Chapter Text
Minho was typing out some boring financial document when he felt a disturbance. He didn't even have to look up to know that his best friend and coworker had rolled his chair into Minho's office space. He finished his current sentence before turning around to face his favorite distraction.
"Can I help you?" Minho asked, taking in the beaming smile Jisung had plastered on his face.
"Did you hear? CB97 saved a family from a burning building!" Jisung exclaimed.
Oh boy, here we go again… thought Minho. He rolled his eyes, not even trying to conceal his true feelings.
"I can see the headlines now: CB97 Puts Fire Fighters out of Work." Minho said with a smirk. It was Jisung’s turn to roll his eyes.
“And that is why you are in the finance department instead of the editorial department like me.”
This earned a light hearted jab from Minho. Jisung grabbed his arm in faux turmoil.
"Help! Medic!”
“Or CB97, since it seems like he's making a point to take the jobs of first responders.” Minho managed to evade the reciprocal jab coming his way, but not without a yelp that seemed to attract the attention of another one of their coworkers.
Bang Chan leaned on the cubicle cup of hot tea in his hand. “Everything alright over here?” he asked, taking a sip. Minho and Jisung laughed.
“Yeah! No worries!” Jisung reassured Chan. “Minho is just jealous of CB97.” Minho scoffed at the accusation.
“Jealous? Of CB97? As if. What kind of name is CB97 anyways?” He looked over to Chan for backup. Chan just shrugged.
“I don’t know. I think it's kind of cool.” Chan admitted. Minho turned back to his computer, clearly feeling scorned.
“I see where your loyalties lie, you two.” He heard Chan chuckle behind him.
“Come on Jisung, stop bothering Minho with the latest CB97 news. He’s probably tired of your fanboying. Let’s get back before Changbin notices and we both have to listen to his whining.” Minho looked out of the corner of his eye at Jisung who looked quite flustered. He kept typing as he heard Jisung roll away, mumbling under his breath about how he’s not a CB97 fanboy. Just as Minho thought Jisung was out of his hair, he heard his phone ping.
Looking down was a text from Jisung, asking if they were still on for dinner that night. Minho felt his heart flutter. Even though he knows he shouldn’t, with Jisung being his best friend and all, he has to admit, even if only to himself, that he has a crush on the man. Despite how multiple times a day the man will barge into Minho’s cubicle, or even apartment, just to bother him, it’s never actually a bother - despite whatever Minho may insist.
~~~
The rest of the day seemed to drudge by, both with the lack of Jisung to pester and with the anticipation of dinner that night.
Minho hit save on his file and shut down his computer for the night. He grabbed his briefcase and coat and walked over to the area of the office where he knew he’d find Jisung. Jisung worked in the editorial division of The Levanter in a team of three. It was him, Chan, and Changbin. They weren’t very high up in the newspaper's food chain, but Minho knew how hard the three of them worked, often staying late hours to finish writing about whatever scoop they had managed to get a hold of. He often had to pry the trio away from their work with the promise of food, similar to right now.
He found Jisung typing away at his laptop, with Chan looking over his shoulder in some sort of collaboration or real time editor. Changbin noticed Minho arrive and waved to the elder.
“Hey Minho, they should be done relatively soon.” he explained. Minho scoffed.
“Oh sure, I’ve heard that one before, and then I waited for another 3 hours. Yeah, not happening.” Minho marched over to the two haunched over the laptop. “You have 5 seconds to save before I close this laptop and drag you to dinner.”
Jisung and Chan both startled at the command and looked up at Minho in slight shock. Clearly Minho’s words hadn’t registered.
“Five… Four…” The countdown kicked Jisung into gear as he knew Minho would follow through with his threat. He saved their document and closed the laptop on his own accord. This earned a head pat from Minho.
“Good job. Alright let’s get out of here. That samgyeopsal won’t eat itself!” Jisung hurriedly grabbed his stuff in delight at the prospect of food.
“See you guys tomorrow!” Jisung exclaimed as he linked his arm with Minho’s and they walked out of the office building.
~~~~
The waiter set down two beers on the table, along with a platter of meat. Jisung grabbed his beer and took a quick gulp.
"Cheers is usually customary for those of us civilized folk." Minho said, reaching his glass out to Jisung.
Jisung clinked his glass to Minho’s. "Sorry hyung!" he replied, with just enough enthusiasm for Minho to accept. “It’s been a long day.”
"So," Minho said, taking a sip of his own drink, "what were you and Chan working on before I dragged you away?" Minho noticed how Jisung's eyes widened in excitement. Minho took another sip as he awaited the answer.
"We might have a lead on Lee Know!" Minho choked on his drink. Jisung sprung up into action, but Minho put out a hand to reassure him he was okay. After a moment of coughing, Minho had caught his breath.
"Really? The villain, Lee Know? The plague of Seoul? That's quite impressive… Almost as impressive as the crush you have on CB97." Minho prodded. He watched the tips of Jisung's ears turn red. Jisung crossed his arms, avoiding eye contact with Minho.
"I do not have a crush on him…. I just think he's really cool." Jisung muttered.
"And hot." Minho supplied.
"No! No one's ever seen his full face, how would we know if he's hot?" Jisung sputtered.
"Well," Minho took a careful sip, "his super suit does not leave much to the imagination, if you catch my drift." Minho tried not to laugh at his best friend when the blush spread onto his face.
"Hyu~ng!" Jisung whined. "Fine, okay. Maybe I do like CB97…" he admitted.
“Wait. What?” Minho blinked multiple times. “You what?”
Jisung sighed, “Yeah, I like CB97. I know it’s silly but like he’s so strong and kind and literally perfect, how could I not fall for him.”
Minho felt his heart drop into his stomach. Here he had always thought that Jisung’s constant ramblings of CB97 were pure fanboying, but here was his best friend confessing to having a crush on the super. The very best friend he was in love with.
Jisung very obviously didn’t notice Minho’s inner turmoil as continued. "It doesn't matter though. Like he's CB97, protector of the people… and I'm just Jisung… OW!"
Minho kicked Jisung under the table.
"How dare you talk about my best friend like that. You are not just Jisung. You are the incredibly talented, hard-working, and kind-hearted Jisung."
"And my looks?" Jisung managed to ask with a small waggle of his eyebrows.
"Well, as your best friend, I'd say you're passable. But I've heard people find you attractive." Minho replied with a wink. Jisung recoiled.
"Always with the winking, why hyung?" Minho laughed.
"Anyways, my point is, CB97 would be lucky to know you and even luckier to know you." Minho supplied with another wink to which Jisung once again whined about, which led to the two bursting into a fit of giggles.
After their laughter had subsided, Jisung looked at Minho with a fond smile.
"Thanks for the pep talk, hyung. While I still don't think I have a chance with CB97, him being a secretive super hero and all, I appreciate what you said."
Minho reciprocated the smile. "Any time. And who knows, maybe fate has plans for you two."
Jisung rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sure hyung. Whatever you say." he looked down shyly at his drink. “By the way, could you please not mention this to Chan or Changbin? They already tease me enough thinking I’m just a fanboy, I don’t want them to know that I’m crushing on the guy we are constantly writing about.”
Minho reached across the table to take one of Jisung’s hands. “Your secret is safe with me. Thank you for trusting me with this.” he said with a loving look.
“Of course, hyung. You’re my best friend.” Jisung replied, a grin blooming on his face. Minho quickly pushed down the conflicting feelings that were bubbling up as he let go of Jisung’s hand.
“Anyways, let’s grill this meat up!”