and Joohyun was being fooled and complacent.

“What are we having tonight?” Dahyun asks as he enters the kitchen.

“We could be having fun with the new game that arrived this week, but since that’s not an option today, we’ll be having some chicken pesto pasta.” Jihyo chuckles bitterly and goes back to his cooking.

Dahyun smiles and moves to help. He learned from the night’s cook himself how to make a mean pesto and Jihyo was already busy with the chicken. They were familiar with cooking together, so much so that moving with each other became their second nature, it was a familiar and practiced pace. Mr and mrs Park just popped their heads in to say goodbye and left, soon dinner was ready and they took a very well deserved break. Jihyo tended to freak out whenever things like these happened, he hated people who commited to something and didn’t even think before failing said commitment, their group seemed like it could work, but the other members were too busy with parties, rallies and living the life, and now Dahyun was just trying to not let Jihyo exhaust himself while they were trying to complete their work.

“How much more do we have to do?” The pale boy asked when they made their way back to the living room.

“We are about half way done. So, not much?” 

“Then that’s good. Think we can finish today?”

“Oh, today is gonna last as long as we need to finish this. Even if it lasts the whole weekend.”

“So we’ll be done sometime during the night, got it.”

“You can sleep if you want. It’s getting late.”

“We can finish this soon and go to bed? Yes, I totally agree.”

“You are unbelievable.”

“I know, I’m unbelievably yours.”

Jihyo just smiles, light and free, as Dahyun settles beside him, a little closer than before. They work quietly, among soft whispers and lingering touches, papa and mama Park are back at some point, both adults not quite there, just waving the boys good night and disappearing to their bedroom. It was late in the night when Dahyun got up to get both some more water, they were about done, just some formatting needed in the file, to come back and find Jihyo sleeping on the coffee table they had claimed. The pale boy just smiles and proceeds to tidy everything up, he saves the document and shuts down the computer, books and papers already piled neatly on said table.

Going to the gym with Jihyo everyday was probably the best and worst decision Dahyun had made in his life. The worst, because Jihyo was a gym freak, loved exercising intensely and never missed a single day (they would likely go tomorrow too, despite not getting that much sleep, and do some cardio). But it was the best decision he made, because the muscles he had built were the ones being used to help him carry Jihyo to his room, the boy was 160 cm of pure muscle and Dahyun was very happy to be able to carry him like this without much trouble, he could keep Jihyo in his arms forever and it wouldn’t be enough.