Chapter Text
Good outcomes aren’t overrated, really. After all they’d gone through in previous years, finally having something that actually gave them hope and made them move forward with confidence wasn’t undeserved at all.
That fourth day of partnership was ended with dinner, which they both worked on, and then Donghun had a shower and went to bed with Junhee, again. That time it was actually a lot less awkward.
Or not even awkward at all, really.
Junhee smiled at him and he smiled back and then they cuddled.
That was all.
Then time went by and the two weeks went flying. Donghun went back to work after the week Yuchan had gotten for him was over and pleaded to Junhee to get food before his meds kicked in and just lie down until he returned. If he fell asleep on the couch, he’d help up go upstairs. He shouldn’t try to do anything wack while under the effect of those meds. Junhee promised he’d be careful and he was.
The manager was happy to see Donghun, free of scars (of course) and praised him for being resilient and not scratching them, saying he was looking healthy. Donghun looked at Yuchan and almost laughed but managed to keep his cool and thank her.
Time just kept on going and after the two weeks were over, Donghun returned to his dingy bachelor pad trying not to sound too sad about it.
(Obviously not because it was dingy. He wasn’t a shallow asshole. The reason was something else entirely and everyone and their dogs knows what it was.)
Junhee didn’t try to stop him but he gave him a big tight hug and told him to pop by often and promised that they’d be going out more, whenever Donghun had free time. Whenever, really. He could just drop by after work, if he wanted. Any time, any day. He’d just have to text him to check if he was around.
Donghun wanted that of course and he kept alternating between Yuchan’s bed and Junhee’s.
Like a damn hoe, okay, but not really, one was for healing his racing feelings and the other was to rekindle them over and over.
He sometimes said to Yuchan that maybe it was just a crush and Yuchan just laughed at him and he was forced to acknowledge that he was right. The feelings went nowhere and only kept growing and growing and growing the more he hung out with Junhee, the more they got to know each other. The roots of the small, coy seed, kept growing deeper and stronger until it was impossible to pull them out and Donghun started panicking even more.
“Hyung, it’s mutual, trust me.” Yuchan told him one night when they were cuddling.
“How do you know?”
“You’re too caught up in your mind to realise that.” Yuchan said for the umpteenth time “I’ve gone out with you two loads of times, you know? I’m not an idiot.”
Donghun groaned a little.
“But what if it’s just…”
“It’s not just, hyung.” Yuchan sighed “You can take it slow, let it roll for as long as you want, but you can take my word on this” he smiled “it’s mutual and it won’t go anywhere.”
Donghun muttered incoherently and didn’t reply. He wanted to believe but he also had a hard time doing so. Would he be so lucky to have the crush (ah, it’d passed the crush phase a long time ago, really) of a lifetime actually return his feelings?
“I’ll cover that Carly Rae song if he does.” Donghun snorted, remembering the joke from months ago and Yuchan chortled.
“You never fooled me” he teased “I knew you were a fan.”
Donghun chuckled mirthlessly. He was in one of the negative moods. Yuchan held him tightly, reassuringly.
“No jokes now, hyung” he said softly “it’ll be alright, okay? The feelings didn’t go anywhere and I, well, I get that you’re scared now, you’ll feel hurt but” he chuckled a bit “now you’re friends for real, so it’ll be cool… sort of.”
“Sort of.” Donghun sighed “Let’s just sleep.”
Time, never stopping, kept rolling and rolling by and Donghun started to find it hard to imagine his life before he’d met Junhee and became friends with the man. They were then as close as he was with Yuchan, perhaps closer, he’d say, somehow. He felt like they were on the same wavelength, something that was hard to explain.
A practical example then, to try and make it clear: when Junhee, after making it big on Youtube with his music and his collaborations with, not only Donghun and Yuchan, but also Byeongkwan and Sehyoon when they were discharged, told Donghun one night about the idea he had about setting up their own name, like a business, a small company Donghun had been rendered speechless because he’d been thinking the same for weeks.
They’d moved in together a couple months back and Donghun had dropped his McDonald’s job. Yuchan had done the same right after, seeing that they were all making big money and sharing the profit whenever it was a collaboration (there was a funny story about that, actually).
They already had a pretty strong network going.
If they all went under the same name, maybe it’d be good for them, who knew? It was worth the shot.
Donghun agreed almost immediately and Junhee beamed so brightly his eyes disappeared.
“We have enough money saved up” Donghun said, reasoning with him and watching him nod as he parroted his arguments “even if it doesn’t work out, we’ll still be okay. Paying for trademarks isn’t that expensive and that’s pretty much all we have to do. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll just call the whole thing off and that’s that.”
“Oh hyungie, I’m so glad you agree!”
“I’d actually been thinking about suggesting that too” Donghun confessed with a small chuckle “and I was pretty sure you’d be into it, also sure that Channie will be in. You reckon Kwannie and Sehyoonie will be in too?”
“Well” Junhee scrunched his nose a little “I want them in but yeah, I’m not completely sure about it.”
“I mean” Donghun remembered with a snort “they literally flew off to Vegas and got married there.” Junhee was still not over that and had to sigh deeply. They’d all flown to Vegas for the ceremony and it’d been a crazy ass, crackheads in love thing, honestly. They hadn’t come out to their parents at all and they were married, like, legally married in the US, under the laws of the state of Nevada. They even wore matching white gold rings because (and Donghun had won the bet against Yuchan for once. His faith in Sehyoon’s romantic antics had been spot on) Sehyoon had flexed like a boss and asked Byeongkwan to marry him in Vegas, since anyone could get married there even without the citizenship. Then he’d gotten them bloody white gold wedding rings and they both wore them on their ring fingers like it was nothing and were still getting away with it after celebrating one year of marriage.
“Okay, so maybe they’ll be in for it.” Junhee chortled and sighed.
They were.
They didn’t even hesitate to join the newly formed company. Since collectively they had a respectable fanbase already, they picked up steam right off the bat and were a hit both in Korea and also internationally. Nobody had ever heard of a K-group formed by a bunch of youtubers, one of whom still made bad DIY/Lifestyle videos, but since Donghun was there to supervise and help, the new lesson of his videos was that everything goes well, if you don’t do it alone.
They were also perhaps one of the first groups to fill up venues in a couple hours in faraway countries and were definitely the first to announce a world tour two months after their collaboration as a five-member team was announced under their own brand. Youtube was very happy to be a part of it, since they were now making big money and since they weren’t petty (and couldn’t be petty), they let them be Generous in their capitalist money-thirtsty ways, because that’s the game and you gotta play it. They needed all the money they could get, and you don’t just say no to a billionaire sponsor.
And at last, almost two years passed since that fateful night Junhee hit his head and lost his eyesight, randomly finding Donghun and almost a year had passed since they’d all become a very unorthodox k-group. Junhee and Donghun were living together, as friends, naturally. Yuchan had a casual girlfriend and a new flat after finishing his degree and making his family happy, even though he was now a full-time musician and entertainer. Byeongkwan and Sehyoon were happily married and living together in their own flat after getting a dog.
It was as friends, too, that Donghun and Junhee randomly won a television contest which they thought was a prize money but was actually a spa weekend. They were too drunk to think too much of it, since they’d called the number during a fit of drunk laughter. Only when the package came in the mail did they realise that they’d gotten themselves in a Dream Spa Weekend. It looked a lot like a thing couples did but there was nothing there that suggested it. They just saw it that way because, well.
Reasons.
“Well” Junhee snorted looked at the tickets and the things the spa offered “I guess we can’t, we can’t bin this, can we?”
“Hell no! Are you mad!?” Donghun snorted “Like, okay, two blokes together will probably draw attention but fuck it, honestly.” He said “I’m going with you, so whatever. Let’s get this Dream Spa Weekend, baby.”
Junhee cackled and they high-fived.
“Let’s get it!” Junhee exclaimed “When is it?”
“Doesn’t say” Donghun noticed after reading all the instructions “so we can go anytime.”
“Okay so, uh” he grabbed his phone and checked their schedule “three weeks from now.” He chuckled, looking at him “That’s when we have a whole weekend free, since we have a bunch of stages starting in two days.”
“Can’t wait to assemble furniture almost every day for three weeks.” Donghun chortled and Junhee grinned.
That was their concept. Since they were self-managed (mostly Yuchan-managed, really, he was the whiz kid), they could put up the shows they wanted and knew the people wanted. Their shows were all two hours long and they always involved a lot of music and instruments of course, but at the end there were some stand up comedy moments, provided by Yuchan and Byeongkwan mostly, since they were the youngest and thus cuter and funnier, while Donghun and Sehyoon (who sometimes joined the Comedians) assembled a random piece of IKEA furniture with Junhee, who was filming it to put on the new channel they’d created for their stage shows’ content. IKEA was thrilled to sponsor them now because if it was profitable to sponsor Junhee alone, it was even more so to have them include it in a music show and have it be part of the show. They gave away the furniture to the winner in the end and personally take it over to their house.
(The wackiest and most approachable idols in the world? Yes. The proudly wore the title.)
“You better be thrilled to have this!” Donghun would yell into the microphone grinning as the winner hopped on stage, sometimes crying and they all signed the furniture for them “and think about these deft hands whenever you look at it. See, why am I not part of the stand-up bit?” He’d say when the audience smiled and clapped for him “I’m hilarious!”
“It’s because hyungie is the best at assembling DIY with his beautiful deft fingles!” Junhee exclaimed and the winner would laugh. It was usually hard to hear him over the ruckus but the people on the front rows started laughing and made everyone else laugh because crowds worked like that.
(Of course the furniture was something that could be easily carried about and not a goddamn bed or something massive like that.)
“Well, in three weeks then. I’m looking forward to have someone walk all over my spine.” Donghun snorted and Junhee cackled.
“That’s optional, silly hyung. We don’t need to do that.”
“Thank God.” Donghun scoffed “I have no fucking idea who thought it was a good idea to massage someone’s spine with their damn feet.”
Junhee had a fit of laughter.
“Want me to try it on you, hyung? To practice?”
“I always knew you secretly wanted to kill me.” Donghun said dramatically “The betrayal is real.”
Junhee kissed his cheek softly and made him chuckle.
“No way, hyungie.” He said and Donghun scrunched his nose at him and smiled.
Yeah, they’d been at that stage for a while.
It’d started casually, really.
They were a couple months into their friendship, still not living together, Donghun was still with McDonald’s, slaving his soul away and one night he’d come over to Junhee’s Crib (also a funny tale) dead tired and feeling like utter shit.
He was stressed and exhausted because of the psychological abuse he’d suffered at the hands of one of the dining area workers because he couldn’t collect the trays fast enough and get rid of the bins at the same time. He’d been placed there that day because one of the dining area girls had called in sick. Really, he was fast, but he was usually not there, so he wasn’t too familiar with the violence of the dining area. He was doing a pretty good job, according to the other worker in the dining area who noticed how upset he was and told him to ignore the other worker because that was normal, just ignore, ignore.
It wasn’t, Junhee had angrily said, it wasn’t okay. He was only human! How was he expected to collect and clean all the trays and take out the bins at the same time!? Donghun had actually started crying. It was everything. The piling up stress from the sudden success of Youtube and having to work awful schedules with awful people at his other job. He’d wanted to yell into oblivion but found that he didn’t need it, because Junhee was there.
Junhee hadn’t asked for permission to hug him and kiss his tear-drenched cheek, as he started crying as well. Donghun held him tightly and after he’d calmed down for real and stopped crying, he thanked him. That had strengthened their bond like nothing else. Donghun had never cried like that, so vulnerably, in front of Yuchan out of frustration because Yuchan’s approach was always on the positive side and avoiding tears by telling everyone and everything they loved to fuck off and showing him memes and funny things to make him laugh and chuck the stress away, which was a reasonable approach, honestly, because why get upset about people who didn’t deserve it? Donghun understood that and appreciated it too but Junhee, always calm and collected Junhee, a man of immense patience and love to spread, had gotten angry for him, cussed and swore out loud calling the person a piece of shit and telling Donghun he didn’t deserve that treatment and didn’t have to put up with it. Donghun found that overwhelmingly good for his mind and the tears he shed were anger and they made him feel like a whole century of pent up frustration had just just vanished. Junhee convinced him to send his resignation letter the following day and add the unhealthy work environment as one of the reasons he was going and actually name the assholes he hated the most. Junhee actually helped him redact the letter and wouldn’t budge until he actually named them.
Yuchan, following Donghun’s example had quit soon after but his reasons were summed up to ‘So, I’m quitting the burger life, I’m making big bucks elsewhere now. Reread Lee Donghun ssi’s resignation letter for further reasons. I subscribe to everything he said and add that Im Sungbin ssi is also a piece of shit and spits on the patties while frying them. Thank you. Bye.’ Donghun and Junhee had read his letter and had a blast with it because he didn’t even type it; he handwrote it on a piece of printer paper he had lying around (which had the lyrics to It G Ma on the back, because yes) and turned it in like that. He’d asked a co-worker to film him moonwalk out of the manager’s office after officially quitting and doing the Michael Jackson signature pose afterwards. Then he edited the video, so that nobody would be able to tell what the company was and added the Thug Lyf effect to it. Everyone had loved it and the video had become an iconic quitting meme because you could see the manager chuckling in the back, even though her face was censored.
(Needless to say that that that was a good manager and thanks to her, there had been a lot of firings because after further queries and observation, Dongchan’s claims about their shitty co-workers had proven to be 100% true.)
And since we’re talking about the funny tales, they’d started calling Junhee’s flat ‘Junhee’s Crib’ jokingly at first but that was now officially a thing in their fandom even though they both lived there. Of course, they were both paying for the rent and since they were now making Big Money, that was a fancy place they could afford blindfolded and asleep. None of their fans knew with whom they lived, though, for sad, yet obvious reasons. They always gathered at Junhee’s Crib but implied that it was just Junhee’s Crib, since he was the leader, and that everyone else had their own place. Some people had theories, but they were but theories and they were careful, so nobody had gotten hold of the full truth yet.
It wasn’t 100% wrong, Yuchan always found it funny, and dragged his friends into the fun, because he had his own place and the other two pairs had their own places too, only shared with another member. Two of them were married with a fluffy big golden retriever called Ace, which did some cameos and was loved internationally as a very ace boy but that wasn’t relevant information for their fans anyway.
“I’d die for you first, hyungie.” Junhee said to Donghun’s joke about him wanting him dead.
“Not if I died for you first, jerkpot.” Donghun complained “We promised, bitch. I’m one year older, I’ll die first.”
“One day before me” Junhee complained “like in Winnie the Pooh. We promised that!”
“Okay, okay. Fine. At least I get to go first.” Donghun said with a cheeky grin.
“I hope I’m senile by then.” Junhee cackled and Donghun slapped his arm softly and made him chuckled “That wasn’t part of the promise! It didn’t say I had to be one hundred years old and sane.”
(How they even remembered that promise when they were marathoning Winnie the Pooh one night while drunk off their asses a while back after a particularly tiring month, was still a mystery that also had to be studied by science.)
“I want the stones one, though.” Junhee pointed with a small smile changing the subject “It says it has benefits for stress relief.”
“Oh yeah” Donghun agreed “that one actually looks good.”
They kept on talking about dos and don’ts about the ‘Dream Spa’ activities and ended up agreeing on all the same things and being pleased with it.
It wasn’t surprising that all their best friends (and now business partners) loved the idea of them spending a wholesome weekened together at a Spa. Yuchan had been particularly joyful about it even more so than the legal husbands, who also found it Very Interesting, but didn’t make a fuss out of it like Yuchan, who was definitely fixed on getting Lee Donghun to spit it out at long last.
My Baby Channie
Hyung, it’s been two (2) years!
And you still feel the same!
You’re more than friends now gdi!
We’re all in business together
U two live together
U even sleep together every night!
3:21pm
Like you’re already married or sth
He feels the same and u damn well know it!
So I hope u use this spa weekend thing fate gave u
>:(
3:22pm
Okay, okay fine, I see ur points
Ur right
Im sorry
U had to put up with my doubts for two years
I know u probably want to punch me :’(
3:23pm
No! I want you to be happy and get that man!
Because you love each other!
And I feel happy just looking at how beautiful your feelings for each other are! >:(
3:23pm
Im still not sure if he feels the same
But I’ll follow genius yuchannie’s advice again
-3-
3:24pm
I thought we made our own fate tho haha
3:24pm
Yes, we do!
That’s what I mean!
I believe that not everything is at random
So u randomly got that spa thing from the telly show
3:24pm
That could have been fate
But if u go there and do nothing to tell him abt your feelings
Then it’ll be a lost opportunity! >:(
It’s youR CHOICE!
Fate has nothing to do with your choices!
It can give you the tools to make everything work
But if you don’t use them, then it’s as good as nothing!
>:(
3:25pm
Damn ur really a great life advisor wow
Write a book bby really
U should
So, talking, basically
I should talk to him lol the simple approach
3:25pm
YES!
It’s so simple people actually can’t understand it
If things are talked out, BAM, they’re solved!
WOW, what a concept! Reason, right? Wild!
3:25pm
Plus, ur more than good to go now
u didn’t rush anything, you’ve been friends for two years
We’ve all been friends for two years
Okay, three in our case lmao
3:26pm
And if I wanted to get in your pants I’d have no problems telling u
If it was just me, then nothing would happen
Because we’re friends and u love me anyway
3:27pm
If sth bad happened, then it would mean we weren’t really friends
Because love is love
With or without banging lmao
3:27pm
Donghun was waiting downstairs for Junhee to finish packing and texting Yuchan in the meanwhile. They’d pack lightly but Junhee could get fussy sometimes about what he should or shouldn’t take.
Really channie
Write a book
Ur just too good at advice
And I love you
3:28pm
I love you too, hyung <3
But no, I don’t wanna haha
Unless I add a section with life advice to the upcoming photobook
That would probably not be a bad idea
3:29pm
I think itd be great
Talk it out with cecille lol
3:29pm
Okay, gtg now
Junnie is ready
Talk later
Love u bby
3:30pm
Cecille will be consulted dw lmao
Okay! Have fun hyungie! Tell junhee hyung I said this!
I love you both <3
3:30pm
“I’m ready.” Junhee said “Sorry for the delay, I couldn’t find my swimming trunks.” Donghun chuckled “I’ll get some somewhere, I guess.”
“They probably sell them there or something” Donghun got up with his rucksack, flinging it over his shoulder “let’s go. Yuchannie wished us luck and said he loves us.”
“Aw, so cute!” Junhee grinned and grabbed his phone. Donghun watched him text Yuchan an ‘I love you too!! <3’ and smiled they left for the car after that.
See, that example with Yuchan was actually a good example because at one point, Donghun had started thinking if his feelings for Junhee weren’t just platonic, like what he felt for Yuchan and he’d talked it out with the man himself who’d had a blast.
“First, that would be tragic for you, because I’m straight.” Yuchan had said over coffee almost making Donghun choke and look around to see if people were looking but no, they were doing what they should: minding their own business “Second, you don’t want to get in my pants and never did, you’re just fretting and comparing stuff that can’t be compared. And third” he paused dramatically glaring at him “you know you don’t feel only platonic love for him, hyung, you’re trying to lie to yourself because you’re scared.” He pointed an accusatory finger at him and Donghun had huffed and banged his head on the table of the coffee shop.
“You’re right again, as always, ugh” he groaned “why are you always right?”
“Be glad I am.” Yuchan snorted “Imagine if you’d actually fallen for me. I mean, nothing would happen, because nothing would change between us, but it’d be kind of sad.”
“Well, I’ve had things for straight dudes before, so it wouldn’t shock me.” Donghun chuckled and sighed sipping on his coffee “The worst that could happen would be you punching me, and you wouldn’t do that."
“See?” Yuchan grinned “It’s because you know me that you can say that. We’re friends, hyung and I love you. Even if you had romantic feelings for me, we’d still be best friends and you know that. You could even cuddle me anyway” Yuchan added “unless you felt like you couldn’t do that, but you can, so” he shrugged.
Donghun looked out the window and smacked his lips.
“You’re too damn” he choked a bit on the coffee and wiped his mouth on his sleeve, because napkins are for nerds “sorry, too damn smart and know me too well.”
Yuchan laughed and then grinned impishly after winking at him.
“Well, hyung, I’m one of your best friends” he said as he finished his own coffee “so it’s not hard to know you well, plus” he wiped his mouth with his sleeve too because he too was too good for napkins “you’ve been sleeping with your crush for over a year now. Of course you don’t have problems with platonically cuddling your romantic crush.”
“God, you’re too good with words.” Donghun winced and Yuchan cackled “That was so clear, I’m gonna go and cry in the shower now or something because you just punched me in the brain.”
“You needed that.” Yuchan said and Donghun sighed. Yuchan really was incredibly smart and mature even though literally nobody else gave him credit for that outside of their group. He put up the crackhead, funny front for their fans so they thought that was him off-cam and sure, that was him, but that was just a bit of him.
“What about Yebin ah?” Donghun asked as he finished his coffee, changing the subject to Yuchan who snorted.
“No more Yebin ah.” He said and Donghun snorted too “Yeah, I know, I look devastated. She called me an asshole because I just said ‘okay’ when she said she wanted to break up and called me insensitive. I hope the antis found her rants.” He sighed with a chuckle “They were funny to read.”
“How did you even read them?” Donghun chuckled too “And good she’s gone, now I can tell you that I didn’t like her a lot. She had this weird look in her eyes.”
Yuchan scoffed.
“It wasn’t just a thing in her eyes, I guess. And well, you know my fansite account where I post our pictures” he started folding his arms on the table, Donghun nodded with a chuckle “yeah, I follow my girlfriends with that account” he explained and Donghun widened his eyes and he nodded with a proud smile “clever, right? Yeah, so when they block me, I can still read their shit.” He said and chortled “They won’t suspect Choi Cecille, the half-korean fansite with the best exclusive content.” He cackled and Donghun snorted but looked at him, seeing him avert his eyes “When we get famous enough, I’ll suggest selling photobooks, see how that goes. All money is needed.” He was trying to change the subject because he didn’t want to keep going on about that but Donghun didn’t let him because he knew he needed to let it all out. He even knew what the fuck was happening with him and his bad luck with girls.
“You’re not even a player, baby.” Donghun said and looked at him watching him shrug without looking at him “They’re making it sound like you are.”
“Almost nobody believes them anyway, you see, I don’t follow back with my main.” He snorted “I’m not stupid, I’ve been having girlfriends for a while and it’s always the same pattern. They unfollow me and go private.”
“When you did nothing wrong.” Donghun shook his head and huffed.
“Go figure” Yuchan scoffed and finally looked at him “I guess I just want to have someone to become my friend and have fun with, share interests and stuff, but they don’t seem to want that.” He gulped and he was quietly angry “They just, I don’t even know, they call me names when we break up but who’s the asshole, really? I sure don’t feel like an asshole.” He promised and Donghun chuckled at the face he made. He meant it. “I tell them right away that I’m a musician and that my music is before anything else and they’re all” he faked a stupid voice “’Oh, that’s fine! I love your music! I love music, I stan a-a-a-all these grousp!’ and then” he snorted and shook his head “it’s a bunch of bullshit because so far none of them really cared about my music” he scoffed “they ask me to sing them songs and stuff, the cheesy stuff, you know that.”
“Yeah, I do.” Donghun backchanneled letting him rant.
“Yeah, but they don’t care about music in general, like they like all those groups and shit but really, they don’t give a shit about music, all they care about is looks” he said with a snort pointing at both their faces “they just want to show me off” he said and the smile he had was sad “I feel like I’m, like I’m just a prop they want to show off to their friends and have sex with.”
“Hey, hey” Donghun said and reached over to hold his shaking hand. Yuchan sniffled a little and shrugged letting him hold his hand, holding it back “you just have to find a musician girl. You keep getting the wrong girls.” He sighed “I’m sure there are plenty of non-music fans who are lovely girls and would treat you like you deserve but really” he smiled “you gotta go for the musicians. Just a music fan won’t do for people like us.”
Yuchan smiled a little, for real this time.
“Thank you, hyung.” He said “That’s, that’s really great advice.”
“I have to give some back every now and then even though I’m a dumb gay.” He joked and made Yuchan cackle.
“You’re a panicked, that’s different. You’re not dumb.” He said and Donghun made a pained face which made him laugh more “Well, you’re panicked, that’s your alignment.” He stated “And well” he sighed looked definitely a lot happier “I guess I’ll give up dating for the time being. I don’t want to feel like shit, so I won’t.” He declared “Whatever happens, happens. I don’t mind not dating indefinitely.”
Donghun sighed and went for it. It was a friends’ moment. You get and you give back.
“You’re, well, you’re not easy but you’re easygoing and easy to connect with” Donghun told him and he chuckled “yeah, and that makes it easy to befriend you and you may be smart, but you’ve got a big gentle heart so, it’s easy for shallow people to manipulate you into a relationship you probably don’t even want that much.”
Yuchan looked at him and smiled a bit and fell silent for quite a bit.
“I needed to hear that” he finally said softly “you know me too well, too, hyung. That’s, I guess that’s what happens.” He said and gulped falling silent, thinking “I’m sure that’s what happens, wow, I’m an idiot, how did I not realise? I’m soft as fucking melted butter sometimes.”
“It’s easier to see it from the outside.” Donghun said, still holding his hand “Don’t beat yourself over it. You’re in the right here.” He assured him “Just get you a girl who plays the guitar.”
Yuchan chortled.
Well, sometime later, say a couple months later, he’d met one such girl and she’d been his casual girlfriend for months.
She was also a musician and she wasn’t on youtube all that much. She used to busk near the centre and Yuchan would stop by to listen sometimes and drop a few tips after clapping. They’d randomly met in a music store sometime later while she was getting new amplifier and Yuchan was getting a new microphone because his was busted. They’d recognised each other from their previous meetings, and she was just like him. Easygoing and kind. They’d connected right away and on that very day exchanged numbers. Yuchan didn’t use the number until after a couple more in person meetings and eventually confessed that he was jealous of her guitar skills. She’d offered to teach him, if he wanted, and that’s how Mr Kang Yuchan, after a streak of bad relationships, found someone who was worthy of him. Donghun liked her for real, and treated her like she was his daughter even though they were both super cautious with their labels. They were dating and it was exclusive, but there were no actual labels tying them to each other, they didn’t live together and, from what Yuchan had told his friends in one of their heart to hearts late at night in Junhee’s Crib, she’d also had lots of bad luck with boyfriends. They were all sold when Yuchan confided in them that she’d dropped the B bomb on him a couple days back.
“She’s bisexual!?” Byeongkwan gasped as Donghun looked on the verge of starting a round of applause after saying that he knew he felt that she was the one.
“She was super scared of my reaction” Yuchan said seeing his friends’ collective glee and grinning “but I was like ‘well, see, this is pretty good! We got lots in common” he started and Donghun and Junhee were already losing it and he hadn’t even reached the end of his anecdote, he started chortling too “yeah, I’m a musician, so are you. You like sweet things, so do I. You like the sun, I do too! You like girls, and so do I!’” He opened his eyes and grinned for extra impact and everyone burst out laughing “She laughed too, and she was, she was really happy… said that, like, her previous boyfriends dumped her soon after she said that. Then I assured her that it wouldn’t happen because I barely have straight friends, and I’m always the token straight friend with my best friends” he shook his head making his friends laugh harder “and she laughed until she was crying and then, like, well she hugged me very tight” he blushed a little and the laughter turned into a collective urge to hug him “and said that I was the best, the only straight boy in the world she could trust.” He rubbed the back of his neck “I mean, there are lots of good straight guys out there but, well, it felt nice…”
The urge to hug him became a thing they all did and he was suddenly pulled into a hug and found himself in a cuddle pile and laughed at all the love.
“She is correct!” Donghun said dramatically making their friends laugh “You’re our prized het angel and we’d kill ten bastards for you.”
“In cold blood!” Byeongkwan added “We’ll join our gay powers and beam them out of existence!”
“I’d rather use a baseball bat.” Sehyoon said and Byeongkwan shrieked with laughter.
“You think he’s joking” he said “but he actually has one in the, in our car!”
“It’s made of metal.” Sehyoon said with a grin.
“It’s always the quiet ones that are the deadliest.” Donghun cackled.
“You bet!” Byeongkwan confirmed “Oh, you didn’t see him road-raging the other day!”
They ended that heart to heart event with the tale of how Kim Sehyoon, that quiet soul, had crossed their car in front of a rude driver who’d flipped them off and almost made them crash and gotten out with the baseball bat without saying a word and started banging it on the road. Byeongkwan said he was just sitting in the car smiling at the scene, watching the rude driver coil in fear when Sehyoon gently knocked on his window with his fist and told him to roll down the window.
“Holy shit” Yuchan said grinning “what did you say, hyung!?”
“Oh” Sehyoon said, blushing a little “I just told I didn’t want to hurt him or break his car and, that, uh, that he shouldn’t flip strangers off because sometimes they can turn out to be kind of mad.”
“Solid advice if you ask me.” Donghun said “I’m proud, Sehyoon ah.”
“Thank you, Donghun ah” Sehyoon smiled a little, bashfully “I hope it doesn’t happen again, I don’t want to hurt anyone but…” he paused “if I have to, I will.” He declared and boy, was that scary. Byeongkwan seemed to love it though and they didn’t want to know anymore about that because it sounded like it was something that they should keep to themselves.
They finally reached the Spa, which was on top of a mountain.
It was really fancy, and they were trated like kings, certainly because the show that’d awarded them that prize had instructed them to do that. Since they were two blokes, the receptionist asked if they wanted two queens instead of a king-sized bed, but they’d gone for the king-sized and she’d actually said it was the best choice because the king-sized beds were really big and comfortable. After a little discussion, consulting with their mastermind Kang Yuchan, they’d decided to post about that place on their social media and advertise it for free after asking the Spa managers if they could do that, considering that they were popular influencers. They’d enthusiastically agreed to it and, if they’d been treated great right off the bat, they started pampering them like there was no tomorrow, making sure they were always comfortable and away from crowded places.
The lovely pair even filmed a bold yet very short clip of both of them together in the private Jacuzzi in their extremely fancy suite and Yuchan called them later calling them ‘MAD LADS’ and they’d had a blast because of it.
All this on the first day but they only had two days so they’d better make it count, yeah?
The food there was all healthy but all amazing and the massages?
“I feel like I’ve just gained 10 years of life.” Donghun said when they both collapsed in bed, still in their bathrobes wearing nothing but their underwear under them “I feel so lazy and my back feels, like, they’ve given me a new back.”
“A pic?” Junhee slurred “That’ll be the captcha, I feel like my soul has been massaged too, holy shit.” He mumbled and got his phone from his bathrobe’s pocket and snapped a selca of both of them in bed together “Well, maybe, uh, is it okay if they see that we’re sharing a bed?”
Donghun, the mad lad, bold and relaxed, and at long last sending every last bit of fear and panic to hell, rolled to the side to face him.
“I can kiss you on the lips, if that’s not hint enough.” He said quietly with a small smile and Junhee froze for a millisecond before looking at him and seeing the look in his eyes. Definitely meant it. His whole face got red and felt hot.
“Hyung…” he chuckled a little “are you…?”
“Wanting to kiss your lips?”
“Yes.” Junhee asked gulping and Donghun smiled cheekily.
“Depends” he said softly “do you want me to do that?”
The next thing Donghun knew was that Junhee had dropped his phone on the bed like it was piece of garbage and scuttled closer to him and smashed their mouths together like his life depended on it.
Donghun’s heart raced and he felt, for real, that real happiness felt like that. Like Junhee’s lips on his, his warmth, his arms around him, his body pressed against his, his existence, their shared life. He enthusiastically kissed him back before slowly pushing Junhee onto his back to better kiss his mouth, nibble on his lips, slip him tongue and then pepper his adorably red face with kisses to watch him giggle with tearful eyes.
“I thought, I thought you liked me too” Junhee finally said when Donghun lied on top of him, cuddling and nuzzling his neck after their heated and long-awaited make out session “but I didn’t want to, I didn’t want to entertain that thought…”
“Same” Donghun chuckled onto his neck and made him shiver “I just, I was scared of losing you but now… now I wasn’t because, because I could keep you even if you didn’t feel the same.”
Junhee held him tighter.
“Yes, yes, yes” he whispered “now, I wasn’t scared of losing you so… you’re a really good kisser.” He chuckled and that made absolutely no sense.
“You’re not scared of losing me because I’m a good kisser?” Donghun joked and Junhee chortled “Well then I’m not scared of losing you because, because you smell good.”
Junhee cackled.
“Logic.”
“No logic.”
“I know.” Junhee said “Kiss me again, please.”
“Oh, he’s polite about kissing” Donghun said jokingly getting away and kissing him again “since when though?”
Junhee knew what he was asking.
“Since, well, the beginning but… but then the more I got to know you, instead of the feelings going away, they just got stronger” Donghun shut him up with another kiss and Junhee held his face with his small, warm hands.
“That’s me, dork. That’s not fair.” He kissed him again and made him chuckle. Donghun relished the smile under his lips. He’d wanted to kiss that smile for so long.
“Was it worth the wait?”
“Even though we’re fools?”
“Even though we’re fools.”
“It most definitely was.” Donghun confirmed and grabbed Junhee’s phone and snapped a picture of him kissing Junhee’s smile.
“Hyung! Why did you do that?”
“Yuchannie needs to see it first” he said “if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have gathered the courage.”
“Then you send it to Kwannie and Sehyoonie hyung” Junhee chuckled.
Yuchan’s reply came almost as soon as the picture was sent and Donghun typed,
‘Donghun here. Look at what these panicked homos did.’
Junhee cackled at the text and said he should just forward it to Sehyoon and Byeongkwan like that, so he did.
Channie
DJSHFJKSHJKHFDGKJFD
DSKJHFJKGHFDGJDKFHGLKDFJGLKJDFLKGJD
SDJKHFJGKHDFKJGHDJFHGJDKFHGKJDDDDDHGTRTU
YEEEEEHAAAAAAW!! FINALLY!!
I WANT TO FRAME THIS PICTURE OMG!!!!!!!!!!!
IT’S SO PURE
YOU’RE BOTH SMILING
UWUWUWUWUWUWUWUWUWUWUWU
MY HEART CAN’T TAKE THIS
I NEED A MOMENT TO CATCH MY BREATH
11:32pm
Byeongkwannie
AAAHHHHHHH!!
CONGRATULATIONS, HYUNGS!
OH MY LORD THAT’S SO CUTE!
I’M SO PROUD OF YOU TWO!
FINALLY!!!
11:34pm
Sehyoonie hyung
The cutest panicked homos I’ve ever seen aww :’)
I gather that that’s the reason why kwannie is crying and smiling
And trying to rip my arm off after typing furiously on his phone
Im really happy for you two ^_^
11:35pm
I hope you went prepared for any action aside from kissing ;D
11:36pm
Junhee covered his mouth and Donghun started laughing.
“Hell, I’m telling you, the quiet ones are the worst.” He avowed and Junhee cackled. Donghun paused and looked at him silence before saying, “I did, though.”
“So did I.” Junhee confirmed not even letting a second pass “Just in case.”
“I love me a man who’s careful but hopeful too.” Donghun said, going in for the cuddles again and nuzzling Junhee’s neck making him chuckle.
“So do I.” Junhee said holding him back and kissing his head and then his cheeks before going for the mouth again “I love you, hyung. I love you so much. I l-love you so much.” And of course he was crying and of course they were both crying.
“Shush, don’t cry, idiot, now I’m crying too. I love you too, I love you so much, I love so damn much I was willing to fight off my feelings to keep you, if you didn’t feel the same.”
Junhee gave him a big tearful squeeze that he returned.
“We’ll post the bed selca.” He said sniffling “We’ll post it and, and I don’t care. People already have theories about, about our relationship so whatever. Let them know.”
He didn’t mean ‘let them know that it’s real’ and Donghun knew that and felt the same. They didn’t care that people were suspicious. They didn’t care about what people theorised or fantasised or whatever.
Channie
You’re both reading this
Im recovered now
My heart is intact
Donghun hyung
Carly Rae Jepsen is waiting for that cover ;D
11:49pm
“What?” Junhee frowned and chuckled, wiping his eyes “The ‘Call me Maybe’ girl?”
“Oh no” Donghun groaned and chortled with a small wince “I said that if you returned my feelings I’d cover that song. Like, two years ago” he snorted and Junhee gasped “yeah, and then I made the mistake of remembering it a while back… damn.”
“Hyung” Junhee was losing it as he wiped his eyes and reached his hands to wipe Donghun’s face, which made him laugh “we’ll sing it together. Let’s me a duet cover and post it!”
“God, he actually suggested that back then” Donghun cackled “Yuchannie will have a blast.”
“Well, we’ll do it then! For good luck!”
“I don’t know how singing that song will bring good luck but alright.” He snorted “Hey” he started singing in tune to the song “I just met you, and this is crazy, but I know who you are and you know me too. Even if you can’t see me, I’ll call you baby.”
Junhee had a fit of the giggles and he grinned.
“We’ll sing the real thing.”
“Of course” Donghun snorted holding him close and kissing his cheek “but that’s what happened in a nutshell.”
“You left out the bit where we pretended we didn’t know.”
“Okay” Donghun tried again, clearing his throat “Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but I know who you are you know me. Even if you can’t see me, I’ll call you baby and we’ll pretend not to know each other because we’re fo-o-o-ols” he ad-libbed the extra lyric and Junhee started wheezing with laughter.
“Okay, we can sing the, the parody to the boys, but we’ll cover the real thing first.” Junhee said and Donghun grinned.
“Okay. I bet it’d be a big success, like the crackhead coffee song we sang two years ago.” He cackled.
“It’d also instantly out us.” Junhee chortled and Donghun snorted.
“Well, so it’ll be exclusive for our friends and Yuchannie’s girl. Bet she’ll find it a riot too.”
They didn’t care about what people thought of them and even if that only stayed with their friends and Yuchan’s girlfriend, they didn’t care that people thought they were gay.
All they cared about was that they’d made it big in music with their friends, all of them on their own, with their own skills and hardwork. They’d made it. They’d endured everything, all those years of no results, of failure, until finally success knocked on their door and they let it in. They were now, literally, on top of a mountain but they wouldn’t come tumbling down: they’d fly up higher and higher into outer space and reach true stardom.
Love for the art and teamwork was really all you needed to make the dream work sometimes.
They’d believed wholeheartedly that the next time would be better for sure and it was.
It really was.