Style found Fadel in the kitchen. Bent over the worktable, his hands pressed onto the shiny surface. If Style didn’t know him better, he would think he was sleeping while standing.
Style observed him for a moment. The vibes were off, but not in a dangerous way. More in an ‘I can’t believe this is my life' way. He quickly searched through his memories, but he hadn’t done anything the last couple of days that would make Fadel behave like that.
Had he gotten a one-star Google review?
“What’s up?”, he asked and stole a pickle.
Fadel moved slowly. Just his head. The frown between his eyes was there again and Style knew it was the Bison frown. That man had a wrinkle for every one of his loved ones. Not that Style would count himself as one of them. Not yet anyway. But he worked hard for his very own line on Fadel’s face.
“Just,” Fadel started and then straightened and looked up. Was he thinking about not telling Style? Style leaned his back onto the worktable. Now he was curious.
Wait. If it was about Bison and Fadel looked like he had been forced to eat a lemon that could only mean one thing.
“What did they do?”
Fadel sighed, and then his face twisted.
“Ooooh,” Style cooed. “Did you catch them again?” He wiggled his eyebrows. “In flagranti?”
Fadel made a disgusted sound.
“What are you angry about? You know they’re together? What? Do you think they only hold hands?”
Style had no siblings. He wouldn’t know how he would react if one of them suddenly became a fully formed human with desires. He liked to imagine himself as the cooler older brother. He would buy them condoms and shit.
“No. It’s just…” Fadel sighed again. “They…” He moved his hands around and Style was delighted about this turn of events. He didn’t think Fadel could be so flustered. He was normally very matter-of-fact about sex.
“They had toys,” Fadel said, and it sounded like someone had forced those words out of him via torture. He sounded like Style wanted to make him talk about his feelings. Again.
Style frowned. “And? Like we did that one time—”
Fadel stopped him with his raised hand. “No. Specific toys. For a specific type of… you know.”
“Sex?” Oh, this was golden, Style thought. But what kind of toys was Fadel implying? That one time Kant and he had hooked up it had been pretty vanilla.
“Oh wait,” Style moved, a huge grin on his face, “like kinky toys?”
Fadel looked like Style had shot him. His expression said it all and Style had to laugh.
“No way. Kant and Bison? Wow. I mean… now that I think about it. Bison looks like he would like to slice you open for schmexy sexy times.”
“Style…”
“But Kant?” Style pursed his lips. “I didn’t think he was the type. Good for him.”
“Please, shut up."
Style laughed even harder. Fadel sounded like he was in pain. Had he known how to get to him like that, his whole approach would have been way more fun for him. Fadel was open about sex or so Style got the feeling from the amount of sex they already had. From outdoor sex to… outdoor sex. They had a lot of sex outside of their beds, now that he thought of it.
“What got you so worked up about it? That they have sex? That it’s kinky? That Kant knows how to give up control?”
He chuckled. It was funny that he immediately thought Bison was the one in charge. Little gremlin.
“You think Bison is in charge?”
“Mhm? Yes.” Style munched on another pickle.
The frown on Fadel’s face disappeared, exchanged for a blank expression.
Oh.
Style was quick, but Fadel was quicker. He grabbed Style’s wrist, yanked and had him crowded against the stove in seconds.
“Hey.” Style was more upset about the pickle he had dropped than being all up and close with Fadel. That was always nice.
“You want to be in charge, too?” Fadel asked.
Style smiled, wide and bright.
“I’m always in charge.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Hell yeah.”
There was a thing Fadel did, that Style thought he wasn’t even aware of. First, he tried to hide a smile. Most of the time he was successful with that but at the same time, he didn’t seem to notice that his eyes got soft. He looked at Style through hooded eyes with no frown on his forehead or between his brows.
“You want to tie me up, mhm?”
Style couldn’t answer because someone cleared their throat in the general area of the door. They both moved, still standing close and Pearl, the temp Fadel had hired, looked at them annoyed.
“There are a bunch of customers waiting for their food,” she said, sternly.
“And we’re working very hard to cook it for them,” Style answered.
Pearl wasn’t moved by his smile. She squinted her eyes at him threateningly and maybe Fadel had found a long-lost sister.
“Food will come right up,” Fadel said and turned away from Style with deep-red ears.
“Tonight then,” Style whispered, gave him a clap against his butt, winked at Pearl and then got the hell out of there because he had the feeling both of them carried knives to stab him with.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Adrift in the heat
Fandom: History 3: Trapped
Pairing: Shao Fei x Tang Yi
Length: ~ 2000 words Oneshot
Summary:
Shao Fei rolled his eyes and leaned his head back onto the staple of pallets they had been thrown against. He suspected that they were held in some kind of old warehouse. The windows were either broken or old newspapers stuck to it. The pallets were the only source of shadows because the sun shone mercilessly into the room. Hot air was coming through the open windows. He smelled the hot dirt and dust on his tongue. It felt like he was able to slice through the air.
Love in the Air Koi, please 😍 something car related for Rei and Arashi
light as love [AO3]
“Battery,” Arashi said, pointing at something under the hood. Rei leaned with his underarms on the edge of the car, huddled under the hood next to Arashi and parroted back: “Battery.”
“Brake fluid.”
Arashi moved his arm to point at the… thing that held the brake fluid and for a moment all Rei could see was the enticing way Arashi’s arm muscles moved. He spotted a stain of something, maybe motor oil, next to his elbow.
“Brake fluid,” Rei said because he was here to learn.
“Engine Oil and Oil dipstick.” Arashi had to move a little closer to Rei to show him the next parts and Rei got a sniff of his aftershave. Rei knew that he smelled like that too because they had showered at Arashi’s place this morning. Rei squirmed a little bit because he wanted to put his mouth on Arashi’s arm, but he had been told to listen and learn.
“Are you listening?”
Arashi looked at him with a raised brow, almost lined up against Rei with his whole body and Rei had to blink.
“Sure!” he said and then frowned because he had no idea what Arashi might have shown him next.
“Then tell me.”
“Erm…” Rei stared hard at the parts under the hood. Something with oil. Or had they already moved past that? He pursed his lips and tilted his head.
Arashi slid a hand around his waist and how would he even be able to concentrate now?
“You’re able to focus on your mobile games for hours on end but can’t listen to me for more than ten minutes?”
“Hey!” Rei moved the same way Arashi moved: into an embrace. Arashi’s arms are solid around his middle while Rei put his hands on Arashi’s shoulders.
He played a little with the hair at the back of Arashi’s head and pouted.
“It’s a lot of new knowledge. It’s not uncommon that someone would need a repetition of that.”
Arashi chuckled, his amusement a glowing light in Rei’s chest and Rei raised his head when he moved to put a kiss on the corner of his mouth.
“You promised to be an attentive student.”
“I am!” Rei said offended but couldn’t defend himself anymore because Arashi moved from the corner of his mouth to his lips, deep and all-consuming and Rei leaned heavier on Arashi, who didn’t mind, just held him close and Rei sighed in happiness.
When Po arrived at the event, the red carpet was still in full swing. He was quickly ushered inside the building through the side entrance. Someone pushed his media tag into his hand with a “Hi P’Po,” and he waved at a bunch of servers clad in black suits, who waved back. He walked through the corridor towards another big door, nodded at a security guard who just tilted his head at him, and then entered the main event area.
“Hey Po!” Another journalist patted him on the back in passing before moving on to the lavishly decorated front gate where the red carpet ended, and the celebrities entered.
They were always the same people at these events, Po mused and checked if his media tag was still around his neck. The behind-the-scenes circle was a small one.
He took one of his cameras out of his bag to take a few pictures of the location in general. It was beautifully decorated, with big, lush flowers everywhere an ocean of blues, azures and turquoise. This charity event was one of many leading up to the award season and the marketing team was a bit stretched thin. But Po had no problem shooting material for MARS social media channels as well as helping to get a little vlog together.
“That’s a nice camera.”
Po looked up then to the side and was confronted with a bright smile from a handsome gentleman in a suit next to him.
“Eh, thank you,” Po answered with a smile and bowed slightly. He knew that face from somewhere. An actor most likely.
“Are you here for work?”
Po nodded, but before he could answer verbally someone grabbed him by the elbow and steered him away.
“So sorry!” Jun said with a bright smile towards the man they left behind with a confused look. “We’re incredibly busy!”
“Jun. What the heck,” Po complained. “That was rude.”
“Yeah, sure. You’re here for five minutes and already causing trouble.”
“Trouble?” Po pushed Jun’s hand away. He had no idea what that man was talking about. “Shouldn’t you be at rehearsal?”
“We’re already done. We’ve been here for two hours already. Was that Pear Natawat you helped out of her car?”
Po blinked. “Who?”
Jun rolled his eyes at him. “You held the door open for the rising star in the Thai film industry, but yes, who?”
Before Po could answer, or bonk Jun on the head, another member of MARS slid up to them.
“Okay, good, you found him.”
Nano smiled up at Po, a vision in turquoise glitter and low-rising jeans. Even the west he wore, made from tiny white feathers glittered.
“Hey,” Po said, and Nano blew him a kiss.
“The front singer from Black Mirrors is looking,” Jun whispered, “do that thing with your arm.”
“Me?” Po asked but Nano had already slid his arm through his and smiled sweetly towards a group of men and women dressed in the same theme who stood around a table.
“Why are you flanking me like bodyguards?” Po asked.
“Damage control,” Jun said which figured because if he would give Po a straightforward answer it would be because Pepper stood behind him and made him.
“Why would—Nano what are you doing?” Po tried to turn but Jun already looked behind him where Nano had started to pat down his butt, but instead of helping he just said: “Good. You found something?”
“Nope,” Nano said with a bright smile and maybe Po had hit his head against the door and was on his way to the hospital with a headwound.
“Just ignore us, do your little job,” Jun said and one day, Po swore, he would shove him into oncoming traffic.
His little job? Sure. He would do his little job.
“Jun,” he said and pointed his camera too close to Jun’s face. “Why don’t you tell us about your unhealthy Labubu obsession?”
“Oh, they’re so cute,” Nano piped in and because he was Po’s favourite, Po took a few steps back and filmed something close to a glam shot for Nano.
“They’re an investment,” Jun hissed in the background and Po just smiled.
Whatever was going on, Pepper and Dylan seemed part of it. After Nano had gotten his various shots in front of the decorations, they said their ‘shift’ was over and Pepper and Dylan took over.
“Shouldn’t I know what this is about?”, Po asked exasperated, but Pepper just smiled serenely at him. Dylan hadn’t even heard him because he was busy scowling at someone or something, but Po didn’t have the heart to tell him that had the same effect as a bunny frowning.
They left him half an hour before they were supposed to be on stage. The concert was, as always, a huge success and in this smaller setting Po got some candid shots of the MARS members interacting on stage. He was going to get Nano forcing Pepper to twerk on the vlog as if his life depended on it.
+
“Tired?”
Thame’s arm snaked around his shoulders when Po stretched and yawned.
“Hey.” Po took his headphones off. Thame sighed tiredly into his neck. “How was the rest of the evening?”
“A lot,” Thame mumbled against his shoulder, “you know how Mick wants us to appear in some dramas? He made us butter up to some producers.”
Po looked at the clock on his computer. It was almost 2 am.
“Have you worked up until now?” Thame pulled him from his desk and onto the couch.
“Yeah. I want the vlog ready as soon as possible.”
“The most hardworking member of MARS,” Thame said and looked at him with tired eyes while he leaned with his head on the couch, ready to fall asleep immediately.
Po snorted and mirrored his position. He brushed a strand of hair from Thame’s face.
“Do you want to tell me why the others hovered over me like helicopter parents all evening?”
Thame smiled with closed eyes.
“They say I pout too much.”
“Pout about what?”
His eyes were still closed and Po watched with a raised brow how Thame patted down his thigh, towards his butt and then pulled something out of his back pocket.
A business card.
“I have no idea how it got there,” Po said confused. He hadn’t gotten close to people at the concert. Or so he thought. He had spoken to some in passing but that had been it. Hadn’t it?
Thame threw the card on the ground and grabbed him by his legs to pull him up on his lap. “That’s why I think you need an assistant, someone who knows how to kick people and look mean.”
Po laughed and hugged Thame’s head to his chest. “Only you think the whole Thai celebrity world wants a piece of me.”
Thame mumbled something against his sternum that he couldn’t make out, but he felt the yawn, so he let himself fall back and took Thame with him. Wouldn’t be the first time they fell asleep on their couch.
The Sign aired over a year ago. Could you write post-finale for Tharn and Phaya? Can be sexy, can be cute?
an argument worth losing [AO3]
Tharn spun around, kicked the box buddy in the middle, spun around again and wanted to hit with his fist when he was met with empty air. He stumbled.
“Phaya!”
Smile so wide it showed his dimples, Phaya danced away when Tharn tried to kick him.
“What the hell, I almost landed on my face.”
His heart pounded madly, sweat burned in his eyes and seriously why was it Phaya’s favourite pastime to bother his training?
“Ah, no worries I would have caught you. I like that pretty face of yours.”
Tharn snorted and pushed his sweaty fringes out of his face.
“What?” he asked when Phaya just watched him catching his breath.
Phaya let go of the box buddy, tilted his head, and smiled that devastating smile that made Tharn weak in the knees.
“Why did you disagree with me today?”
“When exactly?” He disagreed with Phaya at least three times a day on purpose. Kept him on his toes and reduced the chance that Phaya rushed into things.
“About the drug busting case.”
Tharn sighed and went to the bench to get his water.
“It’s too risky to make a move now, you know that.”
Phaya crossed his arms and while Tharn took a deep swig of his water he saw how he nodded with pursed lips. It didn’t mean he approved. He just thought about his next move. Could be the start of an argument, could be trying to deflect and then starting an argument, could be…
Tharn felt the air rush out of his lungs as he was swept off his feet. He still had his water bottle in his hand, and it fell to the ground with a loud clank. He, at least, was spared that kind of treatment as Phaya softened his fall with his arms.
He still groaned when his back hit the ground and had to remember how to breathe.
“What the hell?”
Phaya smiled down at him, far too pleased. He was a known weight on Tharn, snug as a bug on top of him. One day they had to dive deep into Phaya’s love for throwing him on the ground whenever possible.
“There are more grown-up ways to tell me you are displeased with my choice.”
“Like what?” Phaya asked and moved to grab Tharn’s wrists. He slowly moved Tharn’s arms up until they were spread up above his head. “I like this way.”
Sure, he did. The golden hue in his eyes was there again. Tharn knew that Phaya worked on these little quirks he developed after his Garuda power had awakened. The fire that danced on his skin, the change in his eyes whenever he got excited.
“You know we first have to find out who the mole is before we can make a move. The risk that we will walk into an ambush is way too high.”
“Or they could move out of the warehouse, and we have to start our investigation at zero,” Phaya murmured, so close Tharn could have taken his words straight from his lips.
Tharn sighed, opened his legs to enclose Phaya’s hips, the gold in Phaya’s eyes got darker but before they could kiss, Tharn moved, Phaya cursed and Tharn had him on his back without breaking a sweat.
Tharn wiggled himself into a comfortable position and Phaya hissed when he moved across the bulge in his pants.
“That’s not nice,” Phaya complained breathlessly. He still put his hands on Tharn’s waist to dig his fingers into his hips.
“Oh?” Tharn leaned forward. “You want me to be nice?”
“Yes,” Phaya said, the gold now bleeding from his iris over his pupils. “Please?” His fingers slipped under Tharn’s top, soothingly cold against the sweat pooling there.
Tharn leaned down.
“The captain will kill us if there is another ‘incident’ on the security cameras.”
“Oh, I’m stronger than him, I will protect you,” Phaya said every word almost a kiss.
Tharn rolled his eyes and kissed the cheeky smile off Phaya’s lips.
I love your TianWang very moments fics and just wanted to ask if you would maybe write something cute and sweet for them with a cat??
oh, thank you so much ❤️ how can I say no to a story with a cat T.T thank you for the prompt
warmth spilling over the edge [AO3]
Sheng Wang tried to make himself small. It wasn’t easy because he was 185 cm tall and tried to make himself small in the narrow space between Mr Ding’s little white house and its neighbour.
He even tried to breathe as shallow as possible but knew that in a few moments, he needed to take a big breath, or he would feel like suffocating.
“What are you doing?”
Sheng Wang flinched, turned to express his surprise with a slap on Jiang Tian’s shoulder and shushed him.
Jiang Tian caught his hand and crouched next to him, which was way more distracting than his sudden appearance.
“What are you doing?”, Jiang Tian asked again, this time in a whisper next to Sheng Wang's ear. It felt a little like a punishment for the slap.
Sheng Wang pressed his lips together and looked heavenwards to ask for patience.
“I heard something,” Sheng Wang whispered back.
Before he could explain further the little mew appeared again.
“That, did you hear that? There’s a cat.”
Jiang Tian frowned and slid closer. Now two big shadows stared into the narrow space. Sheng Wang hoped they emitted enough non-threatening vibes for the cat to not be afraid of them.
It took a few moments, an hour, three years until a small ball of fur appeared from a pile of abandoned tiles.
“A kitten,” Sheng Wang whispered. It was tiny, dirty and stared at them until it decided they were worth its time. With a much louder, demanding, meow it trotted towards them. Before Sheng Wang could react, Jiang Tian moved and snatched the kitten the moment it was within grabbing distance. The kitten yowled indignantly.
“It’s so tiny,” Sheng Wang said in awe. Now, in the bright noon daylight, it was revealed that the kitten wasn’t dark in colour, just dirty. White with orange spots all over it, like a cow, Sheng Wang thought amused.
The kitten had stopped yowling and seemed to enjoy Jiang Tian’s gentle strokes along its tiny body.
Sheng Wang scoffed and then tried not to blush.
“Where do you think it came from?”
“It’s hard to say. There are always cats around here. Some were abandoned, some dumbed here because people know Mr. Ding will take care of them.”
“Oh.” That was a sad thought.
“We should get it bathed and fed,” Jiang Tian said, and Sheng Wang followed him into the house.
Mr Ding wasn’t surprised about their new guest and just pointed them to a wash bowl they could use.
“Do you think we could smuggle it into the dorm?” Sheng Wang moved his fingers back and forth in front of the kitten, who tried to catch them, the fur on its head still a little damp. Its belly was round and full and while Sheng Wang’s finger seemed like an enticing catch it yawned a couple of times and at some point, just laid there and lazily slapped after them.
“I don’t think Gao Tianyang or Shi Yu could keep that a secret for long,” Jiang Tian said while he tried to dry the water stains on his uniform.
Sheng Wang pursed his lips. He never had a pet growing up.
After a silent battle that lasted only a few seconds the kitten fell asleep, outstretched, one soft paw against Sheng Wang’s finger. Sheng Wang leaned forward to lie his head against the couch and stare at the kitten. It was so tiny. It had little freckles all around its little nose.
“It has your eyes,” Jiang Tian said suddenly, and Sheng Wang frowned at him.
“Bright and shiny.”
It was the earnestness, Sheng Wang thought while the heat burned its way from his neck up his face. It was also the dimple and barely contained smile because Jiang Tian knew how much Sheng Wang liked to be complimented. It was Jiang Tian’s hand that joined him on the couch, brushed softly over the little paw, onwards to Sheng Wang’s finger.
Outside Mr Ding shook out laundry before he hung it on the line. The sun shone inside the house, and Sheng Wang felt Jiang Tian’s touch like a hug. He never wanted to leave.
Ooh I never ask for anything in terms of prompts but I will for Semantic Error. Basically, that hug in episode 7 did me in. I live for Sangwoo leaning wholly into it with that content expression. Idk how many times I rewatched that part. Can you please do something like a touch starved Sangwoo who has just realized how much he loves cuddling/hugging and how safe he feels with Jaeyoung? But of course, him being Sangwoo, he tries to hide how much he actually wants it? But fluff too. I'm fully open to whatever you do with it beyond that, and if it works to be added with another prompt that's totally fine too.
For a human’s survival | AO3
Humans needed at least four hugs a day for survival.
Sang Woo didn’t remember where he had read that fact or why he had cataloged that information away in his brain. He wasn’t even sure if it was true. His fingers itched to type the question in his browser to get answers, but he knew that while Jae Young appeared to work on his drawing pad, he was very quick to put his attention on Sang Woo. Sang Woo had no idea how it was possible, but Jae Young was almost psychic-like in his ability to sense when something Sang Woo did would be interesting to him.
A human needed four hugs a day for survival.
Sang Woo leaned back on the couch and pressed his lips together to hide a smile when almost immediately Jae Young slid down a bit to lean himself more solid against him.
“We really should think about creating something like a mascot thingy for our game,” Jae Young mumbled, and Sang Woo looked over to him to see that he had already scribbled some rough drawings of what he had in mind.
Sang Woo made a sound that was neither confirmation nor rejection.
They were the perfect height for hugs. That wasn’t a fact Sang Woo had only realized recently. Every time they stood close Sang Woo’s eyes travelled towards Jae Young’s shoulders. How he would and did perfectly fit there.
“Maybe like a baby Brussels Sprout,” Jae Young said, and Sang Woo realized he had missed part of their conversation.
“Why would we need a mascot?”
Jae Young sighed and threw him a quick look.
“We already have enough character designs for our game,” Sang Woo added, and Jae Young moved a bit away from him which he didn’t like, but their legs were thrown over each other which meant Jae Young wouldn’t be able to move away much, not with a bit of complicated limb-untangling.
“It wouldn’t appear that often, just a fun little side character. People would find it cute.”
Sang Woo didn’t get it.
“I don’t like Brussels Sprouts”, he said, and Jae Young threw his pencil at him.
+
Jae Young didn’t hug halfway.
Sang Woo had seen and experienced through his peers that awful half-hug thing. Crushing your shoulders against each other, which was unnecessary and hurtful when you could just shake hands or bow. Patting each other against the back awkwardly while your upper bodies didn’t touch…
Jae Young hugged with his whole body. He embraced Sang Woo with both arms, engulfing him in warmth and comfort. Sang Woo was able to put his face against his shoulder, to sometimes bury his nose in the crook of Jae Young’s neck to keep it warm on a cold day. Song Woo liked it the most when Jae Young put one of his hands around his neck, big and warm. His thumb would brush the tiny hairs on Song Woo’s neck and Song Woo felt like he was floating.
Since they got together the number of hugs had decreased, though. They didn’t spend that much time apart, at least not so long that meeting each other again would require a long hug. The kisses had increased. Which Song Woo liked. He liked the goodbye kisses, liked the welcome kisses even more.
Someone might say that the way they embraced each other while they kissed counted as a hug.
Sang Woo disagreed. They were fundamentally different.
But… for some odd reason, Sang Woo felt hesitant to bring it up. His desire for simple hugs. He knew himself as someone who worked for or asked for things he wanted. Jae Young had thrown an axe into his resolutions a couple of times but like in any other parts of his life Sang Woo liked to clarify things in their relationship.
Which didn’t mean Jae Young wasn’t prone to break the rules Sang Woo made. Gleefully and too successfully.
Still. Sang Woo couldn’t find a reason or made up a scenario in his mind where Jae Young would disagree to a demand for more hugs. He wouldn’t laugh at Sang Woo…
He would. He would smile very smugly while he would hug Sang Woo as tight as possible. He would also most likely act like a human backpack for the weeks to come and Sang Woo had to admit that he didn’t hate the idea.
Was he shy? Or embarrassed? Sang Woo couldn’t name the emotions running through him. Just that something stopped him from talking to Jae Young.
+
And with knowledge came awareness, came a kind of hyper-focus to sense the opportunities to get a hug. A perfect hug. A Jae Young hug. Which meant that almost 99% were perfect. Sang Woo now knew the distinctive sound Jae Young’s leather jacket made, the creak of the material when Jae Young squeezed him quickly, but strongly before he released him.
Sometimes Jae Young would step to the side, their bodies still touching, would leave one arm around Sang Woo’s shoulders and hold him tight to his side, steering him towards the direction he wanted them to go. Sang Woo thought about burying himself closer into the embrace, not a care where Jae Young was walking them.
Sometimes Jae Young would take a step back, would grab him by the shoulders, and just beam at him. Sang Woo might find poems confusing, but in very rare moments he thought he could understand why someone might want to write the onslaught of words down that popped up in his head when Jae Young smiled at him like that. To have them travel from his brain, over his face down his arms, into his fingers, bleeding from the pen into the paper, so there was written proof of all of this.
He didn’t do it, but he understood why someone would.
+
Sunlight poured through the window and colored some of Jae Young’s hair red. Sang Woo wiggled his toes and a lazy swirl of arousal traveled through his body, pooled in his belly, like a little happy reminder of what they had done a couple of minutes ago. He felt like he could fall asleep like this even though he hadn’t been tired prior to Jae Young pouncing on him.
Jae Young’s finger moved slowly over his back, painting little figures. Sang Woo sometimes thought that he didn’t even realize he moved his fingers so much. His brain never shut down, like he had to express everything that popped up in his head immediately.
Sang Woo’s head laid on Jae Young’s chest and he tried not to wiggle away and dress himself because it was midday. He liked sex. He liked sex with Jae Young. There hadn’t been a lot of persuasion, if any, to fall on the sofa with Jae Young. Still. It was midday. He had ideas and expectations in his head – about sex – and one of them was that you did it when it was dark outside. Also, that you would do it on a bed. And that you didn’t cuddle under a blanket that wasn’t able to cover two grown men on the couch, stark naked, afterwards.
It made something under his skin itch that they didn’t follow these rules. But Jae Young was good at scratching that itch, like when they had done it at night, in a bed, but Sang Woo hadn’t been able to focus because Jae Young hadn’t pulled off his shirt and sex was something you did naked. And Jae Young had laughed at him when he had pointed it out, full of delight, with crinkles around his eyes, his lips red from kisses. Then he had done some weird moves that he had called stripping and the itch had been gone. Three days later Jae Young surprised him in their bathroom and seduced him while they had been fully clothed.
Revelations. Jae Young showed him a lot of new truths about himself.
“You cold?”
Sang Woo stopped in his attempt to press himself even closer against Jae Young.
“No,” he said.
Jae Young sighed and brought his other arm down to huddle Sang Woo closer. Maybe he didn’t believe him.
“I like this,” Jae Young sighed. He raised one leg, put it over Sang Woo’s hips and effectively trapped him with his body. He squeezed Sang Woo quickly and before Sang Woo could complain about the strength of the hug, Jae Young said: “You’re so clingy lately, it’s great.”
Sang Woo stiffened. And then cursed himself for reacting. Jae Young got still and then Sang Woo got still and his thoughts raced a mile per hour.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Wrong thing to say, his mind told him. Alarm after alarm after alarm went off in his head. He had sounded like he was accusing Jae Young of accusing him about something.
Jae Young wiggled away from him, which meant, with their current closeness, that their faces were now a few centimeters apart. Their noses almost touched.
“Why are you acting weird?” And Jae Young had stopped declaring Sang Woo’s character traits as weird, or to say, those that were a part of Sang Woo that not even the most adventurous, most scandalous sex couldn’t erase. Jae Young accepted him and the things others would call ‘quirks’: That’s why when he called something Sang Woo did weird it held more meaning, more confusion, concern.
Sang Woo wanted to break out of the embrace even though this kind of embrace made him generally braver.
“Humans need four hugs a day for survival,” he said. Said like they were sitting next to each other working on their game, and he needed to info dump on Jae Young before he could concentrate on coding.
“Four hugs,” he repeated himself.
“Okay.”
Jae Young waited and Sang Woo stared at the tiny mole between the hairs of Jae Young’s left eyebrow. He had never seen that mole before. Something new to discover every day and…
“Would we wither away or what kind of survival are we talking about?”
An icy block crumbled away from Sang Woo’s lungs.
“I don’t know,” he had to admit. He wanted to break out of the embrace to see Jae Young’s face more clearly. Was he confused? Was he connecting the dots, was he—
“Is that the reason why you’re so clingy lately?”
“I’m not clingy,” Sang Woo protested. He was, he is.
“Are you saving me from withering away? From the cold touch of loneliness?”
“Hyung…” Sang Woo was not impressed. But Jae Young cackled and brought him back into his arms, his legs too, a full body hug, or more like being captured by an octopus.
“Should we count them from now on?”, Jae Young asked, whispered it into the soft skin behind Sang Woo’s ear, nibbled the question into the slope of his jaw and Sang Woo shuttered. “A minimum of four hugs a day?”
And he knew, right? That it was easy and frightening to ask for what he wanted, that he would rather hide behind a sarcastic remark, but wanted to melt into Jae Young’s compliance, his patience, the delightful way he loved.
“I will count them,” he muttered, his hands on Jae Young’s back, digging his fingers, pressing, a threat, a promise. Jae Young laughed, the laughter of success, of amusement and maybe there was an article about the importance of laughter in a relationship, too, Sang Woo thought, basking in the warmth of Jae Young’s hug.
