yejun wanted to whine, in the pettiest ways; wanted to protest — you’re not supposed to think what i say through, seokie, you’re supposed to accept it without questioning it so it can get in your heart and soothe you! how dare you ruin the moment with perfectly good points? he wanted to protest as seok seemed so intent on lingering on a feeling that could ruin and hurt him and do no more than that, because as rare of a feat as it was for jaeseok to fall in love, and yejun was more than well aware of that, he still believed fiercely that his best friend could and would find someone to love who loved him just as much, who would put the very last of their efforts into being the best version of themselves for him, because there was no one else in the world who was worth more. but yejun didn’t. he knew seokie well enough to know when what he himself needed to do was listen and give him his time, something junnie wouldn’t deny him right now, so he bit back every word, every little commentary and waited.
waited and listened, and sat up when seokie asked, because that was also part of listening: understanding his needs. as out of place as the request sounded — distance? between the two of them? how could that be? why? what would require that… oh, it was that serious, huh? his hands clasped tighter on seok’s in spite of himself, clinging to him in what could only be described as latent fear, heart rabbiting in his chest. he was… at a loss, at a loss of the whys and that was probably the scariest part. which, rationally, made no sense, because he know he couldn’t be a problem (right?), jaeseok would never make him feel like that and that was not even the topic of their conversation and —
his brow furrowed, expression as reprimanding as it could be on his face. he knew seokie was joking, yet that didn’t feel like the time. there was too much tension in the atmosphere already, dense and palpable. out of place yet again. should he say some words of comfort? should
wait, what?
the words ringed in his ears. one word. you. him. him? how could he be? it couldn’t — yet everything he could process from the other’s words just confirmed what he’d heard. that, apparently, they’d been talking about yejun himself that entire time. and… yeah, yeah of course he knew he was the most important person in jaeseok’s life, they were the most important people in each other’s lives, and of course it made seokie biased towards him and made him say all those kinds words, but. but that. that. yejun was the one he liked? he — in a romantic sense. he loved him? he was in love with him? he wanted to date him? yejun felt dizzy. out of breath. it was as if someone had hit his head with a pan and dropped a bucket of ice-cold water on it all at the same time. he needed to lie down for a moment, maybe, yeah. his eyes were burning, wait, were they wet? his hands were shaking, this he knew for sure, yet he tightened his grip on jaeseok’s again, refused to let them go, to let him think yejun would leave him for a moment, to think his fears were correct, that this was a worst case scenario. even though it was definitely a little overwhelming.
his eyes dropped to the space where their crossed legs met, knees touching, because there was really the most distance possible between them, huh? yejun tried to breath. it burned — the tenderness in every word, and jaeseok was always like that, of course he was, but now it felt different. the context had changed. he got it. of course, of course jaeseok, his seokie, would be the one to treat him the most adoring and tender and respectful ways there could be. of course he’d make him feel safe even in a moment like that, when his heart should be the one that was breaking. and “for how long —”… for how long had it… shit, he’d asked it out loud?
he inhaled shakily. there was nothing more that he wanted than to yell yes, yes he wanted to go on dates with him, to allow himself to be loved by him, because of course yejun would. wasn’t he the one who was unable to be happy on his own? yet this was jaeseok. this was the person who mattered most in the world. yejun couldn’t, he wouldn’t, take the risk to be the one to hurt him. to hurt him in a worse way. he needed to think this through, he knew; rationalize his feeling for once. he felt distinct trails of warm wetness cascading down his cheeks, even as his eyes had gone numb. a few years ago, that answer would have been so easy. a few years ago, when the first thing he’d done was fall for seok, because of course he would. and wasn’t he the one who yejun always wished could be his soulmate in love? but — was all of that real, would it be fair? how was he supposed to have all the answers just there and them? he couldn’t. so. so maybe. maybe he should just be honest. he forced himself to face jaeseok again. “seok-ah… you’re my person too…,” a sniff. his voice trembled even as he smiled. “i… i’m so… i can’t believe this,” a shaky, wet laugh. “i feel so lucky right now, you know? i’m serious. i must have done something really good to deserve your heart after everything,” after it being so broken once, broken to the point of closing up. “i… i think… i think it would be nice to try, you know? i do know you’d be the best boyfriend in the world, at least for me —” whom jaeseok knew better than anyone else in the world did. whom he’d always treated with nothing but love. love, love, love, love in its purest form. “i… i wanna say yes, i really do, i’m just… i don’t wanna be the person who hurts you in the end, you know? like… i know you’re very determined in love, right? ha… and to ruin things between us or fuck things up with you… i want you to have the love you deserve, seokie. i really do. i want… i want to give you my whole heart in return too,” because now he got it. something clicked. of course that was what jaeseok had been doing all along. he sighed, “i know this isn’t really an answer… i’m sorry. i… i would really like to try… i was in love with you once, you know?” a chuckle. god, what was he saying? yeah, sure, it’d always been seok to help make sense of his mess, but. that didn’t feel fair right now. ok, breathe in, yejun. steady yourself. “i’m never leaving you or pushing you off, seokie… you’re literally my life. i don’t think i could go anywhere. i just wanted… i just wanted to have you know all the risks too, because i know you’re kinda biased,” a small smile that tried ti be playful, “so i. i think i’d like to… talk about it?”
his world had tilted in his axis the second that what had seemed like a normal weekend afternoon for the pair had turned into this ( his shaking hands, held firmly by the boy who also held his heart, tears in both their eyes, and an overwhelming mix of dread and hopefulness sitting painfully tight in his chest ), and he knew it would never go back to where it had once been, no matter the outcome. in a way, it felt liberating, to be able to scrape the surface of his feelings towards yejun, to tell him a little bit of just how much he made him feel, but it was also terrifying, and while he felt comforted by the fact that yejun hadn’t let go of his hands yet, that he was still looking at him with so much openness and warmth, he still had a plethora of reasons why he had kept his secret guarded for so long, fears that made his blood run cold, and they were still there, in the back of his head, yelling at him for being so careless.
“ uhm… ” he could feel his ears heat up, warmth quickly travelling to the rest of his face, filling his cheeks and down his neck. he’d been pining for his best friend for the better part of two years, and it was embarrassing for him to admit it. “ it’s been… a while, jun-ah. ” he settled for something not so compromising, but he was sure he would eventually come clean ( either that, or any of his best friends would run their mouths ). “ long enough that i’m pretty sure the guys have a betting pool on when you’d realize. ” he said, with his heart hammering in his chest. this was what he felt so guilty about, having spent years cuddling and holding and being all over yejun under the guise of pure friendship while secretly harboring all those feelings for him, and even if he had carefully drawn the line, making sure to never take advantage of him purposefully, he’d spent long nights agonizing about how many nights in a row it was acceptable for a best friend to spend in his best friend’s bed cuddling before it became entirely too selfish and abusive. “ but you are my best friend, junnie, i never took more than the friendship you chose to give me, that has always been enough. ” he assured hurriedly, nervously nipping on his bottom lip. god, he had every right to feel used and disgusted and uncomfortable, and jaeseok knew it and would accept it, but fuck, it would shatter his heart. “ you’re my best friend in the world, and i’ve cherished every minute of it, okay? ” he desperately hoped that the younger would see it in such a way, too.
“ oh, fuck, please don’t cry — junnie. ” seeing the rapidly falling tears in his eyes did nothing to lessen the knot on his throat, and he could feel mirroring tears of his own forming in his eyes. was it so bad for yejun, that he could not stop the tears? did the idea of jaeseok loving him in the way he did disgust him so much? had he fucked up the best relationship he would ever, ever, have? even if he had promised to accept any outcome after his confession, he could still feel the burn in his chest, so painful he had to look down and make sure there was no actual physical injury, no actual knife going through his chest, and the ringing in his ears had gotten so loud he could barely hear him anymore. god, yejun couldn’t believe it. couldn’t believe he’d been so fucked up to keep this secret for so long and… wait, what? lucky? “ you… you’re the best, ever. ” he assured him, barely finding words amidst the chaos that was going on inside his head. yejun felt lucky, he didn’t hate him, didn’t find him gross and disgusting, he wasn’t pushing him away, and jaeseok felt a little bit like a fizzy carbonated drink, about to burst and explode into hundreds of lovesick bubbles. damn right, he’d be the best boyfriend for him. he knew he would, would work his damn hardest for it, to make him feel as loved, cherished and respected as he deserved, to make sure he’d always remember how special he was. “ oh, baby. you’re always so sweet, you drive me crazy. ” suddenly, all he wanted to do was to wrap his arms around him, to hold him as close as possible and then some more. tentatively, he opened his arms again, and waited for him to come back to where he belonged, needing to feel him close once more, to have his heartbeat resonating next to his. “ i already trusted blindly once, and we know how that turned out. ” he’d never go back to that again, ever. but for yejun… “ but i’d gladly let you break my heart, love. even if i know you won’t, cause it’s already yours. ” and such a cheesy confession made him scrunch his nose, not being used to that kind of verbal affection, but once his mouth had started running it seemed like there wasn’t anything he could do to stop the words from spilling from his lips.
“ uh — what? ” record scratch. he’d been in WHAT with WHO? “ junnie, could you — could you say that again? ” there was no way. no. he refused to believe he’d heard him right, yejun had not been in love with him. suddenly he felt a little like eating his whole fist. like opening his window to yell very loudly. no. this had to be a joke, a very mean one, and his boy was anything but mean. was his pressure lowering? would seven simple words end his short yet fulfilling life? probably, if the way he’d gone completely still meant anything. “ no, i have been in love with you for years, while you were never into me, okay? what the hell. ”
“ i know you better than anyone else, junnie. ” he reminded him, jaeseok knew yejun as much as he knew himself, and some days it seemed like he even knew the younger boy better. “ so, if anything, i’m completely objective because i have the whole picture, no bias here. ” he smiled, quite proudly, and a bit flirty too. he was so used to feeling so much around yejun that this feeling that he didn’t know before, openly flirting with him, made him feel all thrilled, all greedy to tell him just how much he wanted him, in how many ways. “ what do you want to talk about, angel? ” he whispered then, and his fingers traced his face delicately, softly getting one rebellious curl away from his face. “ i have so much to say… about all the ways i like you, about how hard i’ll be willing to try and be the partner you need, if you give me some time, i could even tell you a more or less detailed timeline of every single time i felt like i loved you so much i was gonna collapse under the force of all of it. ” and the more he talked, the more his attempts at not being too much stopped mattering, now that he was allowed to, all he wanted was to love him very loudly. “ if that’s too much then you’ll have to forgive me, it’s just that you’re my dream boy. ” he whispered, at the rhythm of his erratic heart, his soft breathing that matched the younger boy’s. he waso close, so warm and lovely above him that he hoped he could stay in the moment eternally. “ maybe we could talk about how i want to kiss you silly~. ” and that he did, desperately ached to have a taste from those lips, to have a taste to commit to memory, oh how bad he wanted him.