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The phone rings, and Kyungsoo immediately gets pinned to the bed.
"Ooh," Jongdae grins his shiteating grin and shakes the phone. The sound of 'I’m too sexy for my shirt' continues to blare around the room. Kyungsoo hasn't figured out how to change it after they had. "Guess who's calling."
“‘Jongin’? That’s seriously your contact name for him?" Baekhyun shakes his head disapprovingly at kyungsoo. If it wasn't for chanyeol squashing his lungs, kyungsoo would've killed him with one of his infamous glares by now. But he was, and he couldn't breathe.
"Why isn't he called 'lover boy', or 'cute guy that is definitely gay despite my pitiful mind trying to deny that to protect my pitiful heart', or, at the very least, something like 'jonginnie'. Like, come on soo I’m disappointed in your lack of creativity."
"Hurry up and answer I wanna know what type of phone sex he wants." Chanyeol showed off all 57 of his teeth in an excited grin, moving his weight backwards and further onto Kyungsoo’s poor, collapsing chest.
He was at the point where he was so stressed about why jongin would be calling that he wasn't stressed at all. Trying to choose between thinking up ways to murder all his so called 'friends' or die himself. He figured that suffocation from Chanyeol’s ass was not the way he wanted to go, it simply wasn't dignified enough for him.
"Hey sweet cheeks." Jongdae smirked devilishly as he held the phone to his ear. Baekhyun aggressively whispered at him to put it on speaker. Jongdae fluttered a hand in his face dismissively.
"Hi - um, Kyungsoo?"
"Kyungsoo's currently busy," jongdae was tapping at his neck and putting on his most seductive voice, which he had definitely practiced in the mirror. Chanyeol had successfully filmed him through the crack in the bathroom door. "I can take a message if you want?"
"Oh will he be long? It’s kinda important." Jongin sounded like a lost puppy. He had expected to speak to a calm, mature, normal kyungsoo, but was gifted with a saucy Jongdae instead.
"He shouldn't be too long, him and Chanyeol are in bed atm. I can go and get him if you want?"
Chanyeol’s grin quickly fell into a scowl at being dragged into the joke. He crossed his arms grumpily, pouting, and slumped further onto Kyungsoo causing him to let out a surprisingly loud groan.
A groan that Jongin definitely heard, and definitely interpreted as a moan.
Meanwhile, Baekhyun was silently cackling, his face screwed up and his hand hitting Kyungsoo's leg repeatedly to stay quiet.
"Oh, I didn't realise he was-" Jongin almost sounded disappointed, and Kyungsoo halted his fight against tree boy to listen more carefully. He would like to think that Jongin would feel disappointed if he thought he was sleeping with Chanyeol, he certainly wouldn’t be very happy with himself if he resorted to long-legs-McGee.
"Well can you just ask him if he wants to come round mine? I mean he probably won’t if, well, y’know, but it's just that I have to babysit my niece for a couple of days and I have no idea how to cook. Sorry, I’m rambling. It doesn’t matter, forget I asked."
"Oh wait!" Jongdae jumped up, his fingers untwirling from his hair. despite his attempts to remain sexy till the end, he couldn’t ignore the fact that Kyungsoo had managed to break free of his spider monkey cage and was stalking towards him, hand held out expectantly and a murderous glint in his eye. "Kyungsoo’s returned, I guess you can ask him yourself now sweet cheeks."
Jongdae settled for an innocent smirk as he handed the phone over to kyungsoo as quickly as it pleased the angry boy.
"Please stop calling me that."
"Stop calling you what?" Kyungsoo had switched his phone off of speaker, promptly walking out of the room and away from the three gossiping boys.
"Oh, Kyungsoo! I didn't mean that for you. You can call me anything you like, I mean, if you want to that is. But then again you probably won't want to. Because of Chanyeol and all." Jongin’s voice got faster and quieter the more he spoke, desperately hoping for Kyungsoo to jump in and tell him to shut up. "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted- could you come over? It’s my niece, I can't cook and-"
"Okay, I’ll come." Kyungsoo scrunched up his nose at his words. He hadn’t meant to sound so annoyed at the request.
"Great! Thank you so much you're amazing!”
"I’ll be there in about half an hour?"
"Okay, thanks again Soo. See you soon!"
The line went dead and he held his phone too his chest for a moment, sliding it into his back pocket. He ruffled his hair and sighed, opening the door to Baekhyun's bedroom again and choosing to ignore the fact that they all scrambled away from it and started whistling and checking their nails.
All three of them raised their eyebrows expectantly at him, waiting for him to tell them what had happened despite having listened to their entire conversation through the door.
"Well?" Chanyeol prompted when Kyungsoo slumped down onto the bed. The three of them bounded over to him, lying around him in a circle and propping their heads up on their arms, waiting.
Jongdae slung his leg over Kyungsoo's waist, giving him a look that claimed it was because he had 'no space' despite having half of the bed to himself with Baekhyun and Chanyeol cuddled up by the pillows.
"He asked me to come over that’s all. Needs help babysitting his niece."
" ‘That’s all’? You’ve just hit the jackpot what do you mean 'that's all’!" Baekhyun was screeching in his ear with excitement.
"How long for?" Jongdae asked, thankfully a lot quieter than Baekhyun. Kyungsoo actually had a hard time hearing his near whisper, which was a first. "Just this evening or overnight and shit?"
"I don't know, but I doubt he'll want me cooking for him 24/7."
"Kyungsoo you do realise that you are becoming his housewife right?" Chanyeol asked, ignoring Baekhyun who was continuing to rant about how Kyungsoo could be so flippant about something so important to his 'goddamn love life'.
"Oh shut up Chanyeol, if anyone’s a housewife it's you."
"Someone’s a bit touchy tonight dae."
Baekhyun was still muttering to himself, his hands gesturing wildly with air quotes and angry slams to the fluffy pillow he had plaited. The other three had learned to block him out by this point.
"I’m not touchy! I’m – just… worried. What if he turns out to be an axe murderer or something?"
Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow quizzically at Jongdae, both surprised and not at all by his reasoning.
"You’ve been watching too many films Dae. He’s not an axe murderer don't worry about me." Kyungsoo smiled gently and tangled their legs together more and let his fingers fall into his hair, petting him like a cat. His features instantly softened as he leaned up into the touch, stretching his neck and curling his lips into a contented smile.
"Besides,” Chanyeol piped up, holding his finger up “you've got me and Baek to hang out with for the rest of the night."
Jongdae's happy buzz died and his lips fell into a pout. "Well aren't I the lucky one."
"-and that is why as soon as he opens the door you need to snog his face off into the bedroom. Fuck his niece! Well not literally because you need to be fucking him and it would be weird as hell, so fuck cooking for his niece you need to go get some cocking from lover boy! She can just… play with lego or something I don’t know, what do kids do?"
"Baekhyun. I-“ Kyungsoo sighed in exasperation, giving up before he even began. “Please just, never say the word 'cocking' again."
As Kyungsoo walked down the street he began to feel more and more ready to run back to Baekhyun's house and hide under his duvet.
Jongin’s house was at the end of the street. He had been there a couple of times before so the picket fence with the bike sized hole in it was familiar to him.
They had been good friends in primary school, Kyungsoo had seen the scared look on his face as he clung onto his cuddly bear, refusing to join in with the rough games that the other kids played. They had sat in the grass and made daisy crowns for each other, including a dandelion chain for the bear.
But then high school rolled around and Jongin was thrust into the limelight, his talent in football caused him to be dragged into the popular crowd whether he liked it or not. They didn’t acknowledge each other until they were put in the same catering class four years later and Kyungsoo had to help him with the bread machine, and then every food assignment for the rest of the year.
Now, with only two more years of school left, they were science partners.
Kyungsoo realised he had no reason to be nervous as he opened the gate and walked up the empty driveway. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been alone with Jongin before, he knew him well enough. Well enough to know he definitely wasn’t an axe murderer. But the thought of Jongdae’s batting eyelashes and tangled legs and curled lips told him to think otherwise and reconsider.
At least, if he was an axe murderer, the butterflies in his stomach would stop their annoying fluttering and die with him. Always a silver lining.
He knocked on the door and smiled fondly at the tiny blue handprint on the brick wall by his knee. Kyungsoo rolled his eyes for even considering Jongdae’s suggestion. Sadly, that’s when Baekhyun’s popped into his head.
“Ah! Kyungsoo!” Jongin grinned wildly as he threw open the door. His hair was messy and the sweatpants and paint-stained white shirt he wore made Kyungsoo feel dressed up in his jeans and sweater. “I’m so glad you came.”
Jongin took his hand and pulled him inside, the faint sound of the television rolled down the hallway and a giggling shriek resonated along with it. Kyungsoo couldn’t get Baekhyun’s words out of his head as he glanced up at Jongin’s plush lips pulled into a gorgeous grin as he bounced around.
“Do you wanna put your bag upstairs? We’ll be in the living room, thanks again by the way, I think I’d end up killing us both if it was just me.”
“Stop saying thank you, I’m happy to help.” Kyungsoo mumbled with a tiny smile that was mostly to reassure himself.
He kicked off his shoes and made his way up the stairs to Jongin’s room, dumping his bag in the corner. His curious eyes wandered to the photographs on his dresser, but another scream of laughter distracted him from being nosy.
He gently padded his way back down the stairs and tentatively approached the living room. Jongin was rolling around on a twister mat whilst his niece sat on his chest tickling him mercilessly, a green crayon held threateningly in her tiny hand.
Kyungsoo leant against the door frame, rubbing the side of his arm and biting his lip nervously. He didn’t want to intrude on their fun so he left to find the kitchen. That was what he was there for anyway, right? To make sure that the house didn’t burn down whilst Jongin played with the kid. Definitely not anything else and Kyungsoo would 100% stop himself before reading into anything.
Oh my god there were roses on the table.
Their kitchen had always been nice, white marble surfaces with duck egg wooden cabinets and a height chart on the wall by the fridge. The first line marked jongin at 79cm, then 88, 93, 102 and continued even higher than kyungsoo currently stood. Of course he had continued to keep track of his height. The tall bastard.
“Oh there you are! I was worried I had lost you under my duvet or something!” Kyungsoo jumped and stubbed his toe on the table leg, attempting to hide the pain behind a grimace.
It seemed that Jongin had not escaped the crayon monster as wiggly whiskers curved up his cheek and a small blue heart had been drawn on his neck. His neck. It almost looked like a bruise. Had that been there before? Did he have a boyfriend? Or worse, a girlfriend.
Shit, he’d been caught staring.
“Um, do you need a kitchen tour?” Jongin suggested, one eyebrow raised curiously and his hands held in front of him. Kyungsoo nodded dumbly.
“Ok, well: you’ve got the mugs and glasses over there, plates and all that jazz in that draw by your knees. The stove and the oven’s over there and the food cupboard’s by the fridge. Oh, and there’s the bread bin. I know, it’s shaped like a sausage dog, my mother chose it but I kind of like it.”
“When should I start dinner?”
“Oh not for a while yet.” Jongin smiled, but instantly started worrying when the only reaction he got, to what he considered good news, was the glimmer of a twitch. “Hey, um I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“Because… I don’t want you to think you’re like, some chef prostitute or something.” it seemed that Jongin was also kicking himself for his inability to be smooth in any way shape or form. “I- I mean, well what I meant was, I didn’t want you to think that I only asked you over for you to cook and leave. I mean yeah you’re a great cook but you’re also pretty cool and we haven’t hung out in ages and I don’t want you to be held up in my kitchen like some servant to me and my niece.”
Kyungsoo blinked.
“But, even more to the point, we’re playing twister again and we need a third person to play.”
Well if Kyungsoo had learnt anything it was that the correct way to finish any form of mildly passionate speech was to offer them the chance to play board games with you.
“What about your niece?”
“Seulgi? Oh don’t worry, she might be a little shy at first but she’s not going to bite your legs off or anything.” Jongin didn’t let Kyungsoo give a proper answer and grabbed his hand to drag him into the living room.
At least he knew that his niece was not genetically related to piranhas. That provided some comfort in the fight against sweaty palms.
Seulgi sat on one of the big blue dots of the game mat, marrying two dolls in drag and holding a bottle of orange juice close to her chest. Her big brown eyes darted up to Jongin as he bounded into the room, all cheery smiles whilst Kyungsoo did his best to not trip over his own feet.
“Nini!” She threw her arms out, little fingers opening and closing before they wrapped around one of Jongin’s thumbs. He lifted her up effortlessly into his arms and ruffled her hair lightly.
“Seulgi, this is Kyungsoo-hyung. He’s helping me to look after you tonight.”
She buried her head close to his chest and gently gripped her other hand into his tank top. Kyungsoo smiled softly at her as she eyed him up and down carefully. In all honesty it was intimidating having a four year old scope you out and Kyungsoo only hoped that he was deemed worthy.
“Are you married?” She finally asked, poking her head up to stare inquisitively at Jongin, his eyebrows furrowed sweetly as he chuckled. Leaving Kyungsoo to turn a pretty shade of pink.
“No duckling, but he would make a very good husband. We can trust him.”
Fan-fucking-tactic, now he looked like a tomato.
Jongin glanced up at him with a shy smile, his own cheeks sporting a rosy hue. He suited it though. Kyungsoo hated him for it.
Seulgi very slowly uncurled her tiny fist in Jongin’s top at reached out for Kyungsoo. Her little fingers determined to reach him. Kyungsoo blinked at her for a second, and looked to Jongin for help. The younger boy carefully closed the gap between them and presented the child to him.
Kyungsoo slowly raised his own hand and gently interlocked his fingers with the child, smiling softly at how tiny her hands felt enclosed in his. He glanced back to Jongin for approval, gaining an encouraging smile when she leant forward and bumped her head onto his shoulder.
He froze, unsure of what to do. If he moved he was worried he would hurt her. Jongin lifted her weight into one arm and pulled Kyungsoo’s free hand up to support her. Carefully transferring the toddler between each other. Jongin stepped away quietly when Kyungsoo had wrapped his arms around her, grinning at his wide eyes.
“Do you want anything to drink?”
“Can I have some water please?” Kyungsoo was now focused on resisting the urge to raise her into the air and re-enact the Lion King. “Seulgi? Would you like some more juice?”
She nodded her head against Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “Then we play?”
“Yes, then we can play.” Kyungsoo whispered as Jongin left to grab the drinks. He stood awkwardly in the room for a moment before carrying Seulgi over to the couch. He mindlessly began to hum a song in the quiet of the room, the kitchen cabinets opening and closing in the background.
Her little fingers grabbed at one of his hands and started to play with his fingers. He wiggled them around in her grasp, making her giggle as she tried to hold them down.
“Here you go!” Jongin swerved into the living room like an aeroplane, trying his best not to spill the glasses in his hands.
Kyungsoo smiled up at him gratefully, his heart finally settling in his chest. Jongin gently removed Seulgi from his lap and placed her on the floor and gestured for Kyungsoo to join them. He plonked the spinner down in front of them and the game began.
“Jongin don’t you dare fall on me!” Kyungsoo shouted as Seulgi giggled and clapped her hands as Jongin struggled to bend his leg over Kyungsoo’s chest. He was supposed to be flexible.
After the first two rounds he had become used to the sight of Jongin’s butt in his face, or his toned stomach when his shirt slipped up his chest. But being practically underneath him was a different story.
His face heated up and his arms nearly collapsed from his bridge position when Jongin eventually straddled his legs, adjusting himself so that he didn’t head but Kyungsoo, but so his neck was hovering above his face. The crayon heart begging to be kissed if he just tilted his head slightly.
“Right hand yellow!” Seulgi called gleefully from her position on the carpet. Kyungsoo shifted his weight and slithered his arm around Jongin’s to reach the circle only to slip and hit the floor, taking Jongin out in the process.
“I win again!” Jongin cried, pushing his hair back off his forehead and grinning wildly at Kyungsoo’s scrunched up face.
He sat up and sighed, rolling his eyes at Jongin’s wagging finger but smiling nonetheless. Seulgi threw herself at his shoulders, pulling on them excitedly and jumping up and down behind him. At this point crayons were scattered across the floor from when she’d attacked them with them whilst they were helpless playing twister. Kyungsoo was now sporting a smiling sunshine and starts all over his cheeks like green crayon freckles. He also had a happy face drawn on his thumb from when he put one of the doll’s wigs on it and created a finger puppet show with Jongin for her.
“It’s getting late, we should probably eat soon.” He told Jongin when she ran off to the bathroom.
“Yeah she needs to go to bed around eight I think, maybe a bit later.”
The two of them picked up the empty glasses and cookie plate and took them to the kitchen. Remembering his kitchen tour from earlier, Kyungsoo began working his way around the kitchen, taking out pots and pans and rummaging through the food cupboard for basic ingredients. Jongin sat at the counter and watched with a smile, offering to help when he could and entertaining Seulgi when she returned. After eating, Kyungsoo washed up whilst Jongin tidied the living room, the television, now much quieter, acting as background noise.
“Right, time for bed Seulgi.” Jongin helped her onto his back and took her upstairs, smiling at Kyungsoo as he clutched his tea towel with wide eyes, a sudden wave of shyness running through him at the quiet interactions.
He sat at the kitchen tables and listened to them clatter around upstairs, gentle laughter arousing every now and then. Kyungsoo ran his fingers through his hair and pulled his phone out of his jean pocket, checking it for the first time since arriving. He had plenty of missed calls and notifications from their groupchat, all of them demanding information about his supposed booty call. He ignored them all and sighed, unsure of what he was supposed to be doing.
He was exhausted, emotionally more than anything. The weird flirtatious tension between them had wracked his brain but left no time for him to analyse the details. After the initial fear, he had felt as comfortable touching Jongin as he did Chanyeol or Baekhyun or even Jongdae and that unnerved him even more. The thought of his feelings actually being reciprocated him scared him more than rejection because he wouldn’t know what to do with himself then.
“Kyungsoo,” Jongin popped his head into the kitchen with a guilty smile. “Seulgi’s asking for you, she’s refusing to go to bed without seeing you.”
Kyungsoo let out a small laugh and followed Jongin upstairs silently. Jongin pushed open the bedroom door and let Kyungsoo walk in, leaning on the doorframe. Her little hands once again reached out for him as he walked in and sat down on the end of her bed as she shuffled over to him and held onto his shoulder.
“Can you sing for me please? My mummy always sings for me before sleepy time and I don’t want Nini too.” Kyungsoo smiled at her in the orange light of the bedside lamp and let her climb onto his lap. His arm gently cradled her back as she held onto his shirt and he began to quietly sing for her.
Jongin watched from the doorway for a minute, a soft smile tugging at his lips and a warm feeling buzzing through his body whilst Kyungsoo gently held his niece, his beautiful singing voice lulling her to sleep. Eventually he walked away as quietly as he could, feeling intrusive, and waited downstairs for Kyungsoo.
He wrapped himself up in a blanket on the sofa, resting his chin on his knees, the quiet gave him time to breathe. He desperately wanted Kyungsoo to stay the night, to stay up late talking about nothing particularly important, but if he asked him to stay over he might get the wrong idea. His phone buzzed with another text from a persistent Sehun which he once again ignored. The soft sound of footsteps brought Jongin out of his thoughts.
“Um,”
“Do you want to stay over?” Jongin blurted out after Kyungsoo had taken one step into the room, halting him. “I don’t mean it like that, I don’t want to have sex with you. I mean I do, but not now, not tonight. Oh god I need to stop talking. What I meant was, it’s kinda late and it’s dark out and if you want to sleep over I don’t mind. In fact I’d like you too because, because… fuck.”
Jongin’s big hand’s shot up to cover his face and to stop Kyungsoo from looking at him with those big round eyes of his. Kyungsoo thought for a moment, surprisingly calm, and took a step forward with his new found courage towards Jongin. The back of his mind was racing with excitement about the possibilities and eventualities of Jongin’s exclamation, but it was only background noise to the soft feeling settling on his heart. All he could think of was how endearing Jongin was, and the thoughts that maybe Jongin liked him back seemed less important now.
“I’d like that very much.” He smiled, and Jongin peaked through his fingers, his shoulders relaxing slightly when Kyungsoo sat down next to him.
“I can sleep on the sofa if you want,” Jongin spoke quickly, his eyes wide and vulnerable, scared that one wrong word could ruin everything. Kyungsoo wouldn’t have minded what he said.
“Jongin, it’s fine, I don’t mind. And thank you, for inviting me over, it was fun.” He shuffled closer and smiled reassuringly. “Come on, let’s go to bed. I’m tired.”
Jongin nodded slowly and followed Kyungsoo upstairs, his insecurity beginning to fade when they entered his room. He waited on the bed whilst Kyungsoo changed, blanket still hung around his shoulders and fingers playing with the hem of his shirt.
“Kyungsoo, can I ask you a question?” He spoke, avoiding eye contact with Kyungsoo when he sat on the bed next to him. “Do you like me?”
“Yes.” Jongin looked up, almost in surprise at the confirmation and his heart jumped slightly. He nodded slowly, thinking. Kyungsoo tilted his head, waiting for him to say something.
“Can I kiss you?”
“Yes.”
A block of sunlight fell into the room through the gap in the curtains. Kyungsoo shifted in his sleep, burying his head further into Jongin’s chest to escape the light, groaning slightly and tightening his grip on his shirt. Jongin slowly opened his eyes, wrapping his arm around Kyungsoo and pulling him closer. His lips fell into Kyungsoo’s hair as he eased himself awake.
“Good morning sunshine.”