Chapter Text
Well, Seungmin woke up by the first ring of the first alarm again. Label him king of punctuality. Changbin on the other hand only woke up by the last ring of the last alarm. Not sure what to label that.
Didn’t matter anyways. Seungmin was in the shower and out in a robe by the time Changbin blinked awake. Seungmin had priorities today and if Changbin was not going to be on time then he could take the bus to Seoul on his own. Probably isn’t his first time anyways.
Seungmin took his same routine, got a yogurt bowl for breakfast and shoved a few snacks in his Burberry handbag, just some random chips hanging around that he doesn’t even take out, probably just going to shove them back into the pantry once he reaches home anyways. Quite literally a snack on a road trip. Picked out his freshly iron clothes from the maid, a leather blazer, dress shirt, dress pants, black boot shoes.
Where was Seo Changbin? Nowhere to be seen.
By the time Seungmin hopped into the car. Changbin was seen running right towards a closing door.
“Wait!” Changbin yelled.
Thankfully, the chauffeur heard Changbin’s call and reached for the car door on the other side.
“Thank you.” Changbin bowed as he slid into the car, bumping Seungmin’s shoulder as he adjusted himself. “Sorry for being late.” Changbin said, looking only at Seungmin, because Changbin knows that out of anyone, Seungmin was the only one who cared about punctuality.
Seungmin gave him a side eye, closing his eyes before releasing a deep exhale.
“Whatever.” Seungmin tutted.
Changbin's hair was dry, some damp ends from sweat, his forehead too. He was dressed all fancy. Suit, tie, leather shoes. Was Changbin going to the royal ball? Seungmin couldn't help but scoff at that.
Changbin heard it, obviously. Seungmin sucks at hiding his emotions. Changbin whips his head so fast he nearly gets whiplash. "What's so funny, huh?" He cocks an eyebrow.
"Why are you dressed so fancy when you're headed to the movies?" Seungmin covers his mouth, but his eyes are semi-circled. Shoulders rising.
"Why are you dressed so fancy when this is already your third date?" Changbin looks at Seungmin up and down.
"This is nothing." Seungmin crosses his arms. "It's smart casual."
"Well if smart casual is looking like a wannabe Leonardo DiCaprio on the runway then sure." Changbin shrugs.
"Shut up." Seungmin snaps, a hand slapping down on the seat.
"You started it." Changbin snarls.
“Buckle your seatbelts please.” The chauffeur looks at them through the rearview mirror.
Changbin quickly shifts himself away from Seungmin’s space, moving more towards the other end of the car and reaching for the seatbelt. “Got it.” Changbin huffs.
Seungmin puffs his cheeks out and sulks. His arms crossing as he turns to face the window.
"Don't pout you little baby." Changbin teases, reaching out to pinch Seungmin's cheek.
"Don't touch me!" Seungmin flicks his head to look at him.
Changbin listens, putting down his hand but the laughter never leaves his lungs.
The drive was another painful four hours. Seungmin felt his back ache by the third. Changbin was fast asleep by the first hour, his snores were so loud that Seungmin had to resolve to his airpods because no matter how many times he tried to wake Changbin up, the boy would only fall asleep again after lazily nodding his head once. Ridiculous, Seungmin could never imagine looking as sluggish as Changbin before a date, snoring so loudly like a sack of potatoes. Hyunjin would never want that, or maybe he would.
Whatever, Seungmin doesn't care. As long as neither of them take Jeongin away, then that's all that Seungmin cares about. psh.
Seungmin had to shake Changbin awake once the chauffeur stopped right outside the school. "Wake up, Changbin!" Seungmin grunts.
"W-Wah—Huh?" Changbin stirs.
"Up! We're here." Seungmin tuts. "Goodness."
"Ah—" Changbin wipes at his bottom lip. "Mm—Coming." He shifts, swiftly shifting himself out of the car.
Changbin flattens his shirt once he gets up, stretching his arms up. "That was a really good nap." He yawns.
"You looked absolutely horrible." Seungmin shakes his head.
"At least Hyunjin wasn't the one who saw it." Changbin chuckles.
"He will eventually if you guys end up together." Seungmin counters. Strike.
It makes Changbin shut up.
Well, that was one of the reasons. The other reason was because the doors of the school opened. Students came pouring out, everyone in yellow colored uniforms.
Changbin curtly bowed his head to a group of girls who walked past him. Dapped up this random guy who was running down to the bicycle stand.
Seungmin smiled at the ones who looked at him, waved at the group of guys who nodded at him.
Finally, Changbin spots the one person he had been waiting for all this time. And so does Seungmin. Neither of them are able to hide the smile on their faces.
Changbin flattens out his collar, turning to Seungmin. "Do I look okay?"
"Ugly as ever." Seungmin responds. "Do I look fine?" He asks, tugging at his own collar.
"Horrible." Changbin says.
Seungmin wants to start another argument, but the next second. He hears a soft, heart-fluttering voice.
"Hyung!" Jeongin waves from the university's entrance. His lips parted to form an 'O', his eyes wide. Seungmin could feel his heart melting on the spot.
Seungmin's character instantly breaks, a smile forming on his face as he raises his hand up to wave back at the boy.
Jeongin immediately starts running down the staircase, sprinting down the slope. It makes Seungmin panic, Jeongin was being so quick and careless, what if he fell?
"Jeongin, be careful!" Seungmin freaks out, walking closer to the end of the slope to hold onto Jeongin as he reaches down, his shoes dragging along the path.
"Seungmin-Hyung." Jeongin smiles, his face way too close to Seungmin's.
Seungmin feels his heart pound, the veins tearing apart and bouncing freely in his hollow rib cage. Only falling back into place when Jeongin stands up, flattening out his uniform as he scans Seungmin up and down, his face slowly starts to drop. It makes Seungmin frown.
"What's wrong?" Seungmin asks.
"Our clothes." Jeongin looks down. "I don't seem… prepared enough." He whispers, a hint of guilt in his voice.
Seungmin didn't even notice the difference in their outfits. He was fully in formal attire, blazer and all whereas Jeongin was just wearing a yellow uniform, it truly was a big difference. But Seungmin didn't care, why should he be judging Jeongin based on what he wore? He could do that for anyone else. Everybody else except for Jeongin.
And it's not like Seungmin was here for what Jeongin wore, Seungmin was here for Jeongin.
"There's nothing wrong with it." Seungmin shakes his head, a smile to reassure him.
"No." Jeongin shakes his head. "You take a four hour car ride every single time to come here for me and I didn't even bother dressing up." Jeongin says.
"Jeongin, you had school." Seungmin counters. "It's fine."
"You sure?" Jeongin asks.
"I came here for you. Not what you wore." Seungmin clarifies.
That answer seems to reassure Jeongin a lot, his smile was back, dimples dug deep into his cheeks. "Okay."
"I have a hoodie I could change into after all." Jeongin chuckles as Seungmin walks him to the car. Seungmin scoffs, fondly shaking his head.
Seungmin only remembered about Changbin's existence once he closed the car door for Jeongin. His head instantly whipped towards the spot where he initially stood.
Seungmin could barely see with a street lamp being in his way, but once he tilted his head and body the the right he spotted Changbin.
Changbin's body was tense, this was the first time that Seungmin had ever since Changbin nervous, minus the video call. He was scratching at his head, then his hand fell down to his middle and his fingers held onto each other, fidgeting. Seungmin could even see Changbin's feet rocking back and forth.
Changbin's shoulders were so broad that they were covering Hyunjin's whole figure, Seungmin managed to catch a glimpse of Hyunjin's blonde hair though. That alone kind of made him a little grouchy, but at least he was in Changbin's hands and not anywhere near Jeongin.
Jeongin must've realised that Seungmin was taking way too long to get into the car, he pressed the buttons by the door, fidgeting around. unable to find his desired button.
"Uh, excuse me." Jeongin slowly raises his hand to get the chauffeur's attention whom immediately looks up at the rear view mirror.
"Yes, sir?" The chauffeur asks, Jeongin is not used to being called 'sir' at all.
"How do I—" Jeongin imitates the movement of rolling down a window.
"Ah, the window?" The chauffeur raises his eyebrows.
"Yes!" Jeongin nods. "How do I roll down the window?"
"The button on the top right corner, sir." The chauffeur smiles.
"I see, thank you!" Jeongin smiles back as he reaches for the said button.
The chauffeur gives Jeongin a curt nod before looking back to the front of the road, his fingers tapping against the steering wheel. Patiently waiting for Seungmin to get into the car.
Jeongin presses down on the button, waiting as the window slowly, silently rolls down. "Seungmin-Hyung?" He calls out.
Seungmin had been lurking for too long, he had completely forgotten that Jeongin was waiting for him, so when Jeongin touches his wrist, Seungmin yips and jumps. "Ah!—Oh. Sorry."
"You okay?" Jeongin asks, holding onto his wrist.
"Yeah—Ehm!" Seungmin clears his throat, "Yes, I am."
"What're you looking at?" Jeongin asks, peeking his head out through the window.
"Just. My step brother." Seungmin points. "He seems to be doing well."
"Mhm." Jeongin rests his chin on his arm, elbow prodding out of the window. "Hyunjin-Hyung seems to be. Adjusting."
Hyunjin. Seungmin doesn't want to be hearing that name during their date. He refuses. It makes him move immediately.
Seungmin speed walks to the other end of the car, moving away from Jeongin's touch on his wrist. He reaches the door before he even knows it, reaching for the handle to open it but it seems that Jeongin got to it first from inside the car. The door pops open, Jeongin's head of hair welcoming Seungmin inside.
"Hi Hyung." Jeongin smiles, his body stretched out as he held the door for Seungmin. "Hurry up, get in!"
Seungmin was falling. Bad. Still, he fought all of it and nodded his head as he slid into the car.
"Apologies for the wait." Seungmin says as he pulls on the seatbelt, buckling himself up.
"No worries." The chauffeur smiles. "Are you both ready to go?" He looks up at the rear view mirror again.
"Yes." Seungmin nods before looking at Jeongin. "Are you?"
"Yeah! Just let me—" Jeongin struggles with the seat belt, tugging at it but it never seems to stretch. "The seat belt—"
"Let me help." Seungmin doesn't even let Jeongin speak before he's stretching to reach over for the other side of the car, climbing over Jeongin and pulling at his seat belt for him before turning to look at Jeongin. "There we go. It's pretty broken so—"
Seungmin had completely forgotten how close he was to Jeongin.
Jeongin was right at his face. Well, more like Seungmin was in Jeongin's face. He was the one to be at fault, and now he was facing the consequences.
Seungmin could feel Jeongin's breath on his own lips, that was how close he was. And Jeongin was trying his hardest to hold it.
"U-Uh." Seungmin stutters, his eyes flickering down to Jeongin's lips. He wants to kiss Jeongin so badly that he was going to go insane if he didn't—
"—Ehm." Seungmin clears his throat again, looking up at Jeongin's eyes before giving him a shy nod, shifting himself back to his own seat. "Sorry."
"Mm." Jeongin hums in disagreement. "Not at all." He shakes his head.
Seungmin gulped down the lump of fluster in his throat. He tries to shake it off, the weird shiver down his spine, the bumps on his skin. The drop in his heart.
It was too early. Way too early.
Jeongin's existence was pulling at Seungmin's strings, tugging at him. Waiting for him to break. Seungmin didn't need it, didn't need Jeongin to be doing anything at all and Seungmin would still melt. He was just holding back.
Seungmin doesn't know anything about relationships. this was his first time. He read a book about it when he was young as a form of rebellion. Seungmin's parents always allowed him to do anything he wanted. There was nothing to rebel against.
The point is, Seungmin was trying his hardest. He didn't want his relationship with Jeongin to be an absolute mess, he needed it perfect. And to him, it seemed to be going well. Seungmin took Jeongin to a nice restaurant, they were talking consistently, happily. To top it off, Seungmin was always happy when he was with Jeongin.
And they had only been talking for two weeks! That was plenty long considering they aren't even dating officially yet, just going on dates. Romantically. Wait—Did those two mean the same thing?—
"Hyung." Jeongin called.
"Hm?" Seungmin replies, instantly snapping back to the car ride.
"I'm gonna change into my hoodie, if that's okay." Jeongin whispers. Pointing at the hoodie which he dug out of his bag.
"A-Ah.. Okay." Seungmin nods.
Seungmin didn't really know what to expect, honestly. Jeongin already told him that he was going to change into his hoodie, but Seungmin had completely forgotten that that also meant Jeongin would be taking off his uniform. In the car!
So when Jeongin started peeling off his school blazer, Seungmin was already sweating.
Jeongin was tugging at his shirt, completely ignoring the fact that Seungmin was next to him, the chauffeur barely batting an eye. Seungmin and Changbin must've done crazier shit in this car for the chauffeur to be ignorant towards a stripping passenger.
Speaking of Seungmin, Jeongin finally turned to look at him.
Seungmin tried his best not to look, he swear. He shut his eyes as hard as he could, but temptation got to him first. It wasn't Seungmin's fault.
Plus, Jeongin was doing this right next to him. Which meant that he had a lot of trust for Seungmin. At least that's what Seungmin thinks since that was what it meant to him.
He opened his eyes. Not instantly, obviously. Seungmin had some morals. He slowly peeled his eyes open and looked at Jeongin. A sliver of skin right in his direction, Seungmin managed to catch a glimpse of Jeongin's soft abs before his heart blew up. Instantly closing his eyes and looking away again. He hoped for Jeongin to hurry up and get his hoodie on instead of being so teasingly slow.
Jeongin saw him hesitate to look, Seungmin didn't know if it was respectful or not, if it was okay. Seungmin saw Changbin naked a hundred times and was disgusted every time yet when it's Jeongin taking off only his shirt, suddenly Seungmin's the most ripest tomato in Seoul and Busan.
Jeongin felt a smile naturally creeping up his lips, Seungmin was so unwillingly cute, Jeongin wanted to squeeze him until he exploded. Like a jelly packet, or a juice box. But he gripped onto his uniform even tighter instead.
Jeongin's pretty sure he met Seungmin's eyes mid-change, but Seungmin quickly looked away, pretending that he had his eyes closed the entire time, they were never opened. Seungmin never opened them. If he can't see them, they can't see him. Jeongin was so endeared, goodness. An exhale leaving his nose.
"Hyung, you can look you know?" Jeongin teases.
"It is alright." Seungmin shakes his head. "I had no intention on doing so." A lie.
"Whatever you say." Jeongin chuckles.
The painstakingly long time was finally over, Jeongin finally had his hoodie on and there was ten minutes left until they'd reach the restaurant.
Seungmin brought himself to lower his hands, opening his eyes. He fidgeted with his fingers in between his thighs, unable to think of a topic to talk about to break the new awkward silence.
But, that soon fades away when Jeongin clears his throat, his hand resting on the middle seat in between where they sat. His head turned to the side to face the window.
This was his chance!
Seungmin felt his eyes beam with anticipation, Seungmin was going to reach out. To hold Jeongin's hand. He wasn't going to waste this golden chance. It was perfect.
Seungmin shifted in his seat. Copying Jeongin's movements, he, too, lowers his hand down to the seat beside him.
Slowly, his fingers start to crawl towards Jeongin's hand, like a tarantula making it's way to a dark tunnel. Closer, closer. Seungmin lifted his index finger and got closer, one more time until he could feel Jeongin's knuckle.
Jeongin's hand was still stable—not hesitating, not even flinching. It was almost as if Jeongin had been waiting, like he did this on purpose.
Still, Seungmin's fingers moved closer. Little by little, he picked up Jeongin's middle finger, lifting it up and holding onto it with his index and thumb. Then, he effortlessly slid his whole hand towards Jeongin's.
Jeongin took Seungmin's initiative as his own, he let Seungmin move his hand however he wanted. But once Seungmin was close enough, Jeongin would open his hand and hold onto Seungmin's.
So here they were, hands held in the middle seat, fingers interlocked together. No voices heard, not a single conversation—But, Seungmin felt comfortable, and Jeongin felt safe.
They sat there in silence, peaceful silence, no longer the awkward quiet they had earlier.
There was five more minutes left before they'd reach the venue. As expected, they would arrive ten minutes early prior to the reservation.
Jeongin did actually ask Seungmin about where they were going for dinner this time around, but Seungmin was pretty good at hiding surprises, he told Jeongin that it was a secret, to wait until the car stopped and they got out.
Jeongin honestly couldn't wait, he was excited. Maybe Seungmin was going to take him to a sushi restaurant, or somewhere Japanese! Jeongin had been craving Japanese food all night, they talked about it over the phone the night before.
Perhaps that was where they were going. The chauffeur cut the same exact corner too! Right at the restaurants direction. Jeongin could even see the place right at where he sat. The neon sign, the fluorescent lights that peaked through the tinted glass windows. Jeongin was getting all excited just thinking of it.
But, it wasn't until the chauffeur drove past did Jeongin realise that they weren't going there. The chauffeur didn't even look at the Japanese restaurant, barely even acknowledging it. He wasn't even planning on stopping!
Now it just made Jeongin even more curious as to where they were going for dinner. Well, for what it was worth. It did feel better knowing that the previous date was at one of the most restaurants in the whole of Korea. No way it would be any more expensive than that, right?
Well, there was no point in asking now. They were already reaching.
"Young sirs, we have arrived." The chauffeur announces, looking over his shoulder to the two of them.
Impulsively, Jeongin panics and quickly lets go of Seungmin's hand, his cheeks instantly blossoming with blush. "T-Thank you." He stutters, fiddling for the seat belt, clicking the button to unbuckle the clasp.
Yet confidently, Seungmin reaches for Jeongin's hand again once he does the same thing, pulling Jeongin into his direction. "Thank you!" He says as he drags Jeongin out through his side of the car.
Seungmin still had his hand in Jeongin's even as they got out of the car, even as Jeongin processed the restaurant in front of them.
It was modern, looked pretty basic, nothing special. Really, really long name though.
"Gebangsikdang Nonhyeon?" Jeongin reads the name like a question.
Seungmin answers it with a nod, and a hum. "Mhm!" Excitement in his voice. He couldn't seem to hide that part about him,
Either way, he was already dragging Jeongin into the restaurant before Jeongin could say anything else.
He had a reservation, and it was always respectful to come earlier than the timing itself. Though it adds pressure on the waiters and waitresses to quickly clean the table, but that was their job after all. Just like how the chauffeur drives Seungmin around. Because that's his job.
"Under Kim." Seungmin says with a formal tone, Jeongin thinks he's just trying to seem all professional and silly. So he doesn't say anything.
They stand there for a few seconds as the lady at the counter swiftly glides a finger along the tablet, scrolling down the name list, tapping down at the one singular 'Kim'.
"For two, yes?" The lady doesn't even bother to look up, busy tapping out details, filling up the time of their arrival, ticking off boxes to prove people present.
"That is correct." Seungmin nods, his eyes looking away from the woman for one second just to turn to face Jeongin. Almost instantly, his facial features soften, eyes crinkling into a thin crescent, his lips a closed smile.
Jeongin mirrors it, a little more crooked. More tense, because Jeongin knows nothing about this place, never bothered to walk further into the alley that this restaurant hides in. Yet, the place required a reservation, and Jeongin took a peek as the lady scrolled around the name list. It was loaded with names. Must be a popular place, Jeongin couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Seungmin must've did some research.
The woman nods as she gestures her hand out, "Right this way." She says with a confident smile, looking back once to ensure that they are still following her.
Seungmin doesn't let go of Jeongin's hand, not even when there's tens of hundreds of eyes all looking at them. Jeongin feels a little.. insecure, about it.
Gay people aren't really welcomed in this city, Jeongin is aware. So he can't help but duck his head into his own neck.
Jeongin won't let these critics ruin his date, but he wants to hide away, to just run out and cower in a dark space.
He doesn't even hear the lady stop at their allocated table. Not until Seungmin calls for him.
"Jeongin?"
"Huh?" Jeongin's head shoots up, the deep thoughts in his head all fading away, the evil whispers all cleared from his ears,
"Everything okay in there?" Seungmin smiles, a reassuring warmth.
That was all it took for all of Jeongin's attention to be on Seungmin.
"Yeah." Jeongin sighed, a smile crawling up his lips. "Perfectly fine."
"That's good." A nod. "Shall we sit?"
Ah, that's right.
Their reserved table was right next to them, and even on their previous date Jeongin sat down first. Seungmin would always wait for him.
So he did, Jeongin sat down with his smile turned sheepish. Pulling his hoodie down to his lower half once he sits.
Seungmin follows next, sits down right across from him before handing over the menu.
Jeongin takes it with glee, he was starving after all. Plus, he couldn't wait to eat some—
The cheapest item on the menu was forty dollars.
Well, not as bad as the previous place they went to. But forty bucks for just a bowl of.. bibimbap? This was practically close enough to those outrageous prices he saw two days ago! Insane prices, did the rice come fresh from the fields itself? Did the chefs grow the vegetables themselves? Goodness. This was daylight robbery—Well, nightlight robbery.
Seungmin noticed the instant falter in Jeongin's face, his eyebrows furrowing. His lips pursed together, sealing shut. He had something to say, probably something egregious, but he just didn't want to. Did Jeongin think he was burdening Seungmin? That could never be the case.
"Jeongin, what's wrong?" Seungmin nudges at Jeongin's knuckles with his own, Jeongin's fists were gripped so tightly that the veins in his hands were popping. The laminated menu crimping between his fingers.
"It's nothing." Jeongin tries to feign a neutral reaction, but it doesn't work. Not when his voice is straining.
He had to tell the truth, he can't just lie to Seungmin already, they haven't even dated yet. At least not officially!
He clears his throat.
"Sorry, I lied—" Jeongin loosens his grip on the menu.
Seungmin hums, worry in his throat. "What is it?"
"Seungmin." Jeongin calls.
"Yes?" Seungmin feels sweat on his back.
"This is. Really expensive." Jeongin looks up at him.
Ah, so that was it.
Honestly, it reassured Seungmin knowing that that was what Jeongin was upset about.
But, looking down at the menu himself, the prices really weren't as bad as Jeongin claims they are. Did they have different menus?
"Jeongin." Seungmin smiles at him. "Don't worry about the price." He says nonetheless. "They're affordable. I can pay for it."
"A-Affordable?!" Jeongin's eyes blow wide. Oh hell nah, this shit was not affordable. His mind spoke first.
"Mhm." Seungmin nods his head. "Just order whatever you want, it barely even scratches my wallet." He laughs, trying to make the situation silly. "Maybe a mosquito bite, at most."
Real funny, except Jeongin wasn't laughing. Man, he really wished someone was tickling him right now because nothing about this situation is funny to Jeongin.
Still, Jeongin nodded his head and agreed to Seungmin's words, looking back at the menu and aiming to order the cheapest thing. Just like before.
Which was that bibimbap.
Forty dollars for a bowl of bibimbap. That bibimbap better have some beef freshly cut from the cow itself, and that said beef better be A5 wagyu.
Ordering it was a pain, Jeongin could feel a gunshot in his bank account, and he wasn't even the one paying. Kim Seungmin was a filthy rich man.
The most jaw-dropping part? Was watching Seungmin list down three food items. The raw soy-sauce marinated crab, abalone seaweed soup, and gambas. Kind of weird how there was gambas in a Korean food restaurant.
When the food came, Jeongin nearly cried at how expensive each plate looked. Maybe he'd actually cry after looking at the receipt.
Seungmin easily catches that thought out of his head though, a small, reassuring smile on his lips, his hand coming up to glide against Jeongin's knuckles before nodding at the food. "Don't worry about it." He says.
Jeongin gulps, hesitating before picking up a spoon to mix his bibimbap around.
Don't worry about the price. That was easy for Seungmin to say. Psh.
"So, how was your classes today?" Seungmin starts.
"Hm? It was okay, as always." Jeongin nods, "It's starting to get busy, though. Submission month's soon and all."
"Submission month?" Seungmin asks.
"Yeah, we don't have exams in uni, just a bunch of projects that we get by the start of the semester, but each semester's split into two. So, it's submission month next month for this first half." Jeongin takes a bite of his bibimbap, truthfully it was great, amazing, but was it worth forthy dollars? No.
"Ah.." Seungmin nods. It makes Jeongin look up, because usually he'd try to continue the conversation. Today he was putting in no effort at all.
Then he looked down onto Seungmin's hand which held a fork, he was picking up a piece of shrimp before looking up at Jeongin.
A shy look on his face, slow blinks and he's lifting up that said fork. And all of a sudden, Jeongin sees that said stabbed shrimp right in front of his face.
"Huh?" Jeongin was taken aback. His eyes slightly widening.
"Say ahh." Seungmin whispers, his lips pursing together. sucking in his cheek. Seungmin was shy.
Jeongin was going to explode, Seungmin was so… cute? For someone older than him. Usually, he'd never think that way of an older person, but Seungmin made that exception. Jeongin wants to squish his cheeks and take a nibble of the pushed up fat.
But he held that urge back, and opened his mouth for Seungmin to feed him. Just tease him a little more.
Did Seungmin think it would be that easy? Did he expect Jeongin to just take the bite of shrimp himself? No, if Seungmin started this, then he could finish it.
"Feed me it." Jeongin teased, a cheeky glint in his eyes.
"Uh—" Seungmin blinked. But he still did it, he wasn't going to give up so quickly, he can't show Jeongin that he was weak.
He stood slightly up, until he could feel a bend in his knees as he leaned over the table. Slowly, he brought the fork towards Jeongin's lips, feeding him the shrimp.
Kim Seungmin never expected that he would experience a romantic, sensational scenario with a piece of shrimp. Ever, in his life.
Anyways, he watched as the piece of shrimp slowly disappeared into Jeongin's mouth, as the boy sealed his lips around the fork.
Seungmin only looked at one thing.
Well, two options to guess which one it was.
One, the fork.
Two, Jeongin's lips—
Seungmin couldn't stop staring at Jeongin's lips.
The whole day he couldn't stop staring at them.
Just what did Seungmin want?
Jeongin must've noticed him staring for too long too, because he started to choke on the shrimp once Seungmin pulled the fork past his lips. Making Seungmin panic.
"A-Are you okay?" Seungmin quickly grabs for his cup of water, a hand even coming up below Jeongin's chin in case he needed to spit it out.
Jeongin took the glass, as he coughed, taking a big gulp of water and raising a hand up, forming a thumbs up as he wheezed. "'m—I'm okay."
"Goodness." Seungmin sighed in relief as he slouched against the seat.
The two of them looked at each other in silence for a good minute, processing whatever just happened before laughing about how ridiculous they were being.
"This is so stupid." Jeongin wiped a tear trapped in his eyelash.
"Mhm." Seungmin hid the lower half of his face with his hands.
"Let's just eat and hurry out of here." Jeongin picks up his spoon again.
They both came to the conclusion to just share everything, no feeding each other this time. That would just slow everything down, Jeongin wanted to get out of this restaurant, he'd rather laugh with tears in his eyes with Seungmin, alone.
Seungmin and Jeongin ended up going on two other dates within the next three weeks. Not as many as Seungmin would've wanted. But Jeongin was busy this month, he told him that time in the restaurant, so Seungmin would wait.
He would be patient for Jeongin, that was okay.
Seungmin felt happy seeing Jeongin whenever he could, he'd be happy to hear him on the phone, see his face on video call or whenever Jeongin would send him a short video of his face, smiling and waving at the camera before turning it over to show his laptop screen.
He was exceptionally happy being able to see Jeongin physically during the two dates. Jeongin even let him hold his hand, and on their latest date, Jeongin gave him a hug. Seungmin couldn't forget that moment, still feels the ghost of Jeongin's body on his skin.
But.. it was hard to ignore the small frown in Jeongin's eyebrows deepening as they went on more dates, Seungmin couldn't help but be a little fearful of the fact that Jeongin may have been losing feelings for him.
He tried to not think so much about it, but Jeongin was really bad at hiding his reaction. Still, Seungmin shook that thought away.
"Thank you for the meal." Jeongin nudged at Seungmin's shoulder with his own.
"It's nothing." Seungmin waves his hand dismissively.
"But.." Jeongin stops right outside the shop.
"Hm?" Seungmin stops a second late, turning around to face Jeongin.
If they were to get into a fully committed relationship, Jeongin should be honest with him. Right?
Jeongin can't just, pretend that Seungmin spending so much money on him on dates was okay to him.
He can't act like he didn't feel uncomfortable by it.
After all, it really was a lot of money. On just food! There was better things to spend his money on, come on.
"I have to tell you something." Jeongin looks at Seungmin.
"What is it?" Seungmin looks at him, worry in his eyes.
It can't be that bad, right?
"Seungmin, I don't think this is working out." Jeongin looks down at the ground.
Seungmin frowned, he was lost, confused.
He thought everything was going fine, perfect, even. Seungmin did what he saw on the internet, they didn't even have any disputes before.
"Wh—Can I ask why?" Seungmin asks.
Jeongin instantly looked up at Seungmin, his voice was choked up, Seungmin sounded like he wanted to cry.
"I—It's just." Jeongin wants to reach out, hold his face. But this wasn't the time, right? Jeongin initiated this, after all.
But Seungmin looked just as eager to hold onto Jeongin too, his hand clamped to a fist to refrain from holding Jeongin.
So, Jeongin opts for his hand instead, he reaches for Seungmin's fist, holding onto it, his thumb rubbing against Seungmin's knuckles.
"You spend a lot of money, Seungmin." Jeongin says. "It's not a bad thing. But, I can't catch up with that."
"I don't expect you to pay me back or anything." Seungmin shakes his head.
"That's not it." Jeongin lets out a soft chuckle. "I feel guilty. I like splitting a relationship into half. Like.." His other hand holds onto Seungmin's same fist, opening it up finger by finger before interlocking his fingers with Seungmin's. "You pay for dinner, and I pay for dessert and maybe like, the cab home?"
"But Jeongin." Seungmin pauses, "I already have a private chauffeur who drives you home all the time."
"You get what I mean." Jeongin swats at his arm playfully.
"I'm trying to." Seungmin says, and Jeongin knows he means that with his whole heart.
Jeongin feels so, so stupid. Seungmin was trying, doing everything he could while Jeongin was being ungrateful and even attempting to end their… whatevership?
"I'm really sorry I said that." Jeongin apologises.
"No." Seungmin's grip on Jeongin's hand tightens. "It's not your fault. I should've listened to what you wanted too instead of just what I wanted. I'll listen this time." He says, determined.
And Seungmin was right, but Jeongin just can't help that light wave of guilt. So all he could say was "You promise?"
"I promise." Seungmin nods. Confidently.
Jeongin believes that he truly will.
And so, he stays a little longer.