Archive of Our Own

𓅰𓅰𓅰

I dedicate this work to the seagull who stole my brother’s sandwich a few seconds after his girlfriend said “Calm down boy, such a small bird won’t steal your big sandwich.”

𓅰𓅰𓅰

“Narae…” Seungmin reaches his hand toward a girl, who flinches at the brush of his fingers. It’s barely a touch and her reaction is enough to crush him with shame. He backs off immediately, defeated. “I just… I don’t understand.” He bites his lips vigorously when the tears start collecting in the corner of his eyes. 

He won't cry in front of her. He can’t let himself be even more pathetic. 

“It’s not your fault…” Her voice is soft, and so is her apologetic smile, but her eyes don’t meet Seungmin’s when she fiddles the corner of her skirt. Whites of her thighs were exposed. “We were good friends and maybe in different circumstances…” She doesn’t sound convinced at all, but Seungmin thinks she is brave when she takes a deep breath. “Listen, I don’t want to do a long distance. It’s just not going to work.” Her hands clasp on the table with a final sigh. Her nails are painted a pretty shade of blue. Seungmin was hoping he could touch the glittery pattern to see if they feel rough under his fingertips. 

“I can visit you every weekend!” He panics. The last lifeline that he holds despite it wounding his skin. Sharp, rough friction. “Like I did today. See?” He wiggles his hands pointing at himself. “I am here.” He is going to have calluses. 

“I know, Oppa.” This time it’s her who tries to pet his forearm, probably in a comforting way, but she snatches her wrist last second. She is right to do so, it won’t bring Seungmin any peace. “I know that you would have try your best, but honestly… We don’t have that much chemistry to keep it like this. I am sorry, but it’s better to tell you now. It’s only fair.”

It’s not fair. Nothing is fair. He came here all the way, spending three hours in a stinky train, squeezed between sweaty people, only to get rejected by the first girl who, he genuinely thought, liked him. 

“Fine,” he says through his gritted teeth. “Thanks for being honest.” He wants to turn around on his heel and head… Just anywhere, honestly, but someone still has to pay for the bill and he is not a dick. After all, he invited her.

“Thank you for the flowers, you are a sweet boy. Do you want to take them back? Wait, maybe I can send you money for it.”

Seungmin looks at the bouquet that lies pitifully on the wooden table beside their unfinished coffee. Deep dark oak counter that matches the rest of the interior. He spent hours scrolling through Instagram to find the place for their date. It was supposed to be perfect. The coffee shop fancy enough to make Narae feel appreciated, but not overwhelming for Seungmin to confess his feelings.

“Quit it.” He waves. “They are for you, anyway.” 

“Don’t get discouraged,” she says before they part. “You deserve someone who will appreciate you. You will meet them one day.” 

It’s not the first time he has heard those words, so it’s hard to believe, but he forces the last bitter smile. 

“Thank you, goodbye.” 

𓅰𓅰𓅰

The bottle is half empty before Seungmin even gets to the beach. He doesn’t care, he has another one in his backpack. His stumbling footsteps somehow match the waves' flow, or at least he thinks they do, and there is some kind of comfort in that. 

Or it would be if it wasn’t a beach full of rocks. He is afraid he will stumble and crash his head.

He is not a drinker by any means. He just couldn’t figure out anything better to do. The next train is leaving in the evening so he has a whole day to drown in his misery. If he’s lucky enough he will even get sober by the time he takes his seat. 

Or he will die and the sea will take his body. Not like someone would care.

It is always like this. Maybe he is just bad at reading people’s intentions. He tends to see things that are not there. To overinterpret the situation. 

He was sure that the chemistry between Narae and him was fine. They were having nice conversations and held hands the day before she moved to another city to study. She even kissed him on the cheek for a goodbye! Yes, her replies got a little dry during the two weeks when they weren’t seeing each other, but that’s because she was busy. Everybody gets busy sometimes. Seungmin didn’t mind. 

“She probably met someone new,” he mumbles to the seagull that just has sat next to him.

The two-thirds empty bottle hurts his ego, the stones on the beach hurt his butt and the seagull looks mean. However, he has no intention to sit somewhere else, he isn’t even sure if he can stand up at this point. If this creepy bird wants to keep him company, then let it be. 

The seagull doesn’t answer, it just looks at Seungmin with those disturbing wide eyes. 

Seungmin wonders if it can understand him to some level. Are his concerns too much for a seagull to understand? Or is it just something way too insignificant in the birds’ world for a seagull to even care?

Heartbreak. Do birds experience heartbreaks? 

“He is probably older, more handsome…” he takes a rock and aims to throw it into the sea, but it doesn’t even reach the water. The rock hits the ground with a miserable ping. 

“They are probably fucking right now.” After swigging the wine some more, he tries to repeat his throw with another rock, but again, no luck. It lands even closer than the previous one. “He probably has a bigger dick too.”

Then the seagull laughs.  

The bird fucking laughs at him. 

He heard it! The screech reached his ears just right. He is not delusional, he is pretty sure this pile of shitty feathers also smiled. He knew he saw some kind of mischievousness in its birdface. 

“Fuck off.” He swipes his arm to chase the bird away, but it stands still, just tilting its head curiously. Mockingly, if Seungmin squints.

“I hate birds and people with big dicks.” Another sip of the alcohol followed by another crude swing. The wine spills on his white hoodie. Great, he will have to come back home looking like a rumdum.

The bird squawks, again. Or pretends to squawk… It’s just a cover for a giggle. Seungmin knows better. 

“I told you to fuck off.” He throws another rock, this time at the bird, but misses completely. The bird laughs even more. He hopes the bird will inflate and explode. Like the ones in Shrek's movie. 

“Stupid bird.” He stands up. Waggling to the sides, he tries to kick the bird. The seagull raises its body, sadly not inflated, and nowhere near explosion, and this shitter doesn’t fly away. Instead, it starts circling above his head.

“Get away from here!” He thrashes around, waving in different directions, trying to use his skinny limbs as best as he can, but the bird doesn’t seem to be slightly bothered by his efforts. What is worse, another seagull flies by. And another one. When he raises the bottle to his mouth, there is already a whole flock of birds. 

“Leave me alone!” he cries and the bottle falls, breaking into pieces on some pointy end of a stone. Seungmin is jealous. It could be his head. 

“See what you have done? Are you happy now?” he screams. “It’s your fault! It’s your fault that I spilled the wine and it’s your fault I broke the bottle! And it’s your fault that no one will ever love me! It’s all your fault!” He shows his middle fingers to the air. He needs those satan’s spawns to understand how much he despises them. “And you know what?” He cries with his whole singer’s throat. “It’s probably your fault that I have a small dick, too!” 

The birds keep laughing.

“Die!” He tosses his fist for the final punch before tripping. He collapses on the ground with his right knee on the broken glass and his palms getting stuck with shells. Perfect. 

To be honest, he doesn’t even feel the pain. It’s gone together with his dignity so he considers staying in this position. Maybe if he doesn’t move long enough he will turn into petrification. Maybe one day a sexy paleontologist will dig him up and put him into a museum where he will be treated gently, and with proper care. They will put a tag of “Unlovable object” and pity him from behind the glass.

Or at least the seagulls will go away. 

It’s kind of nice like that. On all fours, he feels a remnant of stability. He only starts to get comfortable, when hands under his armpits tug on him painfully. He realizes he is being lifted. The hands are strong so he lets himself be verticalized with ease, like a ragdoll in a child’s hands. 

“Boy, are you okay?” 

Seungmin meets concerned eyes placed on the most beautiful face he has ever seen. It is a little blurry. Maybe because of the tears, maybe because of the enormous speed of the propeller inside his head. Seriously, where is this helicopter even going?

But the man is handsome, painfully so. And it rages Seungmin to the point of boiling. How can someone be this good-looking when he is clearly suffering? That guy probably has a big dick too. Fucker. 

At least, from what Seungmin has gathered, he is not a seagull. 

“Are you Narae’s new boyfriend?” 

“Who the hell is Narae?” The boy frowns and still looks pretty. Unfairness piercing the air with a loud swish.

Maybe he is a seagull. This knavery took human form to finish him off. He's probably seconds away from the boy growing a beak and wings in front of him. He'll probably take Seungmin to his gull nest and peck at him, taunting him cruelly. 

Let him peck, Seungmin thinks. Only because there is a chance that the seagull will get alcohol poisoning. 

“Your girlfriend! That you stole from me!” Seungmin accuses and the boy blinks a few times, clearly confused. 

 “Bro, I’m gay.” 

Seungmin takes a closer look. Longish hair that would cover his eyes if it wasn’t blown up by the wind, a pin earring in his left ear, and an oversized hoodie with a graphic of a cat showing his paw formed into something that resembles a middle finger. The cat also wears a rainbow bracelet. How fashionable. 

Okay, maybe the boy isn’t lying. 

That doesn’t mean he is not a seagull and still… Too handsome. Not fair. 

“A gay stole my girlfriend? Am I that pathetic?!” He covers his face and rubs it with frustration. That can’t be happening.

“Shh…” The man pats his shoulder. “You are not pathetic,” he says, so comforting that Seungmin almost believes him. “You are just drunk. Can you walk?” 

Seungmin tries to take a step, but he just lurches. The boy sighs. 

“Let me take you to my car.” He grabs Seungmin by his waist with his right hand and connects their left hands. His hold is strong and steady, but at least his hands are tiny. Seungmin wouldn’t make it out alive if he had bigger hands too. 

He falters with every bigger rock he encounters. 

“Is there anyone I can call for you?”

“The ambulance,” he mumbles in his attempt to make a joke. “Or a funeral parlor. Or dogcatcher. Have you seen those birds? I wanted Shrek and got Hitchcock instead.” He hiccups. “Wait… What do you call a person who catches birds? A birdcatcher?”

“I have no idea. An ornithologist?”

“No,” he shakes his head unsatisfied. “That’s the guy that takes care of your occlusion. I would know.” Seungmin bares his teeth covered with braces. “See?”

“That’s an orthodon- never mind.” The boy quits when Seungmin, with another hiccup, almost topples both of them. “Okay, it won't do.” He bends in front of Seungmin, flexing his back invitingly. “Jump in.” 

Seungmin stays in place. What if he jumps and the seagull in cute boy’s disguise will fly away with him? He is not that stupid. 

“Jump, come on. It will take hours to walk with you like that.” 

Seungmin doesn’t fully register what’s happening. He doesn’t feel like running away and pretending to be a petrification won’t work either. The boy has seen him moving already. So he eventually jumps. Clambers, to be more specific. His limbs are not very coordinated, but he somehow finds himself on the boy’s back and buries his head in the big hood around the boy’s neck. It’s great. It’s dark and it smells like his favorite fabric softener. 

They walk in silence accompanied by the sound of the sea. Again, this step-to-wave coordination, it’s almost soothing. The waves come and go, come and go, come and go…

“I don’t feel good.”

𓅰𓅰𓅰

“There, there.” The boy pats his back after another yank of vomit. The waves take everything back to the sea. Seungmin’s throat is burning. 

“Okay, I think I am done,” he finally announces, wiping his face with his forearm. “Seungmin, by the way.” He sticks out his hand but he catches sight of his sleeve. Now his hoodie is covered in alcohol, vomit, and saliva, probably snot too. He should get a new one before coming back home. He takes his hand back. “Do you know where the closest shopping center is?”

“Minho,” the man laughs. Almost like the seagull, but his voice is more pleasant, so Seungmin lets it slide. “Good luck with entering the shop like this. Come, my car is here.” 

He leads him to the parking spot and opens the boot of his car. He takes out the pet transporters and spreads the blanket.

Another red light comes on. 

Thousands of equations appear in Seungmin’s mind. He can’t even calculate them, he is a music major, but Seungmin knows the type of guys who have spare blankets in their cars.

Fuckboys.

“Sit,” the apparent fuckboy orders him and reaches for a bottle of water from the backseat. 

Seungmin doesn’t ask how long it’s been there. 

“Drink.” He opens the bottle and gives it to Seungmin. “At least half of it, but slowly.” 

Minho parked nicely. When Seungmin sits in the trunk, he has a nice view of the sea. No seagulls in sight. 

He stretches his arms while Minho searches for something in the compartment before kneeling in front of him with a suspiciously looking box. He takes out a bottle with a liquid.

Is this a flavored lube? Fuck boy alert, fuck boy alert!

“Are you using my vulnerable state to go down on me?” 

“Seriously?” Minho grimaces and after consideration, he hits Seungmin’s knee.

“Ouch!”

“Be grateful that I chose this one. You have glass in the other.”

Oh, Right, he fell. He almost forgot. 

But to be fair, it wasn’t the worst thing that happened to him today. 

“Let me see…” Minho rolls up his jeans and carefully looks at the wound. “Okay, luckily there is no glass in your knee.”

“Lucky me.”

“It doesn’t look terrible, but you are still bleeding.” 

Seungmin doesn’t look, he is not the biggest fan of blood and is still a little drunk. 

A small ship floating just above the horizon catches his eyes instead. So far away from the shore. So far away from Seungmin’s problems. If he could just cruise on this ship… Or better, if he could be this ship. He would crash every seagull peacefully drifting on the water surface. 

“Ouch!” The pinch of disinfection spray makes him jerk his leg, kicking Minho in the process.  

“You are not very graceful to take care of, has anybody ever told you this?” Minho winces, massaging his stomach. 

“Whatever dude.” 

𓅰𓅰𓅰

“So, who is Narae?” Minho, after fiercely convincing Seungmin to switch his hoodie for Minho’s jacket, finally sits next to him. 

Seungmin doesn’t answer so Minho kicks his leg, the wounded one. Seungmin kicks back. They go back and forth until Minho sighs and curls his legs, knees to chest, resting his head. “Are we going to play footsie or will you finally tell me about how I almost stole your girlfriend?”

 “She isn’t my girlfriend,” Seungmin cringes at his own confession. 

“Your ex-girlfriend, then.”

“She was never my girlfriend.” He curls up back into the car, trying to spot the ship again. It’s gone from the horizon. Just like his relationship prospects. 

“Damn, such a murderous battle with a seagull over a girl that wasn’t even your girlfriend?” Seungmin can’t find any malice in his voice, even if the words are not necessarily the nicest. It sounds like a friendly teasing the most.

“Don’t even mention this nasty creature!”

“Narae?” He giggles, even if Seungmin is sure he knows the answer. And Seungmin giggles too. Narae did nothing wrong, but it is still fun to compare her to the seagull. Seungmin suffered enough, let him have some fun too!

“The seagull! It kept laughing at me.”

“Honestly, I am not surprised. I was laughing at you as well.” Minho ignores Seungmin’s deadly gaze. “My favorite part was when more seagulls showed up. Peek of comedy if you asked me.” He wipes a nonexistent tear from his eye.

Seungmin freezes, trying to remind himself what kind of embarrassing stuff he confessed to the birds. He swallows loudly when he remembers.  “How…” he swallows. His throat still on fire. “How long have you been watching me?” 

“Well…” Minho takes out and unlocks his phone. The camera app is still open. “Long enough to record this.”

He plays the video. Seungmin on the screen makes a pitiful attempt to kick the bird. It looks smaller than it did in real life. At least that would explain why he missed it. Not long after that, other seagulls fly by. Devastatingly loud and still laughing, in Seungmin’s modest opinion. 

It’s a miserable view. His limbs uncoordinated way too much considering his romance with baseball. That didn’t work out too, by the way. Stupid, fragile shoulders and heavy bats.

The waves are loud, but not enough to drown out the video noise. Truly, the most humiliating moment in his life. And it’s captured on a stranger’s phone. Seungmin has two options: to steal his phone and run away or to kill him. The second one sounds more appealing. 

He wonders if he has a chance in a fistfight with a guy who carried him all the way to the parking spot on his back. Keeping in mind he almost lost to the seagull. There is still the second bottle of wine with a murderous potential. He just needs to sneak it out of his backpack. Wait, where is it?

“My backpack?!” He quickly raises, almost hitting his head on the trunk lid it wasn’t for Minho inhuman reflexes and a protective hand on the edge. Minho pushes his chest so he sits back.

“Next to you, dummy.”

Seungmin looks to his left side. Well, there is his backpack, indeed. Nice and safe.

“How did it get here?”

“I carried it with you.” Minho shakes his head. “You haven’t even noticed? You are way more drunk than I expected.” 

Seungmin wants to deny it, but the video reaches the point when he starts mentioning his dick. Minho bursts out with laughter and rewinds the moment so he can hear it again. Asshole. 

“Delete it,” Seungmin barks.

“Never.” A challenge in his voice and eyes. 

Seungmin tries to sneak the phone out of his hand, but Minho’s faster. Seriously, what kind of species is he? One that clicks his tongue and locks his phone. 

“Are you gonna post it online?” Seungmin finally asks anxiously. Nails almost eaten up, if not Minho’s stopping fingers on his wrist. Protective again. 

“I was thinking about it,” Minho admits. “But now that I know your name and I held your hand, I feel weirdly attached. So I might only send it to some of my friends. I won’t give my single finger that they won’t publish it, though.” He looks at Seungmin, but this time a little more concerned than amused. “Seriously, what happened?”

“I am just unlovable.” He plays with his backpack zipper. "Hey!” His voice is too loud and theatrical, but he hopes that somehow the other boy won’t notice. “Do you want to drink wine? I have one more bottle.” He bats his eyes, hoping to take out the future murder weapon without being suspicious. Seungmin is sly like that.

Minho’s sigh is louder than his eye-roll. He is annoying like that.

“We are sitting in my car.” He gestures his hands around them. “How do you think I am going back home?” 

Shit, there goes his plan. 

“And I think you had enough for today,” Minho adds. 

“You are no fun,” he complains then sticks out his tone playfully when he adds “Minho-ssi,” so the boy can tell how fake the politeness in his voice is.

“You are fun enough for both of us.” He ruffles Seungmin’s hair, with a good-natured smile. Maybe a little mischievous, but his eyes hold no bad intention. That’s what separates him from seagulls. “Do you want to rewatch the video?”

“God, please no.”

“So, tell me what happened or I will play it again.” Minho wiggles the phone in front of Seungmin’s face. “With the full volume.” 

“Geez, why are you so nosy?” Seungmin sinks into the car more, he refuses to be seen. 

“If you saw yourself then you’d be worried too. Don’t roll your eyes!” He pokes Seungmin’s cheek. His finger sinks deeply. Minho must feel his braces through his skin, cause he wiggles it experimentally with a focused look. Only when Seungmin hisses to the hard press, he lets go. He still studies Seungmin’s face and Seungmin doesn’t know what to do with his eyes. Fixing them on Minho would make him flustered, looking away would make him a loser. He settles his eyes on the mole on Minho’s neck. “You look like a good boy. Which makes me worry even more. Why someone who wears oxford shoes to the beach, would get wasted in the middle of a day?”

Seungmin looks at his oxfords. One is untied, the other has a torn-off point. 

“As I said, I am just unlovable.”

“Which means?” Minho doesn’t give up, Seungmin sighs loudly hoping it will convey enough of his suffering.

“Which means exactly what it means,” he scoffs, not expecting to be understood. “Nobody loves me. People reject me before we even get to the kissing base. I am pathetic and I always have some kind of unrealistic expectations. I don’t even know why. Maybe I am just unattractive. Should I get some work done? Should I lose some weight? Should I gain some weight? Maybe it’s the haircut? I stopped wearing glasses to be more presentable. Now I am still lonely, but my eyes hurt from the contacts.” His shoulders slope more and more. “To sum it up, I will die as a virgin. Lonely and unkissed.” He says in one breath, the frustration builds up with every word. “Happy now?”

And Minho takes Seungmin’s hands to loosen the clenched fists. Forcibly, but still somehow gently. Finger by finger. 

“Besides the part where you talked so poorly about yourself, I am almost satisfied.” He responses. “What happened today?” 

Minho doesn’t let go of his hands, still holds them close to his chest. He plays with their fingers, comparing the lengths of their pinkies and blushing when he notices that Seungmin’s are bigger.

“Narae, the girl I accused you of stealing from me.” Seungmin squints his eyes. “Which I am still not sure if you didn’t.” He says as a joke, but also just in case. So he can say I knew it if shit goes down. “She was my friend from my neighborhood. We got closer during summer and we really hit it off, you know?” 

He gets distracted by Minho who trying to bend his two fingers in the opposite direction, so he traps his hands with his own. He realizes that Minho’s palms fit just right between his and Minho probably notices it too, if his deepening blush is a way to tell. 

Seungmin tells him all of it. That Narae moved out to college and he came all the way to see her. He tells him about flowers and how he hoped she would show him around. How he was imagining bumping into her friends and her introducing him as her boyfriend. He also explains the details of a romantic beach date he planned. He admits how excited he was about it. Then he gets to the part when she hits with the classic line of staying friends. Vulnerable and exposed. That’s how he feels.

Minho’s profile is exposed when listens looking at the sea. Planes and curves of his face fill in focus, analyzing the situation. He is attentive and Seungmin is not used to that. Most of his friends are tired of hearing about his pathetic love escapades. If they listened to him now, they would just tell him to go on Tinder. Cared of and seen. That’s also how he feels.

“Her loss,” Minho decides, still not looking at Seungmin. 

Maybe if he spent a second to see who he was talking about, his verdict would be different. 

“Really?” Seungmin's laugh sounds so pathetic that he considers crying for himself. “Her loss? Watch that video and say it again.”

Minho shakes his head, the loose strands on the end of his hair are showing some purple undertones that Seungmin hasn’t noticed earlier. Maybe it’s the sun. 

“If you put all that effort into a day with her then I still think it’s her loss.” He shrugs. “You don’t even know how hard it is to find a boyfriend who does that.” It’s Minho’s time to pity himself, even if Seungmin doesn’t know his story. “But I guess it’s better to quit things before you get too involved.”

“She said the same thing! You two should date for real. You would make a such good-looking couple!”

They really would and if Seungmin is jealous of something that doesn’t even exist then it’s no one’s problem but his own. Her legs would appear so slim next to his thighs. Minho has nice thighs. They fill up his joggers just nice. Seungmin noticed. He likes legs. 

And his perfectly shaped cupid bow would fit just right with her upper lip that… Seungmin actually doesn’t remember what her lips looked like. They were pink for sure. What shade? No idea. 

But the lips he is looking at right now are very pleasant, he has to admit. And when they turn into a smile, jaunty, cause Seungmin is staring, two front teeth are showing.

And Seungmin finally comes to a relieving conclusion. Minho is not a seagull! He is just a little bunny! A cute one too if Seungmin lets himself get carried away. 

“As I said, I am gay.” 

Okay, a gay bunny.

“And I am a loser.”

“Well, pack it up loser,” Minho jumps on his feet with a clap of his hands. “It’s getting cold, we are leaving.” 

“Where exactly?” Seungmin squints his eyes again, still full of bad surmises. 

“To my place?” He says it like it’s obvious when he packs the animal transporter back into the car. “If you take a shower and properly brush your teeth, I might kiss you.” He probably tries to wink, but he closes both of his eyes. 

“Why would I even do that? I don’t trust you.” Seungmin protests, but he stands up anyway. Maybe it’s the appeal of taking a shower, maybe it’s a kiss. Hard to tell when all he can feel is his mouth is the same thing he fed the fish in the sea an hour ago.

Minho opens the doors for him. What a gentleman. But Seungmin still remembers the fuckboy blanket. “So you are trying to use me in my vulnerable state after all.”

“Yes. A vulnerable pro-bird-fighter with a small dick. How could I lose such an opportunity?” 

Oh, Seungmin starts hating bunnies. 

“Fuck off.”

“Jump in or I will send the video to Narae.” 

Damned lagomorphs.

“That’s blackmailing and I do not appreciate that,” he says as he fastens his seatbelt. 

Minho starts the car. 

The small, but confident fingers on the keys, the roar of the engine, manual gearbox… If Minho plans to drive him somewhere far away, Seungmin definitely won't be able to find the route back. He will remember the mapping of veins on Minho’s forearm instead.

“That’s okay because I am pretty sure you will appreciate my haejangguk.”

“Please, make it poisonous so I can die before this day ends.”

“That can be arranged.” 

The road has too many bumps and curves for Seungmin’s liking.

“You know what else can be arranged?”

“Hmm?”

“Me puking in your car, please stop now. I am feeling sick.”

𓅰𓅰𓅰

“Shit, you were right. It made me feel better.” Seungmin brings the bowl to his mouth and finishes the soup with a loud slurp. 

Showered and refreshed, he hasn’t lied about feeling better. The ends of his hair wet Minho’s comfy t-shirt (hundred percent cotton, Seungmin’s checked) and the soup has overmasked the nasty taste in his mouth. He brushed his teeth with his finger, but only it wasn’t that satisfying. He guesses that he won’t get him a kiss and he tries to decide how to feel about it.

He is not even confident if he is into men.

Sure, in his middle school, there was this insufferable kid with a crooked tooth and a mole on the cheek. Seungmin remembers how fast his heart was beating after he complimented his singing. 

And there was this guy, back in high school, who was the only reason that Seungmin quit his gym membership after three months and not after one day. 

Or, two summers ago, an Australian boy visited his grandparents, Seungmin’s neighbors. His face was covered in freckles and his bleached hair tickled Seungmin’s neck when he hugged him a little too long before saying goodbye.

Just, pursuing girls seemed easier. Well, maybe not for Seungmin, but in general. 

Now, when Minho is doing the dishes, looking so cozy in the black apron and enormous cat-shaped slippers, Seungmin thinks that he might not mind being kissed by a boy. 

Minho turns around, catching Seungmin ogling him and Seungmin is too tired to even be ashamed of that. It’s not the first time it’s happened anyway.

“Yes, I use my cooking skills to lure vulnerable boys to my bed.” He takes the empty bowl from Seungmin and puts it into the sink. “How does it work for you so far?”

“Quite well,” Seungmin laughs. “Except I didn’t brush my teeth, so I guess no kisses for me?”

“Oh.” Minho stops in place and thinks for a while. “I don’t think I have a spare toothbrush, but you can use mine, I will show you.”

“No?! That’s disgusting!”

But Minho already pushes him towards the bathroom. Seungmin, in horror, watches as he puts the toothpaste on his very own brush and taps Seungmin’s chin. 

“Seriously, that’s disgusting. I’m gonna puke.”  

“You vomiting, that’s a new one!” Minho rolls his eyes. “Open up.”

Seungmin does open his mouth, but only to protest, however, before being able to say a word, the rough back of the toothbrush hits his tongue. 

Minho presses a little too hard on his molars, but his hand is warm and feels soft on Seungmin’s jaw so he just gives up eventually, gaping wider. 

Despite the lack of intuition, Minho is very precise with his work and looks a little funny with a focused wrinkle between his eyebrows. Seungmin wonders if it’s a good idea to laugh when his gums’ condition is at Minho’s mercy. 

There is a slight amusement in whatever emotions are flashing Minho’s face when, with a stern voice, he says “Spit,” and Seungmin chokes instead. 

He tells him to “Open up again.” 

“Call me a good boy and I’ll have a whole porn experience.” 

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

Seungmin rolls his eyes but opens his mouth anyway. 

Minho even scraps his tongue. 

“You have nice teeth. Has anybody told you this before?” Minho hands Seungmin the towel that he just used to wipe his fingers. 

“I literally have braces.”

“I know,” he shrugs. He turns off the lights and Seungmin follows him to, what he guesses, is Minho’s bedroom. “So… How do you feel now?” 

“Better, but I still think it was-”

“Yeah, yeah I know. Disgusting. If you try to throw up I will do it again.”

“Woah, you seriously want to kiss me!” Seungmin collapses on the bed. His whole body is sore and somewhere between a car ride and soup, his knee started hurting badly. He lifts the leg of sweatpants (Minho’s of course) and rubs the band-aid. 

“Tsk!” Don’t touch.” Minho slaps his hand. “When is your train to home?”

“What time is it?”

“4 pm.”

“In four hours.” Minho just hums so Seungmin adds. “Is it okay if I wait here?”

“Sure, do you want to take a nap?”

“I guess I could.” His head doesn’t hurt as badly as his knee, but he still is a little dizzy. 

“The bed is yours.”

Seungmin gets comfortably curled on the bed. Minho, before turning on his computer, tells him to get under the blanket. 

Seungmin wants to sleep, but he still feels uneasy. The more sober he gets, the more he is hit with the overwhelming absurdity of this whole situation.

“Why did you bring me here?” he starts. “Seriously. It’s kinda suspicious. Not like I am complaining, but still…”

“Let’s say I have a thing for strays, okay?” 

Right on cue, through the gap between a door and wall, an orange cat walks in. On lazy paws, it comes to Minho and snuggles around his calf, then, with one agile movement, it jumps on the bed and nestles between Seungmin’s arm and chest.

“He likes you!” Minho is thrilled. Seungmin can see how his eyes lighten up. “He is usually shy with people.”

“What’s his name?” Seungmin burrows his face in the cat furr and he can hear some purring. He doesn’t have much experience with cats, but he finally gets the strong feeling of empowerment people get when they are liked by one.

“Tuna.”

“Interesting choice.”

“I called him that 'cause he doesn’t like tuna at all! He is a very picky eater.” 

Seungmin scoffs and calls him a weirdo. Minho gets closer to pet the cat’s head, then he pets Seungmin's head as well.

“Am I like this, to you? A stray cat to rescue?”

“Something like that, except you are more like a dog.”

“A dog?”

“A puppy. A cute little stray puppy.” He sounds confident, but Seungmin is almost sure that he can see a blush on his face again. But he has also been sure that Minho was a seagull a few hours before, so he doesn’t hold himself accountable. He needs more proof.

“So are you gonna kiss me goodnight or not?”

And there it is! A proper blush that can’t be a hallucination. No, when Minho blinks a few times, almost like he considers it. Seungmin almost shakes when Minho brushes his hair away and leaves a peck on his forehead. 

The silence stretches between them until Tuna wakes up, makes a circle, and goes back to the same position it was before. Seungmin catches only a glimpse of Minho’s fond smile before the boy turns around back to his computer. 

“Okay, I’ll take it,” Seungmin whispers with a sleepy voice.

“Just sleep, stray puppy.” 

𓅰𓅰𓅰

Seungmin wakes up to the ambiance of rain outside and clicks on the mechanical keyboard. It’s peaceful, relaxing, almost domestic. At least until he realizes where and why he is. It’s dark outside, so at least his eyes hurt only from not taking off the contacts and not from after-nap photophobia. 

“What time is it?” He tries to stretch his arms to not disturb Tuna too much. 

“Half past ten.”

Half past ten…

Half. past. ten.

HALF PAST TEN!

“Shit!” He immediately gets up, Tuna hisses at him when he is pushed in the process. “Why on earth you didn’t wake me up?”

“I did.” Minho shrugs, more worried about the cat than Seungmin. He takes Tuna on his knees and shushes him. “This bad puppy woke you up? Don’t worry baby, I am here.”

“You did?!”

“Yes, I did.” Minho nods, still focused on a cat. “And you told me to fuck off and let you sleep. And it’s already a censored version.”

“It didn’t happen!”

“Except it did.” He is so calm about it. Seungmin wants to punch him, but then he remembers that it did, in fact, happen. It’s a very blurry vision of Minho’s amused face when Seungmin was getting creative with slurs. It seems almost like a dream, but it’s still there. Shit.

“You could try harder!”

“I could, but I didn’t want to risk waking Tuna up by shaking you too much.”

“It’s not funny. That was the only train home!”

“Chill, you can stay here for the night.”

“You are crazy!”

“Okay, you can stay outside for the night,” he sighs. “Do you want me to drive you to a hotel?”

He must be joking.

Tuna looks like he is done with both of them. Annoyed jumps off Minho and leaves the room without sparing them a second glance.

“Do I look like I have money for the hotel?”

“I don’t know. You had money for flowers and two bottles of wine. Maybe you have money for the hotel as well.” He dares to rub it into Seungmin’s nose. Bastard.

“I would have money for the hotel if I didn’t spend it on flowers and two bottles of wine.”

“What do you want me to do then, hmm?” Minho crosses his arms and waits for the reply. 

Seungmin knows that there is no other option than to stay at this stranger's house. It’s not even that bad. His bed is comfy and he did nothing but be nice. 

It’s still reckless. And pathetic. But he was pathetic before all of this happened, so can it be worse? 

But maybe there is one thing that would make it less pathetic… The one little thing that could save this whole day and maybe even Seungmin’s life. One tiny thing that he can’t stop thinking about whenever he lowers his gaze to Minho’s lips. But if Minho is going to say no there will be no rescue for him. Should he risk it? 

Fuck it, he thinks. He is already in a lost position!

“Kiss me.”

Time freezes. Seungmin said it. He did. Now, he panics. There is a chance that Minho will kick him out of his house. He wonders if it’s cold in the night at the train station. Maybe there will be at least a vending machine that will help him survive till the morning. If not, he will have to use the second bottle of wine.

Minho sighs. He stands up but doesn’t even go close to Seungmin, instead, he leaves the room. Not a single look in his direction, just like Tuna did. 

Heartbreaking. Truly heartbreaking. Two rejections on the same day. And a video of him screaming about the size of his dick. That’s the end for him. 

Seungmin can hear some noises from the kitchen.

He starts to understand why no one wants him. He is just a loser with no sense of boundaries. He thinks of some words of apologies, but there is nothing that would make him look better. 

Minho takes his time, leaving Seungmin with a train of thoughts and a scalp hurting from tugging on his hair. His eyes start to water and it’s not the contacts’ fault. He considers sneaking through the window. He just needs to find his backpack and his phone. His phone is on the night table and his backpack is in the kitchen. 

Fuck the backpack, he will manage without it.

Minho appears at the moment when Seungmin is leaning out of the window trying to calculate his chances of surviving a jump from the first floor. 

“Sit,” Minho says and Seungmin, guilty and busted, follows without a word. Minho holds a mug and puts it next to Seungmin’s phone. “Drink it when it cools down. It’s melissa tea.”

“Sorry.” Seungmin plays with the strings of the hoodie. It doesn’t calm him, but at least there is something to focus on. “I told you that I overinterpret stuff.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-three. And you?” He gets the courage to look at Minho. He doesn’t look angry, but his face is still unreadable. “Minho-ssi?” He adds, with a real politeness this time.

“I held your hand when you were puking to the sea. You can just call me hyung at this point.”

“Okay, hyung. I am sorry.” He takes a deep breath. It’s high time to act like an adult. “You took care of me so well and I’ve been nothing but unbearable. I don’t want to take your bed. I can sleep on the couch. Or on the floor. Please just don’t kick me out.” 

“Seungmin-ah, I know my boundaries. I wouldn’t do anything if I didn’t feel like it. It’s nothing.”

“It’s not true. I don’t even want to think where I would be now If you didn’t show up at the beach. I am grateful, seriously. Even if I don’t know how to show it.” His lower lip is shaking, he tries to calm it down with his teeth.

“Seungmin-ah…” His voice is soft, so fucking soft, and Seungmin’s name sounds pretty when it rolls out of his tongue. 

“I will repay you somehow. I don’t even know how, but I will do it. I promise I just-”

He is stopped again. This time by Minho’s lips on his. 

Minho’s lips on his own! 

Not on his cheek, not on his forehead, on his lips. His very own lips. A real kiss. His first kiss! He is so excited that, until Minho parts away, he doesn’t register that he stays still, doing absolutely nothing.

“How was it?” And Minho isn’t even making fun of him! He just smiles, a little shyly if Seungmin squints. 

“G-good.”

“Want me to do it again?”

Seungmin nods.

This time he tries to replicate whatever Minho is doing with his lips and it feels so nice. He easily relaxes when Minho puts his hands on his face and guides him. He doesn’t have anything to compare, but in his opinion, it’s a good kiss. And a long one too. 

He breathes heavily when they back off. The only light on Minho’s face comes from the computer screen and the blue shadows make his features even sharper. Seungmin notices that Minho has a mole on his nose and he finds it so endearing. 

“Again,” he asks and Minho does nothing, but deliver. It’s intense and Seungmin leaves out a small moan. He stops kissing and with horror waits for Minho’s reaction. 

He looks surprised, but not disgusted. Not even amused. Just wide eyes focused on the lower part of Seungmin’s face.

“Again.” This time it’s Minho who says it. “And don’t hold back,” he adds between kisses. 

What Seungmin didn’t expect was his mouth watering so easily. The saliva collects on his tongue and his gums. Maybe it’s braces or maybe he is doing something terrible wrong. It’s starting to get uncomfortable, when he can feel a line of drool dripping from the corner of his mouth. 

“I am sorry!” he panics, but before he can wipe his mouth, Minho’s thumb is already on his lips, collecting all the excessive slubber, and this freak puts the damn thumb between his own lips, sucking it. “What are you doing? Stop it!” he cries embarrassed. 

“Why?” Minho drags Seungmin’s lower lip exposing the lakelet of his drool and looks at it with fascination. “I’ve never seen something like that.” 

Seungmin whines pathetically. He is helpless when Minho lowers himself and starts slurping on the salvia. Loudly. And he looks very proud of himself when he is done. He even finishes with an “Ahh” like he just downed a can of soda at one take. 

“Isn’t it gross?” Seungmin wonders out loud, but if it is so gross, why the hell did his dick twitch? Why Minho’s dark eyes piercing through his lips are so attractive? 

“I don’t mind gross,” Minho shrugs. “So we have the regular kissing checked. Do you want to stop now or should we try french kissing?”  

Minho is truly something else. Yes, he is a weirdo, but he owns it and it makes him unbelievably hot. He is handsome and cool, but also carrying and soft. Seungmin feels safe with him.

“Yes? The second one, I mean.”

“You have to use your tongue,” Minho explains. “And open your mouth a little,” he squeezes Seungmin’s cheek. “Yeah, just like that,” he whispers when he is only a few millimeters apart. Seungmin can almost taste his breath. 

𓅰𓅰𓅰

“Do you want me to do something about it?”

Seungmin is not sure how and when Minho got on his lap and also he is not sure how Minho can tell he is hard through the thick fabric of his sweatpants. The only thing he is sure about is the answer to the question.

“Yes…” He tries to not sound whiny, he tries to play it cool, but in the end, it must have not sounded too convincing. Minho is frowning.

“If you are agreeing because you feel like you owe me something, then quit it. If you want to repay me so bad I would much rather have my car cleaned.”

“I can clean your car.” Seungmin just hopes he hasn’t puked in it. “But I still want it.” A burst of confidence. Or desperation. Anyway, he catches Minho’s hands and squeezes them reassuringly. “I mean you. I still want you.” 

“So I am not… How did you call it? Using you in your vulnerable state?” 

“No,” he laughs. “I feel like I am the one using you. I ate your food, slept in your bed, and even used your toothbrush. Like that slut with three bears.”

“Oh trust me, Goldilocks.” Minho squeezes his hands back. “I had plenty of fun today,” he smirks and it looks sexy as fuck. “And I can have some more.” 

It’s hard to comprehend what is happening next when Minho starts rolling his hips and mouths Seungmin’s neck.

“So…” Seungmin pants heavily, already worked up. “How do we do it?” 

“You need to undress first,” Minho states matter-of-factly.  

Seungmin whines. It’s not like he didn’t know, but he is not an exhibitionist at all. He always checks the bathroom door lock twice before showering and he never parades in his dormitory shirtless. The fact that the size of his dick was a huge part of their today's conversation doesn’t help at all. 

“Do I have to?”

“We can work our way around it, but it’s gonna be hard to give you the best head of your life without it.” 

“It’s going to be the only head in my life,” Seungmin notices. “So I can count it as the worst as well.”

“That’s fine.” Minho smiles and slips his hands under Seungmin’s t-shirt. His fingers do some calming magic when they caress the naked skin on Seungmin’s sides. He’s getting goosebumps. “Are you really that nervous?”

“Yeah,” he admits, reluctantly. 

“But you still want it?” He makes sure. That is very nice of him, but Seungmin hopes Minho could decide for him. 

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Minho stands up and turns off the computer screen. Now, there is only them and the moonlight and Seungmin finds more comfort in the darkness. “Lay down.” Minho pushes his chest. “Close your eyes and don’t look.” 

Seungmin can’t see Minho’s fingers under his pants and how he is lowering them, but it only makes him shiver more intensely. He lifts his hips to help, but he realizes how exposed he is. He covers himself. He raises his head and opens his eyes. “I am sorry, this is so embarrassing.”

Minho pushes him again with a “tsk.” Seungmin face is so hot and his heart beats so fast. He thinks about crying. Minho tugs on his hands until he finally lets go. “Use them to cover your eyes,” he orders before kissing his knuckles.

“I told you I am small,” he whispers, his voice shaking, rubbing his eyelids nervously.

“Shh…” There is a kiss on Seungmin’s hip bone, and another one. “You are okay, everything is okay. Focus on what you are feeling.” The kisses trail all the way to his balls, and they don’t stop there. “Does it feel good?”

“It tingles,” he giggles. “But yes, it feels good.”

“Good. Everything is fine, you know. You are good-looking. All of you.” Minho’s quiet praises are alternated with pecks here and there. At some point, Seungmin starts believing him. 

He is going to be fine. 

Minho wraps his lips around the tip of his dick. 

He is going to be so fine.  

He sucks his breath loudly. It feels so much different than he expected. Minho's mouth is wet and perfectly warm and his tongue does wonders twirling around his foreskin. 

Seungmin tries to keep quiet, but he has been told to cover his eyes, not his mouth, so moans leave frivolously echoing in the dark room. 

He thinks it’s over for him when Minho starts bobbing his head up and down and swallowing him whole with ease. The warmth collects in his abdomen and he is afraid he will spill any second. He warns Minho with a pathetic “Hyung!”

Seungmin opens his eyes to see Minho gulping his sperm and wiping his face with satisfaction. 

His chest goes up and down and his mind is still a little too dizzy to say anything, but he doesn’t want to be ungrateful so he just points to Minho’s crotch and raises his eyebrow.

“Next time,” Minho shakes his head and grabs Seungmin’s face to kiss his forehead. “Get rest, I will be back in the second.” 

Seungmin feels like he is floating. It’s a good feeling. Seagulls seem to be so far away, Narae even further. Like the ship he saw earlier, carelessly sailing in the direction only he knows about. It’s only when Minho comes back and opens the window, that Seungmin feels the cold breeze on his legs and he realizes that he is still half-naked. 

He hopes his face isn’t too red when he lifts the pants from the ground and quickly puts them on. Minho observes him, so Seungmin shoots him a questioning look. 

Minho looks lovely. In flannel pajamas, the hair around his face a little damp, the corner of his mouth stained with toothpaste. 

“You know, I am slightly disappointed.” Minho’s tone is full of reproaches. Seungmin freezes. “I expected some micro dick, you are just small.”

“Oh…Fuck off. I need to take off my contacts.”

𓅰𓅰𓅰

“Do you want to cuddle to sleep?” Minho asks when Seungmin finds his way onto the bed and covers both of them with a duvet. 

He has used Minho’s toothbrush, but he won’t tell him this.

“Yes, but I am the small spoon.”

Seungmin’s back is glued to Minho's chest. Minho’s tight is between Seungmin’s legs. Minho is lazily caressing Seungmin’s happy trail. Seungmin knows how close Minho’s lips are to the back of his neck because he can feel his hot breath and sometimes, if he hasn’t gone totally bonkers, he is pretty sure he can feel light kisses. Just mouth skimming over the skin. His heart still beats so fast, but the whole experience is calming. It’s peaceful and safe. 

“You have nice balls.” A statement that draws Seungmin out of his half-lidded sleepy state.

“Umm… Thanks?” He is not sure what to do with this kind of information.

“You’re welcome. Can I hold them?”

𓅰𓅰𓅰

Minho’s face is the first thing Seungmin sees in the morning. Maybe it spares him the experience of waking up in a foreign room and panicking, but Minho could take at least one step away. All Seungmin can see is a blurry version of Minho’s cross-eyes and the mole on his nose.  

“What the fuck?” He pushes his face away and rubs his eyes with a loud yawn. 

“Breakfast is ready.” 

Seungmin wonders if it’s okay to kiss him. He is not sure how to interpret their relationship. He should just assume that it was a one-time thing with a hot stranger, but Minho has said “Next time.” Seungmin knows that he can’t expect too much, but he craves this man's touch already, it’s so thick that the need must be radiating through his skin. 

“Go ahead,” Minho laughs and pucker his lips. Seungmin steals one fast peck and turns his gaze away. Minho tousles his hair and calls him a puppy again. “I washed and dried your things yesterday. The good news is the hoodie survived.” Minho reveals the pile of clothes on his chair. 

“Thank you.” He hoped to be able to steal some clothes from Minho, but the fact that his hoodie is still wearable is a huge relief, so he doesn’t sulk too much. “What is for breakfast?” 

“I am not sure, my mom just told me it’s ready.” 

“What do you mean your mom?!”

“We usually eat meals together during weekends.”

“What is she doing here? Is she visiting you?” 

“She lives here.”

“What?!” Seungmin jumps out of bed and triples over Tuna sleeping on his backpack. Minho had to bring it earlier. The cat hisses but doesn’t move. Seungmin tries to dig his glasses out, but the cat is so cute that he gives up eventually. “This is a disaster!” he whines and sits on the floor accepting defeat. “I can’t do that, hyung! Can I jump out of the window instead?”

“Are you okay?” Minho checks his forehead with his hand. “Did I squeeze your balls a little too tight or something?”

“Shit, hyung. I didn’t know you lived with your parents.”

“I am a dance instructor, I can’t afford a house. And to be fair, we arranged the house so that I have the whole floor to myself.”

“So they didn’t hear me yesterday?” Seungmin gets hopeful.

“Honestly, I don’t know, you were quite loud.” 

Seungmin stops being hopeful. “God, it’s so embarrassing.”

“Calm down, we are all adults.” He kisses Seungmin’s forehead. He probably has a thing for doing it, not like Seungmin complains, but it doesn’t calm him down at all. “Come on!” He drags Seungmin through the corridor and stairs to the kitchen. 

Seungmin doesn’t have time to prepare himself so he stutters a quiet “Good morning,” to the man with Minho’s eyes and “I don’t want to bother” to the woman with Minho’s smile.

Minho’s parents are nice. His mom asks if they met at the dance studio. Minho tells her they met at the beach. She doesn’t ask more questions, but she puts more food on Seungmin’s plate. It’s delicious. 

Minho’s dad asks about Seungmin’s studies and when he finds out it’s music he amuses him with a story of his teenage years’ band and pours him more coffee.

Seungmin isn’t as much of a family person, but he adores the way Minho is comfortable with them. They are close and have inside jokes. Minho laughs just like his mom. Seungmin thinks he might call his own parents later.

“Are we going to see you around more often?” Minho’s mom questions when he helps her with dishes. Seungmin insisted. 

“I don’t think,” he smiles awkwardly. “I live quite far away from here.” 

“Oh, what a shame,” she pouts. “You are such a nice boy. I would gladly marry you if not this old coot right there,” she shakes his head in the direction of her husband, already lying on the couch.

“Give him a break, mum. I found him first.” Minho wraps his arm around Seungmin’s waist like he is trying to protect him from his own mother’s vile plans.

Seungmin hopes his blush isn’t too visible. Especially that implementation that Minho had found him isn’t that far from the truth. 

After breakfast, Minho’s father complains about his head hurting. 

“We went to my sister yesterday,” his wife explains. “He got a little bit too much of soju. I couldn’t bring him home until 4 am.” 

Seungmin tries to sympathize with the woman, but he simultaneously tries to kill Minho with his eyes. 

“You didn’t tell me they weren’t here!” He accuses when he closes the doors of Minho’s room. “You know how embarrassing it was for me to think about it? And it turned out I was sweating for no reason.” 

“Will it help if I tell you that I am pretty sure they are aware of what we were doing anyway?”

“And how does it make the situation better?”

“Okay, sorry.” Minho raises his arms. “I could tell you, but you just look so cute when you are flustered that I couldn’t help myself.” 

Seungmin tries to be angry, but for some reason, he can’t. Minho could probably offend his whole bloodline, but when he says that he finds Seungmin cute, Seungmin muffles all the other words.  

“Let me drive you home as an apology. How does it sound?”

“It’s far away. At least two hours with a car.”

“I don’t mind.”

So Seungmin finds himself in Minho’s car again. With clean clothes and a package of food, Minho’s mom prepared after learning that he had to share a kitchen with three different students in the dormitory. 

They chit-chat, sing songs from the radio and even make a stop for a coffee. Minho feels like a good friend, except that he asks if he can put his hand on Seungmin’s thigh when he is driving. 

“I can’t believe I met you yesterday and you already know my most humiliating secret,” Seungmin sighs, slurping on his coffee.

“Oh, come on! Your dick is not that small.”

“I meant seagulls,” Seungmin says after a few very long and quiet seconds.

“Ah…” Minho snorts. “That.”

“Will you delete the video?” Seungmin bats his eyelashes, even if Minho is looking at the street, not at him. He also might put his hand over Minho’s and slightly shift it higher. There is no harm in trying to seduce his way out of the situation.

“Will we meet again?” Minho answers with a question.

“Are you blackmailing me again?” Seungmin answers with a question as well. The two of them can play this game.

“I already deleted it.” 

Merely 24 hours ago, Seungmin was a total loser. No girlfriend and alone in a foreign city. 

Now he had been kissed, had his dick sucked, and is sitting in a hot boy’s car who wants to see him again. Sounds like a dream. He has to pinch himself, but he prefers to hold Minho’s hand. Sue him for being touched-starved after twenty-three years of absolutely nothing. 

“We can meet again,” he agrees with relief. Not only because of the video. He trusts Minho with it, for some reason. But also because he is not imagining things, he lets himself believe that Minho is attracted to him. “I am glad it was you who recorded it.”

“I saved some screenshots, though.”

“We will never meet again.” Seungmin lets go of his hand and tactically turns his knees in the other direction. “Forget about me.” 

Minho tries to reach for him, but Seungmin is stubborn, so Minho gives up with a sigh. They drive in silence until Minho decides to break it with a confession.

“I came in my pants.”

“What?” Seungmin isn’t sure if he heard correctly. Does he have hallucinations again?

“Yesterday,” he seems reluctant to continue, but Seungmin clams up, so he goes on. “I didn’t let you touch me, because I came in my pants.” 

“When exactly?” To be honest, Seungmin didn’t pay attention to that, but now when he thinks about it Minho was walking a little weirdly to the bathroom.

“It’s not important.”

“Hyung…”

“Not important! I am just sharing it so you don’t feel like the only loser.” He looks adorable when he pouts. 

“Hyung…”

“Quit it, I am not going to tell you.”

“Hyung, your ears are red.”

“When we were kissing!”

“Seriously?” Seungmin still doesn’t fully believe it.

“You were making all those cute noises! I have fragile ears!”

“I can see that.” He playfully freckles his earlobe and it turns an even darker shade of red. 

“Leave me alone.”

“I am not saying anything.”

“Just quit it.”

“I say nothing.”

“Yes, I am a loser as much as you are. Happy?”

“Hyu-”

“Are you feeling better now? God, it’s so embarrassing.”

“I-”

“Shh… Let me suffer in silence.”

Seungmin agrees to that, but that doesn’t wipe a satisfied smile from his face. He keeps looking at Minho wondering when all the redness will come off.

He finally can’t hold back. 

“Hyung, is it weird that I find it hot?”

“Oh my god, do you want to kill me?”

𓅰𓅰𓅰

Seungmin doesn’t care that he is kissing an almost stranger in the car parked right under his dormitory. Some part of him even wants one of his friends to witness the hot man he somehow managed to attract. 

Things get heated pretty fast. Seungmin isn’t that conscious of drooling anymore. He lets Minho lick it off from his face. 

This time it’s Seungmin on Minho’s lap and he can feel his hard dick pretty easily. It’s big and it makes him excited even more. He is about to offer to suck him off when Minho moans suspiciously loudly. And Seungmin’s hand wanders right into his crotch to feel how sticky and wet it is. 

“Did you just…”

“Shut up.” Minho hides his face in Seungmin’s neck. Seungmin caresses the hair on the back of his neck. 

“Again?” he coos, just because he is a little menace after all. It’s not like he minds it, honestly. It strokes his ego just right.

“Shut up.”

“But I was quiet this time.” He kisses the top of his head. 

“I think I have a thing for braces,” Minho mumbles, his voice vibrating on Seungmin’s skin. 

“That’s weird. Even for you.”

“Do you still find it hot?” Minho looks at him with big, hopeful eyes.

“Yes,” Seungmin answers a few milliseconds too fast to not sound smitten, but it’s probably too late for him anyway. Both of them are gone.

“Good,” Minho gains back his composure, but there is still plenty of red on his cleavage. “That’s gonna keep me alive on the way back home.”

Before Seungmin closes the door, he leans to give Minho one last kiss. It was supposed to be a short, little peck, but they get too involved way too fast.

“Drive safely and text me, when you arrive.” He wipes his face and covers his teasing smile behind the sleeve. “Cumpants.”

“Bird fighter,” Minho scoffs. “I will.”

“Brace kinker!”

“Small dick!”

“Oh, you did not...”

“I did!” Minho grins widely. 

“Hope the cum cakes up and you will have to throw pants away.”

“I will never get rid of them. Too many memories.”

“Or I hope it won’t dry at all and you will have to drive with wet pants for two hours.”

“Goodbye.”

“See you next week.”   

“Better buy me flowers.” 

𓅰𓅰𓅰

When Minho enters the coffee shop, Chan is already there. Black hoodie and a worried look. His identification mark. He waits patiently until Minho orders and sits in front of him. 

“So?” Chan puts his hands together. Maybe it's one of his pseudo-fatherly gestures, maybe he's wordlessly praying for an extra deposit of patience. That is a ‘fair-enough’ type of reaction after being forced to get out of his work earlier because Minho needs to tell him something of the highest state importance.

“So…” Minho tries to appease his smile, but he can still feel the metal under his tongue and he savors it religiously. “Remember when I texted you that I saw that cute guy next to the flower shop?”

Chan sighs. Of course he does.

“You said you will marry him and asked if I know if that house next to the beach is still available. How did you say it? ‘The one with blue window stills and picket fence. I will buy it for him and make sure he doesn’t-”

“Have to work a day in his life,” Minho finishes. “So you remember, right?” 

Chan takes a sip of his tea.

“Minho, it was yesterday, of course, I remember. I also remember your teeny-tiny mental breakdown when you found out he had a girl.”

“Yeah, that.” Minho waves his hands to demonstrate it’s not important and then grins. Wild, like a madman. He knows what he must look like. “You will never believe what happened then…”