Work Text:
He wakes up to the sound of quiet singing. It’s a lot quieter than most days, he notices. It always sounds sweet and filled with hope though. He listens carefully to try to make out the words.
Everything around you is in slow mode
Everything is quiet
My worries blow up
Leave it all to the wind
Now I'll do it yeah
Even in a noisy city ye ye ye
Do whatever you want ye ye ye
Sit in the sunshine and close your eyes
Look at me for a second
Ah, it’s that song.
He can’t help the loud sigh that slips out of his mouth, suddenly feeling a hole in his chest. He knows it’s normal and that not much time has passed but he sure wishes he could change the past, that way Eunbi wouldn’t have it so hard.
She doesn’t deserve any of this.
She’s a great kid, very smart, creative and pretty easy going and carefree for a five-year-old. Although her personality has changed and she’s quieter, more shy now, she’s still a great kid.
The sweet voice stops and Jisung knows that’s his cue for getting out of bed and heading to the room where the singing was coming from. He opens the curtains in his room to let in the little light the gloomy day allows and opens his window to ventilate the room. He quietly makes his way out of the room and as he passes the little white frame on the wall with the person he misses the most right now, he sighs again, this time with a lump in his throat.
As he walks through the corridor that connects all the rooms in this apartment, he tries to shake off the sadness that has taken home in his chest and straightens his back. He stands in front of a beige door with little daisies painted on it and knocks three times.
“Come in.” A voice says not so quietly this time, not as quiet as the singing.
Jisung walks in and smiles at the little girl sitting by the window, she smiles back and makes grabby hands at him. Jisung sweeps her off her feet and spins her around, his grip tightening little by little.
“Daddy stoooop you’re gonna make me dizzy!!” She squeaks and Jisung is oh so happy to have made her smile.
“Okay, okay princess!! I’m sorry!” He puts her daughter on the ground again and goes to the window to open it a little.
“Are you gonna help me make the bed today like you promised last night?” Jisung raises an amused eyebrow doubting the answer will be an affirmative.
“Of course!! It’s not nice to break promises, is it daddy?” Her starry eyes look into his own with overflowing sincerity and Jisung is honestly a bit surprised at her words. Eunbi has always been a smart kid as he stated earlier, but everytime she hits him with these types of sentences they still manage to surprise him in the best way possible. How is his daughter this smart? She definitely gets it from her mom.
“You’re such a good girl, did you know that?”
And just like that they get to work, her little arms trying to lift the covers as high as they let her and Jisung giggles a little when she fails. After they successfully make the bed, they go hand in hand to the kitchen so Jisung can make them breakfast. It’s a Thursday and they can’t be late to school, so as Jisung takes a glance at the kitchen clock that reads 7:05 am he opens the fridge and decides that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich will have to do this morning. Eunbi is already sitting on her designated stool when Jisung takes out everything he needs. He makes the sandwich as fast as he can and gives it to her. He also starts packing her snacks for the day, some whole-grain crackers, a box of orange juice and sliced apples. Since she gets off school early today to go to her hip hop classes she’s going to have lunch with Jisung at home.
“Are you almost done, bub? We still need to get you dressed and brush your teeth.” Jisung looks at her and sees that she’s almost finished.
“Mhm!!! Just need a bit more water please!” Jisung does as asked and when she’s finished they both go to the bathroom quickly. He passes her her toothbrush with some toothpaste on it and leaves the bathroom to put on his outfit for the day. When he comes back—and with Eunbi’s outfit in his hands—she’s ready to change. They often like to pick her outfits the night before just in case something happens in the morning or in case Jisung doesn’t wake up on time, it’s happened on more than one occasion so they don’t like to risk it anymore.
She’s wearing a light blue sweater and dark pants as the weather is a little cold today. Eunbi asks him to do her signature pigtails and after getting her backpack from her room they pack everything she needs and they head out the door.
Jisung drops her off and they both say goodbye with a kiss on the cheek and a pinkie promise.
“Have fun today bub and be good, okay?”
“Yes daddy! Have fun too!!” They let go of their pinkies smiling at each other and she’s off to class.
Jisung works as a producer and songwriter at a big entertainment company with two of his closest friends Changbin and Chan. They always try to get to the studio as early as possible but last night Changbin told him they were going to start working on the debut song for this new group at 10 am and it’s only 8:30 am.
When he gets home, he starts tidying up the house a bit, it’s not messy per se but there are a few toys scattered around the living room floor and he needs to do this morning’s dishes and make his own bed. He puts on a podcast and a 30-minute timer to get everything done. When the timer goes off he’s satisfied with the result.
He’s in the middle of making coffee when his phone goes off, Jisung picks it up to see it’s a reminder for the hip hop classes he signed Eunbi up for. He’d completely forgotten since his daughter woke up in a good mood today.
It was on a Saturday evening while Jisung had his friends over for a little get together that Eunbi snapped at him after he’d told her to go to bed since it was past her bedtime. He’d been feeling exhausted at the time and his child’s attitude towards him sometimes made him incredibly anxious. He felt like he wasn’t doing a very good job as a parent, with Eunbi being snappy and feeling down most days he wanted to help her smile more but he found it so difficult to do. That’s when Felix told Jisung he’d take her to her room and convince her to go to bed while Chan talked to him about signing her up to a club or something of the sort. Eunbi liked to dance so he found it fitting.
The very next day he searched for the best dance studio near the area, which, apparently, was one named Cloud 9. All the teachers there were professional dancers and some specialized in teaching kids, which was just what he needed.
Jisung finishes making his coffee and heads out the door.
When he gets to the studio Chan is already waiting for him on the small leather couch.
“Why aren’t you working already hyung?” Chan is a workaholic, everybody knows that. So seeing him relaxing while scrolling on his phone is a bit weird if he’s honest.
“Good morning to you too Jisungie,” Chan says, rolling his eyes and then he gives him an amused look. “And to answer your question: I dunno, I didn’t have anything to work on that didn’t involve you so I was just waiting for you to get here.”
“Oh, okay. Let’s get to it then!”
Writing lyrics always came easy to Jisung, they always seemed to flow right out of his brain and into his phone’s notes. Countless metaphors and analogies for what he was feeling or what his client wanted him to feel, but this morning… something was preventing him from writing as smoothly. He was distracted, stuck.
So, when another 30 minutes passed without him being able to write anything he locks his phone and puts it on the desk, a whine leaving his chapped lips.
“Wanna take a little break, Hannie?” Chan asks with a tinge of worry in his voice.
“Apparently, I’ve been taking a break this whole time since I haven’t written a single thing.”
He’s annoyed with himself that much is obvious, but he knows Chan doesn’t mind. He knows and adores Jisung, he’s like a little brother to him.
“You know that’s not true, you’ve been racking your brain all morning trying to get the lyrics done for this song. Is there something on your mind? Is Eunbi alright?”
Jisung lets out a humorless laugh at that. His hyung knows him so well.
“Nothing is wrong per se. Just— she was singing when I woke up this morning.”
Chan lets him take his time, Jisung always had a hard time talking about this particular topic. After a few minutes he continues.
“She was singing that song hyung.” His throat suddenly feels tight. He takes a deep breath, holds it and then exhales. “She sounded so… sad , it broke my heart.” He can’t help the tears that gather in his eyes. He won’t let them fall though, he has to be strong. It’s been several months, he can’t get like this after such a long time.
“Not much time has passed Jisung, it’s normal. Sad, but not out of the ordinary. I think it’s better this way, I think— it’d be much worse if she was suppressing it all. It’s good that she has an outlet for what and how she’s feeling, don’t you think?”
Jisung thinks about it for a little bit. “Yeah, I think you’re right. At least I know what’s going on.”
A few minutes of silence and then Chan speaks again.
“Do you want me to try and start writing something for this song and then you can try to pick up where I leave it off?”
Jisung thinks that’s the best idea right now. They have a deadline and they can’t afford to wait a lifetime for Jisung’s brain to come up with something good. With a heavy sigh he stands up, grabs his headphones and plops down on the sofa muttering a defeated yeah .
It’s later in the day when Jisung finds himself leaning on his car waiting for his little girl to take her to her new hip hop dance classes. He didn’t think Eunbi would be so interested in hip hop but after seeing this one youtube video of a crew’s amazing performance she was adamant in learning the moves herself. Jisung had no idea how to dance—he didn't want to be a safety hazard and even try to teach his daughter how to hip hop in their living room—so, he signed her up for some classes. It all lined up so perfectly with that night where she snapped at him, it was the perfect excuse.
He sees his little one hurrying to the exit hand in hand with one of her teachers and he can’t help but smile widely. What an adorable little girl, he sometimes can’t believe he gets to be this kid’s father.
Eunbi’s big round eyes spot him and she runs straight into his arms.
“Hello bub, were you good today?” Jisung asks her with a bright smile on his face, happy to see his little one.
“Of course, daddy!!!!” She giggles in response while hugging him tight with her tiny arms.
They separate and start walking to the car hand in hand.
“Are you excited for your first ever hip hop class?” Jisung tries to sound as enthusiastic as possible just in case Eunbi is a little nervous or in case she’s changed her mind at the last minute.
“Oh my Gosh!!!! ‘Bi forgot!!” Eunbi gasps.
“You forgot? Oh no!” Worry starts making its way into Jisung’s chest slowly at her words.
“‘S okay though ‘cause ‘m very excited!!!!” Jisung lets out a sigh of relief, setting all his worries aside.
They get to the car and Jisung drives them both home to have lunch. After eating they lounge on the couch for a bit while Eunbi tells Jisung about her day. She then goes to her room to get changed into some sweats and a long sleeve shirt while Jisung does the dishes. He’s rinsing the last two spoons on the sink when he hears tiny footsteps down the hallway.
“Daddy I’m ready!!” Eunbi enters the kitchen and stands besides Jisung.
“Okay, bub. I’m almost finished here, just give me a second.”
“Mhm!” She nods and sits on one of the chairs of the kitchen aisle and waits patiently for him.
Big bright letters stare down at Jisung and his daughter while they wait for the receptionist to come back. The dance studio is big, Jisung was expecting a little cozy building with just a few rooms in it, not this. The walls are white, the furniture navy blue and there are some beautiful paintings hanging on some of the walls. It all looks very modern and minimal.
They’re both so engrossed in staring at the paintings and the big bold letters that read Cloud 9 that they don’t hear someone approaching the front desk.
“Han Jisung?”
A blond man is walking down the hall from where all the doors that lead to the practice rooms are. Music is blasting from a few of them, they’re all soundproof of course, so Jisung can’t identify what the songs are.
“Yes! That’s me.” He replies with a kind smile and goes to stand right in front of the man.
“Good evening, my name is Kim Seungmin and I’m the receptionist of the Cloud 9 Studio.” The man introduces himself and then leans into the front desk a little bit to wave at Eunbi. “I’m the one that communicates with the kids’ parents and I’m the one in charge of letting you know our teacher’s schedules via e-mail. In case of an emergency such as an injury, a class being canceled, etc, I’ll be informing you via cell phone since it’s faster that way. If you have any questions feel free to let me know.” The receptionist’s voice is like butter to his ears, it’s so smooth and so nice to listen to that Jisung wonders if he sings. He’s also wondering if Eunbi is going to be safe enough here, his anxiety spikes a little at the thought.
“Uhh, I actually do have a question, when I drop her off she goes straight into the practice room? Or does she wait here until the class starts?” Jisung worries Eunbi is going to be left alone in this big building.
“Oh. We have a waiting room for the kids to wait in while the class starts! If you wish you could come see it, we also have an adult in the room to keep an eye on them. We never leave them alone. Furthermore, we count with several security cameras in the building for extra safety.”
Wow, now Jisung could see why this particular dance studio is so popular and fancy. He is really glad that he stumbled into their page, anxiety subsiding significantly. “Yeah, I’d like to see it, I want to drop Eunbi off before I leave, I want to know she’s safe.”
“Of course! That’d be no problem Mr. Han, follow me.”
Jisung turns to Eunbi and takes her little hand in his own and they start following the receptionist.
They walk past several rooms and he can see people from all ages following the moves from the person he supposes is the dance instructor through the little window in each of the doors. They all look like they’re having the time of their lives and honestly, he’s so excited to see his little bean having fun and forgetting about the world for two whole hours.
Seungmin opens a door that leads to a waiting room and the sound of a song he wrote lyrics for surrounds him.
Huh, this is funny.
He smirks for a moment and then looks around and sees about 10 kids Eunbi’s age sitting around either drawing on little tables set in the corners of the room or sitting on the couches talking to each other. A young woman is wandering around the room looking at what the kids are doing, occasionally speaking with some of them.
“Hi there Mina, I’m here to introduce you to the new member of the cat-bunny class.”
Seungmin steps aside and Eunbi looks at the long black haired woman for a moment before introducing herself.
“Hello! I’m Eunbi, nice to meet you noona!” She bows and Mina and Seungmin are looking fondly at her with a smile on their faces.
“Nice to meet you too Eunbi! Are you excited for your first class? A little birdie told me you liked hip hop?” The woman crouches to talk to her and Jisung thinks how nice it is of her, being at eye level with a kid always helps them feel more like a person and not just a little kid.
“Yes!!! I’m soooo excited and so happy daddy let me join!” It always impressed Jisung how excited and at ease his daughter was when meeting new people. She definitely gets it from her mother and not him.
“I’m very glad to hear that! Well, why don’t you say bye to your dad and then you can either play with the other kids or sit on the table and draw something, okay?”
Mina gets back on her feet and Eunbi goes to give Jisung a kiss on the cheek before running off to a table. She loved drawing as much as she did singing.
Jisung chuckles and says, “I guess I’ll be on my way. Will she be here when I come to pick her up?”
This time, it’s Seungmin who addresses him. “Oh, no. All the kids wait in the practice room when the class is finished. That way you can have a word with the teacher in case you want to.”
“Okay, that sounds good. Thank you.”
He says goodbye and leaves for work again.
“Hey ‘Sung! How was it?” Chan greets him as he turns around on his chair.
Jisung plops down on the leather couch with a huff and closes his eyes for a couple of seconds before replying.
“It went well. Real fancy place too, hyung. It has a bunch of rooms and tall ceilings and beautiful art hanging on the walls. It even has security cameras!!” Jisung comments to his friend, flailing his arms around. “The receptionist told me they have adults watching the kids at all times too which really convinced me it was a safe place for ‘Bi.”
“Woah, that’s great news, ‘Sung! That way you won’t worry too much.” Changbin says with a gentle smile on his face.
“Yeah. I know she’s safe, which was my biggest worry, as you both know.” Jisung says, the last few words being whispered as he felt a little sheepish about his constant anxiety.
“I’m really glad you found a good place for her, Jisung. Now let’s hope she likes the classes and her teacher enough to keep going every week.” Changbin says with a laugh and the other two join.
“Oh! Channie hyung, the receptionist was really cute. Totally your type.” Jisung starts to wiggle his eyebrows in a suggestive manner and the older’s face starts to get red.
“And why are you telling me this??” The producer is getting more shy by the minute and by the look on his face he wants to end this conversation as soon as possible.
“I don’t know!! Mayyybe you could give it a try~” Jisung is being a real menace and he knows it, but he can tell his friend has been feeling a bit lonely lately and he kind of wants to help him come out of his shell and put himself out there more.
“Oh, stop that Jisungieee, you know I don’t date.” Chan is blushing so hard now that his face resembles a tomato.
“No Channie hyung you stop that! You’re an amazing guy and you deserve happiness too, anyone would be lucky to have you.” Apparently, Changbin is having none of it and Jisung is grateful, Chan is always putting himself down and both producers always try their best to make him see he was the opposite of what he believed.
“Okay, okay stop being sappy and let’s get to work, shall we? I’ll think about it, I promise.”
Jisung and Changbin smile at each other and high-five in victory.
Jisung is almost at the studio to pick Eunbi up when he realizes he’d probably have to talk to her dance teacher. It is a bit nerve-racking if he’s being honest. He’s always had a hard time meeting new people, especially if he’s going to be seeing them frequently. Sure, once a week isn’t that often for most people but to Jisung’s brain it feels like he’s going to be meeting him every day. He takes a deep breath and wills the ugly thoughts away, he knows dwelling on those don’t benefit him at all.
He parks his car and enters the studio, Seungmin is there at the reception desk and Jisung approaches him.
“Hello there, I’m H—”
“Han Jisung! I believe you’re here to pick little Eunbi up, am I correct?” The blond waits for confirmation but Jisung is still a bit taken aback by the efficiency and the fact that he remembers his daughter’s name and his own.
After a few more beats he swallows and says. “Yes, I’m here to pick her up.”
Seungmin smiles politely and signals for Jisung to follow him.
“Since you're new here I will show you where Lee Minho often teaches. From next week on you can go straight there after you talk with me.”
He really likes how Seungmin always makes sure to explain everything as clearly as he can. They pass a few doors until the blond stops in front of an open one.
“This is the one: room 143. They’re in there, you can have a word with him if you like.”
“Okay, thank you Mr. Kim.” He smiles but the man makes a face at the name.
“You can call me Seungmin, since we’re gonna be seeing each other every week. Also, I feel like it’s a little weird for someone older than me to call me that.” Seungmin chuckles at the surprise in Jisung’s features. He gives him a pat on the back and leaves him to enter the practice room.
He opens the door and inside the room there are at least 15 children waiting for their parents to come pick them up. There’s music playing on the speakers and a few of the children are dancing along to it and playing with each other, he’s trying to find Eunbi among them but he doesn’t see her. He turns his head to look to the opposite side of the room and spots her. She’s doing the same moves over and over again, she’s so adorable Jisung can’t help but think. He is so focused on her dancing that he doesn’t even notice there’s someone else with her, someone she’s showing the dance moves to.
Jisung’s gaze lands on the person in front of her and time suddenly stops. All air leaves his lungs and he’s left there frozen, lips parted and heart skipping.
That is the prettiest man he has ever seen in his entire life.
He’s glued to the floor until the man—her teacher?—directs his gaze at Jisung, smiling politely and speaking to him.
“Oh well, hello there! Who are you here f—” The dancer is interrupted by an excited Eunbi running into her father’s arms.
“Daddy!!!!” Teacher long forgotten, she eagerly runs into Jisung’s arms.
Jisung spins her around like he always does. “Hey there bub. You missed me?”
“A lil’… Jus’ excited to see you…” Eunbi mumbles, a bit shy all of a sudden as he puts her down.
“I missed you too, princess. Did you have fun?”
Maybe asking her now wasn’t the best idea because she immediately starts telling him in detail about the class. After a few minutes he tells her to go get her stuff and wait for him with her new dance mates.
When Jisung stands up and looks at the instructor he has the most beautiful smile adorning his face. Butterflies take flight inside Jisung’s tummy and his cheeks start heating up the slightest bit, making them look rosy.
“I’m really sorry about that, when Eunbi gets excited she just starts babbling and nothing can stop her.” Jisung rubs the back of his neck and lets out a nervous laugh.
The teacher gets a bit closer to Jisung so they can have a proper conversation now and he can’t take his eyes off the purple haired man even though he’s starting to feel a little intimidated because of how close he is.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. Most kids are like that and I’m used to it, besides, it’s interesting to me what they have to say. Kids are just so… full of life, you know? We have a lot to learn from them, I think.” The dancer looks fond while he speaks and Jisung is thankful that this is the person that was assigned to teach his daughter.
“Yeah…” Wow, very smart and eloquent of you Han Jisung, way to go.
The dancer chuckles adorably and asks Jisung to sit on the floor with him, which has him a little confused but does nonetheless.
“So, is there anything you wanna know about my class?” Jisung is about to speak when he notices the other’s eyes widen and suddenly he’s talking again. “Wait! I haven’t even introduced myself yet. I’m so sorry, my name’s Lee Minho and I will be teaching little Eunbi from now on.” The man smiles politely once more and bows slightly and Jisung is seriously going to lose it.
Lee Minho. A pretty name for a pretty man.
“Hi, Mr. Lee, nice to meet you. I’m Han Jisung and as you already know, I’m Eunbi’s father.” Jisung’s voice echoes a little in the room as the song that’s currently playing comes to a stop and Jisung blushes slightly.
“Oh please, just call me Minho or hyung. I’m pretty sure I’m older than you.” Minho says with a smirk.
“How can you possibly know that!?” Jisung fakes offense and puts a hand on his chest.
“It’s your cheeks.” Minho is looking at him with the softest smile and he smiles back a bit sheepishly.
Jisung clears his throat, “so, how does this whole recital thing at the end of the year work?”
♡ ♡ ♡
And that’s how Jisung made a new friend.
Every Thursday he went to pick Eunbi up from her dance classes and Jisung stayed longer than necessary to talk to Minho. It wasn’t intentional at first, it all happened so naturally, but after those few weeks he could tell Minho wanted him to stay too, which was a relief. They talked about anything and everything: about how the weather was getting colder, about the new anime Minho had started watching, about Jisung’s new café discovery, etc. It was all mundane things, sometimes they would get a bit silly but it was all part of their little friendship. Jisung felt so comfortable around Minho he sometimes forgot he’d only just met him. He never made him talk to him any differently because of their age difference and they joked around and teased each other like old friends.
“Wait, you haven’t exchanged numbers yet??” Felix asks mid-bite and looks at Jisung with shocked eyes.
“No…? Why is that so weird?” Jisung starts getting a bit self-conscious, wondering if telling his friends about Minho is a good idea.
“No, ‘Sung, it’s not weird. Sorry I reacted like that, I just think it’s a bit… impressive? Uh, fascinating?”
Confusion paints the producer’s features, his eyebrows furrowing. “What do you mean?”
The blond takes a deep breath and takes his time to answer.
“What I mean is that it’s not easy to feel so at ease and comfortable with someone you’ve just met and seen only a handful of times for a couple of minutes. Especially for you Jisung-ah.” Felix takes another bite of his pepperoni pizza and continues with his mouth full, “I think it’s fascinating how he’s made you feel comfortable enough for you to talk to him so… freely. It’s a good thing though.” Felix finishes with a warm smile.
“Oh.” He doesn’t know what to say. He hadn’t put much thought into his rapidly growing friendship with the dancer. But now that his friend mentions it, it is a bit weird how comfortable he is around Minho. “I never stopped to think about that.”
“Which is a good thing! I’m glad you found a new friend, it’s getting a bit old and boring being just us isn’t it?” An amused smile on the younger’s face tells Jisung he’s trying to calm his nerves about his newfound discovery.
“Yeah, I guess… Thank you Lix.”
♡ ♡ ♡
Ever since Eunbi started going to Minho’s classes she’s been talking about him nonstop. He can’t blame her though… Jisung’s been thinking about the dancer nonstop too. So, he listens to her rambling with a sheepish smile on his face and scarlet dusting his cheeks.
“Don’t you think the purple is cool??” Eunbi says, endless wonder staring right at Jisung as he finishes braiding the left half of her hair.
“Oh, of course bub. How would I look with purple hair? Do you think daddy would look cool too?” Jisung says as he starts turning his head from side to side while pursing his lips, modeling for his daughter.
Eunbi shrieks with laughter, amused by his father’s antics.
“Silly daddy!!” Eunbi lets out while still laughing and Jisung stops posing and starts braiding the other half of her hair.
“So that’s a no?”
“Mmm, I think you would look okay.”
“Just okay?? Wow I’m a little offended ‘Bi.” Jisung pouts and looks at his daughter through the mirror, wondering what she’s going to say.
“Don’t be sad, daddy. I’d just get confused! Too much purple.” Eunbi huffs with a frown on her thin eyebrows.
“Confused…” Jisung chuckles at how adorable his little bub is.
He finishes tying an elastic at the end of the second braid and they both go to the kitchen to grab Eunbi’s lunch and head to school.
♡ ♡ ♡
“Hey there!” Minho yells and waves at Jisung as soon as he enters the practice room.
He feels his cheeks get warm at the dancer’s enthusiasm and he walks towards the corner of the room where Minho is.
“Hi.” Jisung replies sheepishly with a tiny wave.
“Eunbi’s over there at the back with the other kids, they’re discussing which moves to add to their routine for the monthly evaluation.”
“Monthly evaluation?” Jisung did not know there were evaluations for the kids at all.
“Yeah, it’s just a little routine they do in groups of seven to check their improvement, nothing serious.” Minho explains with a fond smile on his face while they both look at the children dancing excitedly.
“Ah, that’s awesome.”
“Mhm. Hey, I was thinking…” Minho changes the subject and mutters his next words looking at the ground, his ears a pretty red. “Would it be possible to exchange numbers? If it’s not too weird, of course. I mean, I already have yours in case anything happens and Seungmin’s not at the desk but I need your permission to text you obviously otherwise—”
“Hyung.”
Minho stops talking and his ears get even more red if that’s humanly possible. He stops looking at the wooden floor and instead spares a glance at Jisung who’s looking at him with mirth in his eyes.
“Yeah?”
“Of course you can text me.”
And that’s how Jisung and Minho got closer. They started texting every now and then until one day Minho sent him a very random video of him walking down the street with take-out food whining, very loudly, that he was hungry. That’s when Jisung realized Minho wanted him to text him freely and be himself with him. They started texting more from that moment on and they started talking on the phone too. They even facetimed each other most nights while Minho cooked. It all felt very domestic, but Jisung refuses to acknowledge that.
♡ ♡ ♡
Me 6:37 am
good morning starshine, the earth says hello!!!!
Minhoring 6:40 am
why the fuck are you awake at this ungodly hour???
Me 6:41 am
uhh i have a daughter that needs to be at school at 8????
Minhoring 6:42 am
ok but why do you have to torture me so early in the morning??? i’m blocking you
Me 6:45 am
noooo hyungggg my precious beautiful hyung don’t block meeeeeEeEeEEEeEee (,,>﹏<,,)
Minhoring 6:46 am
if you keep whining i will
Me 6:49 am
🤐
Minhoring 6:50 am
now let me sleep. if u ever text me again this early i’m blocking u fr
Me 6:53 am
sweet dreams hyung~
♡ ♡ ♡
“What do you mean you’ve never seen Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince??????” Jisung stares at Minho through his phone with comically wide eyes.
“... It means exactly that, Jisung. I haven’t ever seen it.”
“What do you mean!!!!!”
Minho is thinking of an answer while he keeps cutting the carrots for the curry he is currently cooking.
“I just lost interest after the fifth one… so I didn’t find it necessary to watch the rest.” The dancer states nonchalantly.
After a long silence Jisung says in a serious tone, “we are so watching them all.”
Minho lets out the loudest whine known to man as he finishes cutting the potatoes into cubes and putting them into the pot on the stove.
♡ ♡ ♡
As weeks pass, Jisung starts to wonder when’s the right time to ask Minho to hang out. They’ve been texting and talking on the phone so often but they’ve never talked about going out together before, or even going to each other’s places. He is itching to ask Minho to come to his house to hang out and maybe watch a movie but he’s scared of rejection. He’s still afraid this is all just some silly texting and silly convos to Minho.
Everything changes on a Sunday afternoon while Jisung and Eunbi are at the vegetable section of the grocery store. They’re picking which lettuce to put in the cart— no, daddy that one’s not enough fluffy we’ll run out immediately!!— when suddenly a soft but excited voice calls Jisung and Eunbi’s names.
“Hyung?” Jisung mumbles as Eunbi runs into Minho’s legs and hugs him.
“Mr. Lee what are you doing here!!!”
Minho chuckles and gets down on one knee to be on eye level with her, “hello there little Eunbi. I came here to get groceries just like you and your dad.” Minho says softly, then he directs his attention to Jisung who’s just staring in disbelief at the dancer as if this is the weirdest place on Earth to stumble onto him.
“Hi Jisungie.”
Minho looks so pretty when he smiles. He always looks pretty because he is pretty. But. He looks exceptionally pretty when he smiles.
“Hi.” Jisung says dumbly with a grin on his face and Minho giggles.
“What are you buying Mr. Lee!!” Eunbi asks excitedly as if she’s talking to a friend she hasn’t seen in a while, even though she saw Minho only three days ago.
“Oh! As you can see by the emptiness of my basket, I just got here so, not much! I need to buy some veggies to make dinner tonight though.” Minho answers with a kind smile.
“I see… Oh! Oh! I have an idea!! We can go together!!” Eunbi exclaims while looking at Jisung with big bright eyes.
Jisung could never say no to his daughter. But before he can reply Minho goes ahead and says, “you have to ask your dad first, little Eunbi.”
Suddenly, Jisung is attacked by two sets of puppy eyes and he has no other choice but to agree.
“Of course you can, hyung.” He chuckles and they all start walking to the next aisle in search of the groceries they need.
Going to the grocery store with Eunbi is always fun. She comes up with the weirdest and most hilarious names for the foods she doesn’t know the names of and Jisung is amused half the time his daughter tries to sneak some of her favorite candy into the cart. But with Minho it’s ten times more fun. Every time Eunbi doesn’t know the name of a fruit Minho makes her guess, gives her hints and then creates new names for the ones Eunbi doesn’t like the name of. And when Eunbi tries to sneak her favorite chocolate into the cart Minho helps her and tells Jisung “ you haven’t seen anything here, Jisungie…” with a knowing smile and a terrible wink. He’s so bad at winking, but he’s cute so Jisung will let him.
After getting everything they all need for their respective dinners, Minho suggests the three of them get ice cream. And who is Jisung to deny him when he’s smiling so dreamily at him and he’s made his daughter his biggest accomplice.
This is how Jisung finds himself on his way to the ice cream shop a couple of blocks from the grocery store with Eunbi who’s holding hands with him and Minho. He’s aware they look like a little family but he’s burying that thought deep inside his brain. He’s not dealing with it now, nope. Moving on.
“What’s your favorite flavor, bug?”
Bug? Minho has a little nickname for his daughter?? Oh, he’s going to die one of these days for sure.
“Mint choco!!” Eunbi replies happily and then adds, “daddy always makes a funny face when I eat it though.”
Minho turns to Jisung with a questioning look on his face, “you hate it that much?”
“It’s not that I hate it, I just think it’s a bit questionable.” Jisung defends himself.
“Don’t listen to your dad Eunbi, he has no taste.”
“Hey!! Don’t try to put my own daughter against me!” Jisung exclaims and breaks into a fit of giggles. He can’t stop himself, he’s having so much fun and is so amused by Minho’s playfulness.
Eunbi is so delighted by the conversation the two men are having that she doesn’t even notice they are already at the ice cream shop. She asks for mint chocolate chip while Minho asks for strawberry and Jisung, of course, for chocolate. Since it’s pretty good weather for a fall day, they sit on one of the tables they have right outside the shop to eat their ice cream.
“So, little Eunbi, have you told your dad about our classes?” Minho asks with genuine curiosity in his voice.
Jisung is a bit shocked by the question. Most adults he interacts with outside of his group of friends usually ignore Eunbi if she happens to be with Jisung. He understands why they do it, most people don’t know how to interact with a child or what to say to them, so he doesn’t take it to heart. But when they do interact with her, it makes him incredibly happy.
They talk about Eunbi’s classes at the studio and she’s ecstatic to be included in the conversation. She rambles on and on about what moves she likes best and the ones she’s having a bit of a hard time mastering. Minho seems to be very invested in the conversation as well, which makes his heart flutter out of pure joy and not at all because of his crush on the older, no.
Jisung can’t help staring at them with a big smile. He’s so glad Eunbi is so comfortable with Minho, it eases Jisung’s concerns. He’s been constantly worrying about his daughter since her mother passed away, always wondering if he’s doing a good job as a single parent and if his little one is happy. His friends always reassure Jisung he’s doing an excellent job but not having Iseul is still hard physically and emotionally.
Jisung is brought back from the depths of his anxiety-inducing thoughts by a soft voice calling his name.
“Jisungie?”
He blinks twice before looking at a worried Minho and replies, “huh?”
“We were asking you what you would do if a racoon ate your lunch while you’re camping.”
Jisung blinks a few more times to clear his head and organize his thoughts.
“I guess… I’d let it… eat it?” He says a bit confused.
The dancer sighs and throws his arms in the air whining, “you’re no fun Jisungieeee, Eunbi’s answer is definitely better.”
Eunbi smiles impossibly wide and high-fives Minho. Jisung looks at them as if they’ve grown two whole new heads, still confused about the question and not quite in the present yet.
“Eunbi-ya, can you ask the lady at the counter if she has some napkins please? My hands are all sticky.”
The girl nods excitedly and gets up from the table as the older moves closer to him and places one of his hands on top of his right one.
“Everything okay?” Minho mutters, concern written all over his delicate features. “You got a little lost in your thoughts there.”
“Oh… sorry, hyung…” He feels a bit embarrassed about zoning out, it happens more times than he’s comfortable admitting. His mind always goes to dark places when he thinks too much about things and he can’t help it, which is the worst part of it all.
“Hey, I’m not mad or anything, I was just a little worried ‘cause you weren’t replying and you didn’t seem… here? That’s all.” Jisung can feel Minho’s calloused fingers caressing the back of his hand, it feels nice, it helps bring him back to the present.
“Okay…” After a few seconds, Jisung stretches his neck and shoulders, “I feel more present now, thank you, hyung.”
“You’re welcome, Jisungie. You can count on me if you ever need anything, yeah?” Minho is smiling warmly at the younger and Jisung feels significantly more at ease each second he keeps staring at the purple haired man.
As Eunbi comes back with a few napkins, both men retrieve their hands and continue their previous conversation.
♡ ♡ ♡
It’s a gloomy Saturday afternoon, Jisung just finished doing laundry, small baskets full to the brim with socks, little dresses and hoodies scattered across the living room floor. Every time the little family went shopping Eunbi would point at the little pastel-colored laundry baskets instead of the big, boring ones and Jisung could never say no to her when she had the biggest smile on her face, excitedly bouncing on her little feet. So, this is how he ended up with six of them. It didn’t bother him even a tiny bit, his princess’ happiness always comes first for him.
He’s on his way to clean Eunbi’s room when his phone starts ringing in his pocket.
Incoming call from Minhoring
“Minho hyung?” He answers and a cheerful voice welcomes him from the other end of the line.
“Jisungie, hello!”
“Hi,” he says back, blushing a little at the excitement in the dancer’s voice, “how’re you doing, hyungie?”
“I’m doing great! Just the usual, ya know? I just finished my last class for the week!”
“That’s amazing, Min. You can finally rest now!”
“Yup!” He can hear rustling on the older’s end before he speaks again, “so, Jisungie, I was wondering if…” Minho trails off and Jisung can feel how the mood suddenly shifts, nervousness taking over the call.
“Yeah?” Jisung is intrigued now, he wonders what in the world can make the most confident man he’s ever met this nervous about something. “Spit it out, hyung.”
A few seconds pass and Jisung can feel Minho biting his bottom lip.
“Um, I was wondering if I could maybe go to your place and make dinner for you and little Eunbi, would that be alright?”
Jisung lets out the tiniest gasp, shocked beyond comprehension. Did he actually ask to come to his house for dinner? No, to make dinner? He had to be dreaming, right? Lee Minho, cool dancer and object of his deep affections just asked to spend time with him and his daughter?
He must’ve zoned out for too long because when he comes back to his phone call with Minho, the older is stumbling over his words, apologizing profusely and anxiously as if he’s committed some type of awful crime against Jisung.
“ —really, I’ll understand if it’s not okay to interact with Eunbi outside of class I trul—”
“Minho hyung,” the dancer stops abruptly and Jisung hears him gulp. He decides to go for a light approach first, “I would be honored to eat your delicious food and, for the record, it’s completely fine for you to talk to my daughter outside of class, I know you’re not like, a murderer or something.” Minho lets out a sigh of relief and huffs a laugh. Knowing he’s started relaxing a little, Jisung decides to reassure him. “But really, Min. Of course it’d be alright if you came to make dinner for us. We’re friends after all, I trust you with my daughter. She adores you, she always talks about you, she thinks you’re sooo cool or whatever.” The dancer laughs cutely at this and Jisung continues, “you’re gonna be a bit disappointed though, you might not want to come.”
“Huh? Why?” Confusion tints Minho’s voice and this time it’s Jisung who gnaws at his bottom lip.
“Eunbi is currently at her grandparents’... She goes to visit them twice a month and stays with them for the weekend.” It’s Jisung’s turn to be anxious, he doesn’t know if Minho would like to hang out only with him. They just met weeks ago after all, and unlike Jisung, Minho isn’t obsessed with him.
“Oh… So… you’d… rather it wasn’t just the two of us?”
A pause. Jisung blinks and wets his lips.
“I-I didn’t say that! I just— I thought— I thought maybe you wouldn’t wanna come if Eunbi wasn’t here…”
Bright laughter comes through the phone, “silly Jisungie.”
“Hey!!”
More laughter and then, as if reading his mind, Minho says softly, “of course I’d like to spend time with just you.”
Jisung blushes profusely upon hearing those words spoken with such sincerity. They make Jisung feel special, important even. Butterflies take flight in his tummy.
“Oh…” He can’t help stuttering the next words, “I-I’ll see you then.”
“Is 4:30 alright with you?”
Jisung looks at his apple watch and replies, “that’s in half an hour.”
“And?”
He looks at the baskets in his living room with a fond smile on his lips. “You’ll have to help me fold the laundry.”
He can imagine the dancer’s smile when he says, “deal.”
Jisung hears the doorbell ring and his hands start to sweat immediately. Minho’s never been to his home before, he needs to make a good impression. Well, as good of an impression as the little baskets full of laundry will allow him.
He sprints to the door so as to not make the dancer wait for too long and he opens it to reveal a soft, smiling Minho.
Dreamy , he thinks to himself.
He’s wearing a bright pink and black fuzzy argyle sweater with dark wash jeans.
“Hello Jisungie.”
“Hi Min.” Jisung steps aside so Minho can come in and the older takes his black converse off.
They both enter the living room, Minho looking around and taking in the little family’s bits and pieces that make the apartment their home. There are pictures in frames of Eunbi as a baby and a few of Iseul and Jisung with Eunbi in the middle. Minho fixates on those for a moment, stepping closer to take a better look.
“Is that…” He doesn’t finish the question, in case he doesn’t want to talk about it, Jisung assumes.
“Mhm,” there’s a silence before he continues, “I’ll tell you more about her after dinner.”
“‘Sung, you don’t have to—” Minho rushes to say with an apologetic look on his face.
“I know, but I want to. I think I’m ready to tell you more about my life.” Jisung gives him a tiny smile and Minho continues looking around the living room.
His eyes land on the pastel colored baskets in the corner of the room. Minho giggles and points at them looking at Jisung with confusion on his face.
“Look, Eunbi loved them and I couldn’t say no, okay?” Jisung defends himself, “I know it isn’t practical but it makes my daughter happy.”
“I wasn’t judging! I was just curious, that’s all. But you cannot tell me it isn’t amusing.” The older’s eyes are soft, a teasing smile making its way through his delicate but sharp features.
“Okay…” Jisung replies with a pout.
“Come on, let’s go to your kitchen to see if I can make you what I have in mind.”
Fortunately, Jisung has all the ingredients for the dinner Minho wants to cook for him. He's banished from his own kitchen for the time being because he wants it to be a surprise so he decides to keep cleaning the last rooms of the apartment . When he’s in the middle of putting Eunbi’s favorite blankets in the closet, a delicious smell attacks Jisung’s nose and he can’t help but hum happily. He’s walking back into the living room when Minho’s voice echoes throughout his apartment.
“Han-ah! Dinner’s ready!!”
Jisung smiles at the excitement in his hyung’s voice and he enters the kitchen to find the older plating their food.
“Go sit, I’ll be there in a sec,” Minho says over his shoulder and Jisung does as he’s told, waiting patiently for him to finish.
Minho sets both plates on the countertop and sits next to him. Jisung looks down at his food and he gasps. Minho just keeps surprising him. Right in front of him is his favorite Korean dish. “Hyung, how did you—”
“A certain someone might have told me…” Minho’s grinning devilishly now seeing the surprise in Jisung’s eyes.
“She did?” Minho nods at a starry-eyed Jisung, “she is the sweetest, isn’t she?”
“Indeed she is.”
They stare at each other for a few more seconds and Jisung swears he sees pink reaching Minho’s cheeks before he breaks the silence and urges Jisung to start eating. He takes a bit of everything on the plate with his chopsticks and takes the first bite, he actually moans and looks at Minho with big, round eyes, shock visible on his face.
Jisung stores the food in his cheeks to speak in a delighted tone, “no fucking way.” He quickly glances to his food and then to the man beside him. “There’s no way.”
“No way what Jisungie?” The dancer asks, his eyes full of mirth and a tiny smirk on his gorgeous face.
Jisung throws his hands in the air and vaguely gestures at Minho and then at the food, “you!! You really just made my favorite food in the most perfect way and you have the audacity to act oh so nonchalantly as if it’s nothing?!?!”
At Jisung’s sudden outburst Minho starts laughing, loud and obnoxious but Jisung thinks it’s the most beautiful sound in the world.
“Yah!!! Stop laughing!!” The younger yells, not really meaning it. He could listen to Minho laugh all day every day for the rest of eternity.
“Sorry Jisung-ah,” Minho manages to say between giggles, “you’re just too cute.”
“I-I’m not!” Jisung pouts, he has sauce on his top lip and a single grain of rice in the corner of his mouth.
“How can you not be when you eat like that.” Minho grabs a napkin and moves his hand towards Jisung’s face to delicately wipe his mouth.
Jisung is so flustered that his only response to that is to say, “leave me alone.” An ever-present pout on his lips.
Minho giggles and they continue eating. They chat about the songs Jisung’s been writing lyrics for, about the classes Minho’s teaching next week and about the cold weather. When they finish, Jisung tells Minho to pick a show or a movie while he washes the dishes. Minho obliges after five whole minutes of him trying to convince Jisung to let him do them instead.
Minho’s scrolling on his phone when Jisung enters the living room and he’s immediately a little confused at the fact that the tv is off. “Wasn’t there anything you liked, hyung?”
The older looks up at Jisung, locks his phone and tosses it on the couch. “Oh, I just thought we could fold the laundry first?”
Right. The laundry. The laundry Jisung told Minho to help him fold. He’d completely forgotten about it.
“Ohhhh, the laundry!! Right right right.” Jisung says dumbly, stumbling over his words.
Minho chuckles, stands from the couch and sits on the floor next to one of the baskets, “shall we?”
And that’s how the next 45 minutes go by, they put on some music they both are into at the moment and once again they talk about mundane things. It’s… easy, it’s so easy. Everything is comfy and easy with Minho. He knows he shouldn’t hope for the dancer to like him back but oh does he hope and yearn and he pleads to the universe to let him have this one thing, this one person that makes him incredibly happy and fond. Minho makes him want to believe there’s nothing wrong with falling in love again.
“I’m missing two of your socks, Jisungie.” Minho says as he holds the socks in question, one in each hand.
At this, Jisung flushes pink and he shyly rolls up his sweatpants. Minho glances down, sees the socks that belong to the ones he’s holding in his hands and bursts out laughing. It’s a sweet sound, just like the one he let out in the kitchen an hour ago. "So that’s where they were…”
“Please never change, Jisungie.”
They finish folding up the laundry and Minho even helps him to put it away. When they come back to the living room, they sit on the couch and Minho goes through every movie on Netflix—which takes him a ridiculous amount of minutes but Jisung is a whipped man so he endures—and ends up picking a horror movie.
“Are you okay with horror movies?” Concern tinges Minho’s voice and Jisung thinks he’s so sweet for caring.
“Yeah, if I’m watching them with someone I’m completely fine.” He says, honesty clear in his voice.
Minho gives him an understanding look and smiles, “don’t worry Jisungie, I’ll protect you from the demons.”
Jisung weakly punches him in the chest, “shut up and press play already.” But there’s no bite in his words, somehow he trusts Minho enough to not genuinely make fun of him, he knows it’s all banter at the end of the day.
They’re sitting side by side on the couch, they’re close but not close enough to be touching. Although, as the movie progresses and the plot thickens, Jisung finds himself getting closer and closer to Minho. He’s not scared per se, he’s just a bit… anxious. The movie just so happens to involve a woman being possessed by a demon trying to kill her children, it’s all so upsetting. Now that he has a daughter, these kinds of movies don’t sit right with him and they’re more difficult to watch.
Jisung is so engrossed in the movie and worrying about the little girl hiding inside a closet so her demon mom doesn’t fucking eat her that he doesn’t even notice he’s now glued to Minho’s side and… wait a minute… is Minho holding his hand?
He jumps a little at the realization and Minho immediately looks at him. “Is everything okay Jisung-ah?” He’s staring into his eyes looking for a sign of how Jisung is really feeling.
Jisung shakes his head and replies before Minho can pause the movie. “Yeah, everything’s fine. I’m completely okay.” He’s a bit stiff and he knows it but he can’t help it, the poor girl is gonna die!! “I’m just. Worried about the little girl, that's all.”
He feels Minho squeeze his hand. “Oh.” That’s all Minho manages to say at first. But after a few seconds it seems to click for him and says, “ohhhh.”
Jisung scrunches up his nose. “Yeah, but don’t worry, it’s not like—”
“Jisung I’m so sorry I didn’t notice before, we can definitely watch something else, it’s totally fine by me.” He gets interrupted by a frantic Minho, he’s looking at Jisung like he’s ruined everything and Jisung won’t take none of that ‘cause all Minho has been to Jisung is kind and understanding and the sweetest ever.
“Hyung.” Jisung squeezes Minho’s hand this time and the older smiles a little. “It’s fine, honestly. I’m just a bit anxious because every time there are children in movies I instantly think of Eunbi. But I try to not let that stop me from enjoying things.” He pauses before admitting, “although, I have to be honest, this movie is fucking with my brain a little. The fact that it’s the mom that’s trying to kill them is… too fucked up.”
“Do you need a break? Or would you rather stop watching?” Minho asks with the softest voice and Jisung thinks he could cry.
How is he supposed to not fall in love with this man?
“I think I need at least three business days to recover and then we can keep watching.” He stares at Minho nervously, hoping he doesn’t think he’s ridiculous for not being able to sit through a stupid horror movie.
“Well, Jisungie,” he pauses the movie and reaches for his other hand, takes it in his own and continues, “that only means I’ll have to come back another time.” The words are followed by a playful smile that threatens to make Jisung’s heart beat out of his chest.
They end up watching a documentary about hamsters—the documentary part being Jisung’s request and the hamster part being Minho’s, because you look just like one Jisungie! — and Jisung visibly relaxes. He feels way more at ease now watching wholesome content with one of his favorite people.
Yes, he just called Minho, a person he’s only known for a few weeks but has made himself comfortable inside his heart, one of his favorite people. But hear him out okay, Minho has been nothing but kind, caring and a great friend, so he feels like he can give him that title.
“Hm, it’s getting colder,” he sees Minho getting up to go look for something but stops abruptly and asks, “where are the blankets?”
Jisung blinks slowly, exhaustion catching up to him from cleaning all morning. “Uh… in my room there’s a basket next to the console, they should be in there.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back.” He disappears into the hallway and comes back a minute later with the fluffiest blanket Jisung owns. “I didn’t know you owned a literal alpaca.”
Jisung giggles because he’s just so silly and takes the blanket from him to drape it over the both of them. “Fluffy blankets are everything.”
Minho smiles fondly at him and gets comfortable under the welcomed warmth. He gets closer to Jisung, placing his legs on his lap and his head on his shoulder, purple hair tickling his neck. “Is this okay?” Minho asks and Jisung almost misses it because of how quiet his voice is. He sounds… shy.
Jisung takes exactly five seconds to answer because he can feel Minho everywhere and he almost feels overwhelmed by all the parts of his body the older is touching with his own, but he suddenly feels a hand on top of his own and he is instantly grounded.
“Yeah… very okay…” His cheeks tinge pink and he tries to pretend that the position they’re in doesn’t affect him one bit.
He’s pretty sure he fails.
There are fingers poking his sides and a soft but hoarse voice calling his name.
“Hannie, wake up~” There’s a pause and then again, “heeyyy sleepyhead, it’s time to go to bed.”
He barely opens his eyes and searches for the source of the pretty voice.
“There you are.”
He feels a hand brushing his hair out of his face, he blinks a few times to let his eyes adjust to the dim lighting of the room and sees a pretty man smiling at him.
“Min?” He’s so tired his voice is barely above a whisper but Minho seems to hear him anyway.
“Yeah, darling.” Darling? Jisung feels warmth spreading in his chest. “We fell asleep on the couch, let’s get you to your bed.”
Minho helps him get off the couch and they walk the short distance to his bedroom, the older guiding him since Jisung is still pretty much asleep. Minho tucks him into bed and kisses his forehead, “I’ll sleep on the couch if that’s okay?” He doesn’t wait for an answer before he continues, “goodnight Jisungie.”
Just as Minho is about to walk away from the bed, Jisung manages to take his pinkie in his hand. “Don’t go.” He begs in a low voice making Minho turn around on his heels and stare at him with surprise clearly written on his features.
“Jisungie…” Minho’s voice is so gentle and delicate that Jisung doesn’t want to speak just so this little moment isn’t broken. He wants to stay in this little soft bubble with just the two of them for eternity.
They stay like this for what feels like hours, gazes fixed on each other. Seems like neither of them want to disrupt whatever’s going on between them.
Jisung is the first to move though, he yanks Minho’s hand and pulls him closer to the bed. He takes his entire hand—not just his pinkie—and nuzzles his face in it, the irrational part of his brain taking over. It’s maybe three in the morning who the fuck cares , he thinks and just as he’s turning Minho’s hand to drop a kiss on his palm, the older seems to catch up to what Jisung is about to do because he gasps, the sound oh so lovely in Jisung’s ears.
After the kiss, he turns to look at Minho to see his expression and he’s delighted to see him blushing the prettiest of all pinks, cheeks and ears and neck equally flushed, and Jisung thinks this is the most beautiful he’s seen him, probably ever. “Hyung,” Jisung says, voice raspy and fragile.
Minho’s stare is still fixed on Jisung’s when he finally speaks, “which side?”
Jisung’s sleepy brain realizes the meaning of Minho’s question far too many seconds later and he hurries to lift the covers so Minho can slip inside, side of the bed be damned.
Minho chuckles, “but you need to let go of my hand Jisungie.”
Jisung whines and shakes his head, mumbling a tiny no .
Minho manages to get into bed with Jisung still holding his hand hostage. After they’re comfortable enough, laying side by side with their hands linked in the middle, Minho turns to face him, “wanna cuddle?”
Jisung has never moved faster in his life.
He rests his head on Minho’s chest and the older snakes his hands around Jisung’s waist, holding him even closer. Jisung places one of his legs between Minho’s and he sighs in contentment, comfy at last.
Jisung feels safe in Minho’s arms, he feels like he belongs. And it’s so silly to him that they’ve only known each other for a few months, sometimes he feels like he’s known Minho all his life. They fit so well, like two missing puzzle pieces.
The way he’s feeling right now is so unique, he feels so at peace and so vulnerable that it makes him want to just vent and open up to this incredible man. So that’s exactly what he does.
“Iseul.” Jisung says loud enough for only Minho to hear.
“Hm?” Minho sounds confused until Jisung clears his throat and tries again.
“Iseul.” He tries to speak louder and clearer. “That was her name, the name of Eunbi’s mom.”
“Oh, darling.” The older moves one of his hands to his head and starts brushing his hair, encouraging Jisung to say more. He appreciates now more than ever how well Minho can read him, no explanations needed. He just listens.
“Yeah,” he pauses for a moment, memories of her flooding his mind. “She was so sweet, so funny and crazy.” His chuckles are dry, bitter. A sense of unfairness setting on his chest. “She was brave and confident and always stood up for herself and for the ones she loved. Of course none of that mattered, death doesn’t discriminate.” He has to take a moment to breathe and try to swallow the lump in his throat, it seems that no matter how much time has passed, talking about Iseul still brings him the same amount of pain it did when he got that phone call that changed his life. “She had a very normal life, a pretty normal job and a happy normal family to come home to. Everything was okay until it wasn’t.” Another long pause. “One day I got a phone call while I was at work and it was Iseul’s dad. I didn’t think it was weird at first because we spoke on the phone pretty often and we had a good relationship, but… he was crying. I instantly knew something was wrong.” He could remember that day as if it was yesterday and it still hurt. He is pretty certain it won’t ever stop hurting. “He told me to go to the hospital, that they had to take her there because she had passed out while she was visiting them. I drove as fast as I could without breaking the law. Thankfully, Eunbi was at Chan’s so she wasn’t in any danger.” Guilt starts making its way into his already heavy heart. “When I got there Iseul was awake, she didn’t know what was happening and it broke my heart to see her so lost. She was so weak though, she could barely lift an arm.” His hands were shaking as he approached the worst part of the story. “The doctors said— um, they—” His voice wobbles and he feels like he’s going to throw up if he keeps talking.
“Hey, breathe with me Jisungie,” he didn’t even notice he had gotten agitated. ”In and out. That’s it, darling, good job.” Minho helps him calm down and for a moment Jisung thinks he might need to take his emergency meds for his anxiety because he feels so nauseous and he feels the walls of his room closing in on him. Suddenly Minho’s help isn’t enough anymore.
“I can’t— I need—” He struggles with getting the words out but somehow Minho figures he needs to get up and out of bed. Once he’s on his feet he takes the little bottle from his nightstand and puts one tablet in his mouth.
This is the most vulnerable anyone has seen him since Iseul’s death. And he can’t believe it’s Minho the first person to do so. However, he’s not completely terrified of this fact, if Minho wasn’t okay with Jisung’s reaction while telling him Iseul’s story he thinks he would’ve gone home by now.
A couple of minutes go by, Jisung sits on the edge of the bed and as he visibly calms down Minho asks, ”is it okay if I touch you?”
Jisung thinks the question over, not wanting to freak out again. “Um, yeah. Yeah you can, hyung.” He takes a deep, shuddering breath and he sees Minho moving towards him from the corner of his eye.
The older only takes one of his hands and laces their fingers, his thumb gently caressing the back of his hand. They stay like this for a while and Jisung can feel himself relax with every minute that goes by.
He feels ready to finish the story and to tell Minho what happened to his previous partner. He clears his throat and starts speaking again. “The doctors basically said that they couldn’t save her, that she was dying and that there was nothing they or we could do… they even told us to start saying our goodbyes… It all felt so… cruel. The way they said she couldn’t be saved, the way we had to say goodbye right away. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever had to do.” He feels Minho squeeze his hand. “I asked Chan to bring Eunbi to the hospital so she could say goodbye too and—” He tries once again to swallow the lump in his throat but fails. ”She was so confused, hyung. She didn’t know what was happening, she thought Iseul was traveling somewhere, bless her.” The tears were falling freely now, dampening his round cheeks, voice strained. “She only understood that Iseul was gone when every time we came home from school it was just the two of us.”
A sob escapes his mouth and it’s only then that Minho speaks. “I’m so incredibly sorry for your loss Jisungie,” the older says in a soft voice, “and I’m sorry you had to go through all of that.”
“Thank you.” It’s all Jisung can say in reply.
“Mhm,” Minho tilts his head to look at him, “I know we met not too long ago, but please know that you can count on me for anything you or Eunbi need, anything at all.” Jisung hums low in acknowledgement. “And thank you for telling me. I can imagine it’s not easy to share this, it must be painful as hell, so thank you, Jisungie.”
“I trust you.” Jisung manages in a tiny and strained voice. He looks up at Minho who’s staring right back at him and they stay like this again, just looking into each other’s eyes. They do this a lot, Jisung thinks. He can’t help but yawn and he suddenly feels exhausted. “Can we cuddle again? I feel like a ton of bricks just fell on me.”
“Of course, darling.”
They go back to bed and get into the same position they were right before Jisung brought Iseul up, but Jisung can’t help but want more . He wiggles a little hoping to catch Minho’s attention.
“What’s wrong, ‘Sungie? Are you uncomfy?” Bingo.
Jisung shyly looks up at Minho through his eyelashes. “Uh, I just… Can we spoon?” He really hopes Minho says yes because he’s not so keen on making a fool of himself after such a deep conversation.
Minho blinks several times and it looks like his brain is buffering, he’s so cute. “ Oh. Y-yeah, sure.” Is he nervous?? Well that’s new. “Wanna be the big spoon or the little spoon?”
“The little one, please…” Jisung’s face feels hot as he makes his request and they immediately change positions. He feels one of Minho’s hands slide around his waist to intertwine his fingers to Jisung’s.
He can feel Minho everywhere. The tight embrace grounding him, he feels protected, safe. Like nothing could ever happen to him as long as he’s in Minho’s arms, and he hasn’t felt like this in a very long time. He tries to match his breathing to Minho’s and as he fully relaxes and lets himself be lulled to sleep, he hears a faint sweet dreams, Jisungie.
Jisung wakes up to the first rays of sun shining directly on his face, he scrunches up his nose and squints with a whine in the back of his throat. He tries to turn around but soon realizes he’s trapped by a strong pair of arms.
The hell…
When he looks down to his tummy he sees his hands holding another pair of hands that definitely do not belong to him. Before he can panic though, a hoarse voice breaks the silence in the room.
“Stop moving so much…”
Wait. He recognizes that voice… What’s Minho hyung doing in his bed?? Minho pulls Jisung towards him a little and literally squeezes him . That’s when he starts remembering last night’s events. He asked Minho to stay with him, to cuddle with him. To spoon him. Oh lord, he’s horrified. Then he remembers something else… He’d told him about Iseul, and somehow that thought doesn’t horrify him as much, he feels like Minho has to know more about him and his story to fully understand him.
“What’s going on in that little head of yours, Hannie, hm?” His thoughts get interrupted and he’s thankful, he doesn’t want to panic again.
“Just. Thinking about last night.” Jisung says honestly.
Minho hums, accompanied by a gentle rub of his nose on Jisung’s nape. A shiver goes down his spine, he tries to cover it up by turning around in Minho’s arms—this time Minho lets him—and hides in his neck.
They bask in the autumn sun for a while and when they feel more awake Minho suggests they make breakfast. Jisung cooks them some blueberry pancakes while Minho brews some coffee to warm them up since it’s pretty chilly despite the sun outside. Jisung puts on some music and they eat in comfortable silence.
He could get used to this.
♡ ♡ ♡
Jisung is driving home after Eunbi’s dance lessons and she’s going on and on about Minho’s cool and amazing dancing. He taught them some moves today that apparently had her and the other kids hypnotized while he danced. She won’t stop talking about how smooth and wonderful Minho is. She’s mesmerized and completely infatuated by him.
Once again, he can’t blame her because Minho is the most amazing person and most talented dancer Jisung has ever seen in his entire life. Which makes him think about what she’d say if Jisung ever gets brave enough to ask Minho on a date. What would she think? Would she get mad at him? Eunbi still doesn’t know the extent of their friendship and Minho hasn’t even visited them yet. Would she get confused?
What if they fight and break up? That’s his biggest worry. Eunbi getting attached to Minho and then never seeing him again. Because Minho wouldn’t stick around just for the sake of her daughter, right?
He lets out a heavy sigh and pays attention to Eunbi again, no longer knowing what she’s telling him. He feels heavy all of a sudden, a somber expression tainting his features.
Only time will tell.
♡ ♡ ♡
Jisung wasn’t used to resting in the past. He’s always been a workaholic at heart, Iseul always had to drag him away from the studio or his laptop at home. He just loved his job, truly. Making music is what moved him, until Eunbi was born. Since then, his daughter has been his top priority, which led him to start sleeping more, taking days off and taking care of his mental health on a daily basis. Which is how he ended up in a cat-themed cafe near the Cloud 9 Studio after spending the entire morning and afternoon hanging out with his daughter. He requested a day off since Eunbi didn’t have to go to school due to some insect pest infestation that originated in the school grounds or something like that. He could’ve called Iseul’s parents or Eunbi’s go-to nanny but decided against it, seeing this as an opportunity to spend more time with his little girl. He’s finishing his iced americano when his phone starts buzzing in his pocket.
Unknown
Jisung furrows his brows and picks up the phone. “Hello?”
On the other end of the line a smooth and melodic voice answers. “Hi, is this Han Jisung?”
Confusion settles on his features, he isn’t supposed to be getting any calls today. “Yes, I’m sorry, who is this?”
“It’s Kim Seungmin, the receptionist from the Cloud 9 Dance Studio.” The young man answers and Jisung’s blood runs cold.
“Oh,” he looks at his watch, “I’m confused, I don’t have to pick up my daughter for another 20 minutes, did I forget something?”
“No, sir. There has been an inconvenience or, rather, an emergency.” Seungmin sounds calm, so there’s nothing to actually worry about, right?
Wrong.
“I need you to come to the studio as soon as possible, sir.” He clears his throat and continues. “Eunbi fainted while in class. She isn’t injured, there’s no need to worry. We always have at least one paramedic in the building at all hours for instances like this, she already examined her and she’s okay.”
Jisung didn’t know what to process first, the only sentence in his brain at the moment being Eunbi fainted . Could she… no, it was impossible for her to have Iseul’s condition.
Jisung got on his feet as fast as he could and rushed to the door, “I’m on my way.”
He gets there fast, in record time actually. He is no runner but when it comes to Eunbi he can be anything he needs to be to make sure she is okay. As soon as he enters the studio Seungmin is instantly by his side. “Follow me, sir.”
Jisung doesn’t remember a thing Seungmin tells him while on their way to the room Eunbi’s in. He’s so worried he can only think about her. When they enter the room he runs to where she’s sitting on the navy blue couch, ignoring the other two adults in the room.
“Hey, little one.” He says, voice strained. He kneels down in front of her.
“Daddy!!” She wraps her little arms around his neck and hugs him tightly. “I was telling Mr. Lee about our awesome day!”
Jisung lets out a sigh of relief seeing Eunbi as cheerful as ever, which means nothing serious happened to her when she fainted. But Jisung is nothing but a worrisome dad, so he has to ask, “are you okay, bub?”
Eunbi unlinks her arms from his neck and looks at him with her round eyes. “Mhm, I’m confused though, daddy.” Her little eyebrows furrowed, a deep crease forming between them. “Mr. Lee said I fell asleep in class and that I fell too, but I don’t remember.” She says, pouting.
“Yeah, Mr. Kim told me, but don’t worry, princess. You’re okay and that’s all that matters.” Jisung says and he tries to believe his own words, he fails.
“Okay, daddy.” She pauses to think for a bit and then says, “time to go?”
“Yeah, bub. Go get your stuff.” Jisung gets up and for the first time since entering the room he notices Minho standing in the middle of it.
“Hello Jisungie.” Minho smiles fondly at him and Jisung relaxes.
“Hi hyung. Thank you for taking care of her.” Jisung says sincerely.
“It’s my pleasure.”
Minho—the amazing friend that he is—offers to accompany them and make them dinner with the excuse that this was supposed to be Jisung and Eunbi’s sort of daddy-daughter day. Jisung, the selfish fucker that he is, accepts his offer.
Maybe he’ll get to cuddle Minho again.
Jisung drives them home and as soon as they get there Minho is rushing into the apartment to get to the kitchen. Once there he rummages through the fridge as if it’s his own and gathers the ingredients for a stew, which makes total sense since it’s a very chilly autumn day. While he’s cooking, Jisung and Eunbi sit down on the couch to read her favorite book.
The producer is reading out loud the best part of the story when they hear Minho yell from the kitchen.
“Jisung-ah!! Eunbi-ya! Dinner’s ready!!”
They jump from the couch and race into the kitchen. Minho’s singing when they walk in and Eunbi points out excitedly, “Mr. Lee knows how to sing!!”
Minho chuckles at Eunbi’s adorable remark, “yeah, I do! Do you like singing, bug?”
“I love singing! Just like daddy.”
Jisung flushes a subtle pink and smiles fondly at his daughter. “Come on ‘Bi, let’s sit down, we don’t want the food to go cold, hm?”
They all sit on the kitchen island, Eunbi right in the middle with both men on each side. They all take a bite and as expected it’s absolutely delicious.
“Mmm!!! Mr. Lee this is so yummy!!” She praises, with food stored in her cheeks just like his father.
Minho seems to not be able to help the smile that etches in the corners of his mouth while he replies, “thank you, bug. But remember how I told you to call me Minho instead of Mr. Lee when we’re not in the studio?”
Eunbi’s surprised expression tells them that she, in fact, remembers. “Yes Mr. L— Oopsie!!” She bursts out laughing, squealing happily at her mistake and Minho joins her.
Jisung just looks at the pair while they laugh, thinking about how lucky Jisung and Eunbi are to have Lee Minho around.
After their meal Jisung tells Eunbi to change into her pajamas while he and Minho do the dishes. They must look like the epitome of domesticity right now, any outsider would think they are a couple, a family, and Jisung instantly feels guilt settle in his bones and his chest, making him feel heavy like lead.
“Penny for your thoughts, Jisungie?” Minho says bringing him back to reality once again.
“Oh, just—” He doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t want to lie to Minho but he can’t tell him the truth either. He feels trapped. “Stuff about the reason Eunbi fainted today, you don’t have to worry.”
“Oh but I worry.” A deep frown on his beautiful features. “You’re important to me Jisungie, of course I’ll worry.”
Jisung decides on a half truth. “I just feel guilty… I feel like all I do is worry you with my weird spacing out in the middle of conversations. You must be tired of it.”
Minho stops drying the glass he’s holding with the flowery dish towel and turns to Jisung. “Darling, no.” There he goes again with that pet name , it makes butterflies soar in his tummy. “None of that. I just wanna know if I can help in any way that I can.” Minho pauses for a second, hesitating a little with what he’s going to say next, “I care a lot about you, please get that into your head. It hurts me a little that you think that about me, and before you say anything to that, I understand that you may find it hard to believe sometimes, but I’ll be here to remind you. I’m not going anywhere.”
Jisung can see sincerity overflowing in Minho’s eyes. He tries hard to believe his words, even if only for now. “Okay.” He takes a deep breath and continues. “Thank you Minho, and I’m—”
“Don’t you dare say sorry, Jisungie.” Minho says sternly pointing at him with the dish towel, the corner of his mouth slowly turning up.
Jisung breaks into a smile, “you silly hyung.”
Minho gasps, an offended expression taking over his features, “slander!!!”
They both start chuckling, Jisung finally at ease after Minho’s reassuring words. They continue to tidy up the kitchen in comfortable silence and Jisung wonders how he even lived without this man before.
♡ ♡ ♡
Minho staying at Jisung’s place became a regular thing after that, Jisung and Eunbi comfortable enough to let the dancer into their lives completely. Minho often came to make them dinner, saying he really enjoyed cooking for others but especially for them since they praised his meals so eagerly. Jisung playfully shoves him at that.
What also became a regular thing was… Minho calling him pet names. Coupley pet names, at that. Especially when he was upset. Jisung didn’t mind them, he just became very flustered every time Minho called him darling or… love. He knew friends could do that too but he didn’t call any of his friends sweetheart … it just didn’t feel right to him. But who is he to judge, maybe Minho and his friends were that kind of people.
Another thing that was making Jisung slowly but surely lose his mind was the touching. More often than not he found himself in Minho’s arms. Which, to be fair, was fucking fantastic, but also nerve-wracking and made it even more difficult to hide his feelings for the dancer. He absolutely loved being embraced by him, or touched by him. It made him feel grounded and… loved. Every touch of his fingers on his arm, every hold of his hand, every kiss on his forehead or his temple, he loved them so much. He adored cuddling with him, it was one of his favorite activities to do with his hyung. Cooking together was added into the mix when one day Minho appeared on Jisung’s apartment door with a tote bag full of ingredients to make empanadas. They had the most wonderful time together, laughing at each other being covered in flour because Minho refused to buy supermarket dough that’s just disgusting Jisungie .
Spending time with Minho just made him feel like the luckiest person in the world.
♡ ♡ ♡
“Does Eunbi like dinosaurs?” Minho’s voice echoes in the bathroom where he has his phone propped up on the counter against his soap dispenser.
“Mm, she’s more of a penguin girl. She loves birds.” Jisung says as he resumes his shaving.
“Oh. Okay, good to know.”
Minho isn’t as talkative as he and Eunbi are but he isn’t exactly very quiet either, especially when they’re on a call. So when a few minutes pass and Minho doesn’t say anything else he takes a glance at his phone screen and asks.
“Why are you making that face?”
“Oh it’s nothing, I just… I may have bought her a dinosaur plushie… but!! I can return it!!!” Minho exclaims frantically as if saying the words faster will rid him of the plushie.
“Aww hyuuuung. You really shouldn’t have!” Jisung says teasingly with the biggest smile in the world making his cheeks get rounder.
He has to admit he is melting at the gesture. It will never stop surprising him how much Minho loves kids, and dare he say, his daughter. It endears him profusely knowing Minho cares this much about Eunbi. It makes him feel warm and it makes his heart full.
“She’s been doing really good in class so I wanted to get her a lil’ something ya’ know?” He pauses for a bit and then continues. “She’s a great kid, ‘Sung. And you’re a great father.” Minho utters and looks earnestly at him through the phone screen.
Jisung thinks he might as well marry him.
♡ ♡ ♡
Me 4:36 pm
[attached file]
look at what we made hyung! ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝
Minhoring 4:39 pm
no way you both just made that
Me 4:40 pm
heyy!!
what do you mean ( ｡ •̀ ᴖ •́ ｡)
Minhoring 4:42 pm
i mean, how did you manage to make it so pretty and not messy?
Me 4:43 pm
ur literally being so disrespectful rn im not giving u ANY cake >:-(
Minhoring 4:42 pm
noooo jisungie wait
♡ ♡ ♡
They’re making pizza for lunch on a Sunday when Jisung realizes he’s in love with Lee Minho. He’s rolling out the dough while Jisung is taking out the ingredients they need from the fridge. He turns around to leave the tomato sauce on the counter and suddenly it hits him like a ton of bricks falling on his chest and splitting it open, baring his heart for Minho to take and keep it with him. It takes the oxygen from his lungs and makes his heart rate pick up. This is such a common thing to do together, they cook together so often now it shouldn’t feel any different this time but when he looks up at Minho using the rolling pin to roll out the white dough, he just knows this is new. This feeling in his chest spreading like wildfire, unable to control, consuming him until there’s no part of Jisung that doesn’t want Minho, that doesn’t love him.
“What’s wrong?” He is so immersed in the feeling of loving Minho, so taken aback by his new discovery that he doesn’t realize Minho is looking at him, confusion clear on his face.
He’s still holding the jar of tomato sauce in his hand, completely frozen in place, the fridge making an annoying beeping noise begging Jisung to close its door.
He has no words. He is utterly speechless. He can’t formulate any thoughts that aren’t I think I’m in love with you and he obviously cannot say that. Minho doesn’t deserve to have his afternoon ruined by his friend blurting out of nowhere that he is in love with him. Minho doesn’t love him romantically, he knows that. He’s just an amazing friend that cares about him and likes to spend time with him.
And damn it, it’s so easy to love Minho.
So easy to fall for him.
“Hannie you’re scaring me, are you okay?” Minho is about to approach him, rolling pin in hand, when Jisung finally reacts.
“Yeah!!! I’m f-fine just— I suddenly remembered something I had to do at the studio but forgot! Everything is fine, don’t you worry.”
Great save Han Jisung, fantastic as always.
Minho doesn’t look so convinced but he lets it go, he must sense Jisung doesn’t want to talk about it.
See? Easy to fall for him.
The older hums in response and continues working on the dough.
♡ ♡ ♡
It’s on a Tuesday evening when Jisung gets the second worst phone call of his life. He’s in the recording booth, not at all aware of his phone going off on the sofa. He’s used to reading the lyrics off his phone while recording the guides for his songs, but today is the exception since he’d been working on this one for ages so he knows the lyrics by heart. It isn’t until the LED clock on the wall reads 5:27 pm that Jisung spares a glance at the sofa where his phone’s screen is lit up with an incoming call. When he reaches for it, the phone had just stopped ringing a few seconds ago. He takes a look at his notifications and his heart drops.
Minhoring
23 missed calls
“Shit.”
He anxiously taps on Minho’s contact and waits with his phone on his ear for him to pick up. He tries to remember if anything seemed off this morning and afternoon with Eunbi and nothing comes to mind. She was fine, she seemed fine, then why is Minho calling him in the middle of her dance classes? Is her sweet girl hurt? Did something happen to her? Is she injured? Jisung knows he’s spiraling but his brain isn’t giving him any chance to think logically for even a moment. This can’t be happening, not again not after—no, just no. No no no no no.
“ —ungie breathe.”
A voice? He knows that voice.
“You have to calm down, come on, come back.”
Suddenly he remembers: his daughter. He’s calling Minho back because he had several missed calls from him. She is with him.
He finds himself coming back to reality from his spiral. His breathing is labored and his hands are sweaty. He takes in as much air as his lungs let him and after a few seconds he lets all the air out.
“Good, good Jisungie. Again.” He does as he’s told and soon enough he can breathe a little better.
“Please tell me she’s okay.” He finds himself begging, eyes suddenly watering, hands shaking.
“She’s not hurt, ‘Sung. I promise.”
Relief washes over him and his legs finally give out, landing on the carpeted floor. “Thank fuck, oh my God, oh God.” He has never felt more grateful to hear those words in his entire life. She’s safe, she’s okay, she isn’t hurt, his princess is okay. “Then what is it, Min?”
“She’s just…” He can hear some rustling in the background. “I just wanted to ask if you were too busy right now?” Minho sounds worried but also… sad?
“I was just finishing recording a guide but, why?” If Eunbi isn’t hurt then… Why is Minho worried?
“Can you go back to your apartment right now? We’re finishing class early, well, Eunbi is. I’ll bring her to your place myself, don't you worry.”
“Minho, wha—”
“I’ll explain when we get there, okay?”
He wants to ask for an explanation right now but something in his gut makes him settle on just trusting his friend.
“Okay.”
“Please drive safe and don’t rush, remember I have a copy of your key.”
“Yeah, I will.”
He stands up as fast as his legs let him and after hanging up he grabs his coat as well as the rest of his things and heads out of the studio. He doesn’t even bother turning anything off, he knows Changbin will do it for him when he comes back from his meeting.
He can hear Minho reading out loud one of Eunbi’s favorite books along with faint music down the hall. He takes off his shoes and coat and almost runs to the living room. Jisung knows Minho has it covered, but he’s a father and he worries constantly, that’s his job.
They are sitting on the gray sofa, Eunbi hugging Minho like a koala, cheek pressed against his shoulder and face tucked into the older’s neck. His left hand is caressing her back and his right one is holding the book, they look the epitome of coziness.
Jisung lets out a breath of relief upon seeing his daughter so comfortable and Minho immediately looks up at him with a sympathetic smile on his face. The younger lets his feet drag against the carpet in the other’s direction and sits carefully on the sofa so as to not wake Eunbi up. They stare into each other’s eyes for a minute and Jisung feels the incredible need to hug his daughter, so he does.
“Thank you Minho.” He says as he rests his head on the girl’s back, a sad smile on his pouty lips.
“Of course ‘Sung.” His voice full of emotion, “do you want to take her to bed? I made sure to feed her and she brushed her teeth already so you don’t need to worry about that. She can keep sleeping.”
Oh how thankful he is for Lee Minho.
“I cannot tell you how thankful I am for you.”
Minho gives him a warm smile in return and Jisung takes Eunbi from his arms to take her to bed. When she’s all tucked up, Jisung heads to the kitchen to make something to eat. He can hear faint singing which becomes louder and louder with each step he takes. He rounds the corner where the hallway and the living room connect and more soft singing can be heard along with the sounds of cutlery being taken out of the kitchen drawers.
He recognizes the song as one of Eunbi’s favorites so, naturally, he starts singing softly too. Minho stops and looks him directly in the eyes when Jisung enters the kitchen and just stands there leaning against the door for a bit. He keeps singing, it calms him. Singing and listening to music always does that for him.
Although, all the staring can’t feel more romantic even if they tried.
He always “feels” romantic when he looks or stares at Minho nowadays. It’s starting to become a little bit of a problem if he’s honest. All the songs he writes are about romantic love, happy love, established relationships and more love, love, love. He can’t seem to stop.
Minho is just wonderful though, how can he not think about him in a romantic way? He’s been so helpful with his little Eunbi, always so attentive and sweet towards her. He’s kind, loving, considerate and pretty. So pretty.
The bad part of all this is that… Minho is all of these things with most people so, there’s no way of finding out if his feelings are requited… Well, there is one way he could know but. He’s too scared to ask. Jisung doesn’t want to lose Minho’s friendship. He doesn’t think he could go on in life without him. Okay maybe that’s a bit dramatic but you get the idea.
“Everything alright?” A velvety soft voice takes him out of his deep train of thought.
Jisung blinks a few times and starts walking towards the kitchen island and then sits on one of the stools. “Yeah, she didn’t even wake up, must have been tired from all the dancing.”
“... and the crying…” He hears Minho mumble sadly.
“What?” Jisung’s voice sounds tiny in his own ears so he’s surprised Minho even hears him.
“Come on, I’ll make something quick for dinner and then we can talk about what happened today.”
Minho gets to work and 10 minutes filled with tension and silence pass by. They then sit on the couch where they’ll be more comfortable to eat and talk.
Jisung isn’t even hungry, but he knows his friend wants him to eat so he tries having tiny bites while Minho speaks.
“So… It started as a usual class. We stretched and went through the basic stuff like remembering how to do certain moves and remembering last week’s choreo. Then… a boy asked if his mother could come see the class next week, to which I said she couldn’t because they all could get distracted and I tried to explain how it’s in the studio’s rules and whatnot. The little boy kept nagging me about it and I could tell he was starting to get annoyed. And then—” He stops for a second to take a deep breath before continuing. “Then Eunbi interrupted me and said ‘drop it, Doyun, Mr. Lee said she can’t come’.” Minho looks like he’s bracing himself for what comes next, he closes his eyes. “Then the boy said— I’m so sorry he was so mean, Jisungie. He said ‘you’re only saying that because you don’t have a mom’. The kid was so annoyed and frustrated he took it out on her.”
The words stab him right in the chest. It all makes sense now. Eunbi isn’t a girl that gets into fights or even arguments on the regular so it wouldn’t surprise him if she kept quiet after that.
“She didn’t say anything back, did she?”
Minho looks at him with surprise painted on his sharp features. “No, she didn’t. Which surprised me a lot, she’s very energetic and talkative in my class so I figured she’d bite back. But now that you say that… I guess she doesn’t get in much trouble?”
“No. She’s very understanding and she doesn’t like conflict much. Before— before Iseul passed… she stood up for herself when she needed to. I guess grief and loss can change you in that way too.”
“I’m sorry, ‘Sung.” A hand on his thigh brings him back to the present and he turns around to look at Minho.
“Thank you, Min.” Several seconds pass and when he’s ready to hear the other part of the story he says so, “you can continue.”
With their food long forgotten, Minho takes Jisung’s plate and puts it on the coffee table next to his.
“Okay.” Minho takes both of his hands in his and starts rubbing the back of his left hand with his thumb. “At this point I was waiting for the worst to happen so I made a kid go get Hyunjin ‘cause I knew he was free while I taught this class. As I said, Eunbi didn’t fight back but this other kid kept going on about how his mom was so excited to see him perform and how they sometimes danced together in his house to practice the choreographies I teach them. That’s when Eunbi reacted. She just clung to my leg and started crying. Thankfully, Hyunjin entered the room seconds after, she wouldn’t stop crying so I took her outside. When we were in the hallway I detached her from my leg so I could crouch and look at her properly but she wouldn’t let me and instead she hugged me and cried in my neck for half an hour.” Minho’s voice is soft, but he can tell he’s affected when he says that last part.
“That’s when you called me?” Jisung gulps, remembering how anxious he felt when he saw all the missed calls on his phone.
“More or less, I think, like, ten minutes after she stopped crying. I thought she was gonna stop crying after five minutes but— she sounded so devastated, Jisung. I got worried.” His voice sounds tight, like there’s a knot in his throat. “So I took her to another room, one we use for meetings, and I tried to talk to her. I tried to sit her on the couch we have there and give her some water but she wasn’t having any of it. She just kept her tiny arms locked around my neck and kept crying. It was heartbreaking.”
Jisung lets him recover a little and then says, “what happened next?”
Minho sighs, he sounds exhausted at this point. “Then I gave up and just sat on the couch with Eunbi in my arms, I hugged her and tried consoling her. I told her her mother was watching her and that she loved her. I tried my best and I really hope that it was enough.”
“Min—”
“Then, after a while she stopped sobbing and she let me clean her face and she drank some water. That’s when I called you.” Another pause. Minho squeezes both of his hands and continues. “After I hung up I told her we would be going home and that we’d meet you there. We got here, I fed her, brushed her teeth, she put on her pajamas and she asked me if I could hold her while I read her a story. She didn’t let go of me for the whole evening.” Minho looks emotionally exhausted.
Jisung’s first reaction to hearing the whole story is to sigh heavily. Then after a few minutes his vision is clouded by tears. Minho immediately leans forward and embraces Jisung in the warmest hug possible. He cries for a little while, clutching Minho’s gray hoodie. His face is buried in his chest and he can feel Minho’s rapid heartbeat.
“It’s okay, darling. Let it out. I’m here for you, I'm not leaving.”
“Why does it have to be so unfair? It’s so unfair, she doesn’t deserve any of this. I’m so sad, Minho.”
He can’t stop crying. Everytime he thinks he might be able to stop, another image of his daughter crying sends him into another spiral of pain. He just wants his little bean to be happy.
“I just want her to be happy and not feel sad ever again.”
“She is happy, Jisungie. She’s just still grieving. It takes a while to get used to the loss, especially for a kid her age.”
“I’m not doing enough. I need to be enough for her, I can’t lack I-I need to give her the best life possible. I’m so—”
Just as he’s starting to spiral again Minho separates them and takes his face in his hands with the utmost care in the world. He looks into his eyes with raw honesty and says, “stop right there, Hannie. Listen to me, recovering from a loss like that takes a lot of time. It’s gonna be okay, but it will take a while, trust me. She’s so bright and warm Jisung, you’re doing a great job raising her, please do not ever doubt that.”
They keep staring at each other for a few minutes, Jisung trying to regulate his breathing. Minho helps him and eventually they lie down on the couch with Jisung on top of him. A smooth and velvety voice trying to further calm him down. Minho’s singing makes his heart race most times, but now it feels like a warm blanket, tucking him in and making sure he rests as soundly as possible. So, as his breathing evens out, he closes his eyes feeling safe enough to fall asleep.
The next day he wakes up feeling like a whole building fell on top of him. His limbs feel like lead and his eyes take a while to adjust to the light in the room. As he’s sitting on the bed, someone opens the door.
“Minho?”
Gentle eyes and a soft smile paint the older’s face making him feel warm in his chest again. Jisung just stares at the other man standing there, cheeks slightly flushed a rosy color.
“Hi sleepyhead. Did you sleep well?” Minho asks, sitting beside him and ruffling his hair delicately.
He thinks for a minute, still a bit groggy from waking up just minutes ago, he looks at his surroundings and realizes he’s not on the couch but in his bed. How did he get here? Jisung yawns and rubs his eyes with both his hands, he hears Minho chuckle quietly and Jisung thinks he could listen to the sweet sound every morning.
“Yeah but, I don’t even remember walking to my room?” Jisung is not a heavy sleeper. Having a daughter meant waking up in the middle of the night to fight the monsters under the bed. It meant being alert even in his sleep in case she needed his help, which led to never sleeping for the whole night, he was always waking up randomly to check on her. Hence the confusion about how he ended up sleeping in his bed and not the couch.
“Oh, that’s because I carried you here,” Minho states as if it’s something as obvious as the sky being blue. “You slept through it all, didn’t even move.”
“What??” Jisung is baffled.
“Why is that so weird?” Minho is starting to get confused too, but for the opposite reason Jisung is.
“I— I’m a light sleeper. I wake up several times during the night, I never sleep throughout the entire night just in case Eunbi needs me.”
“That sounds exhausting, Jisungie,” the older is staring at him with sympathy in his eyes.
“That’s just having children I guess? It doesn’t bother me at all, her safety will always come first for me,” Jisung explains with a soft smile on his round face, eyes puffy from sleep. “However, I won’t lie, it gets tiring sometimes. I never complain though, she’s my whole world.”
“Mm, I understand.”
Jisung wishes he could share this burden with Minho though. And if the way Minho’s looking at him is any indication, he’d dare to say that he wants the same thing too. It’s hard to read Minho sometimes, one moment he’d look at him and know exactly what’s on his mind and then he’d be staring at a blank piece of paper. He really doesn’t want to get his hopes up and think Minho wants to join his little family but… he gets so confused every now and then.
“Jisungie?” Minho is looking at him with a crease between his eyebrows.
“Mhm?”
Minho waits a few seconds, chewing on his bottom lip, “um, Eunbi was singing a song yesterday when we were on our way here.” Jisung knows where this is going and he doesn’t know if he has the guts to speak about it. “She seemed particularly sad while singing it… Where is it from?”
Jisung tries to find the best words to explain what that song means to the both of them but only settles on telling Minho the story behind it. “Ah… that’s a song Iseul and I wrote. It sort of became Eunbi’s favorite for some reason, she used to sing it all the time but,” he remembers Eunbi singing it for the first time since Iseul’s passing and he feels his heart in his throat. “Now she only sings it when she misses her…”
“Oh.” Minho looks a little guilty for asking, averting Jisung’s eyes or face for that matter. “I’m sorry for asking, I know it’s none of my business I was just… curious.”
“It’s okay Min, you couldn’t possibly have known. I promise it’s okay to ask.”
After more seconds of them just being in each other’s presence, Minho changes the topic.
“Breakfast? I'll finish making the pancakes while you wake little Eunbi up, yeah?” Minho smiles warmly, getting up from the bed and walking back to the kitchen.
Jisung puts on a pair of sweatpants and a blue hoodie, he walks to Eunbi’s room and enters quietly only to see she’s already up dressed in some jeans and a yellow cardigan.
“Hey there bub.”
Eunbi turns around and walks straight into Jisung’s arms hiding her face in his neck. Jisung tries his best not to cry in front of her, it breaks his heart to see her so low energy and upset, it’s something he will never get used to even when it happens more often than he’d like.
“Hello daddy…” They don’t say anything for several minutes, Jisung feels how his daughter’s breathing quickens for the first few minutes of the hug and then slows down again.
“Did you sleep well, little one?” Jisung asks in a low voice.
“Mhm, I missed you, daddy.” He feels the little arms around him tighten and Jisung can’t help but do the same.
“I missed you too bub, but I’m here now.”
“Minho took me home yesterday.”
“Yeah, he told me bub. Was that okay?” Jisung’s heart starts to race, anxious about the fact that leaving Eunbi in Minho's hands was a bad idea.
“Mm, yes. He’s very nice, daddy.” Jisung lets out a sigh of relief, “he made me kimchi stew for dinner, it was yummy.”
“I’m so glad you liked it, little one. He told me he read you a book?”
“Mhm, he’s a good reader too,” he can tell she’s feeling a little forlorn by her quick and short responses and it breaks his heart.
“I see.” After a few more minutes they separate, Jisung takes a look at her and is debating if he should send her to school or just stay home with her for today, “hey bub, do you wanna stay home today?” Jisung asks softly.
“No school?” Eunbi asks in a tiny voice.
“No school, what do you think?”
The girl seems deep in thought upon Jisung’s suggestion, perhaps wondering why Jisung proposed such a thing but ends up agreeing with him. They soon go to the kitchen hand in hand where Minho is finishing making the pancakes, Eunbi lets go of her father to run into the dancer’s arms.
“Hey bug, how are you feeling?” Minho asks with a soft smile on his face, genuinely interested.
“‘M okay… daddy said I could stay home today.”
“I see, bug. It’s good to have a chill day every once in a while, don’t you think?”
“I guess…”
Minho chuckles, ruffling her hair and saying, “Okay, let’s eat. I made you both sweet treat lovers some pancakes, do you like pancakes little Eunbi?”
The girl gasps excitedly for the first time since waking up and Jisung feels himself relax.
“I love pancakes!!!”
Jisung puts on some of Eunbi’s favorite songs and they start digging in. Every time he can, Minho tries making conversation with the girl, distracting her from what happened yesterday and trying to cheer her up. It works, Eunbi laughs, asks Minho questions too and they even sing a little.
Jisung can’t help but look at them with endearment on his soft features. He is so grateful for Minho, so thankful that he’s trying to make Eunbi forget about yesterday because he doesn’t know if he can. He’s feeling exhausted even though he slept through the entire night, it must be all the pain and the grief weighing down on him.
After breakfast they watch a documentary per Eunbi’s request, the three of them cuddling on the couch and Jisung can’t help but feel like they’re a family.
♡ ♡ ♡
Jisung’s feelings towards his friend haven’t changed at all, if anything, they’ve gotten even stronger. What hasn’t changed one bit either is the guilt, even when he brought it up to his dear friends and they reassured him that there was nothing wrong about moving on in life and finding a new partner. Jisung just couldn’t let it go. He often thought about what Iseul would think if she saw him with another man, another person that wasn’t her.
But Jisung couldn’t deny he loved Minho anymore. It was so damn evident . You could see it written all over his face, all over his actions when he was with him.
But he didn’t want his silly love to taint their friendship, he cherishes it way too much to ruin what they have.
And so, between his guilt over moving on and ruining their friendship, he just yearns. He hopes for Minho to make a move, even if he knows deep down that the older doesn’t feel the same. He lets his heart be blind, lets it beat erratically every time he looks at him, every time he even thinks about him.
It hurts, but it would hurt infinitely more to not have him around.
♡ ♡ ♡
To say Jisung’s feelings for the dancer haven’t been haunting him would be a blatant lie. Minho has been even more touchy with him, it’s driving him mad. And before you ask, yes, he’s been loving it. He just feels very—yup, you guessed it—guilty about it. With the date of Iseul’s passing approaching, his chest has been feeling tighter than usual when thinking about dating Minho. This is the reason Jisung currently finds himself parking his car in the cemetery she is buried in.
When he approaches her and reads her name out loud, tears gather in his eyes. “Hi there, love.” And he instantly feels ugly guilt clinging to his heart like thick black tar. “I’m not sure I can call you that anymore…” He confesses, voicing his worries since meeting Minho.
“Truth is, lately I’ve been feeling very heavy with guilt, angel. And I— I don’t know how to deal with it.” Jisung sits on the damp grass, right in front of her. “I was hoping you could help me a little. You’ve always been really good at that.” He chuckles, remembering all the times Iseul did things for him, all the times she helped him figure things out. He waits, trying to get the next words out seems to be more difficult than he anticipated, “I met someone.”
The wind starts to pick up, the November breeze chilling his bones. He knows he should probably head home or he’ll catch a nasty cold, but he needs this. He needs to talk to her, to let her know .
“Well, actually… We met by pure coincidence. He’s— Oh, yeah, it’s a he,” he’s pretty sure Iseul would’ve patted him on the back if she was here, Jisung always had a hard time talking to men, something only she knew. “I think… I think you would’ve liked him. He’s so kindhearted and pretty, he genuinely likes me and he absolutely adores Eunbi.”
So what is the problem, Jisung-ah?
He can almost hear her say that in the softest of voices.
“A few days ago,” he continues, ignoring her, ”this huge realization dawned on me that— I’m in love with him, Iseul.” He chokes out, tears finally spilling from his eyes, his voice strained and wobbly. “I’m in love with him, I couldn’t help it at all and it was so damn easy .” He laments, guilt weighing him down as he bows his head, tears falling onto the grass. “He even knows about you, he listened to every word I said that night and comforted me.”
He sounds lovely, honey.
It’s what she’d say if she was here now.
“But—” there’s always a but. There’s always something that gets between Jisung and his happiness.
And it’s always himself.
“Iseul, I feel so incredibly guilty .” He finally lets out and as he does so he can feel himself being able to breathe again. Weeks and weeks of this ugly feeling holding Jisung hostage are behind him at last. “And I know you’re never coming back, it’s something that still hurts sometimes, but Minho,” he sniffs and attempts to dry his cheeks with his sleeves, “Minho helps.”
A pause.
“He helps me forget, and I feel awful .” Every attempt at drying his cheeks was in vain, tears ricocheting down his face once again. “I can’t shake the feeling that I’m replacing you from my brain, and I’m definitely not trying to do that. Nobody ever could be you, that’s dumb.” Jisung takes a deep breath trying to calm his breathing that has been erratic since he started crying. “You and Minho are so different, but you both care for Eunbi and I the same.” There are so many thoughts running around in his brain but when those words leave his mouth his mind blanks and he remembers.
You deserve love and you deserve to be cared for.
Iseul’s words take over and he stays there in silence looking at her headstone. Since the very beginning of their relationship, Iseul always reassured Jisung with these exact words. Seeing as she was no longer in this world with him, he’d forgotten about them.
Silence stretches on for a few more minutes before Jisung speaks again, his realization making his chest feel the lightest it’s felt since her passing. “Thank you, love.” Jisung smiles for the first time since getting here, “you always know how to help.” And with that he gets on his feet again, looking at her one last time, “I love you, always.”
He gets into his car and drives home, feeling more at ease about his feelings for Minho.
I will not disappoint you, angel.
♡ ♡ ♡
The week after he went to see Iseul goes by slowly. Especially because Minho has only spoken to him a total of maybe 10 words. It’s only Tuesday but they always talk loads on the phone and they text all day. He lets it go and blames it on Minho’s workload in the studio this time of year with the recital preparations and all that. He starts really worrying when on Wednesday afternoon he gets an email—but no text from Minho—saying that the cat-bunny class is canceled for this week. Dread settles in his stomach, immediately thinking of the worst case scenario. He needs to call Minho to know he’s okay.
He picks up his phone and dials his number, heart beating frantically in his chest.
“Hello?” Minho’s voice comes through the other end of the line and Jisung lets out a sigh of relief.
“Minho, hi. Are you okay?” He can’t help but ask even though he probably is okay since he picked up the phone.
“Ah, you got the email, right?” Minho sounds a bit annoyed, a sound he wasn’t very acquainted with until now.
“Oh, u-um, yeah.” Jisung stutters, getting nervous all of a sudden. Is Minho annoyed at him? What could he possibly have done to make him this way?
He hears Minho sigh and his previously hard tone softens, “I’m not mad at you or anything if that’s what you’re thinking, Jisungie.”
Jisung relaxes at Minho’s words, no longer questioning himself if he did something wrong. “Then what happened?” Jisung insists. He wants to know if he can help in any way just as Minho always does for him.
There’s a pause on Minho’s end, a pretty long one. But Jisung waits patiently. “I sprained my ankle.” Minho says dryly.
“Oh, Minho.” Now everything makes sense. “Is it bad?”
“No, the doctor said it was a very minor sprain but.” A pause. “It was so fucking dumb Jisung, I’m so mad at myself.”
“Please don’t be, dumb accidents happen all the time.” It pained Jisung to know Minho was being this hard on himself for something he had no responsibility over. “Did they say how long you’ll have to rest?”
“Yeah, only a week, thank fuck.”
The corners of Jisung’s mouth lift slightly at Minho’s swearing. “That’s good, Min.”
“Guess I won’t be able to cook for you this week…” Minho sounds disappointed and Jisung’s heart races, he suddenly feels brave.
“Mm, that only means I’ll have to do it for you.”
“What do you mean, Jisungie?” He sounds hopeful.
“It means… Eunbi has to go visit her grandparents this weekend… I could come over and cook for you.” Jisung mumbles, “I could take care of you…” His cheeks feel hot, he’s glad Minho can’t see him right now.
“Darling.” Minho says, breathless for some reason. “You really don’t have to,” and Jisung wants to fight him, but he doesn’t have to, “but I’d love it if you did.”
“It’s set then.” Jisung is sure Minho can hear him smiling but he doesn’t give a shit. He’s euphoric. “See you on Saturday, Min.”
“See you.”
♡ ♡ ♡
The rest of the week is boring without Minho. They resume their texting and their facetime, but he still misses him and it appears that Eunbi misses him too. When Minho sends him a selfie of himself with his ankle sitting on top of a few pillows he shows it to Eunbi and she laughs, begging Jisung to record a video of her telling him to get better soon.
Minho replies with a ton of crying emojis and a few pink hearts.
♡ ♡ ♡
When Saturday morning comes around he packs his overnight bag and heads out of his apartment. When he steps in front of Minho’s door he punches in the code—Minho had texted him the numbers the day before so he didn’t have to walk—and lets himself in, shutting the door quickly to stop Soonie and Doongie from running out.
“Hey guys! It’s so nice to meet you in person!! I’m Jisung.” He’s so excited to finally meet Minho’s cats, he’d only seen them in the pictures and videos the older sent him. “It’s me, Jisung!!!” He yells so Minho knows it’s him and not some serial killer.
“Good to know it’s my Jisungie and not a serial killer inside my home!!!” Minho yells back and it freaks him out sometimes how in sync they are. “I’m in my room, follow my sweet voice~” Minho starts vocalizing and Jisung can’t help but giggle at Minho’s antics. He’s so fond of this silly man.
He gets to Minho’s room and puts his bag down on the floor before he approaches the dancer. He looks as stunning as ever. “Hey there, pretty.” He says shamelessly and without thinking, he pretends calling Minho that doesn’t set his face on fire. If he asks, Jisung will just blame his red face on the flight of stairs he most definitely didn’t take to get here.
“Hi Jisungie.” Minho smiles sheepishly, “miss me?” This time he smirks playfully thinking Jisung will reply with something like shut up but instead Jisung says,
“Actually? Yeah, a lot .”
Minho seems taken aback by his sincerity and blushes. Jisung thinks he looks the prettiest with his cheeks rosy pink.
“May I sit?”
Minho nods and for the next half an hour Jisung tells him all about his week, not even skipping on the details per Minho’s request— I was so bored Jisungie you have no idea . After Jisung finishes telling him about the song he worked on with Channie hyung this week, he asks Minho if he wants a coffee while they watch a movie, he accepts and that’s how they spend their morning and afternoon.
They’re having dinner, courtesy of chef Jisung, while they chat some more about a random anime Minho watched this week. As they’re finishing, Jisung suddenly recalls the drawing in his bag and he gasps, scaring Minho in the process.
“The fuck, Jisung!?”
“Sorry, sorry! Just remembered something, hold on!” He goes to the kitchen, rinses the plates and the cutlery to put them carefully in the dishwasher. He comes back to Minho’s room, searches through his bag and pulls out a folded piece of paper.
“This is for you,” Jisung places the folded paper in the older’s hand.
“For me? What is it?” Minho’s eyes are full of curiosity, making Jisung excited for his reaction. “To Minho.” The dancer reads out and his head shoots up to look at Jisung. “Is it…?”
“Open it, hyung.”
Jisung’s smile encourages him to unfold the piece of paper as fast as he can. When his eyes land on the drawing Eunbi made of Minho and herself walking hand in hand down a flowery path, Jisung swears he can see Minho’s eyes get glossy.
“Minho and Eunbi.” Minho reads out once again, admiring the little girl’s masterpiece, concentrating on every single little detail like the colors she used for his clothes—which are his favorite. She’s so smart and thoughtful. “There are so many pretty little flowers in this, oh and there are hearts too.” Minho whines, looking at Jisung with a pout on his lips. “Jisungie.” He whispers, “this is the best thing I’ve ever been given.”
Jisung’s breath catches in his throat, he is so endeared by the view of Minho’s pretty eyes glistening with unshed tears and his pouty pink lips. He wants to hug him so bad.
And as if Minho read his mind, he says, “Jisungie, can I have a hug please?”
Jisung moves right away to embrace him in a warm and cozy hug. “Are you okay, hyung? Was this okay?”
“Do you mean the drawing?” Minho’s muffled voice asks from where it’s buried in Jisung’s chest and Jisung nods. “Totally okay, more than okay.”
Minho doesn’t let go of him and Jisung is happy to stay like this for as long as the older wants.
Which is a good 15 minutes.
They only separate because Jisung gets a call from Iseul’s parents. Eunbi wanted to facetime him before going to bed. She’s ecstatic to find out Minho is with him, so the three of them talk for a bit, Minho thanks her sincerely for her drawing, telling her he loved it so much he’s going to keep it on his fridge.
When they hang up Jisung can feel his eyes drooping a little, tired after a long day enjoying Minho’s company. They get into Minho’s bed after changing into their pajamas and brushing their teeth, cuddling straight away. The cats join them, adding a little more heat which is welcomed on this cold November night.
Minho sighs contentedly, breath tickling Jisung’s neck. “Thank you for coming, Jisungie.” His voice sounds small, he’s never seen the older like this since it’s always Jisung that gets taken care of.
It’s nice.
“My pleasure, pretty.” The pet name easily floats out of his mouth. “I always enjoy your company, hyung. Wherever we are.” Jisung confesses earnestly.
“Me too, Jisungie…” Minho trails off, it seems that he’s slowly but surely falling asleep, if the evening of his breaths is any indication.
“Sweet dreams, Min. Love you.” He manages quietly.
“‘M love you too…”
♡ ♡ ♡
After that weekend everything goes back to normal. Minho recovers quickly and Jisung and Eunbi couldn’t be happier to have him back. They resume their weekly dinners and Minho goes to stay with him on the weekends.
One snowy Saturday evening Minho and Jisung are cuddling on the couch as per usual watching Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Jisung has made it his mission to educate Minho since he told him he hasn’t watched all the movies, when Jisung gets the urge to kiss Minho senseless. It’s not like he’s never thought about it, but today—for some wild reason—he can’t get it out of his mind. What if he just did it? His relationship with Minho has stayed the same even with both of them calling each other pet names and holding hands. Jisung thinks it’s time to do something more, he thinks he’s ready. If Minho doesn’t see him that way they can just forget anything happened at all, they’re adults after all, right?
He can’t help but feel nervous though.
“Please explain to me how in the world is Ron so dumb? It physically pains me .” Minho says not even caring one bit about being too harsh with the characters Jisung so dearly loves.
“What??” Jisung is baffled at his friend’s bluntness.
“I mean,” Minho turns around in Jisung’s arms to look him directly in the eye. ”How can you be so delusional ?? He’s a wizard, he should’ve been able to tell if there was a potion in his drink or not.” Minho sounds downright outraged at Ron’s obliviousness.
“Because!!” Jisung replies with eyes wide open and eyebrows raised high in his hairline. “He had his first ever game and he was anxious as hell!! I understand him…”
Minho clicks his tongue and gets back to watching the movie in silence. He gives Jisung’s middle a squeeze letting him know that he understands too.
The movie progresses and as they’re approaching Harry and Ginny’s kissing scene Jisung’s palms start sweating. He’s thinking of kissing Minho again. He’s thinking about his arms around Minho’s waist, about his nose against his, his breath mingling with his.
He’s so immersed in his thoughts that he doesn’t register when Minho climbs into his lap. He’s trapped between strong thighs and Minho places his small hands on his shoulders.
Um, what is happening?
He’s way too stunned to make out any words, he just looks at the dancer with big round eyes and parted lips.
Minho’s cheeks are tinted scarlet and his ears are too, his eyelashes flutter and he suddenly isn’t looking at Jisung’s eyes anymore. He’s looking at his lips. His gaze goes back up, he’s staring into his eyes again and he can see a hint of doubt in his rich chocolate eyes.
He’s so fucking pretty.
He feels Minho’s delicate fingers slide into the hair on the back of his head, caressing his scalp in tender motions. He relaxes in his hold, not noticing how stiff he was, and Jisung starts stroking Minho’s sides, his fingers slipping under the blue hoodie he’s wearing, he feels him shiver and his eyes close for a moment.
Jisung feels so tingly and warm, never in his life did he imagine to feel this intimate with someone again after everything that happened. Minho makes him feel all kinds of crazy, but he makes him feel safe and cared for too. Which is why he suddenly isn't worried about ruining their friendship anymore, it seems pretty obvious to him that Minho wants this as much as he does.
He’s about to lean forward to finally press his lips against the older’s plush ones when Minho beats him to it, closing the gap between them and making fireworks go off behind his eyelids and countless butterflies take flight in his tummy.
It’s perfect.
His lips feel like velvet against his own and Minho’s eager tongue darts out to lick inside Jisung’s mouth, reaching behind his front teeth and tasting as much as he can with just one swipe. He gets just as eager and starts kissing him passionately, his tongue fighting Minho’s for dominance. He’s getting breathless now and his brain starts feeling fuzzy like it’s full of cotton and just Minho. Before he separates to breathe in some much needed air, he takes Minho’s full upper lip between his teeth and sucks. Minho whimpers, and Jisung thinks it’s the most beautiful sound he’s ever heard.
“Jisungie,” Minho pants into his mouth after they both pull apart to gulp in air, foreheads touching.
“Yes, pretty?” Jisung has fully let go now, he’s let go of all his fears and ghosts, never looking back after this precious moment of just them .
“Please don’t leave,” and in this moment, Jisung realizes that Minho must’ve been dealing with his own demons too.
He’s quick to reassure the older, just like he’s always done with him since the very beginning of their friendship. “Why would I let go of the kindest man on planet Earth? The one person that has shown me I am deserving of love and that has not only taken care of me but my little one too these past few months?” He pauses for a moment, gathering his thoughts and trying to sober up for the sake of Minho, “I won’t leave, baby. I love you too much to let you go.”
Minho gasps and his pretty glazed eyes widen, his cute bunny teeth on full display. “Say that again.”
Jisung immediately complies, not letting Minho think for one second that he doesn’t want him too. “I love you, pretty. I’ve loved you for a while now.”
Minho’s bottom lip wobbles and he doesn’t think he’s seen him this vulnerable before, it’s fascinating. He’s absolutely delighted about the fact that Minho trusts him enough to let all his walls crumble around him. “Jisungie.”
“You love saying my name, don’t you?” Jisung teases, trying to lighten the mood a little.
“Oh shut up.” Minho hits his chest with his fist and pink blooms on his cheeks. “I love you too, Jisungie. You make me, like, really happy.” He mumbles looking to the side. “Your little family has welcomed me with such open arms that I can’t help but want to be a part of it every single day.”
“Baby,” Jisung’s eyebrows slightly angle upwards and his eyes get a bit misty at the confession. “That makes me so happy to hear.”
Jisung feels euphoric, his feelings are reciprocated and he can’t believe how lucky he is. He’s the one to lean in this time, he takes Minho’s face in his hands and kisses him softly, trying to convey all the emotions he’s going through at the moment.
Their kiss gets interrupted by some awful singing.
“...two, which was saaaaaaad.” Harry is in Hagrid’s little hut now watching him and professor Slughorn chat while they’re drunk. He then realizes they’ve missed a good chunk of the movie.
“Noooo, Minho don’t watch!!! Spoilers!!” Jisung whines and covers Minho’s eyes.
“Jisung! I’m on your lap, I’m not even looking at the tv!!!” Minho laughs while taking Jisung’s hand on his own.
Jisung rewinds the movie and Minho shifts so he can face the tv, still in Jisung’s arms. They keep watching Harry Potter, sneaking little kisses in between scenes, basking in the happiness and the love they hold for each other, their little bubble getting cozier and cozier until they eventually fall asleep in each other’s arms just like that first time Minho ever stayed over at Jisung’s home.
♡ ♡ ♡
It’s been a few days since Minho kissed Jisung. A few days since they got together and nothing has changed. They still hang out frequently, Minho still visits them during the week and on the weekends Eunbi visits Iseul’s family, they go to stay at each other’s homes.
Nothing has changed, well, there’s more touching now and they kiss, obviously. So, yeah, only a few things have changed but they stay pretty much the same.
All of Jisung’s fears and worries vanished into thin air the moment Minho kissed him.
However, all but one remained: Eunbi doesn’t know about their relationship. Although they’re really pretty sure this is gonna last, they’re still not ready to tell her, well, Jisung isn’t. There’s still a part of him that fears Eunbi will hate him for dating someone that isn’t her mother. He’s talked to Chan and Changbin about it, asking for their sincere advice and of course he’s discussed it with Minho over a hundred times but… he still gets anxious about it.
They both know Eunbi adores Minho, that much is obvious. Since the very first time she attended his hip hop classes she wouldn’t stop gushing about the purple haired dancer, and Jisung truly was grateful. However, making Minho part of their family was a completely different thing, Chan disagreed with him on that, though.
“I don’t think it’d be that much different ‘Sung.”
“What do you mean?”
“You three still hang out pretty often, that hasn’t changed. Minho still stays at your place when Eunbi is there and you share meals all the time too. I’d dare to say Eunbi sees him as part of her family already.”
“You think so?”
“Children don’t overthink things like adults do. They’re open-minded and a lot more flexible.”
What if he’s right? Maybe Eunbi really liked Minho enough to let him be part of their little family. He was already at peace with loving Minho and not thinking of him as a replacement for Iseul and he wanted this, so badly. He wanted Minho close at all times.
He decides it’s time to gather the courage and do this.
♡ ♡ ♡
“Try cutting them a lil’ thinner, bug.”
“Like this?”
“Exactly like that, good job Eunbi-ya.”
They’re all in the kitchen helping Minho cook dinner, Eunbi insisted on cutting the carrots with her new kids knife which was totally safe to use, although Jisung—the worrier that he is—still wanted to keep a close eye on her just in case the plastic knife was faulty.
“Finished!!” She beams at Jisung and Minho, the latter taking the cutting board with the freshly-cut vegetable and dropping the slices into the pot. They are making Minho’s signature Japanese curry that they all love.
“Okay! Now we wait for about 25 minutes until it’s ready to eat! Good job, bug. Thank you for helping me.” Minho pats her head a few times and Eunbi hugs him.
Jisung looks at the scene endeared, gaining even more courage to finally tell Eunbi he’s dating her dance instructor.
Eunbi announces she’s going to play with her stuffed animals while the curry cooks and she retreats to her room. Jisung helps Minho tidy up the kitchen, the whole time wondering how Eunbi will react to the news.
“Are you thinking of backing down?” And there he goes again with the mind reading. How does he seriously do that??
“No, I’m just thinking about what she’ll say, conjuring up the worst case scenarios, you know, the usual.” Jisung replies, he doesn’t have to filter his words now, he’s not scared of what Minho will think of him, he knows he will love him no matter what, anxiety and all.
“Oh, darling. It’ll be fine, I promise.” Minho says without hesitation and Jisung believes him.
“Mhm. Just my brain being dumb.” Jisung mumbles.
Minho walks the short distance to the younger and places his hands on each side of his head. “Mean brain, stop trying to scare my Jisungie.” He says with a pout on his pretty lips and a frown on his face.
Jisung chuckles, “silly hyung,” he settles his hands on Minho’s waist. “Thank you for always comforting me, I really appreciate it.”
Minho smiles fondly at him and kisses him, both men losing themselves in their love.
A little gasp resonates in the kitchen and Minho pulls away so fast Jisung gets whiplash. When he opens his eyes he sees Eunbi standing on the door looking at him with round and wide eyes, she’s holding her favorite plushie close to her chest—a little penguin Minho bought her. Dread sets in his chest but it’s quickly replaced by determination. Determination to ultimately take the next step.
“Hey princess, come here.” Jisung reaches for her hand and encourages Eunbi to take his.
The little girl does as she’s told, dragging her feet across the tiled room. “Daddy?”
Jisung gets on his knees to be at eye level with his daughter. “Yes, sweetheart?”
“Were you and Min kissing?” She asks, holding the penguin even closer.
Jisung spares a glance at Minho who’s witnessing the exchange with a nervous look on his face. He directs his attention to Eunbi and replies, “yes, bub.” Eunbi looks surprised at his sheer honesty. “You see, daddy has fallen in love with Minho and Minho has fallen in love with daddy too.”
“Oh,” there’s a pause before she asks, “like a boyfriend?” Her curious eyes land on Minho who’s intently watching her every move, and then back at Jisung.
Jisung chuckles, “exactly, princess, like a boyfriend. That’s why we were kissing just now.”
“Ohhhh, I understand.” She addresses Minho when she speaks her next words, “can you come live with us now?” At such a bold question the two slightly worried men burst into laughter, looking at each other in disbelief. “Daddy and I could eat yummy food everyday!”
“Hey!! Is my food bad??” Jisung feigns offense, hand placed dramatically on his chest.
Minho is now giggling uncontrollably where he still stands against the kitchen island.
“Noooo daddy,” the little girl tries to comfort his father, “but Minho is like a chef! Understand?”
“Okay, okay I see.” Jisung still wants to make sure that him dating Minho is okay with Eunbi, so he asks one last time, “so, bub, you don’t mind that Minho and I are boyfriends?”
Eunbi shakes her head, her black hair moving with how hard she shakes it. “Nuh-uh! I like Minho,” she says more seriously now. “If daddy’s happy then I’m happy.”
“Oh, bub.” Jisung embraces her in a bone-crushing hug, he can’t help the way his eyes fill with tears at her sincere and sweet words. “Thank you, little one. I want you to be happy too, that’s the most important thing to me.”
“But I’m really happy, daddy,” she mumbles and pulls away to stick her pinkie out, “promise.”
Jisung laces his pinkie with hers and repeats, “promise.”
♡ ♡ ♡
It’s been almost 4 months since Minho, Soonie and Doongie moved in with Jisung and Eunbi. Their days have been filled with joy and mischief, Eunbi barely has bad days anymore and Jisung is over the moon. Life with Minho is easy, it’s warm.
Their schedules fit flawlessly, Minho makes them lunch and dinner while Jisung is in charge of breakfast. They both drop Eunbi off at school every morning and then they head to the Cloud 9 Studio for Minho’s classes and lastly, Jisung drives to the company. It’s a schedule that works perfectly for them.
They have movie nights, reading nights, dancing nights and singing nights which all three of them enjoy immensely. His parents along with Iseul’s parents have already met Minho and they think he’s lovely, their friend groups also met each other one night in a little get together at their apartment and they merged the two to make one big eight-member group of friends.
Jisung is happy, he’s the happiest he’s been in months and he’s truly thankful for Minho appearing into his life one fateful Thursday evening.
Eunbi is drawing on the coffee table in their living room while Minho and Jisung are playing Mario Kart. Jisung is beating Minho’s ass, having won the last three races. The awards’ ceremony that will crown Jisung with first place is playing on the screen—a very pouty Minho on his right side mumbling about how unfair the last two games were to him—when Eunbi interrupts them.
“I finished!!” She jumps into Minho’s lap and hands him a folded piece of paper.
By the look on Minho’s face, the action brings him memories of the first drawing she ever gave him. “What is this, bug?”
“A drawing, for you!!” She squeals, excited for him to see it.
Minho gasps in surprise, “for me?”
“Yeah! I hope you like it.”
Minho unfolds the piece of paper to reveal three stick figures holding hands while walking down the park they go to when they have the time. In very messy and squiggly handwriting one word can be read above each of their heads— Daddy, Eunbi, Dad.
Jisung’s heart stops.
Minho’s heart seems to do the same by the way his breath hitches. He can’t tear his eyes away from the paper, going over and over the names for what feels like hours. “‘Bi,” he whispers. “Is that me?”
It’s kind of stupid of him to ask such a question since the little stick figure that has dad written above its head clearly has purple hair.
“Yeah!”
Minho drops the drawing onto Jisung’s lap and hugs Eunbi, “thank you, bug. I love it so much.” His voice sounds strained like he’s trying hard not to cry.
“Yay, dad!” Eunbi says, delighted at Minho’s words. “I love you.”
He sees Minho squeeze his eyes while pouting for a second before he replies, “I love you too, darling.”
♡ ♡ ♡
It’s a warm summer day, cicadas sing freely and the slight breeze carries the scent of roses, lilies and peonies that permeate the air of the path Jisung, Eunbi and Minho walk on. The sun feels nice on Jisung’s skin, every now and again he looks up to see the few fluffy white clouds contrasting the blue of the sky. When they get to their destination Eunbi lets go of their hands and runs forward.
“Hi mommy!!” She plops down on the grass in front of Iseul’s headstone.
Minho takes Jisung’s hand and squeezes it as they walk forward.
“Hi angel,” he says with a smile. “We brought someone new with us this time,” Jisung swallows, “I wanted you to meet Minho, do you remember him?” He can feel Minho looking at him with a questioning look in his eyes, he’ll tell him about it later. “Yeah, I’d love to tell you it was me who made the first move but he actually beat me to it.” Minho chuckles and Jisung joins him. “He’s pretty awesome, Iseul. He takes care of us and he loves us so dearly. I am happy.” He rests his head on Minho’s shoulder and takes a few deep breaths, “you were right, as you always are. Thank you.”
They stay in silence for a while and then Minho bows deeply, “Nice to meet you, Iseul. I’ll take care of them really well, don’t you worry.”
After that, a few minutes pass, and the sound of the cicadas takes over until the sound of soft singing replaces them.
Everything around you is in slow mode
Everything is quiet
My worries blow up
Leave it all to the wind
Now I'll do it yeah
Even in a noisy city ye ye ye
Do whatever you want ye ye ye
Sit in the sunshine and close your eyes
Look at me for a second
Eunbi starts singing their song and this time, it’s no longer quiet nor filled with sadness, it’s filled with newfound happiness and love, so much love. Jisung feels warm and a little emotional, feeling like he has ended a chapter in his life and is starting a new one, a much happier and brighter one. He joins Eunbi and eventually Minho joins in too, remembering a few of the lyrics when he heard them singing it at home.
Jisung feels the most content he’s felt in months and he thanks the universe for bringing him and Minho together.