{carousels in the sky, that we shape with our eyes} | soohyun/eli

Eli has always really liked Soohyun and even when Eli was awkward and American and didn’t fit in, he thinks him and Soohyun got along well. The two of them understand each other well, having had similar life experiences. They both enjoy going to the gym together, getting food together, watching movies together and so on. Soohyun is a great singer and Eli is always getting tips from him and, alternatively, Eli helps Soohyun learn English and even raps with him sometimes.

Soohyun is cuddly, of course, which was hard to adjust to at first. Eli couldn’t understand why Soohyun would act like that, with not only him but the other members or his own friends, but has learned to become used to it. Soohyun has other quirks, as does Eli, and even if they are strikingly different at times, they make it work.

Thus, Eli guesses, the path of their relationship was bound to take this turn eventually. It’s not that Eli thought of himself as gay—maybe bicurious, at the most—but he didn’t regard Soohyun in the same way as other guys. Soohyun was different, special, able to cheer him up and make him laugh no matter the circumstances. So when Eli finds himself with sweaty palms and a pounding heart, all because Soohyun smiled and told him he improved in his singing, he knew what he was feeling.

Eli had been content to keep it to himself, assuming that Soohyun wouldn’t reciprocate and that he would get over it. Yet, the day before their comeback stage, everything changes. The boys had been dismissed from their practice studio, but Soohyun held Eli back and waited for the others to leave.

Soohyun’s hand is still gripping his bicep when they are finally alone and Eli glances at it, but makes no effort to move out of his hold. Soohyun smiles at him, maybe even a little like an adult smiles fondly at a child, and says, “I know.”

Eli blurts out defensively, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Soohyun laughs a little and repeats, “I know.” Then clears his throat and looks exceptionally more nervous than he had a minute ago. “And I… I feel the same.”

Eli’s eyes widen considerably, confirming what Soohyun had been wondering. “I,” he starts, but never finishes.

Soohyun brings his free arm up to take a hold of Eli’s chin, gentler than Eli expected, and brings their lips together. Eli smiles into the kiss and as he opens his mouth to let his tongue meet Soohyun’s, he realizes he might have the reconsider his previous stance of “bicurious at the most”.