must avoid minho. must avoid minho. must avoid minho.

 

jinki repeats the words over and over again in his head like a mantra. ever since he's come to realise that his feelings for minho were more than that of platonic love, he's been trying to shun any contact with the younger man.

 

but that appears to be difficult when they live under the same roof.

 

"hyung!" minho calls out excitedly as he, quite literally, bursts through the front door, holding two tickets in his hands. "i've got passes to The Hobbit! you've been wanting to watch it, right? let's go together!"

 

jinki immediately stands up, spilling milk on their leather couch in his haste. he turns his heels, refusing to look minho in the eye as he answers, "uh...i can't. i'm busy."

 

"with what?" the younger man asks and jinki can almost picture the crinkles across minho's forehead. they always appeared whenever he was confused.

 

"i...have to...um...shave! that's right! i have to shave!" jinki replies, quickly scurrying off to his bedroom before minho could question him any further.

 

minho stares off after the other's figure and heaves a small sigh.

 

-

 

a week after the incident, minho invites him to another movie again.

 

and jinki, of course, rejects. again.

 

he sees the sadness in minho's eyes and it makes him feel guilty. it wasn't like he wasn't interested in going out with minho. it was just that he knew that if he did, he would have tons of fun and then he would get his hopes high and think maybe minho feels the same way. and then reality would come crashing down on him and he'd get hurt.

 

getting his heart broken...

 

that's the one thing jinki just couldn't afford.

 

-

 

"i think jinki-hyung hates me," minho complains to kibum over dinner.

 

kibum stops trying to slice his huge-assed pizza and stares long at minho before laughing out loud. "are you serious?"

 

"what?" minho pouts. "he really does..."

 

"please, minho. if hyung could pick the one person he loves the most out of all of us, he'd pick you."

 

"then why does he keep rejecting my offers to take him out?"

 

kibum rolls his eyes. "well, i don't know. maybe it's because he doesn't like going out very much? you know him, he'd rather stay home playing video games and watching animes rather than socialise."

 

"what should i do then?" minho questions, poking through his now cold pasta. "i'd really like to watch a movie with him but he doesn't seem interested at all."

 

"wait, wait, wait. hold up," kibum interjects. "are you actually asking for some advice from me?"

 

"you're my last resort," the taller man grudgingly admits with a sigh. "before you say anything, yes, i'll do whatever you want. even if it means an empty wallet."

 

kibum grins and pats minho on the back. "you know me so well. so here's my idea..." he takes a little more than ten minutes to explain his plan and by the end of it, minho's smiling.

 

"i think that would work."

 

"i know it would work," the blonde male says confidently and then he's back to his pizza, cheering in triumph when he finally manages to cut it in half. as he eats, his other hand is shifting through the menu.

 

noticing this, minho asks, "what're you doing?"

 

"ordering more food, of course. because you're paying!"

 

minho groans.

 

-

 

jinki comes stumbling through the front door after a long, hard day, relieved to finally be home. with dream girl promotions, countless magazine shoots and radio appearances underway, it was not surprising for him to feel this exhausted.

 

and on top of that, minho's been avoiding him.

 

jinki doesn't have the right to feel angry or sad but he does.

 

he wonders how minho's doing in vietnam.

 

probably having the time of his life.

 

he misses minho.

 

jinki sighs. he pads over to the kitchen, not finding it unusual that the dorm was completely dark. everyone would have gone to bed by now for an early start the next day. jinki opens the fridge and grabs a bottle of cold water only to drop it with a loud screech when a deep voice surprises him, "hyung."

 

he whips around, hand held tightly to his chest. "holy , minho! you scared me!"

 

minho stifles a chuckle but the light illuminating from the refrigerator is enough for jinki to see the amusement twinkling in his large eyes. "sorry, hyung," he whispers. "i didn't mean to."

 

jinki gives the younger man a half-hearted glare and bends down to pick up his fallen bottle. "what're you doing here, anyway? i thought you were supposed to be in vietnam?"

 

"i just got back this evening," minho replies.

 

"then why aren't you asleep? you should be resting."

 

"i was waiting for you."

 

jinki's heart thumps.

 

minho reaches out to cup jinki's cheeks, taking the older man by surprise. he gently over the bags under his eyes and frowns disapprovingly. "you look tired. i'm gone for two days and this happens."

 

"w-which is exactly why i should go s-sleep," jinki stutters and wrestles out of minho's grip. his cheeks are burning hot and if he didn't get out of there now who knows what'll happen. he makes a move towards his room but is stopped by a hand on his wrist.

 

"wait, hyung. i want to watch a movie with you."

 

jinki sighs exasperatedly. "but minho, it's almost midnight and i'm tired. i bet the cinema's are closed too—"

 

"who said we're going to the cinema?" minho cuts in and pulls jinki into the living room before he could protest any further.

 

at this point, jinki's too worn out to argue and let's minho have his way—which, he guesses, was a good decision as he sees two steaming bowls of ramyun and packets of his favourite snacks neatly piled on the floor along with a couple of beers.

 

jinki's mood turns three-hundred and sixty degrees and he's suddenly happy, carefully (because the only source of light they had was from the tv) skipping towards the couch. he plops down and grabs a bag of caramel popcorn. "so, what are we watching?"

 

minho laughs softly. "all it takes is food, huh?" he mumbles to himself and then answers the other's question as he occupies the space next to him, settling in comfortably. "White Chicks, it's super funny. you'll love it."

 

jinki’s never heard of the movie but shrugs and watches anyway as minho presses the play button on the remote.

 

true to his words, the movie really was just as funny as minho had mentioned because they’re only halfway through and jinki is already laughing hysterically, tears welling up in his eyes and the bowl of half-empty ramyun so dangerously close to falling from his lap that minho had to quickly grab it before any damage could take place. “oh my g—he blew—powdered milk—” the older man gasps, finding it hard to even form a coherent sentence.

 

minho simply smiles and hums in acknowledgement. he isn’t really paying attention to the film (having watched it close to a hundred—okay, maybe he was exaggerating a little—times that he’d practically memorised all the lines) and instead, focuses on jinki, enjoying the way his eyes crinkle into crescents as sweet laughter falls from his lips.

 

by the time the credits are rolling in, jinki has a hand clutched onto his stomach, his giggles slowly dying down. “oh man, that was great,” jinki smiles a sated smile and stretches his arms up above his head before turning to minho. “thanks, minho-yah. that was exactly what i needed.”

 

“no problem, hyung,” minho replies, a small grin pulling at the corner of his mouth.

 

jinki doesn’t know what else to say and allows silence to fall between them, until it becomes too unbearable. he fakes a yawn and glances at his watch. “well, it’s getting late. i think we should go and sleep,” he says and makes a move to stand up but is stopped when minho grabs his hand.

 

“wait, hyung. i have something to tell you.”

 

jinki’s heart races in his chest but he tries not to show it as he slowly settles back in his seat. “o-okay.”

 

minho takes a deep breath and turns to face jinki, who, unsurprisingly, has his head down. minho pulls him up by his chin and holds him there, their eyes instantly locking. “hyung, there’s a reason why i’ve been so persistent in asking you out,” he begins. “at first, i thought you kept rejecting me because you hated me—”

 

“that’s not—”

 

“i’m not done yet,” minho cuts in and jinki shuts his mouth. “but then i went to kibum and he told me that that was impossible so he suggested that i do this,” he said, gesturing to the whole set-up, “and luckily, it worked because…i don’t think i can hold my feelings in anymore,” minho murmurs, running his thumb across jinki’s lower lip as he inches closer. “hyung,” he breathes out.

 

jinki squeezes minho’s other hand that was, still, holding onto his and manages a quiet whisper of,  “yeah?”

 

“hyung…” minho repeats again, eyes half-lidded as he brushes his nose against jinki’s. “i like you,” he finally confesses and closes the gap between them.

 

jinki can barely process the kiss as his mind screams: he likes me…he likes me! he likes me! and then he realises how pathetic and school-girl like he sounds so he stops, settling on resting a hand on minho’s shoulder as he returns the press of lips, smiling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(“hey, minho?”

 

“hm?”

 

“i like you too.”)

 

fin.

 

// cos white chicks is my all-time favourite movie :3 and i, uh, left this to rot somewhere in my computer for a couple of months before i actually had the drive to finish it again LOL. so that's why it's a little weird/different towards the end...>_> aklsjasljdjdfdkfljk