S T A R T

They were sitting in front of the TV at Jongdae’s apartment, watching some old episodes of Glee (or more like he was curling up at Wufan’s side, babbling about how his y boss would give him extra work for the weekend just because she could and the older man was just listening absent-mindedly while letting his hand smoothing the other’s grape-red hair). It’s Saturday night and they were supposed to meet up with their friends at some noisy and crowded clubs but for some reasons, they decided that it was better just staying in, plus, it was like freezing outside and they both knew how Wufan’d like to keep himself warm.

They were at the middle of Santana’s Love you like a love song when Jongdae suddenly spoke up, “Hey!” to which he got a reply with an “Hmm…”

“Is it… okay that we’re friends?”

“…”

“…”

“Yeah!” – The answer came with little hesitant.

The shorter man didn’t say anything, instead buried his face further in the crook of the neck of the man beside him, fingers brushing lightly at his collar bone. Wufan closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the couch as he tightened his grip around Jongdae's small shoulder. It was a lie. He was anything but okay with them being just friends and it hurt so much that he couldn’t do anything about that. He hated himself for not being able to tell Jongdae the truth because he’s afraid that this was not mutual feelings and they’d stop being friends afterward.

“It’s not, Wufan. It’s not okay with me…”

“Why?” he asked but received no answer.

He let out an exaggerated sigh and brought his hand up to caress Jongdae’s cheek before kissing his forehead and said, “It’s getting late… I should leave…” He trailed off, not wanting to leave his warmth. Jongdae looked up at him with sleepy eyes, left hand reached over to poke his chin, “could you take me to bed?”

“Yeah, sure” Wufan smiled gently and with an arm under his thigh, another around his shoulders, he lifted Jongdae up and carried him bridal style toward his bedroom. He had his arms wrapped around the taller broad shoulders, his head pressed up against his chest and he could hear his heartbeat clearly. It was steady and calm and lulled him to sleep.

Wufan laid Jongdae down and pulled the blanket up so that his little friend wouldn’t catch a cold later. He was about to leave when he felt someone tug on his shirt. Wufan turned around to find Jongdae looking up with a tainted pink on his cheeks. He leaned down and grinned, amused by the sudden action.

“What’s wrong?”

Jongdae pulled on his shirt while speaking up, “could you stay? I mean it’s kind of late and it’s cold and I’m still not used to sleeping on such big bed.”

Wufan didn’t need to be told twice. As soon as he got down under the thick blanket, Jongdae immediately snuggled into him and decided that he’d like to have his arm as his pillow for the night. Wufan could only pull him closer and hugged him tighter.

Both Jongdae and Wufan fell asleep listening to each other’s breathing.

Next morning, Jongdae woke up to a hand smoothing his hair and brown orbs looking down at him. He managed to put on a cracked smile and a “g’morning” as he felt the grip around him tightens. Wufan replied with a kiss in his hair. It just a normal thing between them but somehow, Jongdae thought that this time meant more than that. And suddenly he was reminded of their conversation last night, about how he said he was not okay with them being friends and it hurt so much that he blurted out, “I think I like you more than I should”. But he regretted it right after the phrase slipped out of his mouth because he could feel the other tensed up beside him so Jongdae did the only thing he knew, he ran away. Well, not exactly ran away, he just got up and walked toward the door and stopped for a minute to quietly say, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that… Just… forget it.” Then he left.

Wufan sat up straight and stared dumbly at the opening door for a good two minutes trying to proceed what just happened. And when he did, it took him another two minutes to get out of bed and quickly ran to the kitchen where he knew for sure Jongdae would be. And there he was, in his oversized hoodie and sweatpants making coffee. He stood at the entrance observing the way Jongdae moving around to get what he needed until he turned back with two hot cups of coffee in his hands. He was taken aback when Wufan flashed a wide smile but Jongdae smiled back anyway.

“Hey, want some coffee?”

The older man said nothing, instead walked over and took the cups from his before placing them on the table. He then turned to the young man with a cat-like smile and pulled him into a hug.

“What are you-“

Wufan cut him off with a chaste kiss on the lips.

“I like you, too, idiot, more than I should” he grinned.

And Jongdae grinned back.

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