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When Jongho first meets Yeosang, he's not sure what to think. Both of them are very quiet and shy, leading to them not talking much at all. When Wooyoung joins the group, they somehow talk even less than they did before.
However, Wooyoung being around seems to bring out Yeosang's personality a bit more. Jongho gets to see the smallest glimpses of Yeosang's personality and after a while, he is very fond of the elder.
One of the first things Jongho learns about Yeosang, is that while he allows Wooyoung to cling to him, he isn't very fond of physical affection- something they have in common. He's seen Yeosang shy away from someone else's touch several times within the first few months they've known each other.
After they debut, it's almost as if the physical affection increases. The other members tend to play it up for the cameras, and while Jongho doesn't mind and has given them explicit permission to do so, it can still be draining.
A few months after their debut, Jongho finds himself craving quiet. It’s so rare that they get any time to themselves, and even then, most of the time they can still hear the other members making noise throughout their shared dorm.
Jongho drags his feet as he walks towards his shared bedroom with Mingi. He’s really hoping that Mingi is either not there, or that he leaves Jongho alone. He’s not sure he can handle much more chaos and noise after the long day he’s had.
Slowly pushing the door open, Jongho bites back a groan when he sees Mingi and Yunho giggling and play fighting on the bunk bed. He stares at them for a moment- the duo completely unaware of his presence- before rolling his eyes and quietly slinking back out of the room. When the door is shut, he swiftly turns around and walks back down the hall.
Jongho isn’t quite sure what his plan is now. Hongjoong is most likely at the studio again, meaning he could find some peace and quiet with Seonghwa- no, that wouldn’t work. If Jongho knows anything about Seonghwa, he knows that if he goes in there, the elder is going to start complaining about how much Hongjoong overworks himself and is never home.
Since Yunho is with Mingi, that leaves his room with San with one less person- but San is a cuddler, and Jongho doesn’t want affection right now. He just wants solitude.
That leaves two more options. Wooyoung and Yeosang’s room, or the living room.
Jongho ponders the thought for a second, diverting his path to grab a bottle of water from the kitchen as he thinks. The living room isn’t bad , it just means people could be coming in and out of the room at any moment, and that doesn’t sound appealing.
Wooyoung and Yeosang’s room, however...That option somehow sounds the best, despite the fact that Wooyoung is arguably one of the loudest members out of all of them. But Yeosang is quiet, so maybe that could balance things out…
Jongho mindlessly starts walking back down the hall, not really thinking about what he’s doing, and quickly finds himself outside of Wooyoung and Yeosang’s bedroom door. He stares at the wood for a moment, before realizing where he has ended up.
It wouldn’t hurt to at least see if he can get some peace and quiet with them, right? If they don’t want him to be there then he can just accept his fate and curl up on the couch with his headphones.
He tentatively knocks on the door, waiting patiently for someone to answer. He’s sure at least one of them is in the room, considering he saw their texts in the group chat about getting home early.
The door swings open, revealing Yeosang. The elder is in his pajamas, bareskin on display. They both stare at each other for a moment, before Yeosang finally speaks.
“Hey,” Yeosang greets, shifting to lean against the doorframe. Jongho tracks the movement subconsciously, mind drifting. “Did you need something?” Yeosang asks after a moment, and Jongho sputters as he realizes he was staring .
“Oh- um,” Jongho blinks dumbly at the other, before- “Is Wooyoung-hyung here?” Jongho blurts out, and he cringes as he sees a look of surprise flash across Yeosang’s face.
“No, he’s with Sannie I think,” Yeosang informs, raising an eyebrow curiously. “Did you need to talk to him?” He asks, and Jongho quickly shakes his head.
“Uh, no.” He replies intelligently. “I was looking for some peace and quiet…” Jongho admits quietly, only to jump in surprise when Yeosang bursts into laughter.
“You came here, asking for Wooyoung, and then say you were looking for peace and quiet? You realize Wooyoung is the loudest person we know, right?” Yeosang giggles, and Jongho can’t help but laugh with him. He’s right, Jongho does sound silly.
“Well, since he’s not here…Could I hang with you for a bit? Mingi and Yunho are occupying our room…” Jongho asks nervously, and Yeosang looks at him with an understanding expression.
“Come on in. I was just scrolling on my phone,” Yeosang moves out of the doorway, motioning for Jongho to enter. He immediately shuffles into the room, nervously fiddling with the hem of his shirt as he watches Yeosang close the door and climb into his bed. “You can either lay next to me or on Wooyoung’s bed- but I’ll be honest, I don’t know how long it’s been since he changed his sheets.”
The thought of laying next to Yeosang, despite not wanting to be touched, makes Jongho feel hot. His cheeks turn pink just at the idea, and he looks at Wooyoung’s bed warily. For a moment, he debates on if it’s really worth it to lay on Wooyoung’s bed, just to not be close to Yeosang- and realizes he'd much rather lay with Yeosang, in his clean bed.
“Um…I don’t know what Wooyoung gets up to here, but I’d rather not find out,” Jongho mumbles shyly. Yeosang nods in understanding, scooting over so Jongho can climb in next to him. They make sure there is some space between them- despite being in a small bed- and Jongho finally feels himself relax when Yeosang doesn’t continue to try and talk to him.
It’s peaceful, and Jongho finally feels like he can recharge now that he’s not around so many people. He may not ever get proper time alone, but he thinks time alone with Yeosang will be just as good, if not better.
-
The months fly by, and slowly but surely Yeosang and Jongho get closer. With how often they’re together for schedules, it’s hard for them to not learn about each other. Jongho finds himself starting to settle in with the rest of his group members and finding his footing as they navigate their new status as idols.
Jongho hanging out with Yeosang when everything is a little too much becomes a normal thing between them. All it takes is one knock on Yeosang and Wooyoung’s bedroom door, and Jongho is wordlessly let inside. They never feel the need to talk about things, or do much together- they have a quiet, calm understanding of each other that Jongho doesn’t quite get with anyone else in their group.
He loves his members, he really does- they’re all family to him at this point. Seonghwa and Hongjoong make sure that he’s taken care of and doesn’t need anything, always make sure he’s eating properly and not pushing himself too far. Yunho always does his best to subtly take care of Jongho without being too overbearing- whether it’s making him laugh or giving him snacks. Mingi likes to mess around with Jongho, their dynamic is always playful and fun, and it’s the same with Wooyoung. San is quiet a lot of the time, but he does have his own playful side, and he loves to cuddle up to Jongho even when he grumbles about it.
Yeosang, however…There’s just something different about their dynamic. There isn’t a need for playful banter or lots of energy like the others- instead, there’s a simple, unspoken understanding that they can just be themselves . They don’t have to be Yeosang and Jongho from ATEEZ, they can just be Kang Yeosang and Choi Jongho.
And Jongho needs that, more than he thought he would. He knew being an idol wouldn’t be easy, that it would be a struggle and lots of work, but he didn’t know how much he needed this kind of understanding- the specific kind he seems to only have with Yeosang.
They don’t even have to communicate anything out loud most of the time. One look to each other says everything they need to know, and it quickly becomes an important staple in Jongho’s life.
“We need to talk about pairings,” Hongjoong announces, flopping down onto the couch next to Seonghwa. Jongho groans, tilting his head back against the wall as he looks at the rest of the group.
KQ has brought up the idea of units together- they think that if they put the members in units of two, that will help with popularity- shipping them together sells , and KQ is pressuring them to decide on what units they would like.
Jongho hates it. He doesn’t like being affectionate with anyone, really. He tolerates it from his members, and that’s about it- meaning he is not looking forward to this conversation.
“Oh, you mean our ships?” Wooyoung says, wiggling his eyebrows teasingly. Hongjoong rolls his eyes at the comment, but doesn’t deny the wording.
“I wanna be with Yunho,” Mingi vocalizes almost immediately, and Jongho isn’t surprised in the slightest. Yunho and Mingi are inseparable, they’re always attached at the hip no matter what they’re doing.
“Okay, so Yunho and Mingi…” Hongjoong types something onto his phone- presumably the information- and pauses. “So…Minho…No…” Hongjoong chews on his bottom lip as he thinks, until Seonghwa scolds him and makes him stop it. Yunho and Mingi whisper to each other, before-
“Yungi!” They shout together, and Jongho can’t help but roll his eyes playfully. They’re so enthusiastic about this whole thing. He wishes he could be a fraction of how excited they are.
“Yungi it is,” Hongjoong mumbles, writing it down. He looks up at the others, raising an eyebrow curiously. “Who's next?” He asks, impatiently tapping his fingers against his thigh.
They talk about the others for a while, steadily going back and forth until they decide on pairing Wooyoung and San together- which once again doesn’t really surprise Jongho- leaving four members to be decided on.
“I’d like to be with Hongjoong,” Seonghwa confesses, his voice quiet and timid. Jongho watches with amusement as Hongjoong’s eyebrows shoot up, before he schools his expression and shrugs in agreement. Jongho giggles, thinking they’ll be a good match.
It’s only when he catches Yeosang eye that he realizes this means they will be paired together. It makes his heart do something funny in his chest, and his cheeks turn a light pink as he makes the realization.
“What do you think about Seongjoong?” Hongjoong asks, tilting his head curiously. Seonghwa seems to ponder it for a second, before nodding in agreement. Hongjoong writes it down, before glancing between Yeosang and Jongho.
Maybe if it was with anyone else, Jongho would be annoyed or upset that he is one of the last picks- that would mean nobody wanted to be in a unit with him- but since it’s Yeosang , Jongho can’t find it in himself to be annoyed or hurt.
“Yeosang and Jongho?” Hongjoong prompts, tapping his foot against the floor as he waits for their input. Jongho swallows nervously, glancing over to Yeosang who seems to be thinking about it.
“What about Jjongsang?” Yeosang finally speaks up, and mutters of agreement sound throughout the room.
“Jjongsang,” Jongho repeats, testing how the syllables feel coming from his mouth. Surprisingly, he likes it, and his heart does that funny feeling again.
He steadily pushes the feeling down, turning his attention back to the conversation in front of him.
Jjongsang.
-
Time continues to fly by, and soon enough, they’ve won their first award as a group. All of them are bawling- everyone except Mingi, who happily bounces around on stage around them. Jongho feels so thankful for his members, and even his company, for getting him this far. It’s a big deal to win their first award, especially since they’re from a small company, and not one of the big three.
He swears just yesterday they were moving into their dorm together, eating cheap ramen to celebrate and drinking from plastic cups because they didn’t have proper cups yet.
They stumble back into their dorm, cheering as Hongjoong proudly sets their award on a shelf. Jongho watches as a few of the members start to tear up again. His eyes find their way over to Yeosang, who stands next to him, and his heart melts when he sees the others watery eyes.
Without thinking, Jongho silently puts his hand out and nudges Yeosang’s arm. The other turns to him with a confused look, before looking down at their hands. He hesitates for a moment, before silently intertwining their fingers and giving Jongho’s hand a squeeze.
Jongho smiles, gums and teeth on display, and squeezes Yeosang’s hand back.
They did it.
-
The affection between Jongho and Yeosang continues to grow. They still don’t touch each other a lot, as they prefer their quiet evenings existing next to each other- but sometimes, if one of them is particularly upset or drained, they’ll hold hands in silent support.
Jongho quickly finds that holding hands with Yeosang is something he thoroughly enjoys- not because he has any feelings towards Yeosang, more so because it’s so grounding and relaxing. Yeosang never over-stimulates him or pushes him. He seems to understand what Jongho needs without even being told.
They’re sitting in Yeosang’s bed one night, watching their last dance practice to talk about what they need to work on. They hold hands as they discuss a particular move Jongho is stuck on, when the door flies open.
Wooyoung interrupting them isn’t an unusual thing- this is his bedroom too, afterall. Walking in on them holding hands, however, is new.
“Yah!” Wooyoung exclaims, and Yeosang flinches next to him before glaring at Wooyoung. The other holds his hands up in defense, before his eyes fall onto their intertwined hands. “Are you holding hands ?” Wooyoung asks, baffled, and Jongho gasps at the words. He pulls his hand back, shoving it underneath the blanket as his cheeks turn a bright red.
“Mind your business,” Yeosang huffs, pausing the video they were watching. “You’re sucking face with San all the time, hand holding isn’t that big of a deal.” Yeosang quips, and Wooyoung gasps dramatically. Jongho, however, looks between them with confusion.
“What?” Jongho asks, and Wooyoung rolls his eyes as Yeosang opens his mouth.
“They’re keeping it a secret or whatever, but it’s not much of a secret when you’re keeping me awake with your…Noises,” Yeosang grumbles, crossing his arms as he glares at his best friend. Wooyoung scoffs, rolling his eyes before grabbing his blanket and pillow.
“Whatever, I’m going to sleep with San-ah.” Wooyoung huffs, and Yeosang giggles.
“Tell Yunho I said good luck,” Yeosang mutters, barely biting back a smile. Jongho’s heart flutters at the sight, and he belatedly tells his body to calm down. Yeosang is just…Being Yeosang.
Wooyoung throws a pillow at them, making Jongho and Yeosang giggle as they easily dodge it. The door slams behind Wooyoung as he leaves, and Jongho and Yeosang are left giggling and clinging to each other.
-
Soon after Wooyoung finds them holding hands, the teasing begins. Jongho and Yeosang can’t go a few hours without one of the other members teasing them about how ‘they’re so whipped for each other but don’t see it’ or how they’re ‘yearning’ for each other. Even Hongjoong shoots them knowing looks, but the thing is, Jongho doesn’t have a crush on Yeosang.
Does he like Yeosang? Yes, in a friendly, platonic way. He doesn’t want to kiss Yeosang, that’s for sure. He would never do that, and he’s sure Yeosang doesn’t want to kiss him either. So the teasing is over nothing . God forbid friends hold hands and lay in bed together.
It’s all in good fun, and Jongho finds himself not minding the teasing as much as he would if it was with someone else. If Wooyoung had started saying Jongho had a crush on Mingi or something, he would immediately be irritated and snippity, but with Yeosang, he doesn’t mind at all.
And somehow, despite Wooyoung not saying it publicly, the fans start to catch on. They start talking about how Jjongsang is an underrated ship, how people don’t pay enough attention to them to see the quiet devotion they have towards each other. They start to pick up on how Jongho and Yeosang seem to understand each other without even speaking, and honestly, it scares Jongho a little bit.
What was a peaceful, relaxing thing, suddenly becomes a bit worrying. Is he showing too much, being too affectionate with Yeosang in public? Is it too obvious that they have a deeper understanding of each other?
Then again, fans will literally pick apart everything they do- he distinctly remembers one time Jongho grabbed Mingi’s necklace while they were posing for pictures, and how fans went crazy over it. ‘Jjonggi’ was a popular topic for a while , and all he did was grab the necklace around Mingi’s neck. He didn’t even touch the other, and yet fans went crazy.
So, maybe it’s not so bad that fans notice Jongho and Yeosang have gotten closer. It’s been a few years after their debut, so of course they are going to be much closer than when they first met.
After a while though, Jongho starts playing into it a bit. He would never openly admit it, but he likes the attention, when ATINY focuses on Jongho and Yeosang’s relationship. It should feel intrusive, like an invasion of privacy, but he finds it sends a thrill through him.
The touches in front of cameras and fans start out small. They’ve always been very subtle when they’re not at the dorms, but now, Jongho doesn’t mind wrapping his arms around Yeosang. He wants everyone to see.
Jongho doesn’t think about it, on why he enjoys it so much. The only thing that matters to him, is that he gets to spend time with Yeosang and have fun- that he gets to perform with his closest friends, the most important people in his life.
“Alright, teams of two. Flip the cards over and whoever has the most cards with their color flipped wins,” The host explains, and Jongho nods. He gets paired with Yeosang, to his delight, and they both watch as the others go before them. It’s amusing, watching all of the main ships fight each other, and soon enough, it’s Jongho and Yeosang’s turn.
As soon as the game starts, Jongho has his strategy. He leans forward against the table, quickly flipping over cards to his color, and when Yeosang is focused on flipping his own, Jongho grabs Yeosang’s arms and lifts him up onto his shoulders. The elder giggles, stretching his arms out and leaning forward more to reach better, and continues to play.
One thing Jongho didn’t account for in his plan, though, is the feeling of Yeosang’s body against his own. It was easy to lift Yeosang up, and the elder just let him. He didn’t even protest, he just accepted his fate on top of Jongho’s shoulders, and that sends a wave of… something , through him. He can’t quite identify the emotion it evokes, but it’s entirely unfamiliar.
He tries to turn his brain off, instead focusing on winning the game in front of him- he’s still Jongho, after all. He’s competitive.
However, being competitive isn’t enough to stop his mind from drifting. He can’t stop thinking about how warm Yeosang feels against him, how it feels natural to touch him like this.
Soon enough the whistle sounds and the game is over. Jongho carefully puts Yeosang back down onto the ground, completely missing how the elders' cheeks are tinted pink. The host starts to count their cards, but Jongho’s mind is elsewhere.
He’s too busy missing the feeling of Yeosang against him, and too busy trying to figure out what he’s feeling and why .
Why does he like touching Yeosang so much?
-
After the game, Jongho becomes more bold. On one hand, he doesn’t know what these strange feelings towards Yeosang are, but on the other hand, he doesn’t really care. All he knows is he needs to have more physical contact with Yeosang.
It makes the fans happy, anyway. Jongho has seen the videos and posts about them online, how a lot of ATINY have started making compilation videos of them. So why would he stop when not only he enjoys it, but the fans do too?
Jongho giggles, watching the other members run around on stage and mess around. The fans are cheering, loud as ever, and Jongho feels truly at peace. The stage feels like his home, like he was meant to be there. He gets a bit sidetracked as he stares at the sea of lightinys in the crowd, before noticing Yeosang running towards him.
He smiles at the other, raising an eyebrow curiously as Yeosang runs up to him and starts dancing to the song. Jongho giggles and follows along, swiftly moving to Dancing Like Butterfly Wings. They smile at each other as they dance and move, eyes bright and happy.
After a minute, Yeosang stops dancing and instead winks at Jongho before twirling around him, running his hand down Jongho’s arm. Jongho blinks at him dumbly, before remembering they have thousands of eyes on them. He giggles and spins around Yeosang as well, both of them falling into their own little trance.
Concerts are always fun, he’s always enjoyed them, especially when Yeosang and him fall into their own little world. Everything fades out around them as they dance and giggle together, and when Jongho’s lines come up he fumbles with the microphone. He hurriedly scrambles to sing, Yeosang giggling at him the entire time.
As Jongho starts to sing, Yeosang shoots him one last wink before darting off to the other side of the stage. Jongho finishes singing his lines, the next member taking their turn, and he watches fondly as Yeosang dances in front of the fans who are a bit further away from the main stage.
That’s one thing Jongho has always admired about him, his dedication to giving attention to all ATINY, not just the ones directly in front of the main stage. Jongho’s heart flutters, and he quickly shoves the feeling down as he runs over to Mingi and pokes him.
Despite trying to distract himself, however, he can’t keep his eyes off of Yeosang the rest of the night.
-
To Jongho’s surprise, he continues to seek out physical contact with Yeosang. It confuses him, on why he craves it so much, and sometimes, worries he’s being too much for Yeosang. The elder, however, seems to have no complaints about the drastic increase in physical affection.
Jongho’s mind has been scrambled lately. He doesn’t have time to sit down and figure out what’s going on in his head, why he feels this way. He’s too busy with practice and concerts, too busy with keeping up appearances to take a step back and figure himself out.
Everytime Yeosang touches him, whether it’s him initiating or Jongho, heat creeps up Jonghos cheeks. He feels an odd feeling in his chest- a sensation he can’t name- and quickly has to shove the feeling down. He can’t be distracted, he has to focus on his job .
Jongho sits on the couch as he watches the members get ready for filming. They’re shooting WANTEEZ today, in a small studio with a white couch and a few chairs. There is a TV in front of them, meaning they will most likely be using it during shooting today. He’s not quite sure what they’re doing today- he thinks he remembers Yunho and Mingi excitedly talking about playing games, but can’t be too sure.
He’s zoned out as everyone moves around him, only to be pulled out of his daze as someone plops onto his lap. Jongho blinks at the person, before realizing that Yeosang sat on his lap. A smile instantly appears on his face, and he resists grabbing the elder and pulling him closer.
The moment is over just as quickly as it started though, because soon enough, Mingi is holding up a colorful clapperboard to signify they’re starting to film. Jongho watches longingly as Yeosang stands back up, moving next to him instead of on top of him.
Jongho takes a deep, steadying breath and forces himself to focus on filming, even as his mind wanders back to Yeosang.
-
Filming their valentines day special is a whirlwind of excitement. Their fans have no idea what they’re filming- or rather, that they’re filming anything at all- and that somehow makes it even more fun to film.
The concept is essentially, four members are put into a blind date with each other, while the other four are in a room somewhere, giving them instructions through their earbuds. It’s pretty simple in theory, but knowing his group, it’s going to be nothing but chaos.
“Okay…Hongjoong, Jongho, Mingi and Yeosang are up first.” The director says, and Jongho barely keeps his face neutral as he hears Yeosang is going to be paired with him- well, not exactly paired , but they will be in the same group together at the very least.
Hongjoong walks over to the couch first, Jongho following behind. They sit down on the first couch, next to each other, and wait for the other two to arrive. It doesn’t take very long before Mingi and Yeosang walk onto set, bowing and holding out their hands in greeting. Jongho stands up, along with Hongjoong, and shakes Mingi’s hand. He moves to shake Yeosang’s hand, and just as their palms touch Yeosang jerks his arm backwards, shaking his hand off.
“Why did you touch my hand?” Yeosang blurts awkwardly, his words a bit jumbled, and Jongho barely holds back a giggle at the sight. “Did you wash your hands?” Yeosang asks, his lisp coming through a bit, and Jongho blinks at him dumbly. “Actually, I didn’t wash my hands,” Yeosang fumbles through the words, and Jongho hums and sits back down.
“The 89’ liner big bro should buy us a drink,” Mingi says, and Jongho raises an eyebrow at him and fumbles to reply. He doesn’t even know how to respond, too thrown off by the comment to say much.
“Ah, so on our first meeting…” Jongho trails off, trying to find something to say, and Mingi smiles at him.
“This is how we bond,” Mingi explains, and Jongho hums in understanding. He leans forward and gently slaps Mingi on the arm, before leaning back in his seat, only for Mingi to lean forward and smack him harder. Of course, Jongho has to retaliate, and he leans back over and slaps Mingi’s arm twice.
They all giggle, laughing together at the behavior, when Yeosang suddenly straightens up. Jongho watches him curiously, wondering what the others are telling him to do. He looks defeated, and it only makes Jongho’s curiosity spike.
“How come I don’t get a slap?” Yeosang asks, barely holding back a giggle. Jongho bursts into laughter, leaning over as he giggles, unable to stop himself. When he finally catches his breath, he sits back up and brushes his bangs out of his eyes, only to see Yeosang lift his legs and slap his feet together. “Waiter!” He calls out, and Jongho looks at him, dumbfounded.
He knows that Yeosang is only listening to what he’s told, and following through with directions, but god, he’s so cute. Jongho can’t help the strong feeling of fondness that shoots through him as he watches Yeosang.
The rest of their blind date goes smoothly, filled with laughter and chaos, and soon enough, they’re nearing the end of the shoot. They all pile onto the couch and floor together, waiting for further instructions.
“Lastly, we gathered our blind date partners and gave them points. The member with the lowest points will have to suffer a small price.” The director explains, and Jongho watches nervously. He doesn’t know what the punishment would be, but hopefully it isn’t too bad- or hopefully he doesn’t have the least amount of points.
Jongho listens as they announce their rankings, eagerly waiting for his turn. Thankfully, he gets fourth, meaning he won’t be punished- and not that he was keeping track, but Yeosang gets sixth, meaning he won’t be punished either.
Hongjoong ends up in last place, and the members laugh and clap as Hongjoong tries to defend his honor, complaining the entire way.
“For the member with the lowest points, they will have to give kisses on the other seven members' cheeks.” The director announces, and the entire room erupts in cheers and claps. Hongjoong groans from his spot on the couch, and Jongho can’t help but giggle at their captain's misfortune.
Hongjoong starts with the member with the lowest points and goes up, starting with Mingi. After that, it’s Yeosang’s turn, and as Hongjoong’s lips touch Yeosang’s cheek, an odd feeling rushes through him.
It takes Jongho a moment to pinpoint what he’s feeling. He zones out for a moment, belatedly watching Hongjoong kiss San, and realizes- he's jealous .
He’s pulled out of his spiral when Hongjoong approaches him, and Jongho immediately groans and cringes as Hongjoong puts his face near his cheek. The kiss is over quickly, barely a peck, but Jongho grumbles and complains the entire way. Hongjoong leaves him, and he immediately falls back into his head again.
There’s no reason he should be jealous. Yeosang and him are only friends, and he doesn’t have feelings for the elder. He’s reminded himself of this fact countless times, and yet, the jealousy still lingers. It’s a new feeling, something ugly that crawls up his chest.
Even as the shoot ends and they head back to the dorms, he can’t take his mind off of it, can’t get rid of this feeling . The moment plays over and over in his head, Jongho repeatedly plays the moment over in his head, Hongjoong kissing Yeosang on the cheek, and everytime it just makes him feel worse.
As he climbs into bed and closes his eyes, the only thing he can think about is Yeosang.
-
Fansigns are always fun, something that all of the members enjoy and look forward to- however, today, Jongho is a little more on edge. He’s feeling jealous again, and he still hasn’t quite figured out how to cope with it- or what it means . He doesn’t know why he’s so jealous when the other members kiss Yeosang on the cheek or ‘flirt’ with him- aka, doing fanservice- but it’s kind of driving Jongho crazy.
He’s used to them being all over Yeosang- especially Wooyoung and San, those two love hugging, cuddling and kissing Yeosang, but now its different .
A switch has been flipped in Jongho, and now he’s jealous for literally no reason. Are friends even supposed to get jealous of each other?
Jongho doesn’t know, but regardless, today is already off to a rough start. He’s not in a horrible mood, but he is watching Yeosang and the other members like a hawk as they walk around on their little platform and mess around with each other.
Currently, Yeosang is running around with Yunho, giggling as they poke at each other and goof around. On a normal day, Jongho would be smiling at them fondly, but today, he’s wishing he was the one with Yeosang instead.
Jongho shakes his head, pushing the thought away as he walks up to Mingi and Yunho. The duo are putting animal headbands onto each other, and they immediately point to the table next to them as he walks up. He moves over to the table, scanning the items before grabbing an umbrella.
He holds it in his hands, twirling it around and pointing it towards the audience, who cheer as he pays attention to them. Jongho swings the umbrella around, mindlessly looking around the platform.
To his delight, Yeosang skips over to him, a small, fake crown adorned on his head. Jongho beams at him, moving closer to him with a smile. He’s not sure where the thought comes from, it’s completely unlike him, but Jongho gets an idea. A devious idea, one that will get fans talking about them.
Jongho firmly wraps his hand around the back of Yeosang’s throat, watching as the other looks at him with curious eyes. He quickly pulls Yeosang closer, cleverly dipping the umbrella down to cover their faces. He tilts his head, moving so their lips are centimeters apart, and then swiftly pulls back and lifts the umbrella back up.
Yeosang blinks at him dumbly, surprised by Jongho’s action, and the youngest mentally cheers. He has Yeosang’s attention now, and he can’t help but smile brightly and giggle.
Hopefully, the fans take it as him being mischievous. He knows some of them will use this clip as a reason they’re dating or whatever, but that doesn’t matter. Jongho is perfectly okay with that. He’d much rather have fans think they’re dating than have them think Yeosang is with anyone else.
The rest of the fansign goes by smoothly, with Jongho feeling a lot better after the umbrella stunt he pulled.
They make it back to the dorms, most of the members arguing over who is going to shower first. For once, Jongho doesn’t care about showering first, and instead moves to his room with Yeosang and Wooyoung. He flops down onto his bed with a yawn, and closes his eyes as he thinks over today.
He can’t help but think back to how close his lips were to Yeosang’s. How it sent a thrill through him, his heart fluttering in his chest as he pretended to kiss Yeosang behind that umbrella.
And suddenly, everything clicks into place- Jongho does have a crush on Yeosang. The realization washes over him like a bucket of water has been dumped on him, making him snap his eyes open and stare at the ceiling.
The constant craving for physical affection, the jealousy, the need for people to ship them together, it’s all because he has feelings for Yeosang. Wooyoung wasn’t wrong when he teased him about having a crush on Yeosang, after all these years. The quiet, simple understanding they have of each other has only added to his feelings, and now, Jongho realizes that he wants to date Yeosang.
The feelings have built up for so long, and somehow Jongho missed all of the signs completely- there’s just a slight problem, though…
Does Yeosang even like him back?
Jongho thinks back to all of their late night hangouts, all of the times they’ve cuddled or held hands. He thinks about how Yeosang looks at him, how easily the elder lets him touch and manhandle him, and he feels a small flicker of hope.
For now, Jongho just needs to figure out what he really wants. Despite his feelings, there are many complications to dating Yeosang. They’re idols, and that complicates things.
Jongho falls asleep thinking of all of the possibilities that could happen, his mind filled with Yeosang .
-
Jongho watches as Yeosang enters their shared bedroom, raising his eyebrows curiously when Yeosang locks the door behind him. He goes to speak, only to be cut off by Yeosang.
“Why did you pretend to kiss me on stage?” Yeosang asks bluntly, and Jongho’s mind screeches to a halt. The elder sounds annoyed, and Jongho wonders distantly if he fucked up.
“Are you mad?” Jongho asks carefully, and Yeosang scoffs at him. Jongho’s heart drops, anxiety spiking. “Does it matter why I did it? I just-” Jongho fumbles, eyes darting around Yeosang’s face to try and understand how the elder feels. It’s useless, however. Yeosang shows practically no emotion in his facial expressions, and Jongho is scrambling for some kind of answer besides the truth .
“It does matter,” Yeosang replies, his face devoid of emotion. Jongho’s brows furrow and he stands up, moving over to Yeosang. He stares into the elders eyes for a moment, searching for anything to go off of, and belatedly realizes it would be best to tell the truth.
“I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable, I-” Jongho gulps, pulling his eyes away from Yeosang. He fiddles with the hem of his shirt, trying to find the right words.
With one swift movement, Yeosang crowds closer to Jongho. He traps the younger one between him and the wall, and Jongho gasps in surprise but makes no move to push him away.
“It matters, Jongho.” Yeosang replies, his expressionless facade starting to crack. “It matters because…” Yeosang swallows nervously, bringing his hand up to caress Jongho’s cheek. Jongho blinks at him dumbly, breath hitching as he waits for Yeosang to continue. “I wanted it to be real,” Yeosang confesses, and Jongho’s entire world tilts on its axis.
Yeosang wants to kiss him.
As he processes the words, it feels like Jongho has been punched in the gut. It takes his breath away, the confession making him dizzy as his heart flutters happily in his chest. Jongho glances down at Yeosang’s lips, as if trying to silently communicate he wants the same.
Unsurprisingly, after years of simple understanding and easy, silent communication, Yeosang understands what Jongho wants. The elder’s hand moves to the collar of Jongho’s shirt and yanks him forward, smashing their lips together in a kiss.
As soon as their mouths connect, Jongho melts into Yeosang’s embrace. He’s never found kissing to be appealing, but now that he knows what it’s like to kiss Yeosang, he doesn’t think he will ever want to separate. Their lips slot together easily, as if they were made for each other, and Jongho can’t help but reach up and wrap his arms around Yeosang’s shoulders. He pulls Yeosang even closer, happily sighing into the kiss.
It seems like they spend an eternity kissing each other, both of them unwilling to pull away. They’re drawn together like magnets, unable to seperate.
Finally, after a while, Jongho pulls away. He breathes heavily, staring into Yeosang’s eyes as he processes everything that has happened.
“Be my boyfriend?” Jongho asks breathily, and Yeosang’s face lights up at the question. He nods eagerly, before lurching forward and placing a gentle kiss on Jongho’s lips. The younger hums, kissing back before they detach once again.
“Only if you’ll be mine,” Yeosang quips with a timid smile, and Jongho nods excitedly. They stare at each other for a moment, before Yeosang picks Jongho up and tosses him onto the bed. Jongho yelps, giggling as his back hits the mattress, and squirms as Yeosang bends down.
Yeosang smirks at him deviously, and Jongho stares at him with a confused expression. It only takes a moment before Yeosang bends down, climbing over Yeosang and frantically peppering kisses all over his face. Jongho yelps, giggling, and tries to push the elder away.
“Yah! Stop-” Jongho giggles, squirming happily as Yeosang covers his entire face with frantic kisses. He swiftly pushes Yeosang off of him and leaps out of bed, rushing to the door. He unlocks it and opens it, running into the hallway as he tries to get away.
“Get back here, I’m not done with you!”
Yeah, Jongho could get used to this.