Work Text:
Tenn couldn’t decide if the air of confidence that Gaku carried on that day was annoying or cute. Well, he was certain of one thing at the very least: this had made him want to rile the other man up just for fun or simply kiss him to shut him up.
If he could get away with both, that would be good too. Over the last month, his boyfriend had been awfully confident in his ability to leave Tenn utterly flustered before their performances and it was about time Tenn made a comeback at him.
He sighed, doing that had proved to be easier said than done. Right now, though, the perfect opportunity had arisen, he smirked, thinking about what had transpired moments ago.
It was just another day of work for Trigger. The smell of lacquer and perfume permeated their dressing room as the staff moved around, trying to get every single member of Trigger ready for the show as quickly as possible.
Tenn had already applied make-up on himself before arriving at the location, so they had only added the final touches and styled his hair. Ryuu and Gaku were the only ones that had yet to finish, especially Gaku, who seemed to be intent on keeping his clunky braid, even proudly admitting that he had made it himself.
To top it all, the staff had praised Gaku for his hairstyle, saying he looked cool and it was a nice change of style. Some of them even had agreed that his braid was cute, mentioning how it accentuated his charm as the No.1 Most Desirable Man.
“Could it be that you’re meeting with a girl now?” Had come the question from one of his stylists.
“Eh? Which lady are you trying to captivate?” This time, even Ryuu’s make-up artist had joined the gossip.
“It’s nothing of the sort, “ he replied calmly. “I just heard from one of my coworkers that I should try this hairstyle more often and gave it a go.”
At that, Tenn froze in place, almost choking on his strawberry flavored donut. He turned to see Gaku, but the other man seemed too absorbed in his conversation with the ladies to pay attention to him.
Exactly a week ago, during one of their photoshoots, the stylist had opted for braiding Gaku’s hair. He looked quite bothered at first, pouting like a child and checking in the mirror his side braid every minute. Seeing this, Tenn had approached him, devilish smile on point.
“It looks good. Why don’t you braid it like that for our next concert?”
Ryuu had agreed with Tenn’s statement, adding that it was a shame Gaku didn’t braid his hair that often because he looked even more handsome with it.
Of course, it had to be that .
How could he have forgotten something so important? Well, in his defense, he had just said whatever that came out of his mind at that time, only to tease Gaku. Little did he know that this had prompted Gaku to try braiding his hair in order to impress Tenn, he had underestimated the romantic human being that was Gaku Yaotome.
When Gaku finally caught Tenn looking at him, he immediately averted his gaze, stuffing the donut in his mouth and pretending to be immersed in checking their schedule, even though he had done so more than 9 times already.
He hoped that the distance between them was enough for Gaku to not notice the blush spreading all over Tenn’s face.
Now that they were by themselves and had some minutes before the show began, though, it was perfect for taking matters into his own hands.
“Nice hairstyle you have there, seems you captivated the whole staff with it,” Tenn scoffed. He walked over to Gaku and poked his cheek with a single finger.
Gaku looked up from his phone to raise one eyebrow at him. “Ha?”
“I wonder, though, can you really call this a braid?” He teased as he pulled one of the strands with his finger. The braid came completely undone, returning to Gaku’s characteristic curls that seemed to defy the universe’s laws—not like Tenn’s own little lock of hair that stuck out was different.
Within seconds, Gaku’s face went through a mixture of anger, embarrassment, and possibly sadness, ultimately opting for glaring at Tenn. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, brat?”
Gaku seemed hurt and it wasn't like Tenn dismissed his efforts, in fact, one of the things he loved about Gaku was this kind of small romantic gestures, the knowledge that he did this for Tenn and solely for him. And Tenn wanted to reciprocate that same kindness. It was hard to translate his emotions into actual words, though.
“Shut it. Your braid wasn't bad. A bit messy, yes, but let me teach you how to do a proper braid,” he said, taking Gaku’s phone from his hands and putting it over the counter. This wouldn’t work unless Gaku was sitting down, since he was a giant, so Tenn pushed him until the other flopped unceremoniously in one of the chairs.
Gaku tried to complain but every time he opened his mouth, Tenn would either flick him in the forehead or ignore him. This had to be one of the days in which his boyfriend was damn stubborn about doing something for him, so he let Tenn be. “Fine, do as you like.”
"That’s what I’m doing, thanks.” Tenn rolled his eyes. “Lucky you, seems like we've enough time for a quick tutorial and I feel rather generous today, so just stay quiet and watch closely."
The chair creaked a bit as Tenn turned it, now Gaku was facing the mirror and he could see the faint smile of his boyfriend as he started to comb his hair. Soon, fingers would come to replace the hairbrush, he wasn’t complaining, though. The way Tenn’s fingers caressed him was quite comfortable, like a massage, and he let himself relax under the other’s touch.
Sadly, that didn’t last long. Tenn grabbed a section of hair in the front and divided it into three even parts, the typical process for making a regular three-strand braid.
“I’m skipping the explanation on this, seeing as you already know how to do that much at least. However, your error was getting lazy at the end and messing up the pattern, that’s why your braid turned into a jumbled mess.”
“Wow, rude.” Gaku stuck out his tongue to Tenn’s reflection in the mirror.
Not caring about the other’s comment, Tenn continued to braid his hair towards the back, tying it up with an elastic once he had reached the end of it.
"Hey, Tenn. Wouldn't it be easier if I practiced by braiding your hair instead?"
"I told you talking is forbidden." Tenn yanked a particular hair strand, eliciting a groan from Gaku. "You ought to see first how to do it properly before you go to the next step. After that, if you do well, maybe I let you braid my hair?"
What Gaku didn't know, was that Tenn simply had wanted to braid his hair. Although the latter would rather not eat donuts in a year than admit this to him.
Tenn looked at some small ends that poked out of Gaku’s braid, he clicked his tongue. “This shouldn’t come as a surprise but your hair really is a mess.”
It was something that was bound to happen with the fluffiness of Gaku’s hair, but he had expected that curling the ends of it before doing the braid would’ve helped to tame it.
“You still love it, though,” Gaku argued back. At this, Tenn smacked him in the forehead with the hairbrush. “Hey, that actually hurt.”
“Sorry,” added Tenn, even if there was not a single hint of remorse in his tone.
Despite the fact that he always teased Gaku with his fluffy, unruly hair, Tenn truly loved Gaku's hair. He adored drying it off after they bathed— and running his fingers through it when Gaku was sleeping. Or how it seemed to fuse with the moonlight whenever they were on their night walks, it made Gaku look so ethereal. No matter how many times Tenn had seen it, he still found himself breathless at the sight of it.
Ah , he was being cheesy now. The results of spending time with the other man were finally showing.
The next minutes went by in comfortable silence between them, now that Gaku had let Tenn continue his work with any other interruptions. Pulling slightly apart the bottom sides of most stitches to make a hole, he proceeded to put some strands of hair through the holes, to give a cascade-like look to the braid. There was another way of doing it, but it might’ve been too complicated for Gaku to get it right now, so he opted for this simplified version.
Tenn turned the chair in his direction so Gaku would be facing him. Examining him thoroughly, he grabbed his boyfriend’s chin with one hand and moved it in different angles to admire his work. Overall, for Gaku’s unruly hair, the braid looked nice, the way his curls complemented the braid to make a beautiful silver cascade was a work of art. However, he wasn’t satisfied with it yet.
Suddenly, an idea hit him. Tenn searched through his bag until he found the object he wanted: a red camellia hairpin. Smiling to himself for his great taste, he tucked the hairpin at the end of Gaku’s braid. It made a nice contrast against Gaku’s silver hair.
“Perfect.” Proud of his work, he leaned into Gaku, resting his forehead against him, the tip of his nose bumping with the other. Tenn traced circles with his thumb on Gaku’s cheek, pink eyes meeting gray ones fondly.
Gaku’s eyes widened and Tenn had the urge to chuckle, to grab that stupid man’s face, kiss him and just melt in the heat of the moment with him. But he couldn’t. It was in these moments that he was glad his acting skills and self-control were good, otherwise, things would’ve ended differently. And right now, he really wanted to win their silent game of who could drive the other crazy first.
“See? That’s how you properly braid your hair. Quite easy, right?” Tenn murmured, lips brushing lightly against Gaku’s as he tilted his head. “I must disagree with the staff, though, rather than cute, you look quite handsome with a nice braid. It completely suits you, Mr. Most Desirable Man.”
Gaku’s face turned the color of his dear strawberries to the tip of his ears. He had been completely caught under Tenn’s spell.
Checkmate , Tenn chuckled.
To assert his dominance, he gave a peck on the lips to Gaku, who parted his lips slightly, trying to capture Tenn’s with his own, thinking his boyfriend’s tease had been an invitation for more—but he was wrong, Tenn wouldn’t hand him his victory on a silver platter after he had worked so hard to get to this point.
“Tenn, I—”
“Not now,” Tenn cut him off by bringing a finger between their lips, “the broadcast will begin in less than ten minutes.”
And, before Gaku recovered from his reverie, possibly turning the tables around, Tenn moved away from him.
In the blink of an eye, he was gone from the room, as if he had used magic to dissipate into thin air, leaving a flustered Gaku behind.
Ryuu hummed happily as he carried the bags which contained the drinks his friends had asked for—water for Tenn, green tea for Gaku, although the former had been the one to choose the latter’s drink. That was, until he spotted Tenn crouching down in front of the dressing room’s door, hands covering his face.
“Tenn, why are you outside? Did you fight with Gaku again?”
Upon hearing Ryuu’s voice, Tenn got up in a flash, like a cat who had been caught stealing food at midnight. He shook his head faintly, mumbling something that sounded like ‘how could someone be so stupidly attractive’.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t quite get that. Could you repeat it, please?”
“What I meant,” Tenn said, scratching his cheek—and now, Ryuu could notice the bright blush over Tenn’s cheeks. “Is that you were right about what you said at the photoshoot. Braids really do suit Gaku.”
“Right?” Ryuu beamed, relieved to see that his friends hadn’t been fighting at all. He still didn’t know what had happened between both but knowing Tenn was embarrassed, he could imagine it was just their regular couple routine. Also, he could always ask Gaku later.
Meanwhile, back at the dressing room, Gaku cursed under his breath, covering his face with his hands. “That damn brat is gonna get it once we’re back at the dorms.”