Archive of Our Own ^beta

If there is one thing Yeonjun didn’t expect when stepping out of his building after a gruesome four-hours project session - the entirety of it spent having his suggestions dismissed and being called a condescending ‘cute’ by his group leader, as usual - it’s bumping into Choi Soobin.

Yeonjun had stayed behind for a bit nonetheless, just to run some more simulations on his own - so much that the campus was quite empty, at this hour. 

Still, here Choi Soobin stands, just out of the bathrooms where Yeonjun was urgently heading, tall and unbothered as always. Yeonjun can’t help but sputter a bit when he fixes him with a quiet stare, after Yeonjun collided to his shoulder ungracefully.

“I’m sorry, I- wasn’t looking,” he weakly apologizes. The boy simply gives him a nod in response before walking off, not sparing him another glance, as if Yeonjun had never happened.

He’s not rude, per se - perhaps... Cold would be a better way to put it. Intimidating, somehow. With his quietness and piercing stare, it became some sort of unspoken rule to leave him alone; Choi Soobin was not here to make friends, and you’d rarely see him even acknowledge anyone. 

To Yeonjun, it's... Charisma. How he wishes he had even just a part of Choi Soobin’s - an aura, a presence enough for people to make a double take and observe him quietly from afar. Maybe then someone would take him seriously when he speaks.

Yeonjun watches his retreating back with a sliver of envy on his tongue, which he swallows back as he runs to the bathrooms.

“No.”

Yeonjun turns to the source of the voice, and for real, what’s with his chance today? Choi Soobin is here again, right at the campus entrance, with a girl - and the rarity of the sight is enough to make Yeonjun’s steps slow. Choi Soobin is talking to someone?

“Come on, Soobin-ah,” the girl says, voice dripping with aegyo. “It’s just your number!” she pouts, punctuating by catching at his forearm, and the boy’s eyes immediately fall on the contact point between his skin and her hands, not happy with it. The girl doesn't catch the clue.

“I’m sorry,” he replies, not looking back up, “but no. Excuse me,” he finishes, voice low, shakes her hands off and walks past her, visibly done with the conversation.

Yeonjun shrugs; it’s probably not an unusual occurrence for someone like Choi Soobin. He’s about to continue on his way home when he hears the girl again; when he looks back, she’s grabbed at his arm again. He shakes her off again, and the girl huffs.

“Why do you have to be so rude?” she says, stomping her foot. Soobin stares at her silently, which seems to anger her even more. “I’ve been correct with you, I’m not asking for much- why are you treating people like that!”

And, well… Soobin stays there, taking it in stride. But Yeonjun can see it, even from where he is - that’s not nonchalance, there; the boy looks absolutely uncomfortable, frozen on the spot.

“Nothing to say, really? What is it, you can’t even waste your breath on me, uh? Aren’t you being too arrogant?” she snaps, and when even this doesn’t make Soobin react, she pushes at his chest. “Say something!”

Yeah, that doesn’t sound quite right.

"Aren't you the arrogant one, to get so offended when someone doesn't want to give you their number?" Yeonjun glares, stepping in front of the larger guy. The girl takes one look at his face and seemingly calms down, gives up with a frustrated sigh. After an awkward moment, she leaves without making a fuss, but not without clicking her tongue in annoyance.

The guts of some people.

Yeonjun sticks his tongue out at her retreating back, before turning back to Soobin. He's still not saying anything, looking at Yeonjun with round, wide eyes. "Hey, hm," Yeonjun hesitates, "You okay?" 

Soobin finally seems to break out of his daze. 

"That was so cool," he declares, then, taking Yeonjun by surprise. "She didn't even fight back, like- how did you do that-" he breathes, as if impressed, and suddenly Yeonjun is the one looking at him speechless; someone actually said he was cool - and not anyone at that, but fucking Choi Soobin, certified campus' cool guy too.

"I mean, yeah," he starts to preen, but when he tries to lean on the wall to pose, his hand slips and he crashes against it. Before he can go on an internal rant about how he has to ruin everything, a chuckle surprises him.

Soobin is smiling, a sweet thing with deep dimples and crinkled eyes, and - uh? That's supposed to be the guy everyone refers to as intimidating? 

"Are you okay, sunbaenim?" Soobin asks, expression turning worried when Yeonjun holds his scratched hand protectively.

"It's fine," Yeonjun says, an annoying voice screaming 'oh no, he's cute!' at the back of his mind. "But, you can't let people talk to you like that, you know? You should stand up for yourself," he pouts, and Soobin looks embarrassed, but nods, once.

"Thank you, sunbaenim. I'll try to,” he starts then pauses, deliberating, before adding, “but I don't think I can be as cool as you, making people run away like that." He’s smiling a bit, and even though he knows Soobin's teasing him, Yeonjun can't help but blush a little.

There is… More to Soobin than he thought, maybe.

-

Yeonjun's been watching, since that encounter.

With tenacious envy, he's seen how people's eyes shyly follow Soobin wherever he goes, how they whisper when he's barely out of earshot. How the new girl had immediately asked, "Who's the handsome, intimidating guy at the far back?" during their shared class.

But more importantly, he's realized how Soobin never seems to be accompanied by anyone.

Guys look at him from afar with probably the same kind of jealousy as Yeonjun, or with some sort of challenge in their eyes. Soobin simply ignores the stares most of the time, keeping his head high; and when a stare lingers a bit too long, he'd look back with the same challenging look, until the other guy inevitably looks away, off-put.

Girls don't approach him either, except once in a while for a half-assed confession, which will get rejected every single time, without fail. As sad it is to say, it seems like it has become a game between them; who's going to be the one that can finally make Choi Soobin break?

How can someone have this effect on people? Soobin hadn't even come off the slightest bit cold when they had talked, and it was what, a five-minute interaction at most? To say Yeonjun's intrigued would be an understatement.

Then one day, as Yeonjun's sitting at a full table in the cafeteria and the noise and bantering start being too much, Yeonjun lets his eyes wander around and finds him again, waiting in line to pay for his lunch. Soobin seems to sense the stare, and their eyes meet. Yeonjun immediately smiles and throws him a small wave, and Soobin's eyes grow. He looks right and left and behind him awkwardly, before facing Yeonjun again, his pointer finger directed to himself in silent question. Yeonjun can't help but snort, and nods. Soobin blinks and gives him a timid wave in return, visibly taken aback. 

Then, the two girls behind him in the line start whispering furiously, not even caring to try appearing discret, and Soobin sighs and looks back in front of him, his hand coming to his nape in discomfort.

That's when Yeonjun decides to do something, for some reason. He doesn't know what exactly yet, but all he knows when he finishes his food quickly is that he's set about trying to find where Soobin escapes to everyday for lunch.

Some exploring and asking around quickly leads him to a secluded part of the campus garden behind the library, where Soobin is effectively munching on the last bits of his lunch, headphones covering his ears.

Yeonjun sits beside him with a oof, and Soobin jolts, before getting rid of his headphones and looking at him with a curious stare. “Sunbae?"

"Hi," Yeonjun smiles. "So that's where you come to eat everyday," he doesn't really ask, taking in their surroundings. It's calm, here, in comparison to the incessant ambient noise of the cafeteria.

Soobin nods. "It would be stupid to hog a full table just for myself," he points out.

"Do you always eat here all alone?" Yeonjun asks even if he has an idea of what he'll answer.

"Yeah, well," Soobin sighs, taking another bite of his sandwich. "I don't really have any friends, so," he admits easily with a shrug.

Yeonjun hums. It's kind of sad; Yeonjun knows a lot of assholes, and - weirdly enough - even them have friends. Soobin doesn't look even half as terrible as them. Does he really deserve not to have anyone close to him?

He talks before he even thinks about his words. "I can offer you a deal."

Soobin stops eating, lifting an eyebrow at him. He looks curious.

Tone serious, Yeonjun elabores. "Not to toot my own horn, but. I'm pretty good at making friends - or, at being friendly, at least."

Soobin smiles a bit, and Yeonjun prides himself a bit in this. "I'll help you fix your image," he concludes confidently.

Soobin blinks, sandwich now completely forgotten. He squints, then, appraising. "What's in it for you?" he asks. He's not naive, he knows nothing comes for free. Yeonjun's not offering by pure kindness of his heart.

"You have something I want," Yeonjun nods.

Soobin frowns. "I," he says slowly, "have something you want," he repeats, like he can't really make sense of the statement. Does he not know, how people look at him?

Yeonjun nods again. "I know it's gonna sound stupid, but. I don’t know, it’s not like we have much to lose,” he shrugs. “So, I'll teach you how to be more approachable, and in exchange, you show me how to be… cool."

Soobin blinks. He breathes out, looking a bit incredulous. "I don't-" he starts, then frowns some more. "I don't have anything to teach you, though, sunbae-"

Yeonjun rolls his eyes. "I mean that I can just, I don't know. Observe you and take notes. Honestly, you seem pretty normal to me - I'm kinda curious how you got yourself this kind of reputation."

Soobin pauses, contemplating. "And... you want that because…?" he cocks an eyebrow at Yeonjun.

"No one ever takes me seriously," he sighs. "And I mean, I don't mind most of the time, it's nice to be able to joke around and all, but I just- I'm the oldest out of my friends," he admits. "But when anyone needs advice or, or to vent, anything- it's always Taehyun they go to. Shit, even I go to Taehyun. He's three years younger!" he scoffs. "He shouldn't have to  put up with all of our problems!"

Soobin doesn't say anything, but he's looking at him with attentive eyes, and Yeonjun knows he's listening. "And now Jungkook-hyung has appointed me to take over the dance team since he’s graduating and I just- I want them to be able to rely on me. He's just, so cool and everyone looks up to him and I'm just… I'm no match for it."

Soobin hums. He looks at Yeonjun like he wants to say something, but ultimately decides against it. Instead, he asks, doubtful, "And… you think acting like me would help you with this?"

"Well, it's not like I can copy Jungkook-hyung- he has this… natural coolness, and I don't really feel like getting tattoos and piercings all over, so…" he says, shrugging. "I guess you're the second option. Everyone thinks you're like, cold and mysterious or something. People say you're like the 'cool, lone prince' type," he quotes, cringing a bit.

Soobin snorts loudly, and it surprises Yeonjun. "My friends in highschool used to call me cucumber," he sighs. "Where did I go so wrong?"

"Well, I'll help you find out," Yeonjun offers confidently, then holds up his hand. "What do you say?"

Soobin watches him, assessing some more. He doesn't look convinced, so Yeonjun is a bit surprised when Soobin's hand closes around his. It's so large compared to Yeonjun's. Surprisingly warm, too. 

Before he can shake it, though, Yeonjun holds up his index finger; “Also, it’s hyung.”

"Deal," Soobin finally says with a single shake of their hands, “hyung.”

-

That is how his study of Choi Soobin started.

As soon as he spots Soobin across campus the next day, Yeonjun throws a quick ‘see ya later’ to Taehyun and Beomgyu, and skips away without paying any mind to their questioning stares.

As soon as he arrives at his level, Yeonjun sighs.

“You’re gonna have to stop doing this.”

Soobin turns back to him, blinking. “Doing what?” he asks softly after a moment. A couple passes by, eyeing them as Soobin is trying to buy a can of cold cocoa from the vending machine. Soobin turns to them immediately, holding their gaze, and the couple quickly looks away and hurries inside the building.

“This,” Yeonjun deadpans, crouching down to retrieve his drink - and realizing it’s accompanied by a can of coffee. “Glaring at people.”

“I- I’m not glaring!” Soobin defends, affronted. He accepts the can of cocoa easily, but hands the coffee back to Yeonjun with no comment. Yeonjun shrugs. “I’m just watching back.”

“Nah, you’re not supposed to look at people so intently,” Yeonjun explains between sips, leaning back against the machine. “You’re pretty scary when you do that, too.”

Soobins shoulders slump. “Why can they look and I can’t,” he grumbles like a grounded kid. 

“Because,” Yeonjun can’t believe he has to explain this. “You’re not supposed to hold eye contact with random people, Soobin! Especially not while frowning.”

“I’m not frowning, this is my resting face,” he deadpans.

“Yeah, well. That’s part of the issue.”

Soobin sighs, giving up, and mumbles through a sip of his cocoa, “It took me years to master eye contact, and for what.”

Yeonjun can’t help but snort at that, and almost chokes on his coffee. Soobin barely lifts an eyebrow at him.

It’s going to be harder than he thought.

-

It’s not complicated to spot the… bad habits, that make Soobin appear colder than he really is.

Soobin says he’s always been too shy; from what he gathers, Yeonjun can figure out what lead to this - having to leave your small town and your lifelong friends, showing up in a big highschool mid-year, a quiet personality that makes you an easy target, the need to build walls.

Still Yeonjun realizes, he really isn’t cold. Quite the contrary, really, and Yeonjun finds himself surprised time and again at how actually… sweet, he is. He opens up easily, and his inadequacy at social interaction becomes nothing but endearing to Yeonjun very quickly.

And that’s a good thing for their little project; it means Soobin only has to let his guard down a little, learn how to take these tall walls down. Easy.

For Yeonjun’s part, though.

It doesn’t sound that simple. These things Soobin does, Yeonjun doubts they’re going to work for him.

"What are you writing this time?" Soobin asks, leaning over his shoulder to peek at the growing bullet list in his note app. They just sat down for Resistance of materials, one of the few courses his cursus (mechanical engineering) and Soobin’s (biological engineering) have in common. 

"Sitting alone at the far back of the class like the mysterious anime character," Yeonjun reads as he finishes typing. "I guess you don't even do it on purpose, but I can see the advantages. People won’t bother you here, and they can say "the guy who's always sitting there" and immediately know it's about you," he muses, nodding to himself.

Soobin blinks. "Do they really say this?" he asks with some kind of bewilderment. Yeonjun nods again, and he sighs. "I never- I'm just… I'm pretty tall… I do the same when I go to the cinema, it's kind of a reflex…" he mumbles sadly.

It's Yeonjun's turn to blink - taken aback. It hadn't even crossed his mind that he would most probably obstruct someone's view if he were to sit anywhere else. Yeonjun's pretty tall himself, but he had never thought about it. "That's pretty nice of you," he comments simply. Soobin's really aware of his surrounding, isn't he?

"Apparently it makes me a mysterious anime character," he despairs, and Yeonjun laughs nervously.

They've got work to do.

-

They start meeting- well, Yeonjun starts meeting Soobin, not important- at the library during breaks. Soobin is almost at home there; the librarian adores him, and he basically has his accredited table at the back of the ground level.  

"I see… you're really going for the archetype of the dark, quiet but smart character, spending too long in the library because books are more interesting than people… noted," he mutters and types just that into his memo. "Maybe I should bring my glasses, do you think I'd look smarter with them?"

Soobin snorts quietly. "You're such a nerd."

Yeonjun gaps, offended. "Excuse me, I 'm the nerd here? You're the one who spends time in the library for fun, to read, hm-" Soobin shows him the cover of the book he's currently reading, a deadpan expression on his face. "… A self help book about self confidence…" Yeonjun deflates. "That's not very dark and mysterious of you."

Soobin ignores him. "Also, I'm not here 'for fun', I just don't have much better to do in between classes," he sighs. "Remember?"

"Yeah, yeah…" he sighs. He doesn't really know where to start with all of this. He watches Soobin's form for a while. His bangs are long, curtaining his eyes. He's hunched over the table because he's too tall - and sitting at this small table, he looks even bigger than he really is. There's an earphone sitting in one of his ears - the one opposite to Yeonjun, the other one hanging loosely around his neck. "Maybe new clothes…" Yeonjun muses, taking a sip of his Americano. He still hasn't opened a book.

"What is that supposed to mean," Soobin says with a pout, and Yeonjun really forgets that everyone thinks that man is supposed to be intimidating for a second.

"I don't mean that in a bad way! Just… You only wear dark hoodies or plain shirts… maybe if you wore more… I don't know, colors?" he wonders.

"I mean, I don't really care. I just wear what's comfortable," he shrugs, and Yeonjun had guessed as much. He sighs, then. "We can give it a try."

Yeonjun beams - that's his area of expertise. "This Saturday," he declares. "You and I. Shopping date." Soobin sputters, but Yeonjun ignores him. "I'm going to change your life."

-

When they meet at the bus stop closest to the mall, Soobin looks nervous. He’s playing with his fingers and doesn’t look up from them, and well - that can be considered progress, right? No more intense stare - though Yeonjun never minded having his focused eyes on him, for some reason. But like this, especially, Yeonjun can’t help but think he’s kind of cute.

(‘Kind of’- ha. Yeonjun, you fool.)

He smiles brightly, trying to be comforting. “Don’t worry, Soobin-ah,” the affectionate appellation slips easily, and Soobin finally looks up at him. “Hyung’s got you!” 

He seems to relax at that, and a soft smile colors his features. Yeonjun’s fingers twitch with the urge to do something- probably reach up a squeeze his cheeks or the likes, but that probably would be inappropriate to do to someone he’s known for barely two weeks.

With all the time they’ve been spending together, Yeonjun forgets sometimes- that all this started as a thing of convenience. That they’re just helping each other out, because Yeonjun came up with this weird little idea, and Soobin’s nice enough to go along with it. Even though they haven’t made much progress up until now.

Yeonjun shakes himself, refocuses on the task at hand. He points at the entry with gusto, Soobin watching him with something like amusement in his eyes, and declares, “Operation start!”

The afternoon progresses, and Yeonjun finally starts to get the outlines of what he needs to do; he's first tried to put Soobin into more classy clothes - a silky shirt, a neatly cut blazer, a fitted sweater - but quickly came to the conclusion that it only makes matters worse. With his morphology, everything remotely serious makes him look even more intimidating - albeit in a hot way, Yeonjun would dare to say, but doesn’t dwell on it. (Later, probably. For now, he has a mission.)

He laughs at Soobin’s noodle arms when he gets him into a tank top, then doesn't laugh at all later when Soobin takes a sweater off and Yeonjun catches a glimpse of his stomach.

He blinks, confused.

He grabs the hem of Soobin's shirt then, and tugs up - just making sure he didn't hallucinate this. Soobin yelps, pushing him away. "W-what are you-!"

"You told me you didn't do sports!" Yeonjun bemoans, feeling betrayed.

"I don't, not since highschool!" Soobin defends, clutching his stomach protectively. "I just- I never gained fat on my stomach, I guess."

"You guess," Yeonjun parrots, unimpressed.

So he puts him into a crop top and shorts - as some sort of revenge for the lie, of course.

"I'm not very comfortable wearing this," he mutters after being changed. That's a shame, Yeonjun thinks, enjoying the view of his thighs and bare stomach, and he sends a quick thanks to whatever deity allowed him to witness this. With an imaginary tear, he adds 'go back to the gym, you lazy ass, and then pretend you don't' on his memo.

Sighing, he gets back to work more seriously. As he's browsing the articles thoughtfully, his eyes catch on something. He holds the hanger up, pondering. "What do you think of this?"

Soobin approaches and eyes the plaid cardigan, reaching a hand out to slide against the fabric. "It's soft," he smiles minutely.

"Try it?" Yeonjun proposes, and Soobin nods. "Ah, wait-" he says, putting this one, a dark blue, back on the rack. He hands him another one, same model but ochre. "Try this one."

Soobin slips inside it, and Yeonjun nods approvingly. "That's perfect! See, you can just wear something like this with what you usually wear - plain tee and jeans, and it adds some color and makes you look all soft and fluffy! And the stripes of blue here are perfect with your pants - I'm a genius," he concludes proudly, and Soobin lets out a breathy giggle, probably amused by Yeonjun's enthusiasm. "Okay, let's try some more," he declares excitedly, already skimming through the next section.

Soobin ends up buying three of those - the plaid one, a soft, pastel purple one, and a red one with some animal patterns. ("Don't worry," he tells Yeonjun when he worries that it's a lot of money at once. "I haven't bought any cloth since like, 1984. I deserve it.")

When they walk past the women's section though, Yeonjun slows down without even noticing - his mind conjuring an outfit that would look pretty nice with a particular article. Soobin pauses beside him. "You like it?" he asks, nodding toward the long, black skirt that Yeonjun's been eyeing.

He didn't mean to be so obvious. "No, it's not- I mean, yes, but not…" he stumbles to explain. "It's just. Fashionable. It looks nice," he shrugs.

Soobin touches the fabric, and nods. "It seems comfortable to wear."

"Right," Yeonjun giggles. That's really his only worry, uh. Soobin rummages through the hangers for a bit, before brandishing one.

"That should be your size, I think," he says, offering it to Yeonjun.

Yeonjun blinks. He takes a step back, blushing a little. "I- I can't…"

Soobin blinks at him in return. "Why? You'd look good," he provides, tone almost sulky. Yeonjun feels himself turn red. Soobin keeps staring at him, unblinking, and Yeonjun ends up snatching the hanger from his hold, stomping his way back to the dressing rooms. Fuck it.

He's feeling embarrassed when putting it on, but upon seeing himself in the mirror, he finds himself staring a bit. He does a little twirl, and giggles at the feeling of the fabric floating with the motion. He pokes his head through the curtain, and gestures to Soobin to approach. When he does, Yeonjun pulls him into the cubicle with him; he's still too embarrassed to get out like this.

Soobin yelps a bit, then finally focuses on Yeonjun's reflection, waiting with apprehension.  "What do you think?" he enquiries, a bit excited. He plays with the fabric a bit. "It'd look better with another top, but-"

"You look great, hyung," Soobin says, still watching him. "It's very pretty on you."

Yeonjun knows he blushes again, but feels ridiculously pleased nonetheless. "You were right, it's really comfortable - I love how it flows over the legs… Even though I'd like to try a shorter one, too - I think it'd look nice since I have long legs," he rambles, turning a bit and enjoying the view. "I kinda look like some celebrity going to the fashion week or something," he giggles, and finds Soobin smiling at the mirror.

Yeonjun clears his throat, ignoring the weird stuff happening in his stomach. "Okay, so, um. I'll change back."

Soobin blinks once, and suddenly blushes a bit. "Right! Sorry," he says, and scurries out. Yeonjun can't help but chuckle to himself. What an awkward guy.

Yeonjun doesn't buy the skirt, but feels pretty great about himself when they leave the shop.

"What about some ice cream before going home?" Yeonjun offers as a sign of gratitude. "Hyung's treat."

Soobin lights up and smiles, and Yeonjun finds he's getting used to the sight of it quickly.

-

Yeonjun grins on Monday when he catches sight of Soobin, wearing one of the jackets they chose together. As he has made the habit recently, he gives a quick salute to his friends and skips toward the other boy, who's not minding his surroundings - as always. He only notices Yeonjun when he slaps his shoulder, and looks up with round eyes.

"Yo!"

"Oh, hyung," he breathes, as if relieved, then pulls his headphones down and around his neck. Yeonjun can hear some Ariana Grande streaming from it. How cute.

"Wow, I like your cardigan," he winks - or tries to, at least. "It looks great with the lighter pants, good job!"

"I learnt from the best," he says seriously, but the corner of his mouth tugs up a bit, if one would watch attentively - not that Yeonjun is.

As they're walking side by side down a corridor - because Yeonjun is following him to the library, apparently - Yeonjun showing off his new pair of glasses and Soobin rolling his eyes, a small girl collides against Soobin's side. Soobin is barely shaken by the impact, but the girl looks up at him with fearful eyes.

"I'm s-sorry," she apologizes, and Soobin nods, seemingly ready to go and forget about it. As he walks past her, the girl stares a little longer and nudges her friend, whispering "Isn't this shade of purple so pretty?" not so quietly.

Soobin immediately pauses.

The girl's eyes widen and her hand jumps to her mouth, mortified. She's visibly about to apologize again, but Soobin's face wipes to Yeonjun's direction, meeting him with a surprised smile; he looks like a kid who received a star sticker. Yeonjun can't help but return the grin.

When Soobin turns back to the girl, it's with an enthusiastic "Thank you!" and a wide smile, and the girl gapes. Unbothered by - or probably unaware of - the crisis he just caused in that poor girl's brain, he simply keeps walking ahead, toward his original goal.

"Hyung, I can't believe it worked!" Soobin gushes then, and Yeonjun giggles. Even he didn't think it would give such quick results. He glances over his shoulder and sees the girl ushering excitedly with her friend, pink in the face. "And now this girl is in love with you."

Soobin groans. "Hyung, that's really not the goal here," he complains, and Yeonjun sighs.

"I know. We gotta work on this, too." When Soobin lifts an eyebrow inquisitively, Yeonjun develops, "I mean, on how to reject confessions. I've seen you in action, and we've got a lot of work to do."

Soobin sighs, but doesn't put up a fight.

So instead of going to the library, they find a quiet place, and practice. It feels like a theater rehearsal, and Yeonjun's the director, coaching his actor and playing opposite. Soobin purses his lips when Yeonjun acts like an overly try-hard girl, eyelashes batting and voice full of aegyo. Just watching him seems to exhaust Soobin, but Yeonjun's kind of having fun.

"Do you reject them all?" Yeonjun wonders when they take a break, handing Soobin one of the snacks he always carry in his bag. Soobin accepts gratefully.

"Yeah," he replies simply, looking at his shoes.

Yeonjun hums. He takes one more bite of his snack. "I mean, I understand that you don't want to date a stranger. But maybe you could get to know them? Even if you only end up as friends," Yeonjun muses.

Soobin sighs. "I don't wanna lead anyone on, when I know there is no chance of any of it moving further than friendship."

"How come?" Yeonjun asks curiously, and regrets it when Soobin tenses. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be nosy-"

"No, no," he shakes his head. "It's not- It's just," he starts and aborts, breathes in. "I'm not… I'm not interested in girls," he admits softly.

"Oh," Yeonjun says softly. "Are you interested in boys, then?"

Soobin nods, once, curt - like a jerk. His face doesn't let any particular emotion out, but Yeonjun notices a tremble in his hands. Yeonjun grabs one of them and squeezes, hoping to feel reassuring.

"Hey," he calls, and Soobin still doesn't look at him, jaw tense. "Hey, it's okay, you're good," he says softly, and Soobin nods slightly. "I like girls," Yeonjun declares, then, and Soobin nods again. "And I like boys, too."

At this, Soobin looks up. Yeonjun smiles at him, and repeats, "You're good."

Soobin finally exhales, albeit shakily, and lets a small, embarrassed laugh out. "Sorry," he breathes, and Yeonjun squeezes his hand again.

"It's okay," Yeonjun says again, and this time when Soobin nods, it's with a small smile on his lips. "Thanks for telling me."

Soobin only looks at him, and smiles gratefully. Dimples are outlined on his cheeks. He squeezes Yeonjun's hand back, before letting go.

-

“For this assignment, you’ll be working in pairs,” Professor Kim declares. Soobin stiffens next to him, so Yeonjun nudges his shoulder. Soobin turns to him in surprise, before giving him a warm, grateful smile. It’s Yeonjun who diverts his eyes this time, pretending to be interested in what their professor is saying, from fear of reddening too obviously; he’s been trying to get Soobin to smile more freely, but this effect wasn’t in his plans.

It’s just a really, really nice smile.

Damn it. Focus, Yeonjun.

“I’ll let you start on it during the remaining hour. If you have questions, don’t hesitate. I wrote the pairings on here,” he announces, holding a sheet up. Soobin’s face falls, and Yeonjun too feels a ping of disappointment in his chest. The other students don’t sound too happy about it either, groans resounding everywhere in the classroom. “And I won’t take any complaints, you’ve got to learn to get out of your comfort zone. Now go check your group and get to it! ”   

Get out of your comfort zone my ass, Yeonjun thinks bitterly as Beomgyu takes the seat next to him. 

Beomgyu whistles. “Man, it almost feels weird to sit next to you in thermo.”

Yeonjun sighs. “I sit with you guys during all the other classes.”

“All the other classes that we don’t share with Soobin, you mean,” he remarks, and Yeonjun doesn’t like the tone of his voice when he says that. 

He lifts an eyebrow. “What are you trying to say?”

“Nothing, Yeonjunie~” Beomgyu singsongs, and Yeonjun doesn’t comment on the lack of honorifics - doesn’t waste his breath anymore. “I’m not complaining, it’s a nice break from you.”

Yeonjun flicks his forehead, and as Beomgyu bitches about it, his eyes fall on Soobin, a few rows before them. 

He seems to be trying his best to follow Yeonjun’s advice - “breathe, try to smile, just be yourself, you got this,” he had said quietly with a discreet squeeze of his hand before they parted for their respective partner. At least, Choi Yewon seems to be welcoming; she’s smiling agreeably, chatting over the details of the assignment. 

For the rest of the hour, Yeonjun finds himself glancing worryingly in his direction. It seems to go well; even when Soobin drops a bit of his soda on her sleeve, apologizes profusely and hurries to get her a tissue, Yewon giggles, seemingly amused by his reaction. Soobin laughs a bit, too, and they seem to warm to each other. Yeonjun can’t help but smile a bit at the interaction. 

“Earth to Yeonjun,” Beomgyu calls, and Yeonjun hums mindlessly. Beomgyu huffs, drops his pencil and rests his head in his palm. “What did this guy do to make you so obsessed with him?” he wonders, and Yeonjun blinks back to the present.

“I’m not obsessed,” he pouts, even though he knows how he sounds. “We made a deal, and I’m making sure it’s going smoothly, is all,” he lies weakly, and tries to actually get some work done.

When the class is dismissed, Yeonjun packs up quickly and heads toward the other pair.

“See you next time then, Soobin!” Yewon says with a small wave as she departs, and Soobin returns it. 

“Hyung!” he says excitedly when she’s gone. “It- It went well!” he says, disbelief in his voice.

“I saw that!” he laughs, reaching for his forearm. “I’m proud of you,” he admits, and Soobin smiles gratefully again. One of his hands comes to set above Yeonjun’s one.

“It’s thanks to you, hyung,” he says softly, and before Yeonjun can go into a rant on how it’s not thanks to him, Soobin is just that pleasing to be around and he just needed a little push- Beomgyu appears behind him, an arm circling his shoulders.

“Hyungie,” he calls, and Soobin's expression changes back to his neutral, somber face too quickly. “The others went ahead. You coming to the dance club today?” he asks, grabbing at Yeonjun’s cheek with his usual disregard for personal space.

“You know I am,” Yeonjun grumbles with his face still being played with. Beomgyu grins.

Soobin is so quiet when he says ‘See you tomorrow’ that Yeonjun almost misses it, and then, he’s gone.

-

"Wait… I did not sign for a full relooking," Soobin grumbles.

“Shut up, that’s the logical next step,” Yeonjun replies, unfazed, focused on the rack in front of him. He dragged Soobin here for a reason. “Plus, I’m in dire need of a new dye. At least you won’t do it alone,” he reasons, and Soobin sighs, ever so compliant. He’s never difficult to convince; Yeonjun likes that about him.

He grabs one of the boxes, pondering. “Should I go back to black?” he asks, holding the packet close to his hair. “You know, for the dark and serious vibe.”

Soobin hums, not convinced. One of the boxes seems to catch his attention; “How about this one?”

Yeonjun blinks. “Pink?” Soobin nods once. “Isn’t that a bit… Soft?”

“I think it looks cool,” he mumbles. “It’s unusual, and pretty flashy, too.”

That makes sense. Yeah, he can definitely see himself rocking that one. Then, smirking, he grabs another box. 

“Cotton candy couple,” he singsongs; Soobin purses his lips. “Come on, don’t leave me alone on this,” Yeonjun says, mustering his best pout, and Soobin sighs in defeat.

When Yeonjun steps out of his bathroom, newly dyed hair enveloped in a fluffy towel, Soobin's pouting, observing his blond hair in the mirror. "It looks weird," he says, and Yeonjun shakes his head.

"Wait," Yeonjun reaches up and brushes some strands of hair away from his eyes, and fumbles around with his locks to get them in a semblance of order. "Here. You look cute," he nods, satisfied with his handiwork. Soobin frowns hard, then, looking down, and Yeonjun blinks. "What?"

Soobin keeps the tense expression, eyebrows knitted. "I, I blush easily," he admits, and it's so fun to watch, with his face all scrunched up like that, in perfect contradiction with his words. "It's the only way I have to quell it down. And if it doesn't work, at least it makes people look away before they see it."

Yeonjun keeps staring, curious beyond reason. Soobin's frown deepens, and there it is, a light pink taking over his cheeks. Immediately, he hides his face into his large hands.

"Noooo," Yeonjun whines. "Let me see, Soobin!"

He tries to wrench his hands away, grabbing at his wrists, but Soobin doesn't bulge, and turns around in an attempt to escape him. "Soobin-" Yeonjun doesn't let up, and suddenly it's his own wrists that are grabbed and pressed on both sides of his head as he gets pinned against the wall behind him, just beside the mirror. Soobin glares at him, unamused, but his cheeks are aflame.

Yeonjun gulps.

Soobin quickly lets go of him, looking bashful, and Yeonjun tries to ignore the heat of his own cheeks. He slips his phone out of his pocket and hastily opens his note app. "Press people into walls like a drama bully," he mumbles, because that sure leaves an impression.

"Don't do this," Soobin whines. "You'll scare people off!" Yeonjun huffs, doesn't feel like he could pull it off anyway. "You can write down the blushing tip though, you might need it," he teases a bit then.

Yeonjun huffs again. "Yeah, well, it's not working so well, you're completely red," he points out.

"I guess it doesn't," Soobin admits, and both of them giggle quietly. "Let me see yours?" he asks, nodding toward Yeonjun's wrapped hair.

"Oh," Yeonjun says dumbly, and unwraps the towel. "I need to dry and style it but," he says, observing himself in the mirror and brushing his now pink strands backward, only a few locks falling on his forehead. "What do you think?" he asks then, turning to Soobin with a hopeful smile. "Don't I look cool?"

"Pretty," Soobin comments, and Yeonjun elbows his side, because what the fuck.

"That's not the intent!" Yeonjun whines, and Soobin snorts.

"You do look cool! People are going to mistake you for an idol, for real!" he adds quickly, hands raised in defense. Yeonjun huffs, just a little pleased.

Another round of dye later, and Soobin's standing in front of the mirror again, trying to get used to the novelty of his sky blue hair.

"So?"

"It looks nice," Soobin concludes. "I like it."

Yeonjun nods from where he's observing him, arms crossed. "It does look nice, it makes you look softer."

Soobin's eyes crinkles when he smiles at Yeonjun through the mirror. Yeonjun pats himself in the back for the fruitful day. Surely, this will help make some progress.

Or not.

Yeonjun gapes when he spots Soobin on the campus - even more easily than usual with the bright color of his hair. People are doing double takes at each of his steps, and for good reasons, too.

He acts before he can even think; he grabs Soobin's wrist and pulls him into the nearest bathroom.

"Hyung," Soobin starts, but Yeonjun interrupts him.

"Don't hyung me," he scolds, making Soobin blink. "What are you doing! What happened to your face!" he says, gesturing to the red cut across his nose.

"The neighbor's cat tried to attack my hedgehog," Soobin pouts. "I was so scared, hyung."

Yeonjun exhales, desperate. "And what’s up with the leather jacket?"

Soobin looks down at his attire, confused. "Oh, it's a present from my mom. I don't really wear it usually, but I was late this morning because of the incident and- I just took the first thing I found…" he explains, then looks at Yeonjun, doubtful. "You don’t like it?"

Yeonjun cannot with him. "Soobin, you look like the bad boy of a drama, who had a fight last night or something," Yeonjun laments. Soobin's eyes widens, and he glances at himself in the mirror. Then, he groans.

"That's why people were looking at me even weirder than usual this morning," he whines.

Yeonjun pinches the bridge of his nose. "You really are a piece of work, Soobin-ah," he grumbles with no heart, but Soobin still sulks. Yeonjun finds himself sighing, endeared. "You're lucky you're cute." Soobin frowns, and Yeonjun rolls his eyes. "I think I have an idea. Stay here, I'll be right back."

Soobin hasn't moved when he comes back, Yeonjun notes with fondness. Soobin takes a step back on reflex when Yeonjun walks up to him, but collides with the sink. "Don't move," Yeonjun instructs, and Soobin gulps visibly, his Adam's apple bobbing. His hands reach his face then, and he makes quick work of applying a band aid over the injured skin of his nose - but not too quick, allowing himself to enjoy the way he has to tilts his head up a bit to looks at Soobin’s eyes at this distance, and admiring the pretty bow of his lips.

"Cute," Yeonjun smiles when he steps back, looking at his work with appreciation.

Soobin turns around to the mirror, and groans. "Really? A Hello Kitty band aid?"

Yeonjun smirks. "I knew they’d be useful one day," he shrugs, then shakes his trenchcoat off. "Come on, take it off,” he nods toward Soobin's jacket, and Soobin complies doubtfully. "Here, take this one instead."

"You sure?" he asks, but grabs the offered coat nonetheless. Yeonjun's already sliding the leather jacket on. He watches himself in the mirror, arranging the collar.

"Damn, I look pretty great in this," he observes. Good thing he's been following Soobin’s plain-shirt-and-simple-jeans strategy these days. The jacket's a bit big on him, but he looks… badass.

"You do," Soobin confirms, then pauses when Yeonjun's jacket is on him.

"What is it?" Yeonjun asks, flattening the fabric over his shoulders. As expected, it's a bit tight, but it will do. It looks good, too.

"Nothing, it's just," Soobin mumbles. "It smells like you."

Someone enters the bathroom at this moment, and Yeonjun chooses not to comment, clearing his throat.

He doesn't discreetly press his nose into his own shoulder after they separate, doesn't blush when he finds that the jacket smells like Soobin's cologne.

-

They're walking out of the cafeteria, on the way to Soobin's lunch hideout when an unknown girl stops them in their tracks. She eyes Yeonjun, a bit annoyed.

Yeonjun gets it; it must have been harder to approach Soobin, with him always around these days. He wonders if she's been waiting for an occasion to strike, and finally decided, fuck it.

"Hi, Soobin-ah," she greets familiarly; Soobin tenses up, and Yeonjun pats his shoulder reassuringly, trying to communicate a 'you got this' before he steps aside and pretends to scroll on his phone.

"I like the new hair color," she says conversationally.

"Thanks," Soobin answers simply.

Not undermined, she continues. "I was wondering if you'd maybe want to study together for the upcoming test in chemicophysical analysis?" she offers, then, with a glance toward Yeonjun, "Just the two of us?"

"I'm sorry," Soobin says calmly, "I already told you, I'm not interested." Oh, a re-offender, then.

The girl sighs. "I know, but- You seem different these days! Yewon even said you guys talked, so I thought, maybe…"

"I'm sorry," Soobin says again, voice apologetic. "I haven't changed my mind."

"But why?" the girl asks, visibly less confident than a few minutes ago. "You don't even know me, you could give me a chance," she almost complains.

Soobin stays mum; that's the difficult part for him, Yeonjun knows; whenever someone insists, he gets nervous, and doesn't know what to say. They had looked up guides on 'how to say no' on naver - "don't apologize again", "repeat the same thing over and over until they give up" - but Soobin seems to freeze.

"You could at least give me a reason! Am I- Am I not pretty enough?" she huffs, now clearly starting to get annoyed. Now Soobin's feeling guilty, visibly trying to come up with a justification that doesn't hurt her feelings but doesn't involve coming out against his will either, and-

"He doesn't owe you anything," Yeonjun steps in, a hand finding Soobin's back. Soobin sighs softly at the contact. "He politely told you he's not interested, that's the end of it. C’mon Binnie," he declares, ignoring her offended glare, and guides Soobin away with his arm secured around his low back.

"I'm sorry," Soobin sighs when they're a little further away. "I failed again."

"Don't apologize, it's a start, you did great," he comforts, feeling strangely protective of him. "Are they always so insistent though?" he snorts, because, for real.

"No, thank god," Soobin declares with relief. "It's easier, most of the time - usually, they don't come to me expecting anything," he explains, then grimaces. "Once, though, this girl started crying - it was terrible."

Yeonjun shouldn't, but he snorts - he can totally picture the scene, the poor girl starting to cry and Soobin just standing there, panicking inside. Terrible, indeed.

"'Make girls cry'," he jokingly adds to his list, and Soobin pushes at his shoulder with a whine. Yeonjun laughs.

"I was about to say you were cool, but you don't deserve it," Soobin pouts.

"Am I cool only when I reject girls for you?"

Soobin smirks. "I guess you still have progress to make."

-

Soobin mentions Odi as they pack up their late studying session.

"That's your hedgehog, right?" Yeonjun asks, curious. That's a pretty unusual pet - but then again, Taehyun got himself a snake, recently. He doesn't question it anymore.

Soobin immediately lights up, excited, grabbing his phone and enthusiastically showing off his photo collection, recounting small anecdotes. It's cute to see him like that; he's been more and more carefree around Yeonjun, and he can't help but feel a little proud that Soobin's warmed up to him completely.

Yeonjun finally directs his gaze to the screen when a short video starts playing, the tiny animal running around to hide into his snuggle pouch. "How cute!" he coos.

"I know right?!" Soobin enthuses, and Yeonjun nods, scrolling through Soobin’s gallery himself. "He's kind of a brat but- ah!" he then takes his phone back from Yeonjun's hands at lightning speed.

"Why!" Yeonjun whines, attempting to take it back. "It was cute!"

It really was - Yeonjun had just found a selfie of Soobin, with Odi perched on his shoulder. He was smiling at the camera, dimples decorating his cheeks.

"It's was a stupid photo for my mom," he mumbles. "I should have deleted it-"

"What? No! Why would you delete it, it's so cute!" Yeonjun scolds, kind of outraged. "If you don't want it anymore just send it to me!"

Soobin sputters. "W-Why would I do that?"

"We can't lose this national treasure, Soobin-ah!"

Soobin frowns, but reddens nonetheless. "You're being ridiculous," he says, but slips his phone back into his pocket. Crisis avoided. He clears his throat, then. "Hm, do you- do you want to come see him?"

Yeonjun blinks. He lets a small laugh out to hide his excitement. "Binnie, is this your own version of 'Do you wanna come up to see my cat' ? When did you become so bold?"

"Forget it, I don't want you near my place," he deadpans, walking a bit faster and looking right ahead, but Yeonjun doesn't miss the pink on the tip of his ears.

"Soobin-ah," Yeonjun runs after him, latching to his arm. Soobin grumbles but doesn't oppose. "Let me pleeaaase…"

If this was anyone else, Yeonjun would probably feel a bit embarrassed by his own ridiculous behavior. He doesn't, right now. It feels nice not to worry about it. Soobin doesn't comment, just keeps guiding him home.

"Your own place… how lucky," Yeonjun exhales, looking around. His unit is tiny - a single room, really, and a small bathroom that looks like it can barely accommodate Soobin's height. In fact, everything looks like it's undersized for him; he probably knocked his head over the hood above the small stove a few times, and Yeonjun has a hard time believing this small bed can fit him. Still, it's simple, but nice.

Soobin sighs, putting some water to boil. "My parents know my social skills are… very limited," he grimaces. "And they have no faith in me - they were scared that if I ended up with a loud roommate or something, I wouldn't be able to handle it," he explains, sighing. "But well, I’m grateful. This place isn't so bad."

Yeonjun snickers, getting comfortable on the ground by the foot of the bed. "Loud roommates can be hard to handle," he says, even though he enjoyed being roomed with Wooyoung most of the time. "But it can be nice, if only just for the company."

Soobin joins him, handing him a racoon-themed mug of tea. Cute. He nods, smiling a bit regretfully, then crawls to the cage beside his bed. He comes back with the pouch that was on the video from earlier, cradling it into his arms. "That's my company," he smiles.

A snout pokes out, sniffling around, and soon after, the pet's small face appears. Yeonjun immediately gets closer, fascinated, but the hedgehog quickly hides back into his hideout. Yeonjun pouts and Soobin giggles.

"Odi-yah, don't be shy," he says, and slowly coaxes him out of the pouch. "He's a bit nervous since he's not used to seeing new people," he tells Yeonjun, but still manages to take him out and have him crawl in his embrace, looking around curiously. Soobin caresses him softly, smiling.

"Doesn't he prick you?" Yeonjun wonders.

"Only when he's stressed out," Soobin explains, "but he looks fine right now. Do you wanna pet him?" he offers, taking the hedgehog in one palm and holding him toward Yeonjun.

Yeonjun scoots closer, giddy, and looks up to Soobin, asking for permission. Soobin smiles encouragingly. With a careful hand, he approaches, but hesitates. Soobin takes his hand with his free one, and slowly pushes it to the back of the hedgehog. At the contact, Yeonjun looks up to him with round eyes, delighted.

"It's so weird!" he gushes, slowly stroking the pet's back when Soobin lets go of his hand. "It feels like- a pine tree's branch, kinda? Oh-" he takes his hand back as the quills start moving under his hand, and Soobin quickly brings Odi back to him, hushing the small animal.

"Hey, it's okay-" he comforts the hedgehog, rubbing a finger to his belly softly, trying to get his quills to lay flat again. Yeonjun can't help smiling at the display. "Don't be scared, it's just hyung's friend, see?" he says scooting closer to Yeonjun as if to demonstrate; and there's a lot to process, there - the way Soobin talks to his pet, how he refers to himself as 'hyung', how he just called Yeonjun his friend, even if it's just a slip. It all makes Yeonjun unreasonably warm inside.

The hedgehog ends up calming down with some more petting, and Soobin gently cradles him in the circle of his arms, looking down with a fond expression. His dimples make an appearance again.

"What," Soobin asks when he catches Yeonjun staring.

Yeonjun simply shakes his head, and pokes his own cheek in a poor imitation of those lovely cheek creases. "It's nice to see them often."

Soobin blinks, then sighs, before he says, "Go ahead," and proceeds to purse his lips, making his dimples even deeper. Yeonjun only stares questioningly, wondering if that means he can… "You can poke. You want to, right?"

"How did you know?" Yeonjun still wonders, because that's exactly what was on his mind. That's kind of scary. He accepts the invitation, though, holding one finger up, eager to touch.

"You were looking at me just like my aunt," he chuckles, then purses his lips again, nodding his cheek toward Yeonjun. So Yeonjun does poke; he plants the pad of his finger into the crease of his skin, and wonders at the softness. Soon, another finger follows as he rubs over the skin, and Soobin chuckles again, probably at the fascination displayed on Yeonjun's face.

Just to be a brat, Yeonjun moves to pinch him, but gapes when the skin stretches way farther than expected. Thrilled, he starts playing with his cheek, experimenting with just how malleable it is.

"Are you having fun?" Soobin mumbles as intelligibly as he can with his predicament, cheeks flattened under Yeonjun's eager fingertips.

"Sorry," Yeonjun doesn't really apologizes, but gives a last pat to the abused skin before stroking it more gently as consolation. It's so warm, he realizes - or is it Yeonjun's hand that's cold? Either way, he doesn't want to break the contact. His hand lingers, fingers cupping his face, and Soobin leans into the touch minutely, almost unconsciously. They stare quietly - the only thing Yeonjun can hear his the thumping of his own heart, absurdly loud.

He wants to kiss him, he realizes.

The realization is a bit sudden, and scary, but also none at all at the same time. He just really, really wants to kiss him - his tempting lips, his deep dimples, the creased tip of his nose. He wants it so bad.

He jerks when his phone rings loudly. The moment is broken as Soobin yelps as his hedgehog fusses about the sudden noise, and Yeonjun apologizes before picking up.

"Darling," the voice at the other side of the line sings, overly saccharine.

Yeonjun rolls his eyes; that's never too good when Wooyoung greets him like that. "What is it, darling?" Yeonjun punctuates, and Wooyoung chuckles, a bit nervously.

"It's late already," Wooyoung starts, and Yeonjun glances up at the screen of his phone; it's almost nine already? He hadn't realized he's been spending so much time with Soobin today. "So I was wondering if maybe… you were planning to spend the night out?" he finishes, hopeful, and Yeonjun groans. That's exactly what he was talking about earlier; he enjoys being roomed with Wooyoung most of the time - and then there are times like those.

"Woo, again?" he despairs, disbelieving.

"Dude, I'm sorry but- please? I swear I'll pay you back when you get a boyfriend or girlfriend or whatever!" Yeonjun groans again, long and dramatic. "Pretty please? For your bro?"

"You're a huge pain in my ass, Woo," he sighs, defeated.

"Babe, you're the best roommate ever. I'll smooch you when-"

Yeonjun hangs up, and spreads himself over the floor of Soobin's room, whining like a petulant kid.

"Everything okay?" Soobin enquiries, having watched the whole scene. Yeonjun groans in response.

"My roommate kicked me out for the night to fuck his boyfriend, again," he laments, face squished against the floor.

Soobin cringes. "Does that… happen often?"

"Too often," Yeonjun deadpans. "At this point I'll start paying half of Taehyun's rent, I swear." He's exaggerating, but it's still the third time this month, and they’re only two weeks into it. Taehyun will end up kicking him out too, if this goes on.

Soobin barely hesitates. "Well, since you're here already, you can spend the night, if you want," he offers, shrugging.

Yeonjun rolls onto his belly to look at him. "Really?"

"I mean, unless you have somewhere nicer to be, of course-"

Yeonjun only grins. "Wow, Soobinie, you do move quickly. Very bold tonight, hm?" he teases, sending him a kiss, and Soobin placates him with his trademark bitch face.

"I changed my mind, please leave," he says flatly, and Yeonjun laughs.

"Even if I say I'll pay for dinner?" he offers, an eyebrow tilted. Soobin pauses, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Fried chicken?"

"Fried chicken," Yeonjun relents.

Fried chicken they eat, still on Soobin's floor. They get more comfortable afterwards, on the bed, looking for something to watch on Soobin's laptop. Soobin coaxes him into watching Arcane. Yeonjun mostly enjoys Soobin gushing about the characters and animation and the music, a real fanboy.

"Oh, that's my main in the game!" he exclaims, pointing at the character on the screen.

After a few episodes, Yeonjun comments. "I mean, he's handsome, but I don't really like him."

"Yeah, me neither," Soobin admits. "I wonder if we'll see how he gets his hammer though."

Yeonjun leans in then, and fake-whispers, "I kinda ship him with Viktor, I'll be honest." Soobin snorts and nudges him.

Yeonjun starts dozing off not too long after that - he only realizes when a hand shakes him gently, and Yeonjun blinks, leaning back from where he's been resting on Soobin's shoulder.

"Let's get ready for bed, hyung. I'll get you some sleep clothes."

When Yeonjun steps out of the bathroom, changed into Soobin's too big shirt and sweatpants, he finds him lying on the floor, a simple cover serving as a mattress. He's scrolling on his phone with no care in the world. Yeonjun stares a little.

"You're not gonna sleep on the floor, are you?" he asks, a bit pointlessly because, well. Soobin looks up.

"Hyung, did you see my bed?" he smiles, getting back to his phone. "It's not like both of us can fit in there. I don't really have anyone there usually, so that's all I have."

Yeonjun hops on the bed with no further complaint, knowing a lost battle when he sees one. "I'm inaugurating the first sleep-over here, then," Yeonjun grins, splayed on his belly, face resting in between his crossed arms, close to the edge of the bed to peek at Soobin. After a moment, he grabs the pillow that stayed on the bed, and throws it at Soobin's face, making him yelp.

"I only have one, that's not ideal for a pillow fight, hyung," he points out, sounding tired.

Yeonjun snickers. "Just keep it." Soobin hesitates, but accepts with no debate, getting more comfortable. "You know, you'll need to find a futon at some point, when I help you make so many friends."

Soobin snorts, phone forgotten. He stares at the ceiling for a beat. "Thank you," he says, voice quiet.

Yeonjun wonders if he deserves this gratitude - it's starting to feel more and more like he's doing this for himself. Not even in the sense that it's to get his part of the deal - just because he enjoys this. It's easy and comfortable, and Yeonjun briefly thinks that if Soobin doesn't make any friends, just keep hanging out with him, it wouldn't be that bad - and immediately feels awful for it.

"You know," he says, and Soobin glances at him. "It's all bullshit. All those things about you being cold and scary and closed-off and whatnot - it's bullshit. Anyone would fall in love with you after spending just a few hours getting to know you."

Soobin frowns, and reddens still. "Stop doing this," Yeonjun complains, but can't help smiling. "You're cute when you blush, stop trying to hide it."

"Shut up," Soobin grumbles and turns, his back now facing Yeonjun. Yeonjun huffs and finally gets into bed, and turns off the bedside lamp. It's only when his brain registers how the bed sheets smell like Soobin, and that his stomach tightens in response, that he finally starts to freak out a little. He's falling way too fast - it can only presage a painful landing.

He thinks that's it for the night when Soobin says, quiet, "For what it's worth, I think you're really cool." Then, with a small laugh, he adds, "Not when you're trying so hard to be, though."

"What is that supposed to mean!" Yeonjun huffs. He was almost moved here, for a moment.

"But you're also just, so much more than that," he continues, ignoring Yeonjun's protest. "Calling you just 'cool' would really be selling you short and- and if people don't want to take you seriously, then, it's their loss. Because you're amazing already, and reliable, and- you really don't have to change anything."

Feeling ridiculously warm, in Soobin's bed and wearing Soobin's clothes, Yeonjun can't bring himself to say anything. He just rolls himself into a ball, and enjoys it all.

"Goodnight, hyung," Soobin whispers still, as a conclusion.

"G'night, Binnie."

-

They’re almost late that morning; the neighbor’s cat apparently believes it’s a good day to mess with Odi again. Yeonjun rightfully freaks out when it suddenly jumps through the open window, and ruins his sweater with half of his coffee. Soobin is immediately in defense mode, panicking a little as both pets hiss at each other.

Thankfully, Yeonjun is pretty good with cats, and any accident is avoided. They’re running late though, and Soobin only throws a clean hoodie at him and scurries to put his sneakers on.

They end up making it into the classroom right before Prof. Kim at thermodynamics - first class of the day, yikes - heaving and sweating, but they still throw a small smile at each other as they part ways to walk to their assignment partners.

Beomgyu gives him an unimpressed look. “I get that you wanna look like him, but this doesn’t have the effect you expect on you,” he lifts an eyebrow at Yeonjun’s attire. “You just look like you’re wearing your boyfriend’s clothes.”

“Shut up,” Yeonjun grumbles, reddening. He buries deeper in Soobin’s oversized hoodie and throws a glance his way, only to find him looking back. His face is pink and he quickly turns away and Yeonjun smiles, just a little.

When the class is done, though, Soobin mumbles some excuse and gets away before Yeonjun even has the time to say anything.

He has an unusually hard time finding him around campus that day, even during lunch break, so Yeonjun decides to simply go back to his loud, eventful table for this once. Thankfully, Taehyun is beside him; he’ll get the calm he can get.

When Wooyoung starts talking about his night - gross, by the way - Taehyun turns to him, blinking his big eyes in surprise.

“Where did you sleep, then?”

It could be just an idea, but it seems that the table quiets down a little. Yeonjun clears his throat. “At Soobin’s.”

Most of them turn into highschoolers, wiggling their eyebrows or whistling, and Yeonjun can’t stand them. Taehyun ignores them. “So that’s what it was about,” he muses in understanding.

It dawns on Yeonjun. He sighs. “People are talking, aren’t they,” he doesn’t really ask.

“Well, you guys did show up together in the morning, with you wearing his clothes,” Beomgyu supplies, shrugging. “You know what it looks like.”

That explains things.

Yeonjun manages to catch Soobin as he’s trying to sneak out of campus at the end of the day.

“You thought it’d be that easy?” Yeonjun asks, unimpressed. Soobin looks at Yeonjun’s hand on his wrist with unease, so he lets go. With a sigh, “Talk to me.”

Soobin keeps looking at the ground, frowning. “Yewon-noona, she- she asked if we were dating, this morning,” he says, shooting a glance at Yeonjun to gauge his reaction. When there is none, he continues. “People are- saying things, about us. So.”

Do you hate it that much? Yeonjun wants to ask, but doesn’t. Instead, he says, “So you thought you could just start avoiding me.”

“No! I just,” he starts, but deflates. “It’s just, there’s no need for you to invest so much time on me,” he says. “You barely hang with your friends anymore because of me.” But you are my friend too, Yeonjun almost argues, but bites it back. “You’re doing all this for me, and- people like you, so I don’t want that to change just because they’re assuming stuff.”

“What… do you mean?” Yeonjun questions.

Soobin pouts. “What if people start treating you differently in a bad way? Whispering, and- looking at you sideways… What if some girls take it out on you…”

Man. He’s bad for Yeonjun’s heart.

Yeonjun can’t let himself go soft, though; he scoffs. “They can try me, I’ll be waiting,” he says, and Soobin huffs a small, surprised laugh. “For real, though. Don’t mind them,” he says more seriously, and when Soobin doesn’t look convinced, Yeonjun pouts and mimes kicking his shin. “Don’t forget we have a mission.”

Soobin looks up at him, unsure.

Yeonjun grins. “And if people think I can score 'cool and dark' Soobinie, that means we’re making progress, right?” he shrugs. “I’ll take that tiny bit of respect, even if it’s out of fear that my scary boyfriend will beat them up or something.”

That gets a snort out of Soobin. “Like you didn’t save me from a feral cat this morning,” he smiles, and Yeonjun takes that as a victory.

“One day, the truth will prevent,” Yeonjun says, optimistic. He finds that it doesn’t matter anyway. He should really stop referring to Soobin as his boyfriend in his mind, though. “Treat me to a coffee and we’ll be even for now,” he tries to wink, fails, and Soobin giggles.

“Deal.”

-

The weeks roll by, and soon the new semester begins.

On a day they don’t have a matching lunch break, Yeonjun is surprised to spot Soobin entering the cafeteria, and even more so when he finds that he’s not alone.

Yeonjun’s packing it up as his next class starts soon, but he still stops by Soobin and his company, waiting in line. 

“Hyung!” Soobin calls when he sees him approach. “I thought I’d miss you today. This is Kai,” he says with a big smile, gesturing to the tall boy next to him. Said boy gives Yeonjun a shy nod. 

Yeonjun returns it. Soobin continues. “He’s an exchange student in bio, he’s been living in China but he speaks perfect korean!” he enthuses, and Kai giggles in embarrassment. “Isn’t it cool?”

“Geez, hyungie is already obsessed with me,” Kai teases, voice full of aegyo, and Soobin pinches his cheek in retaliation.

Uh.

That’s… new. Definitely progress on Soobin’s part- he’s… made a friend?  Without Yeonjun’s help, too? Yeonjun should be happy for him, he should be, but-

He shakes himself. “I’m Yeonjun, nice to meet you, Kai-yah,” he says, and Kai smiles his way warmly. He’s got something very boyish to him, very soft looking, and Yeonjun almost cooes, defeated. “Well, I’mma head to class, so… uhm, I guess see you around?” he babbles, and quickly escapes without lingering on Soobin’s slight frown.

Kai and Soobin seem to get along well. Kai sits at the other side of Soobin during the class they share, and tags along to the library from time to time, too. Soobin tells him they share similar tastes in anime and video games, which makes him happy because he hadn’t had anyone to play with since highschool, and Yeonjun…

Yeonjun realizes that Soobin doesn’t need him anymore.

He kind of hates himself for feeling sad about it - it was the goal all along. Of course it was bound to happen, and of course Soobin deserves to finally, finally make a friend. And Yeonjun is proud of him, is come a long way in just a few months, but-

But.

Along the way Yeonjun forgot that what they had was… temporary. He doesn’t know when he switched to Soobin’s.. what, social coach? To his friend in his mind, but now, seeing how compatible he is with Kai and how easily they got accustomed to each other… It brings Yeonjun back to earth. 

Thinking of it, Yeonjun has made his share of progress, too; be it because he started hanging out with Soobin or thanks to his efforts, though, he wouldn’t know. But as a matter of fact,  just mastering the intense, unamused stare has proved itself effective against unwarranted babying. 

So Yeonjun slowly goes back to spend more time with his actual friends. He goes to the library a little less, eats at the cafeteria more often.

It takes some time, but eventually, Soobin asks him if something is wrong.

Yeonjun feigns innocence. “What do you mean?”

Soobin looks unsure of himself, shrugging. “I don’t know, it just… It feels like, uhm, we’re not… like before?”

It pains Yeonjun a bit to put Soobin in this situation; he’s never been comfortable with confrontation. It must take a lot  from him just to engage the topic with Yeonjun. Yeonjun knows he must have debated it with himself, wondering if he was being dramatic, if he won’t sound too annoying. And he’s still here.

Yeonjun owes it to him to try and make it easy for both of them.

“Well, you’ve got a friend now, so,” Yeonjun says, forcing a nonchalant smile on his lips. “You know, mission accomplished?” he tries, sounding too unsure, and starts again with more conviction. “You have now graduated from my teaching- I set you free, my dear student!”

“Oh,” Soobin says simply after a second.

“Yeah,” Yeonjun coughs, clapping his shoulder for good measure. “So that’s that, I guess there’s no reason to follow you everywhere anymore.”

Soobin gives him a closed stare. He’s not returning Yeonjun’s smile. “I guess so,” he says quietly.

They stand there quietly for a while, not looking at each other, and Yeonjun knows he’s good at pretending he’s confident, but right now it’s time to go home and feel miserable, so he says, “Well, see you around then, Soobin-ah,” with a carefree tone, and walks away.

-

When he stops sitting beside Soobin during their shared classes, some questioning stares arise. Yeonjun ignores them.

There’s a group of students whispering not so quietly as he passes by, at the end of the morning, and it’s not hard for Yeonjun to tell that it’s about him. He’s just trying to ask some questions about the lesson, can they let him live? Is that what Soobin had to deal with all the time?

Then Yeonjun realizes one of these people is the girl that Yeonjun had helped Soobin reject, and he rolls his eyes. That makes sense now.

“Isn’t this guy kind of presumptuous?” she speaks lowly.

“I know… he was like, hanging off Soobin all the time, and suddenly he’s acting like that…”

“Yeah… Does he think he’s suddenly too cool for Soobin or something?”

That’s right. He’s been presumptuous. He’s been acting like that, but the truth is simple; he lacks confidence, too. And Soobin… Soobin is amazing. Why would he need Yeonjun, if he can have great friends like Kai? 

“You don’t know anything,” Soobin’s voice comes, quiet but hard. Yeonjun turns to find him standing in front of the group that was gossiping - fists clenched, cheeks tinted with a light pink despite the scowl. Yeonjun hadn’t even realized he was still in the room; even Prof. Kim looks up from where he’s explaining something to one of the students, before shrugging and getting back to it.

“If you don’t know anything, why would you say something like that?” Soobin continues. “Yeonjun-hyung is so much cooler than me, and than any of you, really. I’m the one who’s lucky, after everything he’s done for a desperate case like me,” he declares, and Yeonjun can’t help but stare. 

His face is going increasingly redder, still, and he can see the situation’s finally catching up to Soobin. He does hate confrontation, Yeonjun thinks fondly. Yet here he is, again. The group is standing there, looking uneasy. 

With a shuddering breath, Soobin slows down, but doesn’t hesitate. “Please don’t say stuff like this when you don’t know any of us. Hyung is really great, and he means a lot to me.” He redirects his gaze to Yeonjun, then. “And I miss him,” he finishes, honest.

The group shuffles awkwardly, muttering some apologies and ‘what the fuck’ while scrambling away. When Yeonjun stays quiet, Soobin looks down, embarrassed. Before he can walk away, Yeonjun strolls down the rest of the stairs and closes the distance between them, grabbing his wrist and leading him out of the almost empty lecture hall.

Without much thinking, Yeonjun finds himself heading to Soobin’s hideout - that part of the garden that has steadily become a refuge for Yeonjun as well. He had never really realized how nice it felt to have a place like that, peaceful and sheltered from all unwelcome attention, before Soobin.

Easy as always, Soobin lets himself be guided without asking a question - as if he was willing to follow Yeonjun independently of the destination, if Yeonjun was to let himself read too much into it.

Even when Yeonjun stops tugging at his hand, and just stands there, facing him, Soobin doesn’t push him. Even when Yeonjun simply walks up to him to silently settle his forehead against his chest, he doesn’t flinch. He only sighs, an amused little thing, and it makes Yeonjun want to be a petulant child - to indulge in Soobin’s patience some more. But that wouldn’t be fair.

“I’m sorry,” Yeonjun says with honesty, because that’s what Soobin deserves. He doesn’t know who he’s been trying to fool with all this. “It just- it looked like you didn’t need me anymore. You made friends, and, well, you seemed to be doing so well without me,” he chuckles the last part, because he’s proud, despite everything. He’s come such a long way.

Soobin pushes long fingers into his hair, caressing comfortingly. “Because I have other friends now doesn’t mean I don’t want you anymore,” he says softly, and Yeonjun shudders a bit. He’s not used to such words - simple and painfully honest.

“Since when can you talk like that?” Yeonjun heaves, fond and flustered at the same time.

Soobin huffs a little laugh. “I learnt from the best. Even though I feel like I still have a lot to improve.”

“Hm,” Yeonjun shakes his head softly. “You were very cool back there,” he says, and Soobin scoffs.

“I was a mess, but thanks I guess,” he grimaces, and Yeonjun shakes his head again; it ruffles his hair against Soobin’s front. 

“You were cool to me,” he insists. Then, teasing, “Living up to your reputation.”

“That’s good enough, then,” he accepts. A pause. “I meant everything.”

“‘m sorry,” Yeonjun repeats, mumbling. “I missed you too, I was stupid, I just. I suddenly didn’t have you for myself and… I got insecure. Like you were gonna lose interest now that you had more choice,” Yeonjun mutters. “It really sounds awful. This deal was all about getting you more friends, and yet… I’m sorry, Binnie.”

Soobin only sighs, and wraps his arms around Yeonjun, embracing him. Yeonjun immediately latches onto him.

“I’m sorry too,” Soobin breathes, and Yeonjun frowns. Before he can dispute, Soobin continues, quiet. “It wasn’t part of the deal either, but… it seems like I’ve fallen for you, hyung.”

Yeonjun blinks, feeling himself flushing red. What’s up with the confidence, he wonders briefly, but realizes that’s not quite what it is, as Soobin refuses to let him lean back enough to look at him. He simply pushes his face into Yeonjun’s shoulder, and doesn’t let go.

For some reason, a laugh erupts from Yeonjun’s throat, impromptu. “Soobin-” he scolds in between giggles, but there’s no force in it. “Soobin, come on! Look at me!”

They wrestle for a bit, and when Yeonjun finally manages to push himself back, Soobin is still adamant on not looking at him, face red behind his large hands. Yeonjun squeezes his shoulders comfortingly, ridiculously endeared. 

“I swear to god, Soobin,” he warns, but Soobin stands his ground stubbornly, shaking his head ‘no’, and he doesn’t leave Yeonjun a choice. “You’re an idiot,” Yeonjun declares, but he can’t even find it in himself to be mad, feeling too euphoric about the whole thing. 

Soobin huffs, seemingly taking offense to that, and Yeonjun uses this breach to let go of his shoulders and grab his wrists instead, forcing his hands away from his lovely crimson face. Before he can retort, Yeonjun leans in.

He feels Soobin freeze at the contact of their lips, and it takes all of Yeonjun’s willpower not to smile against him. He can feel the warmth emit from his face, this close. After a beat or two, Soobin relaxes minutely and lets a long, deep exhale out of his nose, right against Yeonjun’s skin. Only then does Yeonjun realize he must have been holding his breath, and he can’t keep the smile off his lips any longer. Soobin doesn’t seem to mind, and Yeonjun relinquishes the feeling of his hands settling on his back, pushing their body closer. 

He drinks Soobin’s sigh right off his lips before leaning back again and this time, Soobin looks at him, half dazed, half confused.

“Really?” is what Soobin asks, then, and Yeonjun rolls his eyes. 

“Yeah, really,” he relents, and plants a smooch on his lips again as a proof of good faith. Soobin blinks again but finally smiles. “Idiot,” Yeonjun giggles.

Soobin pouts, and Yeonjun should really stop kissing him, but well. “My idiot?” he tries, an eyebrow quirked. Soobin’s face gets a tint redder, if possible, but he doesn’t complain. He’s the one closing the distance between them this time.

-

Yeonjun’s wiping the sweat off his face when the practice room’s door opens discreetly, letting Soobin scramble inside. His eyes immediately find him, and with a wide smile and tinted cheeks, he waggles the cup of Americano in his hand like a promise.

Not far and still in the middle of stretching, a first year asks, “Who’s that?”

“That’s Soobin sunbaenim,” her friend whispers back. “He used to be known as really intimidating and scary around campus, you know?”

“... Him? He.. looks like a big puppy...”

“I know! From what I heard, he started hanging with Yeonjun sunbaenim and just… turned like this, as if by magic!”

Yeonjun can see them turn toward him from the corner of his eyes. “Alright,” he speaks up, catching the attention of the rest of the students. “Let’s call it a day, don’t forget to practice the new routine before next time!” he calls, and starts walking to his awaiting treat - including both boyfriend and drink.

Before he gets too far, he manages to hear a last amazed, “So cool…”