Thanks so much to all subscribers and commenters! When I get time, I’ll reply on your walls for sure. ^^

Oh, just to let you guys know, the foreword was simply an excerpt from the oneshot.

PLEASE ENJOY! ^_____^

Disclaimer: Chaejin and Seyong belong to eachother themselves.

~~~

One week earlier−

They had finally wrapped up promotions, and the company had generously decided to treat them to a week of relaxation at Yongpyeong, a ski resort. The ride there from Seoul had taken three long hours, with Gunwoo tapping madly away at the iPad, Insoo and Junkyu snoozing on the backseat, and Seyong…

Seyong was too energetic.

Chaejin remembers the redhead peering out the window in stifled excitement, watching over the rolling white hills with such an unadulterated enthusiasm. Once, Seyong’s elbow had accidentally pressed on the window switch, sending a gust of flurries into the car. Chaejin remembers getting hit on the cheek by the flush of cold air, then turning his head to a sheepish-looking Seyong.

“A-ah! Mianhae, Chaejin-ah,” he whispers with an apologetic smile.

The maknae had shaken his head to say that it was nothing, before shifting back into his seat−embarrassed. Out of all his hyungs, Seyong is the only one who constantly makes his cheeks glow red. He’s always touchy, too touchy, Chaejin thinks, having a (bad?) habit of walking up to gather him in his arms and make him feel like the big baby he is.

I am not a baby.

Chaejin frowns, clenching his fists a little tighter in his lap. What was left of his confidence falls when Seyong leans forward to brush a snowflake from his hair.

No, no, no, no! Don’t you dare bury your face in your hands! Um… let’s see… um… think of dead bunnies! A hairy man in a bikini! Wait, wait! Don’t give up yet! Um… um… imagine him !

Chaejin’s face flames in clear embarrassment and he nearly chokes on his spit. He remembers the day his hyung lifted up his tank top at Wave K, exposing the bronze, sun-kissed skin on his abdomen, and displaying the perfect abs for all to see.

He was standing right beside him too, forcing himself not to blush like a little schoolgirl.

Anyways.

Seyong pulls away after what seems like an eternity, and is back to staring out the window. Chaejin lets out a quiet breath of relief, but then takes notice of a slightly troubled look in Seyong’s eyes. The redhead wrings his hands nervously, his jaw clenched shut.

Finally, Seyong opens his mouth to say something and Chaejin holds his breath.

Gunwoo sneezes.

Whatever Seyong wanted to say flew back into his mouth, and he laughs a little, the corners of his eyes crinkling softly. Chaejin whispers a sulky ‘bless you’under his breath and sinks back into his seat.

~~~

The second time in his life where Chaejin drinks alcohol is on his sixteenth birthday.

Upon arriving at the resort, Insoo retrieves three white plastic bags from the back of the car while Seyong distracts the manager. They hurry upstairs in a frenzy and race into the pre-reserved suite room. Chaejin doesn’t understand why his hyungs are so fidgety, but he runs with them, almost tripping over the stairs before Seyong claps a sturdy hand on his shoulder from behind.

Once inside the suite and after triple-locking the door, Junkyu collapses against the wooden slab with a chuckle. Insoo giggles from his seat on the plump couch, while Gunwoo fumbles through the plastic bags.

He pulls out three green-tinted glass bottles and settles them out on the sleek coffee table.

“Chaejin-ah,” Gunwoo starts, and the oblivious maknae tears his eyes away from the soju to stare at the leader.

Insoo wipes the smirk off his face and gets up from the couch to stand beside Gunwoo.

“Chaejin-ah, we didn’t forget that today is your special day. You know, your birthday,” Insoo explains.

“So…” he continues, eyeing Junkyu.

The tall rapper straightens up from the ground and saunters over.

“So, we decided to let you have your first taste of…” Junkyu trails on.

“Soju,” Gunwoo finishes.

The hyungs stare at him, expecting a reaction of some sort, so Chaejin swivels to stare at Seyong. The redhead, who had said nothing throughout all this, walks to the coffee table and pops open the cap on a bottle of soju.

Handing it to Chaejin by the neck of the bottle, he urges him to drink it with a jerk of his chin.

“Happy birthday, Chaejin-ah.”

The maknae raises the bottle to his lips.

~~~

After the third (or fourth?) bottle, Chaejin stares drowsily through the shadow of dark eyelashes before spotting Insoo and Junkyu− piss drunk on the couch. Gunwoo’s dead asleep, slobbering on his beloved iPad while a quarter of the birthday cake lies abandoned on the coffee table.

He takes another swig of the soju, sighing as his lips touched the cool rim of the bottle. Chaejin leans to the side; his cheeks flushed pink and his head spinning slightly. The maknae fumbles with the bottle, bringing it to his lips again with a hard jerk of his wrist, but almost spills the alcohol in the process. The bottle is pried gently away from his fingers by a firm hand, and Chaejin complains sleepily, attempting to reach back for it.

“Calm down there, birthday boy,” Seyong’s husky voice scolds playfully.

The redhead settles down next to Chaejin on the carpet in front of the coffee table. Chaejin frowns, a pout forming on his shining, red lips. He attempts to retrieve the bottle again, but Seyong holds it away from him.

“Sorry, Chaejin. If I don’t stop you now, you’ll really regret it tomorrow morning.”

The maknae pouts again, closing his eyes and tilting slightly to the side. With a yawn, he falls onto Seyong’s shoulder and the redhead stiffens. Chaejin snuggles closer, nuzzling the crook of Seyong’s shoulder and tickling his neck. It’s the first time Chaejin feels like he’s in control of himself, so he giggles into Seyong’s shoulder, pressing his lips against his hyung’s clothed shoulder.

Seyong seems to brush off the gestures of affection as simply Chaejin being an over-affectionate drunk, so Chaejin leaves it as that.

He thinks about how good it feels, pressed side-to-side against Seyong’s warm body, how good he smells, of cheap cologne and soap and strawberry shampoo.* He smells so good, that Chaejin drunkenly wonders how he would taste, so he does.

He presses open-mouthed kisses on the length of Seyong’s neck, lingering a bit longer at every touch. Chaejin his lips slowly, the salty sweet taste still residing on his lips. He leans in once more, this time, the tip of his tongue poking out to lap at the stretch of tanned skin before−

“C-Ch-Chaejin, s-stop, whatareyou−”

Oh god.

Chaejin’s eyes widen immediately, seeing the flash of discomfort in Seyong’s eyes. He jolts away, shocked at his actions and the expression on Seyong’s face. His cheeks flaming with shame, the maknae clenches his fists around his knees, not knowing what to say.

“Ch-Chaejin…” Seyong whispers apologetically, slowly reaching out for the boy.

 Chaejin nervously wraps his fingers around Seyong’s, but the action comes off as a little desperate, a little awkward.

Seyong stiffens again under his grasp, and Chaejin lets go.

A moment later, Seyong’s fingers lace themselves in his, and he squeezes apologetically.

“Sorry,” Seyong whispers.

Chaejin blinks, and a tear falls.

~~~

Chaejin wakes up with a mild headache the next morning, running a hand through his hair before looking around himself. He was lying on the large suite bed in the same sweater and jeans from last night, the pillow smeared with his eyeliner and an empty bottle of soju sitting on the nightstand. There’s also a Styrofoam cup beside the bottle, and some pills on a paper napkin.

Probably some hangover medicine.

Suddenly, there’s a loud sneeze and Gunwoo intrudes, sniffling and puffy-eyed. ‘Hyung, you look like crap,’ Chaejin thinks, but he keeps the thought to himself. Gunwoo complains about throwing up at 2 a.m. in the morning and rants like a cranky girl during that time of the month.

After the rant, Gunwoo’s about to leave before he spots the pills on the nightstand.

“Oh, Chaejin-ah, I almost forgot. There’s some hangover medicine on the table. Seyong bought it for you this morning, in case you felt like crap when you woke up,” Gunwoo explains.

Oh.

Chaejin’s mind suddenly whirls back to the matters of the previous night, and suddenly, his stomach feels queasy.

“Chaejin?”

“H-huh? A-ah, um, arasso,” Chaejin mumbles, and Gunwoo shrugs before he walks out.

Chaejin spends five minutes just sitting there, immobile. Finally, he swings out of bed and picks up the pills from the table.

Popping the tablets into his mouth, he washes it down with the water.

Maybe it was all a dream. Maybe nothing happened. Maybe Seyong-hyung doesn’t think any different of me.

Maybe.

~~~

Chaejin almost starts to believe that everything had been just a (bad?) dream, but when he sees Seyong in the living room, his worst fears are confirmed.

The redhead’s lying on the couch, headphones over his ears, deep in thought. He doesn’t even realize when Chaejin walks in, and it’s only when the maknae sits down on the loveseat in front of him that he blinks.

The loveseat creaks awkwardly, and Seyong pulls down the blaring headphones until they sat around his neck.

“H-hey, Chaejin,” he attempts to greet confidently, his voice shaking a bit.

“Seyong-hyung.”

There’s an awkward silence, and it only breaks when Junkyu enters the room, clad in snow-gear.

“Hey, I’m going tubing. Who’s coming?” the rapper asks enthusiastically.

Seyong stares at Chaejin, as if expecting him to go. Chaejin blinks back at him, his mouth opening to reply, but is cut off by Seyong’s voice.

“I am.”

Without a single glance at the maknae, Seyong pulls himself up from the couch and darts away.

After they leave, Insoo asks him if he wants to get some breakfast in the café downstairs. Chaejin shakes his head ‘no’, and plops down beside the coffee table.

He scoops the last of the cake into his mouth and bites down on the fork.

It’s real, Chaejin.

You pabo.

~~~

The next three days pass by just like that, with Seyong avoiding Chaejin at every chance he gets.

By the fourth day, Chaejin’s had enough.

~~~

“I’m going out,” Chaejin announces to nobody in particular one afternoon, and the hyungs all stare at him.

It’s snowing slightly hard outside, and the weather forecast said that a snowstorm would be approaching either that night, or the next day. The slopes were still available though, as the weather had not yet picked up speed.

“Sure, just don’t go too far,” Insoo is the first to speak up.

“There’s a storm coming, so be careful, yeah?” Gunwoo adds.

Chaejin nods mutely, then pushes out from the chair and stands up to go. He sees the look of disapproval on Seyong’s face, but doesn’t say anything.

“Hey,” Seyong calls to him before he’s out the door. Chaejin stops in his tracks, but doesn’t turn around.

“Uh, never mind. Just… uh, be safe and don’t forget to−”

The door slams in his face.

~~~

Chaejin’s swearing under his breath as he pulls on his ski boots, grunting as he tightens the buckle.

How could he treat me like this? Acting like he doesn’t know me one second, and then pretending he cares the next.

Tears prickle at his eyes, but the maknae blinks them away, vowing not to cry.

You’re always crying. Once a crybaby, always a crybaby.

Chaejin picks up his skis and walks out towards the hills. After grabbing a pair of ski poles, he clicks the skis into place and begins down an average slope. Soon, he loses track of how many times he’s skied down the slope, traveled up the ski-lift, only to slide down again. He thinks about what would happen if he slipped off the ski-lift, falling to his death.

Would Seyong-hyung care?

Of course not. He thinks you’re disgusting.

He doesn’t pay attention to the message on the speakers, informing all skiers to return to the resort, as a storm was heading in.

Chaejin doesn’t realize he’s stuck in a storm until it’s too late.

~~~

Hyung, I’m scared.

Chaejin hugs his snow pant-clad knees closer to his chest, curling up into a fetal position. The warm inner fabric lining of his snow-gear felt as thin as a pair of cotton sweats at the moment, with the turbulent wind chilling him to the bone. It didn’t help either that snow had gotten into his ski boots, seeping into his socks and bruising his feet.

He had lost one of his gloves while making his way to the area under the steep slope.

A slight grimace of a smile spreads on his lips as he remembers how he had trudged and stumbled down the slope with a single pole in his hand. Chaejin spots that same broken ski-pole from the corner of his eye, and he wonders if he’s going to have to pay for the snapped stick. Of course, he had abandoned the skis and the other pole above the hill.  

Oh hell, manager-sshi’s gonna talk my ear off after this.

Another voice escapes from the deepest insecurities in his heart.

‘After this?’ There’s not going to be an after.

You’re going to die.

Chaejin’s teeth chatter as he shoves his ungloved hand into the sleeve of his jacket. The sudden coldness freezes the still-warm skin underneath his jacket and he immediately withdraws the hand. The boy blinks back the tears in his eyes and swallows.

No, I’m going to live. I’m going to−

A sudden gust of wind breaks a branch and the splintered wood drags itself across Chaejin’s cheek. It had cut into his skin, creating a long gash on his bruised cheek. He hadn’t noticed it at first, probably because at that point, he was so cold that he couldn’t feel anything.

Chaejin only realizes the blood seeping from the gaping wound when he happens to graze his cheek with his glove. He sees the blur of something dark on the glove, and when his vision finally focuses, his eyes widen.

Blood. I’m bleeding.

He brings the gloved hand to his face, rubs once and examines the glove. There was no doubt, he was definitely bleeding. Something between a choke and a sob escapes his throat and he claws at the wound, thinking about the probable mess on his cheek at that moment.

It doesn’t matter. I-I’m going to die anyways.

Darkness begins to fall over the hills and slopes as Chaejin watches the sun set from the corner of his eye. Soon, there would be no light.

He thinks about everything that had happened so far, he thinks about everything he’s accomplished in his life, and he thinks about everything he had wished to accomplish.

He thinks about everything he had wanted to do once before he died.

Hyung, I never told you that…

I never told you…

I nev…

Chaejin blinks and a tear freezes on the corner of his eye. He feels drowsy, as if falling into an eternal sleep. However, the boy struggles to open his eyelids. He wouldn’t fall into this sleep of death, not now, he wasn’t ready…

P-please, God, please give me one more chance.

As if God had heard him from heaven, Chaejin suddenly hears the muffled shout of someone who seemed so near, yet distant.

Chaejin-ah!

His ears immediately perk up, his mouth opening to speak, but only a strangled croak escapes his throat. Panic rises in Chaejin’s eyes as he attempts to pick himself up from the ground, but his legs seem to be as immobile as the rest of his body.

Chae Jinseok!

Chaejin pushes himself up from the snow, only to fall uselessly onto the ground once more. He could make out the dark blotches of red imperfections on the white blanket. The boy sinks his red-bruised hands inside the deep snow, attempting to claw his way out into the open.

Hyung, hyung, don’t leave me.

“Chaejin-ah, it’s Seyong! Where are you?!”

Hyung!

“H-hy-hyu−” he gasps, fingers splayed out, as if reaching for something.

Suddenly, Chaejin hears the faraway shout of someone, before his vision blurs. A slight grimace of a smile flashes across his lips, and his body chooses that moment to finally give out. The raven-haired boy falls back into the snow, his cheek pressed against the harsh, white ground.

Amidst the whirling storm, Seyong manages to hear the sudden thump of something, no, someone. His eyes flash around quickly, and he recognizes a dark lump near the beginning of the forest that was almost camouflaged by the rising darkness. With a hopeful heart, he races frantically towards the dark object, realizing that it was indeed, a person.

Seyong pulls the boy up from the ground and brushes away his long bangs to recognize the face. His pounding heart nearly misses a beat when he comes face-to-face with the pale visage.

Chaejin.

Seyong frantically pats his cold cheeks, attempting to wake the boy from his hazy state. He drags a gloved finger over the long gash, a queasy feeling lodging in his gut.

Seyong, you goddamn bastard. This is your entire fault.

Seyong lifts Chaejin up so that his entire weight was shifted onto his own back. He wraps the straps of his backpack around his wrist and props Chaejin up with the other arm. With a grunt, he piggybacks the maknae, his knees wobbling slightly under the weight of a person.

Come on, Seyong. One foot in front of another. You can do this.

Seyong grits his teeth and trudges along the deep snow.

~~~

His lungs are burning, and his knees feel like they’re about to give in at any time, but then Seyong sees the blur of a dark cabin and he almost laughs.

This kind of only happens in Korean dramas. Don’t tell me God’s finally taken pity on us.

When he nears the blur though, Seyong realizes that it was indeed, a cabin. There was no way he could piggyback Chaejin all the way back to the resort. They had to stay the night. Seyong sets Chaejin down gently beside the door of the cabin, throwing the backpack to the ground. The knob of the door to the cabin miracously twists open and Seyong swallows.

With a final grunt of effort, he picks Chaejin up in his arms and brings him into the cabin, settling the freezing boy onto a bed in the corner of the room. He searches the cabin for blankets, only to find a sufficient quilt and some bed sheets. Seyong pulls off the maknae’s boots and wet socks, wrapping his bruised feet with the bedsheets. He proceeds to strip off Chaejin’s coat that was already damp with snow.

Seyong pulls his own warmer coat off his shoulders and wraps it around Chaejin, tucking him in at the arms and bundles him up in the quilt. A quiet murmur from Chaejin startles him, and Seyong jumps towards the maknae, gripping the quilt a little too tightly. Chaejin’s eyes peek open slowly, a wan smile forming on his lips when he sees Seyong’s face.

“S-Se…yon… h-hyu…”

“Chaejin-ah, oh god, Chaejin-ah. I’m so sorry, I never meant to hurt you like this, I’m so so−”

“…co-cold… so c-cold…”

Seyong presses his forehead against Chaejin’s, pulling back immediately at the shocking heat. He lifts his hand to touch Chaejin’s cheek, and Seyong realizes that the cheek was burning as well.

He’s burning up.

He sees the discomfort in Chaejin’s face; his cheeks flushed a deep pink, and his lips shining bright red. Seyong fumbles in his knapsack for the two bottles of water he had lugged all the way to the cabin and twists open a bottle with trembling fingers. Supporting Chaejin up with his body, he lifts the bottle to the boy’s lips, urging him to take a sip.

Chaejin swallows a mouthful and refuses to drink anymore. Seyong reluctantly sets him down on the bed and screws the cap back on. Seyong digs through the backpack again, discovering one more bottle of water, three bags of trail-mix, one bowl of instant ramen and a small emergency kit. He quickly opens the emergency kit, retrieving a roll of bandages and a bottle of anti-septic. Kneeling beside the drowsy Chaejin with the materials and a bottle of water, he begins to clean the wound.

Chaejin stirs through the process, blinking softly at his hyung.

“Sorry, Chaejin-ah. It hurts, doesn’t it? Go back to sleep, I won’t let anything happen to you,” Seyong reassures him.

With a shy, sleepy smile, Chaejin closes his eyes.

Seyong rips the sleeve of his white shirt, pulling on the fabric with his teeth until it shredded. He takes the torn piece and places it on top of the cleansed wound, applying the adhesive bandage onto the fabric to support it in place.

After finishing the job, Seyong pulls up a stool and sits beside the bed, watching the maknae.

Please be okay, Chaejin.

Please be okay.

~~~

It’s the middle of the night when Seyong’s woken up by a series of pained gasps. His eyes immediately dart to Chaejin, flushing bright pink in the pale moonlight and breathing heavily. His heart thumping in his throat, Seyong quickly feels for the maknae’s temperature, his palm coming in contact with flaming skin.

“Chaejin… Chaejin! Chaejin, can you hear me? You need to drink some water,” Seyong tries to keep down the panic in his own voice, but fails.

Chaejin doesn’t seem to be able to hear him, as he mumbles incoherently in his deep sleep, a slur of words bouncing off his tongue. Seyong runs a hand desperately through his own hair, at a desperate attempt to think of something.

Suddenly, a lightbulb seems to light up in his mind, but Seyong quickly brushes away the thought.

What the hell are you thinking about, Seyong? You can’t do that! It’s too…

He’s in pain. If that’ll save him, I’ll do it.

With quick movements, Seyong pulls off his sweater, followed by the cotton t-shirt underneath. He hesitates a bit as his fingers latch onto the end of his wifebeater, but when he sees Chaejin’s flushed face, he strips that off as well. Shivering at the sudden flush of cold air against the skin of his upper body, Seyong shuffles into the large quilt. His fingers are trembling as he removes Chaejin’s jacket, ing his plaid shirt and pulling the shirt out from underneath the boy.

Seyong’s thankful that Chaejin’s asleep, because a blush had already made its way across his cheeks.

When Seyong finally pulls Chaejin’s t-shirt up and over his head, his mouth turns dry. Chaejin’s milky-white complexion is tinged with a pink hue, a thin sheen of sweat shining in the moonlight. ‘He’s beautiful,’ Seyong thinks, with a sort of ethereal glow around his skin, like a fallen angel.

He reaches out and envelopes the boy in his arms, his own bronze chest pressed tightly against the pale one. Seyong feels the sudden wave of warmth overwhelm him and he wants to let go, but he hangs on for Chaejin’s sake.

If you’re cold, I’ll give you warmth.

I wish I could apologize to you, Chaejin-ah.

Apologize about this. Us. What this is between us, if there is even a ‘this.’

But I know there is. I’m not sure what it is, but it is something.

And I want to find out what it is.

So, Chaejin. Believe in me, believe in yourself.

~~~

Chaejin blinks softly, wincing a bit as the glare of the sunlight blurs his vision for a moment. He peers at the ceiling through half-lidded eyes, confused at his surroundings.

W-where am I?

Suddenly, he hears the gentle, rhythmic breathing of someone lying close to him. With a fast-beating heart, Chaejin peers beside himself and his heart nearly stops. Seyong’s sleeping face is only a few inches away from his face, his arm tightened around Chaejin’s body, as if protecting the boy, even in his sleep.

Chaejin’s cheeks flush a bright red and his head is spinning.

I-Is this a dream? Heaven? Why is Seyong-hyung…?

Is this what they mean when they say that before you die, you get to live out your innermost desire?

Well then, I won’t hold back.

Chaejin leans close, his breath ghosting over Seyong’s lips, before their lips touch.

There’s a spark, Chaejin feels it, and he knows.

I love him.

That’s what it was. Not just a simple crush, but something much more real, much more complicated. Chaejin pulls away slowly, only to capture those plump lips again, eyelids fluttering as he shyly presses his lips once more on Seyong’s.

“Oh,” he manages to whisper, almost melting at the tenderness of it all.

He continues with a series of stolen pecks, his flushed cheeks glowing hotter and hotter as he steals kisses from Seyong. It’s immoral, Chaejin knows, but he can’t stop.

Suddenly, Seyong’s eyes flicker open.

The maknae smiles shyly, leaning forward to peck his nose.

Seyong-hyung, this seems so real…

Real.

Wait, what?

Chaejin immediately stumbles away, nearly shooting towards the other side of the bed. Goosebumps rise on his skin, and that’s when the maknae realizes that he was half-unclothed. Attempting to cover himself up, he pulls on the quilt, bunching it up in his lap and hiding his flushed face between fistfuls of fabric. He feels his bandaged cheek, and that’s when his mind falls back to reality.

.

, I just−

Tears are welling in Chaejin’s eyes and he covers his face in his hands, mumbling incoherent apologies to a mute Seyong.

“Oh g-god, hyung, I’m so sor− ry. I n-never meant to, I mean, I t-thought that−”

“Chaejin-ah.”

“No, no, no, it’s all my fault, y-you must think I’m d-disgus−”

“Chae Jinseok!”

Chaejin looks up through watery eyes at his hyung, and Seyong’s expression softens. The maknae’s lip quivers, his words lost on his lips and Seyong grabs his wrist, pulling him into his chest. Chaejin blinks, his hands resting softly on broad shoulders, and he attempts to pull away, but is squeezed harder by Seyong.

You don’t know how worried I was, thinking that you wouldn’t be in my life anymore.

Seyong takes his pale hand gently and sets it over his chest.

“Jinseok, can you feel it?”

Chaejin feels the rapid pulsing of Seyong’s heartbeat beneath his fingers, and he presses his palm onto the bronze chest, a tearful smile spreading slowly across his face.

Hyung, I love you.

Seyong leans forward to kiss him, but Chaejin presses his palm over his lips, stopping him.

“Can I… can I… kiss you?”

The redhead is taken aback by the proposition, but he sees the obvious effort Chaejin had mustered up to speak those words. With a small chuckle, Seyong closes his eyes.

Chaejin leans in. He pauses, listening to the hum of the tuning fork that was struck upon a star.

Then he kissed him.

Seyong pushes him onto the bed, flipping gently on top of the younger boy, all the while keeping their lips joined. He pulls away after a long moment, and Chaejin stretches his arms out in front of him, a blush blooming on his cheeks.

Seyong leans down, feeling the curl of arms around his back. Chaejin smiles wistfully, breathing in the scent of him.

My Seyong. My hyung.

~~~

The snowstorm had stopped that morning, and the two stumble out of the cabin, making their way along the path back to the resort. Chaejin shivers and Seyong takes his hand, sticking it inside his own coat pocket. The maknae blushes, curling his fingers around Seyong’s warm hand.

Soon, they hear the rumble of a truck and Seyong looks up, spotting three blurry men getting out of the truck. Junkyu’s the one who runs towards them the fastest, an expression of relief written over his usual poker-face.

Chaejin immediately retracts his hand as the other members get closer, but Seyong pulls the hand back. The maknae swivels to stare at the redhead, but Seyong only squeezes his hand tighter.

Insoo and  Gunwoo are racing up, hooting wildly as they take notice of the new couple.

From now on, it’s you and me, Chaejin. Us, together.

[fin]

~~~
* I’ve always had a thing for L’Oreal strawberry-scented shampoo. ^^