Chapter Text
The first time San and Yunho sleep together is kind of an accident. Well, San doesn’t know if it’s really the first time considering he already knows what Yunho is like in bed. That’s neither here nor there though. They all went out together for drinks to celebrate the end of finals and the semester.
It’s a Friday, but San hadn’t been able to have his weekly Friday afternoon coffee with Yunho because he had a final that afternoon, and the coffee shop is already closed by the time he’s done with his final. Yunho finished his last final the day before and offered to meet him there earlier that morning if San wanted, but the blond stupidly rejected that offer.
He thought he could use those morning hours for some last minute studying. He should have taken Yunho up on his offer though to just relax for a couple hours before his midterm, but San hadn’t so he makes up for it now by slipping onto the barstool next to Yunho before anyone else can. He smiles sweetly at Hongjoong when Yunho’s roommate blinks at him in surprise, having grown accustomed to sitting beside his roommate. He doesn’t resist when Seonghwa tugs him away and they sit somewhere else at the bar table though.
Wooyoung is the only other person who reacts to his seating choice, raising his eyebrows and grinning slyly after his gaze briefly flicks over to Yunho. San smiles at him venomously and makes a foul gesture at his friend involving his middle finger. He drops his hands to the table quickly and turns to face Yunho when he looks down at the blond with a smile.
“Hey, how was your last final?” He asks politely.
“Torture,” San replies, pointedly ignoring Wooyoung’s curious gaze as he focuses his attention solely on Yunho. “Just glad it’s over, really.”
“Right? It’s such a relief when finals are over,” Yunho agrees. “Hey, what do you wanna drink? First round is on me to celebrate the end of finals.”
“You don’t have to,” San protests before pausing when Yunho arches an eyebrow at him. He realizes that he doesn’t have to reject the offer. This is just their thing now. The blond clears his throat and reaches out to grab the little booklet with all the drinks from the middle of the table. “Well, if you’re offering…” He scans the offered drinks, settling on something that sounds like it won’t make him throw up immediately.
And San, as he tends to do, drinks way more than he probably should and as he tests the limits of his alcohol tolerance, his inhibitions quickly fly out the window. He flirts more openly with Yunho than ever. He knows he does because Wooyoung won’t stop gawking at him across the table, and at one point he straight up gropes Yunho’s chest while saying something about his shoulders, and Jongho chokes on his beer on Yunho’s other side.
He’s less sure if the alcohol is affecting Yunho as much as it’s affecting the blond, but he doesn’t appear to mind San’s bold words and actions nor does he reject San when the blond somehow convinces Yunho to come home with him. Not everyone is ready to leave by the time San manages to pull Yunho out of the bar. No one even seems to notice or understand that they’re leaving together. Mingi even says that he’ll see San later, and the blond is too gone to even think of telling Mingi to find somewhere else to crash tonight.
Yunho’s apartment is actually closer to campus and all the nearby bars, but somehow they both think it’s a good idea to go to San’s place instead. They take the subway to his place, and it’s an eventful ride to say the least. San practically glues himself to Yunho’s side, only half-sitting in his own seat on the subway as he tucks his hands inside Yunho’s coat under the pretext of being cold. His fingers press into Yunho’s sides, trying to feel him out, and Yunho just giggles at his touch, his cheeks flushed from drinking.
About the only thing stopping San from doing more than just feeling Yunho up as discreetly as he can are the stares they’re attracting from other riders. It’s not especially busy this late in the evening—there are probably more empty seats than people occupying them—but there are still plenty of people in their car and many of them eyeing the two drunken men with passing interest before averting their gaze.
San presses his chin into Yunho’s shoulder and presses his nose into his neck, inhaling the pleasant scent San’s come to associate with Yunho now thanks to that damn scarf. It’s so nice and distracting that San almost misses his stop altogether. It’s only because Yunho nudges him when he recognizes the stop that San finally pulls away so they can stand up.
As soon as they stumble inside, San is immediately back on him. His hands are beneath Yunho’s jacket again in an instant, pushing it off his shoulders. Yunho stumbles back against the wall next to their coat closet and pulls his arms out from his sleeves before they immediately find their place on San’s hips.
San pushes himself up on his toes and kisses Yunho. His lips are warm and soft against the blond’s, and he’s receptive to San, tilting his head down to return the kiss. He doesn’t kiss quite as confidently but one day he would be. San had that to look forward to at least. For now, he’s happy to just enjoy Yunho’s touch and the warmth of his body.
He tugs Yunho’s sweater up from where it’s tucked beneath his jeans, finally pushing his hands underneath the clothes to feel Yunho’s skin. Yunho breaks the kiss to turn San around and press his back against the wall instead. San grunts when his back hits the wall, but all his protests are swallowed when Yunho catches his lips in another kiss. The blond arches up into the touch, and his fingers scrabble to find purchases on Yunho’s shoulders.
Yunho kisses him until San is breathless and he has to pull away with a gasp. Unphased, Yunho moves his lips down, kissing San on the chin and then his neck. The blond tips his head back with a groan, and his toes curl from the feeling of warm lips against his sensitive neck. Yunho licks and kisses his way down to the base of San’s neck where he sucks a mark into the blond’s skin that San is sure will be a pleasant reminder of this for at least a week.
When Yunho pulls back his lips leave San’s skin with a wet pop that makes San weak at the knees, and he moans. Yunho moves back in to trail kisses along the other side of San’s neck, and San wiggles and squirms in excitement, trying to entice Yunho to leave more marks. Dear God did San want him to leave more marks. He didn’t care if he came out of this looking like he’d been mauled. The marks would be well worth it.
Unfortunately, Yunho doesn’t gift him any more marks. Instead, he murmurs a compliment into San’s skin that makes the blond’s heart flutter.
“You’re so pretty, San.”
He doesn’t sound drunk in the slightest, but the effects of the alcohol are still clear. Yunho’s words are more loose, and comments he might normally keep to himself fall from his lips easily. It’s also the first time that, San dare say it, Yunho actually flirts with him.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” San returns breathlessly. He runs his hands down Yunho’s chest, lamenting the fact that the sweater is still in the way.
“Stop,” Yunho giggles into San’s neck. “I might think you really like me if you don’t.”
“Think?” San repeats with an arched eyebrow.
Yunho hums against his skin. “Do you?” he asks quietly. “Like me?”
San rolls his hips up so Yunho can feel his erection against his thigh. “Thought it was obvious,” he answers with a moan. It’s silly how worked up he gets from just that touch because San can’t stop himself from rutting against Yunho’s leg now, humping it like an uncontrolled dog.
It doesn’t help that Yunho encourages the behavior by pressing his leg in between San’s and pushing up. The blond chokes, tilting his head back to gasp for breath between each broken moan he releases as he humps Yunho. “Fuck. Fuck, so good,” he whimpers.
Yunho’s eyes are dark when San lowers his head to look at him, and he’s staring down at the way San moves his hips against him. “Wanna fuck you,” he mumbles like the words slip straight out of his brain.
San still and arches his back. “Please,” he begs. Like Yunho the words slip straight out of his mouth, by passing his brain entirely.
Yunho’s fingers tighten around his hips, and with a growl, he peels San away from the wall.
Young or old it doesn’t seem to matter, Yunho fucks the same regardless. His hands are a bit more hesitant and his touch is not as confident as San remembers although he isn’t completely lost either. San is reminded of the fact that Yunho had a boyfriend at some point in his life.
He hadn’t once hesitated or flinched as he fingered San open and then slipped a condom on. He certainly seemed like he knew exactly what he wanted when he grabbed San by the waist and flipped him over onto his knees. San isn’t sure how much of it is Yunho and how much of it is a confidence boost from the alcohol. He’d seen Yunho sober—felt him sober—and knew exactly how he could fuck, and this San remembers.
With a hand on the back of his neck, Yunho holds his head down against the mattress, San’s cheek pressed into his sheets and his ass high in the air. His cock is as big and thick as the blond remembers, and Yunho has him practically drooling onto his sheets when Yunho bottoms out in him.
Yunho holds still after that, only rolling his hips to give San the slightest bit of friction. Yunho places one hand between San’s shoulder blades, running his hand down from San’s broad shoulders and licking his lips when he watches it taper down into the tiniest waist all while rutting his hips against San’s ass at a lazy pace. San’s shoulders always looked deceptively broad, he realizes. It’s unreal. Yunho wraps his hands around that waist and tilts his head back with a groan.
San shudders at the sound and arches his back. “Yunho,” he whimpers and tries to push himself back on Yunho’s cock. Yunho keeps him still with the grip he has around San’s waist, but he does pull out until just the tip remains inside the blond. He glances down to take in the sight and licks his lips at the way San tightens up on him like he’s afraid Yunho will pull all the way out.
Yunho rolls his hips forward again, sliding inside slowly to make sure San feels every inch of him. San groans at the smooth slide and more drool slips out from the corner of his mouth and wets his sheets. Yunho fucks him nice and slow like that and revels in the way San trembles and gasps for breath as his fingers fist into the blankets.
Despite Yunho’s grip on his waist, San still tries to fuck himself back onto Yunho’s cock with every roll of his hips, desperate for more. More. He needs more. And, unfortunately, he knows Yunho can keep this up for a while if he really wants to. San experienced it first hand, the mind numbing pleasure as Yunho took him apart slowly and deliberately. Yunho had the patience of a saint, and San is not.
He needs Yunho’s touch. He needs Yunho to move. To fuck him. But the hands on his waist hold him still, and San can’t do anything but beg and plead for more. Please more. Faster. Harder.
Yunho is impervious though. His movements remain steady and purposeful, rocking his hips against San’s ass in the most infuriatingly slow pace until San is a shivering, crying, and oversensitive mess. “Please. Yunho, please—” San’s begging chokes off with a gasp when Yunho fucks back into him, still slow but with a sharp movement of his hips at the end. So sharp, in fact, that the sound of hips meeting ass fills the room, and San is so pent up and sensitive right now that his eyes roll back, and his cock, heavy and hard between his legs, twitches with interest.
He’s so worked up right now that a noise, the sound of skin slapping against skin, is doing more for him than Yunho’s dick.
Yunho drapes himself over San’s sweaty back, feeling his slight tremble against his chest, and hooks his chin over San’s shoulder with a quiet hum. He’s so much deeper at this angle, and when he rolls his hips forward experimentally, San gasps and jerks up. A flare of pleasure briefly ignites in his belly before fading away again, and San sobs.
“Please what?” Yunho murmurs into the blond’s ear. He moves one hand from San’s waist to brush sweaty, blond bangs away from San’s tear-glassy eyes. Then he leans in closer like he wants to be sure he’ll be able to hear San plead some more.
What?
San struggles to string together a sentence or just think, but it’s too hard when all he can focus on is Yunho’s cock inside of him. He just gasps in a stuttering breath and pulls at his sheets.
Yunho moves his hand from San’s hair to the back of his neck, sitting back up to get more leverage on San, and his other hand joins him there. Holding San’s head down, he leans over the blond again although he takes care to make sure that he isn’t crushing or hurting San. Judging by all the moaning and shuddering from San, he seems to like it.
Yunho pulls his cock almost all the way out and fucks in sharp. San gasps and jerks. Yunho pauses to adjust his grip on San’s neck, pushing the blond’s head down into his sheets before fucking into him again. The control he previously had is gone and he starts fucking San with abandon, hips slapping against San’s ass. The sound of their fucking echoes in the room and the otherwise empty apartment, and San bites down into his blankets to muffle his moans.
“San,” Yunho groans out his name as one hand sneaks up from the blond’s neck to fist into his hair. It doesn’t hurt, but there is a little sting at first that causes San to furrow his eyebrows together. “You’re so tight.”
San makes a pleased noise and pushes his ass up even higher, only to choke on his next breath when Yunho fucks down into him. His cock pressed so perfectly inside of him, and that ignition of pleasure he previously felt come and fade from that burningly slow pace is back, growing and growing with each thrust.
San releases his hold on his blankets with a gasp. “I wanna cum. Wanna cum. I’m gonna cum!” His voice pitches impossibly high with each successive plea. “Please, please, please,” he begs, wanting to look over his shoulder at Yunho, but the hands in his hair and on his neck hold him in place.
“You gonna come?” Yunho grunts, keeping his thrusts steady as his own orgasm starts to build. San is just so hot and tight, and it’s different than with his ex who never really liked it rough to begin with, but it feels so good all the same.
“Yes!” San cries out as he moves one hand from his vice-like grip in his sheets to reach down and touch himself. He keens, fingers playing with the head of his cock to smear the precum there around the sensitive tip. He comes undone embarrassingly quick after that, gasping and whimpering as he comes hard, and he clenches up on Yunho who curses as the tight heat around his dick as he fucks San through his orgasm until the blond is shivering and trembling from overstimulation, clawing at the sheets to try and pull away from Yunho.
Yunho moves his hands from San’s head to his hips in one, quick motion, yanking him back onto his cock one more time before Yunho lets San scramble forward and collapse onto the bed, his cock slipping out of him. For a moment Yunho just stays in place where he’s kneeling watching San’s body as he gasps in breaths and quivers from his orgasm and overstimulation.
Then Yunho reaches down, grabbing San by one wrist and rolling him over onto his back. The blond doesn’t put up much of a fight, flopping down on his back without much protest as he stares up at the ceiling. His mouth hangs open, still sucking in breaths, his eyes are unfocused, and his limbs are limp and useless. He looks fucked out and completely gone, and Yunho bites down on his bottom lip at the sight.
Yunho shuffles forward, placing his hands beneath San’s knees to spread his legs and give him a place to settle. The blond doesn’t do anything other than moan, legs spread wide for Yunho as he kneels in between his legs. He wraps his hand around his cock with one hand and pulls the condom off in one fluid motion with the other, staring at San’s blissed out face as he jerks himself off over the blond.
The visual is enough for him, and with a quiet grunt Yunho cums over San’s stomach, adding to the mess there. One last spurt of cum drips from the head of his cock onto San's body when the blond reacts to the momentary warmth of cum on his skin, arching his back up with a moan before settling back down again.
When Yunho looks up again, San’s eyes are shut. His used body completely spent and relaxed. Yunho runs his clean hand through his sweaty hair and glances around the bedroom before quietly climbing off. He’s come over enough times to hang out with Mingi that he knows where the bathroom is. He washes himself off before returning to the bedroom with a damp towel.
San’s still lying on his back, but his head is turned towards him, eyes closed in sleep.
San wakes up the next morning to the sound of muffled conversation somewhere in the apartment. Despite the ache in his back and ass when he pulls the sheets back he’s perplexed to see that he’s dressed in an old T-shirt he hasn’t seen in years and a pair of briefs. He’s also shockingly clean he realizes while running his hand over his smooth stomach, not a trace of dried cum there. Yunho must have cleaned him up and redressed him after he passed out last night.
His smile from the warm fuzzy feeling of Yunho taking care of him quickly drops when he realizes something much more horrifying. He can hear a conversation which means Yunho is talking to someone. And then San remembers being too drunk to tell Mingi not to come home. Oh, shit. Were they talking to each other? Mingi woke up before him?
San quickly scrambles out of bed, taking a second to slip into a pair of sweatpants because it’s cold in the apartment, and then stumbles out of his room and into the hall, bracing himself against the wall as he walks down the hallway to their common rooms. He catches sight of Mingi and Yunho sitting together on the couch. His roommate gestures wildly with his hands while speaking to Yunho in a low, gravelly voice—sounding more tired than it was an actual controlled effort to stay quiet.
Mingi is the first to catch sight of him over Yunho’s shoulder, and he abruptly falls quiet mid-sentence to press his lips into a tight seal. His reaction prompts Yunho to turn over his shoulder and look at San, and the blond is at least grateful that Yunho smiles at him. “Hey,” he greets San, “sleep well?”
San shuffles closer to the couch as his gaze flicks between Yunho who is acting perfectly normal and Mingi who looks to be on the verge of breaking out into a cold sweat as if he were in the middle of an interrogation. His roommate knows. He has to know what happened last night. San might tease Mingi about being dense from time to time, but his roommate isn’t an idiot, and he’s way more aware of their friends’ interpersonal relationships than anyone ever gave him credit for. He’s also being way too suspicious not to know. They might have even been talking about him before he walked in considering how quickly Mingi grew silent as soon as he saw San.
Still, the blond maintains his own poker face as he perches himself on the arm of the couch next to Yunho. “So,” he crosses his arms over his chest and stares at Mingi very pointedly, “what were you guys talking about?”
Mingi glances at Yunho who’s smile never even falters. He replies, “We were trying to decide if we should do our usual hangover routine or not since Mingi isn’t actually hung over.”
“You’re not?” San asks his roommate with genuine surprise. Well that would certainly explain how Mingi was up before him. Mentally he’s pouting though. Was Yunho really about to just ditch him after sleeping together last night to get soondaeguk? Is this really the foundation of their future, almost decade long relationship?
“Nope, ‘cause I had a glass of water with every drink last night,” Mingi declares.
“You know that’s not how that works right?”
“He had like two ciders. Barely 3% alcohol. He’s fine,” Yunho assures the blond. “How about you? How do you feel?” He turns his attention back to San, and the blond blinks back at him. He can’t tell if that question is intended to be loaded or not.
“I’m great,” he blurts out. “I feel fantastic!”
Mingi chokes and starts coughing into his hand, but San focuses on Yunho because he swears his smile widens. “Good,” he replies, placing a hand on San’s knee and squeezes. The blond tenses up at the touch, trying his best to keep a straight face. “What do you think then? About soondaeguk?”
San licks his lips as his mouth inexplicably dries out, and he looks down at Yunho as his chest expands with warmth. So he hadn’t intended to just ditch San. That was a good sign, right?
They end up going out to get soondaeguk more just to hang out then because they actually need a hangover cure. Yunho leaves them from the restaurant to head back to his place, and San and Mingi wave him goodbye as he disappears down into the subway. San is mildly disappointed that they couldn’t really talk about last night or their future because of Mingi. It would have been their best opportunity.
Mingi loops his arm with one of San’s and drags him back in the direction of their apartment. The walk back is mostly quiet, only punctuated by a couple of coughing fits as Mingi complains he might be coming down with a cold. San rubs his roommate’s arm sympathetically and assures Mingi that they have cold medicine back home.
Once they’re back at their apartment, San toes off his shoes and beelines for the bathroom where he’s sure their cold medicine is. It takes a little bit of rummaging through the cabinet before San finds it, holding it up triumphantly as he walks back into the living room where Mingi has reclaimed his spot on the couch.
“San,” his roommate calls as he grabs the blond’s wrist and pulls him in closer when San tries to walk away. San stumbles into his side, falling back on the couch. He looks at his roommate curiously. “Can we talk?” Mingi requests as he tosses the cold medicine aside for now.
“Okay.” San shuffles into a more comfortable position on the couch. “About what?”
Mingi keeps his hold on the blond’s wrist like he’s worried San will try to escape from him if he doesn’t. San doesn’t attempt to twist out of his hold, but he does lift up the wrist Mingi is holding onto like he’s some kind of glorified human handcuff. His roommate just tugs him closer, wrapping his other hand on top of San’s and patting it in a comforting gesture.
“So…last night you and Yunho slept together?” Mingi asks in a hesitant voice.
San arches an eyebrow at his roommate and replies, “Yunho tell you that?”
“Not exactly,” Mingi admits. “I saw him come out of your room. Thought he just slept over at first, but then we started talking. Talking about you.”
The blond narrows his eyes at Mingi when his roommate swallows nervously. “You better not have been shit talking me under my own roof,” he warns.
“Oh. We weren’t,” Mingi assures him with a small squeeze to his hand. “I’d never just freely confess to that if I had—ah!” Mingi breaks into a fit of giggles when San shoves his body weight into his roommate’s side, knocking him off balance for only a moment before Mingi righted himself again. He schools his expression back again though, and San understands that he must be serious about this. “Yunho wanted to know if you liked anyone,” Mingi says. “I told him I didn’t know though.”
San rolls his eyes and manages to wrangle his hand out of Mingi’s grip. “I like him,” San says without hesitation.
Mingi blinks at the free confession he gets out of San. “Wait, you do?”
“I’ve only been trying to flirt with him for the past couple of months,” San complains. “I’ve only just had his fat cock up my ass last night.” He’s only desperately chased this future relationship that he hopes will last a lifetime since that weird fever dream a couple months ago.
“Okay, that was,” Mingi holds a hand up to San’s face and makes a fake gagging noise, “disgusting.”
“You asked,” San blames his roommate with a shrug.
“I didn’t even ask you anything yet! I was just telling you what Yunho asked me.”
“Ah, but you were going to ask me if I like Yunho or not anyway,” San accuses him with a finger waggle. “I assume because you were worried that I just heartlessly slept with one of your best friends, and you’re worried it was a meaningless one night stand, and Yunho’s heart will be broken by my callous lust.”
“Well—no, not exactly,” Mingi says. He was worried about Yunho, but he didn’t think of San as some kind of insensitive whore either.
“Okay, well, I’m the one you should be fretting over,” San insists. “I mean, what about me? Last night was everything I wanted, and he didn’t even say anything to me before he left. Does he like me? Does he want to see me again? I’m the one who’s confused here. Especially with that weird ex-girlfriend kink he’s got going on,” he mutters the last part with a sour expression and his arms crossed over his chest.
Mingi smacks him on the shoulder with a gasp when San mentions Yunho’s ex-girlfriend, and the blond yelps and clutches his shoulders, making an exaggerated show of his pain. “You’re not supposed to know about that, remember?” Mingi hisses at him.
“Oh, calm down. He mentioned her once on his own but didn’t want to talk about it,” San waves him off. “All I know about her is what you told me.”
“Ugh. And they’re talking again,” Mingi murmurs as he cradles his head in his hands. A tense silence hovers over them after that, and when Mingi finally looks back up his roommate is glaring at him. “What?”
“You know what I really wanted to hear after thinking I’m finally on my way to snagging myself a boyfriend? ‘Oh he’s talking to his ex-girlfriend again.’” San huffs out a self-deprecating laugh.
“Well, they’re just talking,” Mingi assures him. “They’re not, like, talking about their relationship or getting back together it sounds like.”
“Yet.”
Mingi winces because, yeah, that’s probably true. “Well, maybe you should tell Yunho that you like him,” he suggests. “It might deter him from crawling back to her.”
“I’m sorry, did I forget to mention that I had his cock up my ass last night?” San snaps at Mingi.
“I mean with your words,” his roommate clarifies, “so that it’s obvious.”
San considers his advice for a moment as his lips twist up in an unhappy pout. “And did that help out last time?” The blond asks. “With that one boyfriend he had?”
Mingi doesn’t answer but turns his head away. He doesn’t need to answer because San already knows. The answer is no.
San finds Woooyoung’s text to him later that day suspicious despite the fact that his best friend is just inviting him out for dinner. It’s not the content of the message itself that sets off alarm bells for San but rather the tone. It sounds too sweet to be Wooyoung. Nevertheless, San hesitantly agrees to spend time with Wooyoung because they’re best friends and, honestly, Wooyoung is always a bit suspicious.
It’s only after San arrives at the agreed-upon restaurant, spots his friend sitting next to Yeosang at a table, and begins to make his way over that San concludes that he should have been more wary of Wooyoung. As soon as Wooyoung spots him he starts making these bizarre faces at San, and the blond freezes in his tracks to openly gawk at his friend. Wooyoung widens his eyes, tilting his chin up and wiggling his eyebrows in a clear attempt to communicate something to San although San cannot fathom what that might be. He keeps making that face at San until the blond reaches the table and hesitates before sitting down.
Yeosang greets him with a warm smile, and San is relieved to know at least one of them is behaving normally. Wooyoung is still making the same face at San albeit now his chin is tucked down towards his chest, and he looks more crazed and menacing. Yeosang lifts his cup of warm barley tea with both hands but pauses to dig his elbow into Wooyoung’s side.
“Would you stop? You look uglier than usual,” he reprimands.
Wooyoung shies away from his boyfriend’s elbow and then sputters after hearing Yeosang’s insult. “Uglier!” He sounds scandalized. “What’s that mean? I’m still ugly at baseline?”
Yeosang hums while pushing Wooyoung’s bangs away from his face to get a proper gauge of his boyfriend. “You’re presentable,” he concludes after observing Wooyoung for a moment.
San snorts into his hand at the bewildered expression on Wooyoung’s face and averts his eyes when his best friend whips around to face him. “Did you hear that?” Wooyoung demands, pointing an accusing finger at his boyfriend but speaking to San. “You heard that, right? This is emotional abuse. This is verbal humiliation that I did not consent to.”
“But you like that kinda thing,” Yeosang protests.
“Oh my god.” San covers his mouth with one hand and pretends to retch as Wooyoung turns his panicked gaze to the blond for a brief moment before grabbing Yeosang by the arm and tugging at him with a whimper. “Babe,” he whines, “you can’t just share my kinks to the world like that. What about my dignity?”
Yeosang glances at San before looking at his boyfriend again. “Your world is San?” He asks.
“Oh my god, no! And that’s not the point—”
“Can we—” San interrupts and then pauses to make sure he was their attention, “—not talk about Wooyoung’s kinks? I really never wanted to know.”
“Yes!” Wooyoung agrees almost before San even finishes his thought. “Let’s forget about my love for humiliation—” San groans and covers his face while Yeosang struggles to hold in his laughter. “—And instead discuss San and Yunho’s relationship.”
San freezes at this new suggestion and glances at Wooyoung who has a triumphant smirk on his lips. At least Yeosang appears confused by the suggestion. He stares at the blond and blinks curiously. “San and Yunho?” He repeats.
“Yes.” Wooyoung sounds exasperated as he turns to his boyfriend. “San is so obviously in love with him although he has yet to discuss it with me, which I am still angry about, so tonight is gossip night!” Wooyoung falters for a second at the blank look on Yeosang’s face. Did he not know? Wooyoung peeks at San, taking in the blush on his cheeks at the mention of Yunho. How could Yeosang not know? He was there all those times when San randomly brought Yunho up in the middle of a conversation.
“Wait,” Wooyoung exclaims. “So you didn’t—I mean, it’s so obvious! You didn’t know San liked Yunho? They literally went home together last night!”
Yeosang’s mouth drops open and his eyes widen in a confused expression. “They did?” He sounds scandalized, and San quickly hides his face behind his hands when Yeosang stares at him.
Wooyoung gawks at his oblivious boyfriend. “You didn’t notice?” He yells at Yeosang like he’s at fault for not knowing these things.
“No! Why would—” Yeosang visibly calms down when he narrows his eyes at Wooyoung. “I’m not a nosy asshole,” he defends himself.
Wooyoung makes a wounded noise. “I am not nosy!” He protests.
“Yes you are!”
San spreads his fingers a little so he can peer through the little gaps between them to watch the couple bicker. Most of the time their banter is hilarious, and San has no qualms with laughing at them. He can’t right now though because he’s honestly terrified of bringing any attention to himself. The results of that could be disastrous. So he bites down on his tongue to keep silent and watches as Yeosang and Wooyoung continue to argue over which one of them is dumber.
“—All I’m saying is that at least I respect San’s privacy. If he wanted us to know he was dating Yunho, he would have told us,” Yeosang declares.
Wooyoung sputters and slams his palm down on the table. “How dare you! I respect—wait,” he cuts himself off mid-protest when he’s hit by a more important thought. He turns to San with a stormy expression and asks, “Are you dating Yunho?”
San shakes his head and denies it. “No! No, we’re not. We’re just…” San shoves his hands beneath his thighs and lifts his shoulders in a shrug.
Wooyoung leans forward with interest. “You’re just what?” He asks eagerly.
“Friends?” San tries.
Wooyoung deflates with a groan, and San stares at his friend and wonders why Wooyoung cares so much. “Please,” Wooyoung begs him, pressing his palms together as if in prayer. He even lifts his gaze up to the ceiling. “Please tell me that you didn’t just bring Yunho all the way to your place to have a sleepover.”
“Of course not! I’m not eight!” San denies.
In an instant, Wooyoung pounces on him. “Aha! So you did fuck him!” He points at San with a victorious smile on his face and oblivious to the looks he’s drawing to their table.
Yeosang pulls his hand from San’s face and hisses at him to sit down and could he please stop being a public nuisance? San also tries to hide from the stares by ducking his head down and holding a hand up to hide behind.
“Can we please talk about something else?” He whispers.
“No,” Wooyoung rejects. “No, we cannot because I’m still upset that you have refused to talk to me about this crush. I’m your best friend! I should be the first person you tell these things to. How long have you liked him? What was it about Yunho that charmed you? Have you confessed yet? Come on! These are the things we’re supposed to squeal about together.”
San sighs long and pained and tells Wooyoung, “Don’t worry. I haven’t talked to anyone about it.”
“Well, why not?” Wooyoung whines.
“It’s…complicated,” San replies evasively.
“Oh, please,” Wooyoung snorts in disbelief. “You’re really gonna sit there and tell me your crush on Yunho is complicated? I call bullshit.”
Well, it kind of is if San is being honest. What is he supposed to tell Wooyoung? He woke up one day eight years in the future with the most perfect boyfriend who happened to be Yunho and now San is desperate to snag him for himself. Oh, but he also has an ex-girlfriend he’s apparently so in love with that he repeatedly goes back to even though she treats break ups and make ups like it's a professional hobby or something. So yeah, it is kind of complicated, and even though they slept together last night San can’t say where they stand after that.
“Remember I told you he has an ex-girlfriend?”
Wooyoung groans. This again? “Yes, and I believe I had to define what an ex-girlfriend is for your little pea-brain—”
“No, Wooyoung, you don’t get it,” San sighs. “They’re an on-again, off-again type of couple. Right now they’re off, but when she comes back around…”
Yeosang grimaces and reaches out to pat the back of San’s hand sympathetically while Wooyoung narrows his eyes and leans on his forearms. “What? You think he’d dump you to go back to her?”
San hesitates because yes, he does think that. Yunho did it before to his ex-boyfriend, so why would San be different. However, had this whole thing not started because San experienced what a years long, steady relationship with Yunho is like? Was that not proof that he chose San over his ex?
“Give yourself a bit more credit,” Wooyoung scolds him. “You might be needy and whiny and kinda annoying and maybe you’re not the most attractive person I know—” Yeosang nudges his boyfriend on his side when San’s expression grows increasingly more sulky. “But, like, you’re definitely an upgrade from that,” he finishes. “And you could use someone to take care of you.”
“You’re terrible to me,” San complains.
Wooyoung gasps at the insult. “What do you mean? I’m being supportive! Just ask Yunho out. I’ve given you my blessing.”
San rolls his eyes. Like he needs Wooyoung’s blessing. But it is honestly a little nice. Wooyoung is usually critical of the people San likes and tends to talk the blond out of some of the more questionable crushes he’s had.
“Now,” Wooyoung folds his hands on top of the table and grins, “tell me about it. What do you like about Yunho? Is his dick as big as I think it is?”
“Oh, my god.” San should not have accepted Wooyoung’s invitation. He knew it was a trap but he walked into it willingly anyway. Even Yeosang seems tired of his boyfriend’s antics if the tired sigh is anything to go by. This is going to be a long night.
How exactly does one ask out someone you’ve already slept with?
Considering San’s short list of romantic partners all of which resulted in disappointment and failure, San isn’t exactly qualified to answer that question. If he can’t answer that question how is he supposed to commit to actually doing it? Wooyoung makes it sound easy, but San has no idea how to talk to Yunho right now, and now that the semester is over, he doesn’t even know if their weekly coffee dates are called off for the time being.
What’s he supposed to do in this scenario? How does he talk to Yunho in this case?
As it turns out, San doesn’t have to figure out the answer to these questions because Yunho is the one that contacts him first a couple days later. He’s always the one to contact him first. He texts to ask if San wants to go out and get something to eat together, and despite the stillness that overcomes the blond’s entire body as he stares blankly down at that text, San suffers from a raging inner turmoil.
Is this a date? Yunho just asked him out on a date, right? Or was this just like two friends hanging out over dinner and beer? Can two friends even do that after sleeping together? The unfortunate thing is he speaks all of these thoughts out loud, airing them out in his apartment where Mingi can definitely hear, and his roommate pauses to stare at San when he walks into the living room where San is sitting on the couch.
“Is this a date?” San repeats, directly addressing Mingi this time.
“What?” Mingi blurts out. “Is what a date?”
“Yunho asked me to get dinner with him tonight,” San explains.
“Oh.” His roommate seems pleasantly surprised by that information. “He texted you?”
“He asked me out!” San cries in a panic and then quickly calms himself beneath Mingi’s stare. “I mean, sorta asked me out. I don’t know.”
Mingi shakes his head and replies, “Well, I don’t know either.”
“You should know that! You guys are, like, close, aren’t you?”
With a sigh, Mingi makes his way over to San and perches himself on the arm of the couch beside him. “Alright, look,” he says, “I don’t know if this is a date. Maybe he’s just trying to feel you out after Friday night.”
“Well, he already felt me up last Friday,” San retorts only to shy away when his roommate glares down at him.
“Alright, fine. He told me Yoojin called him the other day,” Mingi admits spitefully although he immediately regrets it when he sees San’s expression fall.
“And?” San presses.
Mingi turns away and replies, “And nothing.”
Well that was the least believable thing Mingi has ever said which, given his penchant to exaggerate everything or straight up lie about most things, says a lot. San tucks his chin down to his chest and peers up at Mingi with a glower. “Nothing?” He repeats, sure to make his skepticism clear.
“I mean, nothing of importance—”
“Mingi,” San cuts in because he doesn’t want to deal with his roommate’s obfuscating excuses right now. The blond sighs, “Mingi, what did she call Yunho about?” He doesn’t even really need an answer. Although he doesn’t really know Yoojin all that well, San’s heard enough about her to know she probably wouldn’t call Yunho without reason. She didn’t just want to check in on her ex-boyfriend to see how he was doing. If she called, she wanted something from Yunho.
Three guesses what that could be.
“Well, just, you know,” Mingi stutters with a shrug.
“What do you mean? I don’t know anything about her,” San says innocently and purposefully.
Mingi groans at his answer, and San knows that he wins this round. “Okay, okay,” Mingi concedes, “I’m sorry. That was mean to bring up when you’re freaking out about going out with Yunho. You were just being kinda annoying—”
“Mingi, are you gonna tell me what she called about or not?”
“No…?” Mingi replies with uncertainty.
“You’re just going to casually bring it up and then pretend you didn’t?” San criticizes. He crosses his arms over his chest and glares at his roommate for being, what he would deem to be, excessively cruel.
“Well, because it’ll upset you!” Mingi reasons.
“I’m already upset because you brought Yunho’s ex-girlfriend up out of nowhere!” San yells.
“Yeah, but if we talk about it you’ll feel even worse!”
“So, she wants to get back together,” San concludes.
“Uh…” Mingi glances at the TV and crosses his arms over his chest.
“Oh, my god, she did.” San covers his face with his hands and groans. “So, what? Are they together again? I swear if Yunho invites me out so he can talk to me about her, I swear—”
“No!” Mingi interrupts loudly, covering his mouth with his hands and staring at the blond with wide eyes. For a second, the two roommates stare at each other in silence before Mingi finally clears his throat and lowers his hands from his mouth. “She did ask, but Yunho didn’t agree,” Mingi confesses. “Not yet, at least.”
That only annoys San more. “But he wants to,” the blond finishes.
“No—oh, my god—look. He told me that she called, and while he didn’t seem annoyed like he should, in my opinion, he was reluctant at the very least.”
The very least?
San gives his roommate a strained look. “Oh? He’s reluctant to get back together with the same girl who regularly needs breaks from him? How promising for my own romantic prospects.”
“Well, normally he tells me she called, wanted to get back together, and then announce that he’s no longer single, so yeah. It’s kinda a good sign,” Mingi insists.
“So then what is this?” San gestures to his phone with flailing limbs. “Some interview to see if I’d be a better boyfriend than his girlfriend? Isn’t it obvious that I am by now?”
Mingi furrows his eyebrows as he struggles to try and keep up with San’s flimsy logic and flawed arguments. “I mean, no? I dunno, dude. Maybe Yunho just wants to hang out with you or maybe it is a date. I couldn’t tell you. We didn’t exactly talk about you.”
San’s jaw drops at the admission, and he looks down right offended by the innocent and harmless admission. “You didn’t talk about me?” He asks, and his soft voice stands in direct contrast to his very obvious annoyance. When Mingi shrugs his shoulders unapologetically, San’s distress begins to bleed into his tone. “How? Am I not the second lead in this romantic love triangle? The rival to the old sweetheart? If he’s reluctant to get back together is it not because I exist? How could you not discuss me!”
“Dude,” Mingi looks torn between laughing his ass off at the blond and being disturbed by San’s lack of reasonable thought. “What kinda drama do you think you’re living in?”
“The one where I eventually date your best friend,” San replies in a serious tone. “And I would appreciate it if you were more supportive of my efforts.”
Mingi releases a long suffering sigh and gazes up at the ceiling, mentally counting to ten before turning back to San. “Just go hang out with Yunho and see what he wants,” he advises, turning to give the blond his back with a shake of his head. “And if you really wanna date Yunho that bad it wouldn’t hurt you to, like, ask him out yourself, you know.”
“I know that!” San snaps at his roommate’s back, glaring at Mingi as he disappears into the kitchen. Eventually the blond moves his glare down to his phone which he snatches up. He should probably tell Yunho that he would love to get dinner together. He’ll think about how to ask him out in a bit.
Dinner is equal parts awkward and comfortable in a way that keeps San tiptoeing around Yunho and the fact that they slept together a few days ago. Yunho doesn’t bring it up at all, so neither does San. The thought and memory still lingers in the back of the blond’s mind, so he assumes it probably does in Yunho’s mind as well. At least San hopes it does because if it didn’t and Yunho just didn’t care, San would be mortified for the rest of the night.
It’s that unspoken memory hanging between them that makes this whole thing awkward. However, Yunho keeps a light conversation going on as they eat which helps ease San into a sense of security and comfort. He doesn’t bring up his relationships at all, with San or otherwise, and the blond has a sinking feeling that Yunho actually just wanted to hang out with a friend. There was no ulterior motive, and San suffers from a growing fear that Yunho will inevitably go back to his ex because he may seem more reluctant this time, but he doesn’t seem remotely interesting in having a relationship with San.
The night seems to be drawing to a close, and Yunho is talking about nothing in particular. San’s nerves are singing, and he’s sure that if he keeps holding his tongue that Yunho will slip right through his fingers. So he puts his hands down on the table and straightens his arms out. “Yunho,” he says, and Yunho shuts his mouth mid-sentence and gives San his attention.
He looks at the blond with these wide eyes and attentive expression, and San feels himself losing his nerves. What’s he supposed to do here? What should he say? He opens his mouth and blurts out, “Are we going to talk about last weekend?” As soon as the question is out of his mouth, San cringes and sinks down in his seat.
Yunho blinks, and San raises his hand to hide his face. San would never describe himself as a graceful person, but he didn’t think he was a walking human calamity to the same degree as his roommate either. This whole situation with Yunho was really forcing him to re-evaluate himself though. Maybe he is messier than Mingi. That would be embarrassing.
“Do you…want to talk about last weekend?” Yunho asks delicately.
San sinks down even further into his seat. What is that supposed to mean? Does Yunho not want to talk about it? Had he been avoiding the topic for a reason? With a deep breath, San finally drops his hand down from his face and risks a glance at Yunho before looking away.
“Oh, well,” San tucks a strand of blond hair behind his ear. “I figured that’s what this was about.”
Yunho rests his chin in the palm of his hand and studies San quietly for a moment. Then he replies, “I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“I’m not uncomfortable,” San lies. “I just—”
Yunho arches an eyebrow at him. “You just what?” He presses.
San sits up a little straighter but once again loses his nerves when he meets Yunho’s eyes. His shoulders drop and he lowers his head, not enough to look pathetic but his dejection is obvious enough. “I was just wondering if this is a date or not.”
At first, Yunho’s expression remains blank, and San is about ready to leap out of his seat and run away screaming. Maybe all this is just a fever dream. Or maybe Yunho will just not remember any of this, and they can just pretend that this never happened. But then Yunho’s lips stretch out into a small smile that he hides behind his hand.
San isn’t sure what that expression means though. Is it good? Is it bad? His heart rate picks up and smiles back at Yunho nervously.
“Do you want it to be?” Yunho asks him. Then he lowers his voice and asks, “Did you think it was?”
San drums his fingers against the table and struggles to meet Yunho’s eyes. “Well, I thought that’s what this was for. Maybe,” the blond stammers, motioning to their mostly finished food.
Yunho laughs behind his hand and remarks, “You’re cute.”
San feels like his face is on fire. He’s half tempted to just pour his water over his face just to cool down. “I’m confused,” he corrects. “I—why did you ask me out? Just…just to hang out?”
“No!” Yunho clears his throat and, with more control, repeats, “No. I didn’t—” For once, Yunho is the one who seems flustered, at a loss for words and struggling to find what he wants to say. He takes a deep breath to try and calm himself, folding his hands together over the table, he tries again. “Sorry. I didn’t just want to hang out. I—I’m not sure if I’d say I intended for this to be a date, but I did—I did kinda want to talk about last weekend.” His cheeks are pink, and he clears his throat awkwardly.
“Oh.” San blinks and settles into his seat. “Because you’ve talked about basically everything except that.”
“It…was harder to bring up than I initially thought,” Yunho admits.
“Okay. Well,” San folds his arms over the table and smiles at Yunho, “now that it’s been brought up do you—do you wanna talk about it?”
“Yeah, I mean, we…”
“Fucked,” San finishes crudely when Yunho stalls for too long. He frowns at the way San phrases it, and the blond worries. “Did—do you regret it? Sleeping with me?”
“No,” Yunho replies quickly, reaching for his water. “I was more worried that you did.”
“Me?” San presses his hands to his chest. Him? Regret it? As if he hasn’t been trying and failing miserably to flirt with Yunho for months. “No, I—”
“You were really drunk,” Yunho points out. “I feel like I took advantage of you or something.”
San’s jaw drops in disbelief. “No!” He denies a little too loudly, drawing a few side eyes from other patrons. He lowers his voice considerably after that and replies, “No, I wasn’t that drunk, I swear! I mean, yeah, like a little bit tipsy, but it’s not like I had no idea what I was doing. I was instigating it.” San had been far beyond tipsy, and the crooked smile on Yunho’s lips indicates that he knows as much. He doesn’t try to fight San about it though.
“Okay.” Yunho rolls his shoulders and relaxes a little. “That’s good. I just thought maybe—”
“I like you,” San blurts out.
Yunho pauses mid-thought, mouth still open as the blond’s confession registers in his head. There’s a long pause between the two of them before Yunho furrows his eyebrows together and leans in closer to San. “You—you like me?” He stammers.
“I’ve only been trying to flirt for the past couple of months,” San says in a pout. He already hears Wooyoung’s nagging voice in the back of his head scolding him for being so bad at flirting. That’s why Yunho is surprised because San’s flirting consists of talking with a smile. Wooyoung probably would have smacked him too, just for good measure. “What did you think I was doing? You even said my flirting was cute once!”
“It is,” Yunho insists with a small laugh, “but I thought—I mean, you do it with everyone. I just thought that’s how you communicated. I didn’t think it was anything special.”
“I’m not a slut!” San protests. When Yunho gives him an odd look for that accusation, San smiles sheepishly and shrugs. “Sorry,” he apologizes, “inside joke with Wooyoung.”
“You flirt a lot with Wooyoung too,” Yunho points out. “Jokingly, I know, but that’s why I thought it might not have been different with me either.”
“Wooyoung has a boyfriend. You don’t,” San protests. At least, he hopes Yunho doesn’t have anyone. He knows his ex is trying to make a move on him again, but San kinda hopes that Yunho isn’t the kind of person to get back together with his ex and then confront his one night stand about that time they slept together. He doesn’t seem like it. “I’ve also never wanted to touch Wooyoung’s dick in my life. I’ll leave that to Yeosang.”
That statement isn’t entirely true. Truthfully, San hasn’t wanted to touch Wooyoung’s dick since the one time he had back in high school when they both young and stupid and thought getting each other off was totally normal. Except after San had finished Wooyoung, he never bothered to return the favor, too deeply mortified. He just kicked San out and told him to finish in the bathroom. San is still kind of bitter about it, and Wooyoung still claims to this day that he did return the favor.
He. Did. Not.
Yunho laughs at him again, but his body language is much more relaxed now. “Well, that makes me feel a lot better,” he says. “I wasn’t sure what I was gonna do if the guy I started having a crush on didn’t mean to sleep with me or something.”
“It was masterfully planned,” San assures him. “Because I’ve liked you for a while.”
Yunho seems intrigued by that, leaning forward in his seat. “Oh? Since when?” He asks.
“Since Jongho’s birthday,” San admits.
“Since then? Why?”
San coughs into his fist and averts his gaze. He can’t very well tell the truth now, can he? He can’t really tell Yunho he had some kind of dream or out of body experience or whatever where Yunho was his boyfriend and they had a very healthy, happy, and long relationship. That would probably be a little too much.
“I just thought you were really handsome that night,” San answers instead. “And then when you took us out for soondaeguk my heart fluttered. Those weekly coffee dates kinda solidified it for me.” That was all true for the most part anyway, and it works because Yunho looks flustered by his response. “What about you?” He asks with a pleased little smile on his lips. Yunho’s own confession hadn’t gone over his head. “You said you have a crush on me.”
Yunho hums in acknowledgement and replies, “Yeah. Not—not nearly for as long though, I guess.”
“Since when?” San asks.
“I’m not really sure,” Yunho answers truthfully. “With our coffee dates for sure, but I don’t really—I used to just kinda laugh off your flirting. I didn’t think it was that serious, so I didn’t take it very seriously, but then it started affecting me. And then, well, last weekend happened.”
San scoots his chair in and sits up straighter, heart beating wildly in his chest. This is it, he thinks to himself. This is definitely where their relationship begins, right? It has to be. “So—” He’s interrupted by the sound of a ringtone. Blinking, San sits back in his seat and watches as Yunho curses and digs through his coat hanging off his chair for his phone.
“Sorry,” Yunho apologizes, growing more flustered as he paws through his coat pockets for his phone. He checks the wrong side first and has to move to the other before he finally pulls the device out, squinting down at the screen to check who’s calling.
San remains patient and quiet although his smile slowly wanes as he watches Yunho’s expression change to one of distress. “Is it important?” He asks, motioning for Yunho to get up if he needs to. “It’s okay if you need to take it. I’ll just wait here.”
Yunho jerks up like he’s going to stand up but then he sits back in his seat, fingers hovering above his phone screen and threatening to answer it. He hesitates and glances down at his phone again. Then he looks up at San and the wavering smile on his face and silences his phone before shoving it back into his coat pocket. “No,” he answers. “It’s not important.”
“Are you sure? I really don’t mind if it is,” San assures him.
“It’s my ex,” Yunho elaborates with a shake of his head. “It’s really not important.”
San jolts at the mention of Yunho’s ex. She had been a point of contention when San had come out with Yunho, but he’d forgotten all about her up until this moment. He’d been so excited that things were unfolding the way he wanted, and then his ex had to announce her presence one way or another.
“Oh.” San’s shoulders deflate but he tries to keep his smile on his face. “Are you sure? Do exes normally call out of the blue?” San doesn’t know why he’s pushing Yunho like this. He’d already chosen not to accept the call, and here San is giving him a reason to answer it if he really wants to. San really doesn’t want him to though.
“No, it’s not important. She’s just—” Yunho sighs, leaning back against his seat and tilting his head up to stare at the ceiling. “Actually, San, it’s probably important that I tell you about her.”
San always wanted to know the gossip about Yunho’s ex, but he shies away and shakes his head frantically. “Oh, no. You don’t—I don’t think I want—I mean, I’m sure it’s personal and all. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” It’s one thing to hear it from Mingi who clearly didn’t like her anyway, but San doesn’t know if he can handle Yunho waxing poetic about his ex-girlfriend. The last time he heard Yunho talk about her, he said he loved her despite how messy the relationship sounded.
“It’s kinda important,” Yunho insists. “And you should probably if this—if we—” He motions between the two of them with a finger.
Licking his lips, San settles down in his seat and prepares himself with a faint nod.
“My ex and I had a long relationship since high school, and it was pretty serious,” Yunho tells him, picking at a couple of leftover pieces of meat on the grill. He picks them up and places them on San’s plate like a silent apology. The blond stares at them for a prolonged moment before accepting the apology by eating a piece. It’s cold by now, but it still tastes good.
“How serious?” San asks curiously. Eight years is pretty serious in San’s opinion. Even if they started dating the first year of high school, his relationship could have only been six or seven years with his ex, right? And that didn’t include however long they spent in their off periods.
“Like, our parents really expected us to get married after college kinda serious,” Yunho admits.
San’s lips twist up into a bitter little scowl and he eats another piece of meat to stop himself from saying anything petty. “Do they still expect that?” He asks. San isn’t exactly a pretty, potential medical student.
“I think her parents do,” Yunho answers carefully. “My mom is…hopeful that we’ll fix our relationship, but my dad hates her.”
“I see.”
Sensing, San’s sour mood, Yunho quickly moves on. “I’m just telling you because despite our long relationship it got kinda messy in college. Like, really messy.”
Yeah, he knows. Still, San indulges him and asks, “How so?”
“She broke up with me our first year.” Yunho clears his throat, and San winces. “She decided to take the pre-med route. She was stressed all the time, and our relationship was just another stressor for her. She didn’t feel like she could spare the commitment to our relationship, so she broke it off. Then, about a couple months later, she said she regretted it, and we got back together again. But that kinda thing kept happening.”
“It’s still happening,” San points out, jerking his chin towards Yunho’s coat. “That’s why she’s calling, right?”
Yunho shrugs his shoulders and replies, “She’s calling, probably, because I told her no when she asked if we could get back together again.”
San raises his eyebrows in surprise. “You told her no?”
“I’m tired,” Yunho admits. “She’s familiar, but I never really gave myself an opportunity to look elsewhere because I think I just figured that if I waited long enough that she would want me back.”
“That’s a pretty shitty relationship to have though,” San points out.
“Agreed. Completely unsustainable too.”
“Why tell me?”
Yunho opens his mouth, closes it, and sighs. “I just wanted you to know because I suspect she’ll still be bothering me for awhile, and because I just wanted you to know that—that I haven’t really had a relationship outside of that one. So a lot of things will be new for me.”
San scans Yunho’s face before a sly smile breaks out over his lips. “Are you—did you just ask me out?”
“Yeah. I mean, do you want to go out with me?”
“San! Are you ready yet?” Yunho calls as he finishes hanging up San’s diploma for him. Mingi struggles to fit into his nice dress shoes on the other side of the room as him, bumping into the wall with a yelp before slipping to the floor.
They’re not living together yet. Mingi is still San’s roommate for now, but San is sure that will change in the near future. It’s only been about seven months since they started dating at any rate. There’s still a lot of ground to cover for the next eight years after all.
“Sorry! I’m here. I’m here.” San comes rushing out into the living room, still tugging at strands of his blond hair and glaring at the bright colored strands as he shuffles over to Yunho who holds an arm out for him, guiding him over to their shoes.
“What’s wrong?” Yunho asks, running his fingers through San’s hair to get his bangs out of his face. “You look fine. And it’s just dinner.”
“No, it’s not that,” San whines as Yunho helps him into his shoes. “I started sending in job applications everywhere, right? I’m worried about the interviews.”
“You haven’t even heard from anyone yet,” Mingi scolds him. “You probably won’t either.” He flinches with a laugh when San turns and chucks one of his shoes at his roommate’s legs.
Yunho sighs at their antics as he helps San into his second shoe. He stands up and then leans forward to give his boyfriend a reassuring kiss. “You’ll get an interview and, when you do, you’ll do just fine. Don’t worry about it.”
“No, I’m just…worried about my hair,” San admits, running his fingers through the blond locks self-consciously. “Maybe they won’t take me very seriously because it’s dyed. Do you think I should dye it black? Would it look more professional?”
With a hum, Yunho fixes San’s fringe for him and studies the smaller boy for a second. “I don’t think hiring managers are so stingy these days, but if it makes you feel better, you should dye it black. It’s been a while, and you look good with dark hair too.”
“How do you even know?” Mingi gripes. “He’s only been blond since you’ve been dating.”
“Because my Sannie looks good no matter what,” Yunho coos while running his knuckles gently down the side of San’s face. The blond preens while Mingi does his best to re-enact his drunken habit of throwing up wherever. “We can go get it done tomorrow. Or I can do it for you.”
“You two getting together is the worst thing that’s ever happened to this friend group,” Mingi bemoans.
“Stop being jealous and let’s go,” Yunho says, turning San around and motioning for Mingi to open the door. He does it without protest, scrambling to slip out of the house. San moves to follow him, but before he can Yunho pulls him back to his chest and leans down to kiss him on the cheek.