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Turns out, opening a door with a chicken in his arms is not as easy a feat as Jisung has imagined. Clawed feet grip his hoodie clad arms, pushing as wings try to resist in his grip, and a sharp beak pecks at the exposed juncture of his neck. Complaints meet Jisung’s ears as he tries to shift the chicken in his arms to free a hand, wings almost daring to break free, but at last, he manages to blindly shove his apartment key into the keyhole and twist it.
“Shh, little one,” he murmurs in an attempt to soothe the chicken, “I just gotta check the situation real quick, okay? Wouldn’t want Minho-hyung to go into cardiac arrest when he sees you.” Jisung carefully cracks the door to the apartment that he shares with his best friend open, only sticking his head through the gap.
He notices the pair of worn-out converse sitting in between the ocean that is Jisung’s shoe collection, and when he looks through the open door of the small foyer, there’s the black jacket Minho always wears regardless of the season, thrown over the back of their big, beige couch.
“Minho-hyung?” Jisung calls out, stretching his neck to see further into their apartment. He hears shuffling and then his roommate comes into view. His bright purple hair is slightly damp, falling messily into his eyes, and his face garnishes a scowl as he squints at Jisung, as if he’s just been rudely awakened from a much-needed afternoon nap. Jisung almost coos at his appearance.
Minho frowns when he notices Jisung’s head, the rest of his body still hidden behind the apartment door. “What are you doing?”
Jisung gives him his brightest grin. “You know you’re my bestest friend in the whole entire world and I love you to the moon and back, right?”
The frown on Minho’s face deepens. “What did you do?”
The laugh that tumbles out of Jisung’s throat sounds terribly forced. “What makes you think I did anything?” he says, “Can’t I just profess my undying love for my awesome best friend and roommate, who’s super patient and caring and open minded to everything?”
Minho blinks at him repeatedly. He slowly comes closer, and Jisung can practically feel the wariness radiating from him as he regards Jisung’s head, calculating. “What are you doing behind the door?” Minho’s eyebrows are deeply furrowed as he makes a move for the door handle, “What are you hiding?”
Jisung decides to let fate run its course when Minho finally touches the door and opens it. The bright grin he’s had on his face all this time is slowly slipping into a sheepish smile as he watches Minho’s eyes widen comically. “Surprise?”
Minho blinks. Once, twice, and then a few more times. Jisung can almost see the gears turning inside his head.
“Jisung?”
Jisung bites his lower lip. “Yeah?”
“Why is there a chicken in your arms?”
The chicken wiggles in his grip, tilting her head in Minho’s direction.
“Well,” Jisung says, “She was in desperate need of a home.”
The silence that follows is deafening. Minho’s eyes flicker between the chicken and Jisung, and Jisung gulps, a lump forming little by little in his throat.
“So, you what? Decided to take it with you?” Minho finally gets out and Jisung pouts, looking at him from behind his lashes. “I couldn’t just abandon her.”
“You got a chicken,” Minho says again, “A chicken.”
“I had to, hyung! It was a life-or-death situation, my hands were tied!”
The chicken makes a bok sound, cocking her head to the side before averting her attention, deciding to peck at the drawstring of Jisung’s hoodie instead, the silver aglet at the end of it piquing her interest.
“Her name is Nugget.”
Minho blinks. He stares blankly at Jisung, eyes once more wandering down to the chicken and then up again. “You named her Nugget.”
Jisung bites his lip, shrugging. “Yeah. You know, like… Nugget the Chicken. Chicken Nugget.”
Minho lets out a heavy sigh, pressing the pads of his fingers into his temples. “And what exactly are we supposed to do with a chicken?” he presses out.
“I thought we’d just keep her as a pet.”
Minho looks at him as if he’s grown a second head. “A pet?” he repeats.
Nodding his head, Jisung looks at him with wide eyes. “She deserves a loving home.”
“How did you even,” Minho trails off, glancing back at Nugget, who has now let off of Jisung’s hoodie again and started to wiggle around again, seemingly done with being held and longing for her freedom. She loudly clucks at Jisung in demand and finally manages to free one of her wings. Jisung lets out a yelp as her wing hits him in the face, and Nugget escapes his grip and jumps to the floor. She stretches her head curiously inside the apartment, observing her surroundings before stepping past Minho and through the door. Jisung watches as Minho’s eyes follow the chicken, and when Minho finally turns back to him, it’s with a new frown on his face. Jisung starts fumbling with his hands.
“Jisung,” Minho starts again, his voice dangerously calm, “Where exactly did you get a chicken?”
“Oh, I just… stumbled over her,” Jisung says, rubbing the back of his neck.
Minho raises his eyebrows. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he asks: “In Seoul?”
“Yes?”
“So, you’re saying that you just happened to find a chicken in desperate need of a home in the middle of a huge city, completely at random?”
“Well, when you put it like that it doesn’t sound very believable,” Jisung huffs, puffing up his cheeks.
Minho snorts. “You think?”
“Okay, fine,” Jisung says, scrunching up his nose, “Maybe Felix shared a post about this chicken farm selling the chickens that have gotten too old, and if nobody wants them, they’re just gonna slaughter them, and maybe I spent like two hours on a train to go there, and maybe I did not actually stumble over a chicken but deliberately sought them out, because how could I not! Nugget isn’t even two yet, hyung! Did you know that chickens can live up to ten years? Ten years! She’s got most of her life still in front of her!” The words are tumbling out of Jisung like an avalanche kept at bay by a frail wooden door as his hands move frantically in front of Minho’s face, “And frankly, I would’ve gotten all of the chickens, if I wasn’t a broke college student who barely carries any cash, because he’s dumb and unprepared for when he has to buy chickens from a farm.” Jisung huffs, eyebrows drawn together in a deep frown and his lips pressed into a thin line. He glances wistfully at the chicken pecking at the silver buckle of a pair of his combat boots. “So many lives were lost today,” he sighs, “Nugget will live on as a legend.”
“Jisung, that-“ Minho stops as his eyes flicker down to Jisung’s arms, “Why are your hands all scratched up?”
Jisung follows his eyes to find his own arms exposed where the sleeves of his big hoodie have ridden up from all his agitated gestures. “Oh,” he says, waving his roommate’s concerned glance off, “Nugget was just a teensy tiny bit panicky, being picked up by a stranger and all that.”
He moves to hide the scratched skin away again, but Minho stops him, forcefully grabbing his hands and pulling him inside the apartment.
“It’s okay, don’t worry,” Jisung gets out as he almost stumbles over his own feet when he tries to slip off his shoes before being dragged into the living room and pushed down to sit on the couch, “They don’t even hurt that much.”
Minho shoots him a warning glare. “We gotta clean those before you get an infection just cause you’re too dumb for your own good,” he huffs as he moves to get a washcloth, a bowl of water, and some disinfectant.
Jisung whines. “Don’t call me dumb.”
“You bought a chicken,” Minho says with a deadpan voice, sitting down next to him and pulling his hands towards him.
“So?”
“A pet chicken.”
“She’s basically my child,” Jisung huffs, hissing when Minho starts to clean the little cuts Nugget has littered all over the back of his hands and around his wrists, where her claws have dug into his skin. Jisung tries to pull away at the burning sensation, but Minho’s grip only tightens.
“A chicken.”
“I said what I said.”
Minho finally looks up to shoot him an incredulous look. He opens his mouth as if to further argue, before letting out a defeated sigh. “You are so lucky I like you.”
Jisung’s heart jumps in excitement. “So she can stay?” he asks, barely stopping himself from grinning.
Minho rolls his eyes. “She can stay.”
~*~
Jisung is exhausted.
Keeping a pet shouldn’t be this hard. Especially not after just one day. And yet, here he is, close to tears by the time Minho gets home from work and finds him sitting on the floor, trying to put clothes on their new chicken.
“Just stay still, Nugget,” Jisung says, promptly getting a wing in his face. Nugget wiggles in his grip, clucking loudly and pecking at his hand as he’s reaching around her body. Jisung hisses, glaring at her.
“What are you trying to do?”
Jisung’s head shoots up and the chicken, spooked by his sudden movement, starts flapping her wings in panic.
“Oh hey, hyung!” Jisung puts on a strained grin, trying to turn his face away from Nugget’s wings, “Didn’t see you there.”
Claws dig into his thighs as Nugget puts all her strength into pushing herself off his lap and Jisung instinctively flinches back when her beak comes dangerously close to his eyes. Before Jisung has even time to realize his mistake, she already hops off his lap and out of reach.
Breathing heavily, he looks after Nugget as she runs away, loud complaints following her as she scurries under the coffee table.
“Do you need some help?” Minho asks with a snort as he kneels down next to Jisung, taking his hands and pulling them towards him to check if he’s hurt anywhere. His skin is a little red and raised where Nugget has pecked at, but nothing is bleeding. A thumb rubs softly over his knuckles and Jisung pouts, shoulders sagging.
“Probably,” he says, defeated, “I thought I could handle her on my own, but it’s so hard, hyung! Do you know how much poop I had to clean up today? Why do chickens even poop that much?”
Jisung scowls when Minho ruffles his hair.
“You’re doing great, Jisungie,” his roommate says, patting his head, “She’s still getting used to her new home, but I’m sure when she’s older she will appreciate all the effort and tears you put into taking care of her.”
Jisung huffs, pursing his lips. “Are you making fun of me?”
Minho laughs. “I would never.”
Arms wrap around his frame and Jisung half-heartedly shoves at Minho’s chest, before giving in and letting himself be coddled. He sighs. “I just wanted to put a diaper on her, that’s all.”
He feels Minho snort against him and tries to elbow him in the stomach in revenge, but misses miserably.
“A diaper?” his roommate asks, “That’s what you were doing?”
Jisung holds up the piece of clothing he’s tried to put on the chicken. White polka dots are scattered over the expanse of bright red fabric. “They’re chicken diapers,” he says, “I read about them and decided to get some for her. She’s just a little apprehensive about letting me put them on her.”
Minho takes the item from his hands, regarding it for a moment before softly patting Jisung’s thigh. “Alright then, I’ll help you.”
~*~
Changbin is sitting quietly on the couch, taking a sip of water every few seconds. His eyes keep flickering to the chicken walking around the living room, brand new chicken diaper covering her butt.
Jisung doesn’t know how long it’s been since he’s sat down. Silence is ringing through the apartment, only Nugget’s soft clucks daring to break it.
He looks up at him from where he’s sitting on the hardwood floor, his knees pulled close to his chest and one hand open, showing off a bunch of berries, as he waits for Nugget to come close again and maybe let him pet her little head. Changbin’s deep frown has not faded, eyes following the chicken wherever she goes like a magnet.
Jisung shoots a questioning glance at Minho, who’s sitting next to Changbin on the couch, nursing his own glass of water. His roommate meets his eyes only to shrug.
“Why is there a chicken in your apartment?” Changbin finally breaks the silence.
Jisung looks at him, eyes wide and mouth agape, but nothing comes out. Nugget brushes past him, stopping for a second to peck at Jisung’s open hand to pick up a berry, successfully pulling Jisung’s attention back to her. He almost coos at how she tilts her head, making another clucking sound as if she’s talking to him. Carefully, he lifts his other hand, practically melting when Nugget allows him to move his fingers through her feathers, before moving along.
Changbin clears his throat, making Jisung’s head shoot up again. He raises his eyebrows in a pointed glance and Jisung blankly stares back at him.
“I have low impulse control,” he finally says.
Changbin’s mouth falls open, head moving to look at Minho, who’s massaging his forehead, eyebrows furrowed. “What?” he gets out.
Minho looks up and meets his eyes, before sighing and saying in defeat: “He has low impulse control.”
~*~
Jisung practically jumps up from his bed like an overexcited puppy when he hears the front door open. In an instant, he’s out of his own room and crowding Minho in their tiny foyer before his roommate has even time to remove his jacket.
“Hyung!” he says, barely catching himself when he trips over a pair of boots in his way, “I finally got the chicken coop, do you wanna see?”
Minho blinks at him, lips pressed into a thin line, but the slightest twitch of the corner of his mouth betrays him. “Do I have a choice?”
“Nope,” Jisung grins, before pulling Minho along by his hand.
When they enter his room, Jisung proudly makes a tada gesture, eyes full of anticipation as he takes in Minho’s reaction. “This is Nugget’s new sleeping and resting space,” he says, “Do you want a tour?”
Not even waiting for an answer, he’s already pushing Minho closer to the large wooden structure.
“As you can see, here we have Nugget’s little house,” he says excitedly, “It has a little door so she can have some privacy and hide away when she’s sick of social interaction.” He opens the door to show Minho the inside, a disgruntled Nugget looking back at them from where she’s lying on the hay covered floor, seemingly offended as she clucks. He quickly shuts the door again, not before whispering a quick “sorry”.
He points towards the larger area surrounding the house. “Here she has some space to just roam around if we’re not home, and also when she’s not wearing her diaper. And back there we have a little tub full of sand and dry earth, so she can dust bath to her hearts content.” Jisung preens a little at the fact that some sand already paints the surrounding area, before ushering Minho towards the end of the coop, “And here we have her food dispenser, specially customized for her!”
He’s put Nugget’s name in giant, sparkling letters on it, complete with tiny doodles of chickens.
“A masterpiece,” Minho snorts, but Jisung ignores him in favor of excitedly pointing to the three bars mounted onto the structure further in the back.
“And that’s her very own chicken roost, in case she ever gets bored of the ground.” He finally turns to look back at Minho. “So, what do you think?”
Minho looks around the room, lips slowly quirking up a bit. “Jisung,” he says as he shakes his head, “This thing is huge.”
“Well, they did have smaller ones at the pet store as well,” Jisung says, “But Nugget only deserves the best!”
His roommate laughs. “You rearranged your entire room.”
“Well, yeah! Nugget should have her own safe space, you know.”
Jisung has pushed his bed into the corner from where it’s first been standing in the middle of the room, and rearranged his working desk to be closer to the bed, overflowing with notebooks and loose pages of half-written songs that usually find their place on the floor sooner or later. Even the plethora of laundry he normally has scattered all over the room has been shoved together in a large pile, peaking out from beneath the desk.
“I mean, it looks great, I’m sure Nugget will love it,” Minho says, eyes wandering over the set up once more, “But Jisung, this must’ve cost a fortune.”
Jisung waves him off. “Nah, it’s fine.”
“Weren’t you saving up for some new sound equipment?”
Jisung shrugs. “I can wait a bit longer,” he says. Somehow the fact that he’s spent almost all of his savings for Nugget doesn’t really bother him all that much, and when he watches Nugget step out of the wooden house to hop up on the roost, he can’t help but feel strangely accomplished.
“Alright then,” Minho says and when Jisung turns to him, he’s almost convinced his best friend’s gaze is oddly fond, before he recollects himself and says: “But just so you know, I’m not cleaning this thing. Ever.”
Jisung splutters. “I know,” he huffs, “I can handle it. I’m an adult.”
Minho grins at him. “Sure you are,” he says, his voice dripping with condescension, “You’ve really grown up well, haven’t you Sungie? Tell me, when do your afternoon classes start again?”
Jisung’s head whips around in a flash, as he fumbles with his pants until he manages to get his phone out, finding the time displayed on the screen, and looks up in panic. “Fuck.”
He can hear Minho laughing as he bursts out of his room, hastily grabbing his bag and trying to get his shoes on without falling over, before he’s out of the door.
~*~
“And this is Nugget just chilling on the couch. She may look like she’s sleeping but that’s all just part of her scheme to scare you when you get too close to her,” Jisung says as he shoves his phone with yet another photo on the screen under Felix’s nose.
“You know,” Felix says, “When I shared that post I did not expect you to actually go there and get a chicken.”
Jisung gasps dramatically. “And I thought you knew me!”
Felix laughs, shoving his shoulder.
“I’m just glad Minho-hyung let her stay,” Jisung says, “For some reason he didn’t seem all that excited.”
He can hear Changbin snort from the kitchen and in the next moment a head pops out from the door. “Of course he let the chicken stay,” he says, rolling his eyes, “as if he could even say no to you, Sung.”
“Yeah, he’s so soft on you,” Felix agrees, nudging Jisung’s shoulder.
“You’re acting like Minho-hyung is so difficult,” Jisung snorts, “He just likes to act tough, but he’s a squishy bean, you know?”
Changbin raises his eyebrows, doubtful. “I tried to hug him goodbye yesterday and he acted like I was actively sucking the life force out of him.”
Jisung regards him for a second, scrunching up his nose. “I mean…” he trails off, and is instantly hit with Changbin attacking him full-force. Big arms wrap around him, forcing him close as Changbin huffs: “You love my hugs, you little shit.”
“Felix!” Jisung gets out, trying to shove Changbin off him, “Save me!”
“You brought this onto yourself,” Felix says, laughing when Jisung’s eyes widen in disbelief.
“How could you?” he gasps, “Betrayed by my own flesh and blood!”
“Say it.” Changbin’s arms tighten around him, trapping Jisung’s limbs and making him immobile.
“Hyung,” Jisung whines, “You’re suffocating me.”
He can feel Changbin’s breath against his neck, his chin resting on his shoulder. “Say you love my hugs,” he demands.
“Fine!” Jisung gives in, “Your hugs are great! 10 out of 10 would recommend.”
He sighs with relief when Changbin’s grip finally loosens. And when the weight finally lifts off his body, his limbs go lax, sinking into the soft cushions of the couch.
“Seriously though,” Felix then says, “You gotta admit that Minho treats you different.”
Jisung’s gaze flickers towards him. “I guess?” he gives a half-hearted shrug, “We’ve known each other for ages. We’re best friends.”
Changbin snorts and Jisung shoots him a glare. “What?”
“Nothing,” his friend smirks, “You just pronounced boyfriends in a weird way.”
Jisung scrunches up his nose. “Very funny,” he huffs.
“You’re literally the only person Minho-hyung lets close without scowling.”
“I’m an affectionate person!” Jisung says, “Hyung knows I need attention or else I’ll die.”
“And the way you look at each other!” Changbin adds, “I swear, sometimes I feel like I should leave the room cause I’m interrupting some intimate moment.”
“We look at each like normal people,” Jisung rolls his eyes, “And besides, there’s no way in hell Minho actually likes me like that. I’ve seen the men he goes out with. They’re all tall, and older, and incredibly handsome. And while I am, undeniably, a snack, those things do not apply to me. At all.”
Felix and Changbin share a look and everything in Jisung tenses, eyes flickering between the two. “What?” he asks, “Why are you looking at each other like that?”
Felix shifts, pressing his lips together.
“What?” Jisung asks more insistently, nudging his knee with his foot.
“You probably don’t wanna hear it,” Felix says.
“Just spit it out.”
His friend sighs. “It’s nothing,” he says, “It just sounds like you might be… jealous?”
Jisung gapes at them. “You’re right,” he then says, clenching his jaw, “I did not wanna hear that.”
“We’re just saying,” Changbin starts and Jisung squints at him.
“It would be okay though, you know,” Felix says, “If you were jealous, that is.”
Jisung splutters, eyes wide. “I’m not.”
The smile Felix gives him feels oddly like one that adults give a five-year old insisting they’re gonna grow up to be Thor. “Okay,” his friend says, “But you know, just in case.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he groans, “I get it. Can we go back to my chicken now? I haven’t even shown you the pictures of Nugget hogging Minho-hyung’s shoes yet.”
When Jisung gets home, he finds Minho scowling at their kitchen table, a container of fried chicken sitting in front of him, untouched. Nugget is contently clucking around the room as Minho’s eyes follow her, sometimes stopping in her tracks to look back at him, tilting her head.
“Are you okay?” Jisung asks when Minho’s gaze doesn’t lift from the chicken even to greet him.
“I just wanted food, that’s it,” his roommate grits out, “And I thought to myself, I love anything chicken! It’s so versatile. And I’ve had a lot of stress lately with the kids and stuff, so I deserve a treat, right?” Minho finally looks up, a storm behind his eyes, “I thought, I deserve to eat fried chicken, you know? It’s delicious. It makes me happy. But I can’t.”
Jisung drops his bag on the kitchen counter before slowly making his way towards Minho and pulling up a chair to sit down next to him. “Hyung,” he says softly, moving a hand to touch his arm, “Do you not want to eat it because of Nugget?”
“She keeps staring at me.”
Jisung looks back to Nugget, watching them closely from where she sits on the floor. She cocks her head, making a sound of agreement.
“Should I take her to her coop?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Minho growls, pushing the container of fried chicken away from him, “I can’t eat it. I’m so fucking hungry, Sungie. This is all your fault.”
Jisung shuffles his chair closer, resting his chin on top of Minho’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, hyung.”
Minho huffs, but doesn’t move to shove him off, a silent invitation for Jisung to come even closer, wrapping his arms around him. “I can try and cook something?”
His roommate snorts. “No offense, Sungie, but if you cook then I have to clean up your mess and save whatever you’re making.”
“Hmm,” Jisung contemplates, “Yeah, that’s true.” He laughs sheepishly. “Do you just wanna order take out? We can get sushi? There’s no chicken in sushi whatsoever!”
Minho’s shoulder moves under his chin as he sighs. “I guess,” he says, eyeing the food container in front of him with distaste. “Just remove this out of my sight,” he scowls, “Just looking at it causes me insufferable pain.”
A sharp exhale forces its way out of Jisung’s nose and he grins. “And people call me the dramatic one,” he teases, giving Minho’s arm one last squeeze before standing up to remove the food container.
~*~
“Hyung!” Jisung comes stumbling into his best friend’s room, not bothering to knock before he’s already through the door and at Minho’s bedside.
Minho merely groans into his pillow, pulling his blanket over the top of his head.
“Hyung!” Jisung whines again, “Wake up! Nugget laid an egg!”
Slowly, Minho’s head becomes visible beneath the blanket. He squints his eyes at Jisung. “What?”
“Nugget laid an egg!” Jisung repeats, holding up said egg, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
Minho’s eyebrows furrow and he huffs, his voice rough with sleep: “Yeah, chickens tend to do that.”
Jisung stops him from pulling his blanket back over his head, looking down at him with large eyes. “It’s her first egg,” he says, wistfully, wiping an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye.
Minho scrunches up his nose. With his hair sticking up in every direction and his face puffy he looks absolutely adorable. Without further hesitation, Jisung crawls into his bed, ignoring when Minho weakly kicks him in protest. He promptly holds the egg against Minho’s cheek, who’s eyes shoot open in an instant.
“It’s so warm!” Jisung beams at his roommate.
Minho looks up at him with wide eyes, blinking repeatedly. It takes him a moment or two before he lazily moves his arm, shoving Jisung’s hand away from his face. “I’m sure she’s laid tons of eggs on the farm,” he grumbles.
“Those don’t count,” Jisung huffs, “I’m just so happy. She finally feels comfortable and safe enough to lay eggs here, hyung!” He lets himself fall onto his back, the abundance of pillows that Minho keeps in his bed sinking under his weight. He turns to look at Minho, saying thoughtfully: “I wish I’d gotten this on camera.”
“You wanna film how a chicken poops out an egg?”
“You make it sound so gross,” Jisung puffs up his cheeks, pushing Minho’s shoulder, who just laughs before pulling him closer, burying his face in his hoodie.
“Why you awake anyways?” he mumbles against his shoulder, “M not used to you being awake before me.”
Jisung chuckles, his heart pounding against his ribcage as he watches unruly strands of purple hide Minho’s eyes, already closed again, his roommate’s body relaxing against his.
“It was a big moment,” he says, pouting, even though Minho is already on his way to drop off again, his breath slowly evening out and his grip on Jisung’s hoodie loosening. Relaxing against the pillows, Jisung almost lets himself be lulled back to sleep as well, but just as his eyes threaten to fall close, he jumps up, startling Minho as well, who groans in displeasure.
“Sungie, what the fuck?” his roommate whines, glancing at him from squinted eyes.
“Should I put it back?”
“What?”
“The egg! Should I put it back?”
Minho frowns. “Why would you put it back?”
“What if she misses it?” Jisung says, a pang of guilt hitting him like a brick wall and his eyes widen, “Oh god, what if she thinks I stole her baby?”
Minho finally moves to sit up on the bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Jisung,” he says, slowly, “that egg will never be a baby.”
“But she doesn’t know that!”
Minho sighs, before reaching out, finding the fabric of Jisung’s hoodie beneath his fingertips and pulling him back down. “Do me a favor, Sungie?” he murmurs, “Tell your brain to shut up.”
Jisung huffs, but lets Minho cuddle up against him. “You know,” he says, moving his hand to push a stray strand of hair out of his roommate’s face, “If I tell our friends you love to cuddle, they would tell me I’m insane.”
“Hmm,” Minho’s eyes are already closed again, arms tightening where they have found their way around Jisung’s waist, “Good. Just wanna cuddle you.”
Jisung feels the beat of his heart up to his throat. He shakes his head at his best friend, lips curling into a bright smile as a chuckle leaves his throat. Minho doesn’t seem to notice, burying his face in his neck, breath fanning out over the expanse of his skin.
With Minho wrapped around him like a koala, Jisung has no choice but to accept his fate. And so, he lets himself relax, his body sinking into the soft mattress of Minho’s bed, the egg that Nugget has laid just an hour ago still safe in the palm of his hand.
~*~
Jisung’s cheeks are a rosy color when he enters their apartment, Nugget trotting next to him, a brand -new leash attached to the harness wrapped around her body. His fingers feel numb where he’s holding the leash, tense and aching from the freezing wind outside. Nugget doesn’t seem to have the same problem, only looking up at him in expectation when he doesn’t immediately free her from her harness, judging him and his shaking knees.
“Never thought a chicken would get you to go outside,” Minho teases from where he’s sitting on the couch. The TV is running, Jisung can vaguely hear unfamiliar voices coming from the device.
He kneels down to get the harness off Nugget, before slipping his own shoes off and making a beeline towards his roommate. Minho gives him a warning glare, but Jisung ignores it in favor of falling on top of him. “It’s so cold,” he whines, pressing his cold cheek into the warmth of Minho’s neck, making him flinch.
“Get away from me,” his roommate complains, shoving at his shoulders, but Jisung doesn’t budge.
“But you have to warm me up,” he pouts.
Next to them, Nugget decides to jump onto the couch, making herself comfortable with her folded wings closely pressed against Minho’s thigh, as if to seek his warmth as well.
“I don’t have to do shit.”
Jisung ignores him, turning his head so he can see the screen. “What are you watching?”
“I don’t know, some drama,” Minho shrugs.
“Hmm,” Jisung contemplates, before asking, “Can we watch that documentary I put on our list?”
“The one about penguins?”
“Jup.”
His roommate squints his eyes at him, lips pressed into a thin line. “What if I want to watch this?”
“Were you paying attention?”
“Yes?”
Jisung nods slowly, watching as a young woman shoves her finger into a man’s chest, complaining. He points at her. “Who’s that?”
“The main character?”
“Do they have a name, too?”
“Sure they do.”
Jisung laughs, pushing himself up and finally letting go of his roommate, the feeling in his limbs slowly returning. He still feels somewhat cold, but the jeans he’s been wearing all day are starting to become uncomfortable and so he leaves Minho on the couch to walk to his room. He quickly changes into a pair of baggy sweatpants and white, fluffy socks, throwing on an oversized hoodie. When he comes back into the living room, the TV no longer shows a fighting couple, but the menu screen of the documentary he’s just talked about. He can’t help but grin, the urge to tease Minho rising in his chest. Minho pointedly ignores his presence in favor of petting Nugget, her eyes closed in contentment.
Jisung sits back down onto the couch, but before Minho can press play on the remote, Jisung grabs a hold of his soft sweater, pulling him towards him. Minho complains as Jisung rearranges him so his head rests in his lap. “Seriously?” Minho huffs, but Jisung shushes him. “Just start the movie.”
Purple strands slip through his fingers as Jisung cards his fingers through his roommate’s hair. His hair is so soft, Jisung sometimes wonders how he does it. One bleach session and his own needs weeks of special treatment. Minho hums in his lap when Jisung softly scratches over his scalp, and Jisung almost snorts.
For the first half an hour or so, he just plays with Minho’s hair while watching penguins waddle across the screen. He pushes the hair falling into his roommate’s eyes back from his forehead, before letting it fall back again. Minho doesn’t seem to mind. Even as his attention is more and more slipping, fixating on his mop of hair as he starts to section it, picking strands apart. Slowly, he makes three parts that are about the same size. When he pulls on the strands, moving them into their correct position, Minho makes an affronted noise, but Jisung ignores it, set on finishing his project as he keeps adding new strands.
“Sungie?”
Jisung makes a non-committal sound.
“Are you braiding my hair?”
“Jup.”
Minho seems like he’s about to protest, but then falls silent, letting Jisung work.
When Jisung starts shifting beneath him, he lets out an annoyed grunt. Jisung looks around, before saying with a whiny voice: “I need a hairband.”
Minho huffs, moving in his lap and fumbling with his pockets, before a hand comes into Jisung's view, a small Hello Kitty hair clip between his fingers. Jisung grabs it, beaming. “Thanks!”
He puts all his concentration in clipping the carefully braided hair together so it doesn’t come undone. And when he’s finally happy with the result, he pulls out his phone, snapping a selfie of the two of them.
“Look, hyung. You look so cute!” he grins, showing his roommate the picture. The screen depicts a disgruntled Minho, eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed. The braid looks adorable, if a little crooked, from where it’s pulled back from his forehead.
“I’m always cute,” Minho huffs, before sitting up and forcefully making them switch positions. Jisung lets out a surprised yelp as he’s manhandled to lay down and Minho’s fingers find their way into his hair. Nugget complains at the sudden movement, her head turned towards them, judging. Jisung shoots her a sheepish smile, stroking her head as an apology. She clucks again, a warning, even as she revels under Jisung’s touch.
“Make me look pretty,” Jisung says.
“That’s kind of a tall order,” Minho replies, dryly.
“Hey!”
“And now be quiet, I’m working,” his roommate shushes him.
Minho’s been working for a few minutes and Jisung has to stop himself from teasing him about how carefully he’s been handling his hair, his touch so gentle as if he were afraid to hurt him.
“How are you so good at that?” Minho huffs, pulling softly at his hair.
“The braid?”
“Hmm.”
“I have siblings, you know,” Jisung grins and Minho moves his thigh to jostle him.
“Younghyun let you braid his hair?” he snorts.
“Totally did.”
Minho pulls his hair again. “Liar.”
By the time Minho is done with his masterpiece, Jisung’s hair is littered with simple three-strand braids, held together at the end by yet another Hello Kitty hair clip. Jisung beams when Minho shows him. “I love it,” he says, softly touching the braids.
Minho huffs. “You better. I put my blood, sweat, and tears into this.”
Putting his head back down in Minho’s lap, Jisung feels entirely too lazy to move. He shifts a bit, making himself comfortable again and even as Minho complains, he lets him.
~*~
“Her food is in that cupboard. We also have tons of treats, but don’t give her too many, just a few, okay?” Jisung says as he points to the respective cupboards, “She loves going outside, but if you do, make sure that you don’t let her off her leash unless the garden gates are all closed. She might be a bit stubborn when you want to go back inside, if you can’t find her, check the bushes, she likes to hide there. You can also bribe her with whipped cream, she loves that stuff. Also-“ “I think they got it,” Minho chuckles, interrupting Jisung’s rant.
“But-“ Jisung is immediately cut off by Felix. “Don’t worry so much, Sung,” he says, smiling brightly, “We got this. How hard can it be to look after your chicken for a few hours?”
Jisung sighs in defeat. “Okay, fine,” he says, “But if you have any questions or doubts whatsoever you can always call me.”
Minho rolls his eyes. “You act as if you’re leaving your newborn baby for a week.”
Jisung squints his eyes at him. “Your point being?”
“It’s gonna be fine,” Minho says, lips pulled into a scowl like he’s annoyed but Jisung easily finds the tell-tale signs of fondness in his eyes, “Come on, let’s go.”
Jisung is distracted. The weather is nice, the wind barely there which makes it a lot less cold and a lot more tolerable than the days before, and the sky has allowed some blue to shine through between thick clouds. Minho has taken him to the Han River, and it hasn’t been long yet, but his fingers already itch to look at his phone.
Minho nudges his shoulder. “Are you really that worried?”
Jisung bites his lip, shrugging. “I don’t know. I guess it’s just weird?” he sighs, “It’s the first time neither of us are home with her.”
“I’m sure they’ll do fine. Felix is a sweetheart. Nugget probably has already adopted him.”
Jisung snorts and Minho’s lips twitch into a smile.
“You’re probably right.” He fidgets with his fingers, looking over the wide expanse of the river, before hearing Minho chuckle next to him.
“It’s okay,” his roommate says, “You can check your phone.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Nah,” Minho shrugs, “How about this: I’ll go get us some snacks and you can check on Nugget. And then we’ll go feed some ducks or look at some flowers?”
Jisung smiles, relieved. “Okay,” he says, “Sounds good.”
When they get back later that night, Jisung can’t help but coo when he sees Nugget snuggled up to Felix, apparently having taken an instant liking to him. And he can’t stop the excitement from jumping out when Nugget notices them and promptly decides to hop up and greet them.
Minho rolls his eyes, but smiles fondly as Jisung crouches down to the floor to scratch Nugget on the back of her small head.
“I’m gonna take a quick shower,” he says, his hand coming to rest on Jisung’s shoulder for a second before wandering off to the bathroom.
As soon as he’s out of sight, Jisung is met with Changbin wiggling his eyebrows obnoxiously at him.
“So… how was your date?” he asks with a shit eating grin.
Jisung ignores the heat rising to his face, and huffs. “It wasn’t a date.”
Changbin nods slowly, clearly not convinced. “Really? What did you do?”
“We just went to the Han River, had some snacks, fed some ducks,” Jisung shrugs.
“You were gone for five hours.”
“Fine,” Jisung huffs, “We also went to watch a play and hyung bought me dinner after.”
Felix nodded, grinning brightly. “Jup, sounds like a date to me.”
“It wasn’t a date. We do stuff like that all the time!”
“You’re being awfully defensive.”
Jisung groans, glaring at both of them. Instead of arguing further he opts to give all his attention to Nugget instead. He carefully picks her up and carries her over to the couch where she immediately snuggles into his lap, making a few happy bok sounds. When he looks up again, he finds both Changbin and Felix already looking at him and he groans again: “What?”
“Just so you know,” Changbin says, “We’ve got a bet going on.”
Jisung blinks at them. “You are horrible friends.”
~*~
As much as Jisung loves indulging Nugget and letting her roam outside in their little community garden, she does sometimes make rather questionable decisions.
She loves exploring, squeezing through between bushes and trees and dustbathing in the large sandbox. And sometimes, her explorations end with her stepping into thick mud puddles and getting random stuff stuck in her feathers. Jisung doesn’t even know how she does it. He watches her the entire time when they’re outside, and still, one glance away and suddenly she looks like she’s been fighting a mud-monster, all while happily plucking leaves from a bush, acting like nothing’s wrong. And there’s only so much a dust bath can clean.
Jisung has thought he’s prepared. He’s googled instructions beforehand, covered the immediate area around the bathtub with towels and made sure the water is a nice, warm temperature. And sure, he’s anticipated some struggling, Google has told him as much, but he hasn’t anticipated just how hard it would be to keep Nugget from escaping.
“Please, just hold still,” Jisung whines, as Nugget immediately freaks the moment her feet touch the water. Jisung hasn’t filled the tub full, just barely enough to reach the feathers on her chest. But all his efforts are in vain, Nugget is already wiggling in Jisung’s grip like crazy, her wings barely contained by his hands. He tries cooing at her, voice soft in an attempt to calm her down, but Nugget only frantically moves her head from one side to the other, desperately looking for an escape.
“Well, you shouldn’t have sat in that pile of mud if a little water bothers you that much,” Jisung scolds her. He eyes the pet shampoo he’s bought at the vet’s recommendation and immediately curses himself for not putting it within close reach.
“Come on, little one,” he tries again, Nugget’s struggling not letting up, “The water is nice and warm, and it’s not gonna take long at all. We’re just gonna clean your feathers, it’ll be over before you know it!”
Nugget finally looks at him, tilting her head, a single cluck leaving her beak. And for a moment Jisung thinks she’s calmed down, and makes the grave mistake of letting his guard down. Trying to gently hold her wings with only one hand he moves to grab the shampoo bottle when Nugget decides that she’s, in fact, not done throwing a tantrum and starts flapping her wings, slipping out of Jisung’s grip.
“Fucking hell,” Jisung curses, trying to catch her wings again, but it’s too late, his face and shirt already soaked with water, as well as most of the towels he put around the bathtub. “Just five seconds, Nugget,” he whines, but the chicken doesn’t listen.
He sighs, opting to ignore the water she’s getting out of the tub, and instead just hold her enough so she doesn’t actually escape.
By the time he’s managed to clean the soiled feathers, there’s a thin layer of sweat covering his forehead and all his clothes are sticking uncomfortably to his skin. He’s pushed the wet strands of his bangs out of his face, causing them to stick up weirdly, but at least Nugget is now calm, laying wrapped up in a towel in Jisung’s lap as he dries her.
And that’s how Minho finds them. Jisung looking like a mess while he blow-dries Nugget on a low setting, her eyes closed as she enjoys the warm breeze ruffling her feathers.
His roommate’s eyes widen when he takes in the sight that is their bathroom, all the towels Jisung has prepared still on the floor, most of them completely soaked, similar to the state that Jisung is in himself.
Jisung’s face heats up when Minho’s gaze finds him and just stares. He can see Minho’s eyes flicker down just for a second, before blinking repeatedly, lips pressed into a thin line.
“Did you fight a war?” he finally asks.
“Jup,” Jisung laughs sheepishly, “But I did win the battle. Look at her, she loves the hair dryer! So fucking cute.”
Minho’s lips quirk into a smile. “Between the two of you I can’t really tell if she took a bath or you,” he says.
“Well, I didn’t win the battle without some sacrifices.”
His roommate makes an affirmative sound. His staring still hasn’t let up and it’s making Jisung squirm. He gulps, the beat of his heart hard against his ribcage. “You okay?” he asks.
Minho blinks, his eyes jerking up again. “What?”
Jisung almost believes he can see the tips of his ears turning red. “Is everything alright?” he asks.
“Oh,” Minho says, his face blank, “Yeah. Sorry, just zoned out.”
Jisung eyes him warily, watching Minho rub the back of his neck, before clearing his throat. “Anyways, I’m gonna make some food. Any requests?”
~*~
When Jisung opens the door to their apartment, he’s about ready to fall into bed and sleep for a week or two. His classes just dragged on forever, and when his boss called him to asks if he’d be willing to pick up an extra shift since one of his co-workers is sick, he couldn’t really say no. His savings account has been crying ever since he got Nugget, so he doesn’t really have the luxury to refuse an opportunity to boost his paycheck.
He drops his bag unceremoniously right next to his shoes and shrugs off his jacket. He knows Minho will probably scold him later, but right now, he only cares about sleep. Maybe food.
Still, he can’t help but feel oddly warm at the sight that greets him when he steps into the living room.
Minho is sitting on the couch. He has switched out his contacts in favor of a pair of thin framed glasses perched on his nose. His eyes rest on an open book, holding it open with one hand while his other hand softly pets Nugget, who is sitting beside him on the couch, eyes closed, content with the way Minho’s fingers card through her feathers. He only moves his hand away to turn to the next page of his book before it finds it place caressing Nugget again.
Jisung can’t help the soft smile spreading on his lips, he feels it tugging on the corner of his mouth, and his heart feels so full it might as well burst out of his chest. Leaning against the door frame, he watches Minho scrunch up his nose in an effort to keep his glasses from slipping down too far. Faded purple falls in his eyes and he scowls, blowing it out of his face.
After living together for years, Jisung has seen Minho like this countless times. Bare faced, hair messy, glasses on. Jeans switched out with baggy sweatpants and soft sweatshirts covering his torso, the sleeves falling over hands, only letting his fingers peak out. And yet, when Jisung looks at him this time, it hits him like a brick wall. How his chest fills up with so much adoration, watching his roommate pet their chicken, Nugget lying next to him in utter contentment, reveling in Minho’s constant attention. How Minho huffs and moves the hand holding his book to clumsily push his glasses up his nose again when they finally do slip too far, rather than using the one petting Nugget.
Jisung doesn’t know how long he watches them, until Minho finally looks up, eyebrows shooting up in surprise at his presence, before a smile blooms on his lips.
The air gets caught in Jisung’s throat. He’s sure he’s gaping at his roommate, eyes refusing to leave Minho’s. And Minho laughs at him, a high sound leaving his throat. Fuck. He’s in love.
“Are you okay?” Minho asks, a mischievous glint in his eyes, lips still tugged into a playful smirk, “You look like you saw a ghost.”
Jisung swallows around nothing.
“Or are you just jealous Nugget likes me more than you?” he wiggles his eyebrows before turning to the chicken, scratching her little head and cooing, “You love me more, don’t you?”
“I…” the words are stuck in his throat.
Minho looks up again, tilting his head to the side. “You sure you’re okay?”
Jisung blinks, trying his best to shake himself out of his frozen state. “I,” he starts again, biting his lip before tearing his eyes away from his roommate, looking back at the apartment door, “I think I… I forgot something at the studio.”
And like the coward he is, he runs.
~*~
As soon as the door in front of him opens, the words just slip out.
“I’m in love with him.”
Felix and Changbin share a look. “We know.”
“How are you not more concerned about this?!” Jisung storms past them inside their apartment, letting himself fall onto the couch, gripping his hair in exasperation.
“You’ve been pining for each other for years,” Changbin shrugs, “It gets old.”
Jisung looks up at him, scowling. “Fuck off. I can’t pine if I don’t even know I like him.”
“Pretty sure your heart eyes told a different story.”
Felix throws a warning glance at Changbin, who lifts his hands in surrender, before turning back to Jisung. “But this is a good thing!” Felix says.
“How is this a good thing?!” Jisung almost screeches, “Have you forgotten about his type? Older, tall, incredibly handsome?” He watches his friends share another glance. “And also, don’t know if you noticed, but I’m a mess!” he gets out, “Minho-hyung deserves like, top-tier husband material, not whatever the fuck I am.”
“Hey!” Felix glares at him, “Don’t talk about my best friend like that, or I’ll have to kick your ass.”
Jisung scrunches up his nose.
“And honestly, I’m pretty sure Minho’s type is just you,” Felix says as he sits down next to him, softly patting his thigh.
“You’re full of shit.”
“Seriously, how can you be so blind?” Changbin throws his hands up, “Minho-hyung has been pining for you since forever. You’ve both been pining since forever. How are you so dense?”
“I’m not,” Jisung says, weakly.
Felix sighs, empathically. “You are, honey.”
Jisung groans, letting his head fall against the backrest of the couch. Pushing his hair out of his face, he stares at the ceiling. “What am I supposed to do?”
“You could confess to him,” Felix says, “Lay it all out in the open.”
“Or you can just drop Minho-hyung some hints. Maybe he’s a little less dense than you and will say something himself.”
Felix throws a glare at Changbin. “Are you seriously trying to win a bet right now?”
“Like you’re any better.”
“I only have my best friend’s interest at heart,” Felix huffs, making Changbin snort.
Jisung looks between the both of them, disbelief seeping through his eyes as he gapes at them. “You’re not helping. Neither of you.”
Felix sighs, turning back to Jisung to pull him against his chest, letting him rest his head against his shoulder. “I’m serious, though,” he says, playing with the short hairs at Jisung’s nape, “You should talk to Minho. You’ll see, it’s not as bad as your little brain is trying to tell you it is.”
“I don’t know,” Jisung mumbles, biting his lip, “I just don’t wanna ruin our friendship.”
He feels the couch dip as Changbin sits on his other side. “I don’t think you could ruin your friendship even if you tried,” he says, “You’re stuck with that grumpy little kitten. My condolences.”
Jisung huffs out a laugh, shoving his shoulder. “He would maim you for calling him that.”
“Yep,” Changbin nods in agreement, “He would. So don’t tell him, okay? I treasure life.”
Jisung can feel a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “I’ll consider it.”
It’s late when Jisung finally comes back to their apartment. The light in their living room is still on when Jisung steps through the door. He slips his shoes off, before dragging his feet towards the lit room.
Minho looks up when Jisung walks in.
“Nugget was sad you weren’t there,” his roommate says when Jisung stays quiet, “I almost couldn’t get her inside her coop. Had to bribe her with whipped cream.”
Jisung chuckles, his hand coming up to rub the bridge of his nose before shoving it inside the pockets of his pants.
“Everything okay at the studio?” Minho asks, and Jisung’s heart gets stuck in throat with how his roommate looks at him. His eyes peering at him from behind his glasses, obviously tired, but still so very fond it makes it hard to breathe.
“Uhm, yeah,” Jisung stutters, “Yeah, everything is fine.” He nods his head in reinforcement, pulling his lip between his teeth. His eyes are going anywhere but where Minho is still looking at him. He clears his throat. “I’m just… gonna turn in,” he says, “Good night.”
He doesn’t wait for Minho’s answer, but even as he turns his back to his roommate, he can still feel his stare drilling into him, and it almost dares to make him crumble.
~*~
Everything is, in fact, not fine.
Jisung has been set on ignoring his newfound realization. He’s come to the conclusion that his heart is much too weak to actually acknowledge everything he’s feeling. And it’s been fine all this time when he hasn’t been aware of his feelings, so nothing really has to change, right?
Only problem is, now that he does know, he can’t help but see all these things Minho does and says. How he looks at him with his big eyes, and always makes him food, and how close he is. Always so close. Jisung hasn’t really noticed it that much before. How Minho would seek closeness just as much as Jisung is. Their hands brushing when they walk next to each other, Minho leaning into his space when he shows him a video of his cats his parents sent him, Minho pulling him into hugs whenever they watch movies, Minho sitting so close to him their thighs are pressed up against each other whenever Nugget is in Jisung’s lap and Minho comes to pet her as well.
It’s so much. And yet, Jisung can’t help but crave more. It’s really messing with his head.
And so Jisung makes the very mature decision to avoid Minho altogether.
Not everyone seems to be delighted with that decision. Nugget is rather affronted by the sudden lack of both her parents in close proximity.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Jisung huffs, when Nugget tilts her head at him, clucking judgingly. He’s still a little mad at her from this morning when she’s decided to act out when Jisung tried to put her diaper on today, flapping her wings wildly until Minho had to come close and help him. And now, when Jisung is just minding his own business, hiding in his room, she stands in front of his bed, staring at him. It’s a little unnerving.
“It’s just too much, okay?” Jisung sighs, “He’s way too good for me, Nugget.”
The chicken just keeps staring, and Jisung imagines if chicken would blink, she would do so right now, just to show her disappointment in him. And then, Nugget promptly turns around and walks out of his room, right to the other side of the apartment where Minho’s is, his door closed.
“Nugget?” Jisung hisses after her, alarmed, “What are you doing?”
The chicken doesn’t bother reacting, but instead starts to make loud screeching sounds.
Jisung jumps up from his bed. “Nugget, stop that!” he watches in terror as the chicken pecks at Minho’s door as if to knock and just as he finally reaches her and tears her away and into his arms, the door opens and Minho stares right back at him.
His roommate frowns, and Jisung is sure he himself must look like a deer caught in headlights, holding tightly onto their chicken with his eyes wide.
“Jisung?” Minho asks, “What’s going on?”
“Uhm,” Jisung drags the syllable out, his brain overwhelmed by panic. “Nothing!” it comes out so very forced it makes him cringe. And then, before Minho can react, he turns on his heel and runs back to his own room, Nugget safely tucked into his arms.
“You’re in a whipped cream timeout, just so you know,” he mutters under his breath.
~*~
Nugget has been an absolute pest. Three days have gone by and Jisung’s great plan of avoiding Minho is going about as well as that time when Jisung attempted to dye his hair midnight blue, staining their entire bathroom in the process.
Instead of successfully avoiding Minho, he just makes things really awkward. He can’t think of even one grammatically coherent sentence he has said to his roommate ever since his realization. And it’s all Nuggets fault. His plan would’ve worked out fine, if it wasn’t for that chicken. He hasn’t been able to put her diaper on alone without her throwing a tantrum in days, and when Jisung was trying to take her on a walk, she fled with the leash in her beak to find Minho instead. Just the night before he witnessed her trying to drag his favorite hoodie across their apartment.
“I keep finding your socks in front of my room.”
All Jisung wants to do after coming home from a late shift at work is to sneak into his room, maybe steal a snack from the kitchen, and hide beneath his blankets. But his plans are thoroughly thwarted when he steps through the door and finds Minho sitting in their living room, holding up one of the fluffy socks Jisung loves wearing at home.
“Oh,” Jisung says, fidgeting with the strap of his bag.
His roommate sighs. “You wanna tell me what’s that all about?”
“Uhm,” Jisung tries to think of words to say, his tongue twisting just at the idea, “Nugget’s going through puberty?”
Minho blinks at him and Jisung feels himself cower under his gaze. Looking to the ground he tries to evade his eyes, when he hears Minho sigh once more.
“Does this have anything to do with you avoiding me?”
Jisung splutters. “I’m not avoiding you,” he says, but when Minho raises his eyebrows at him, he deflates, “Maybe I’m avoiding you.”
Minho puts the sock down, patting the space on the couch next to him, and Jisung gives in, forcing his limbs to move. His body is terribly tense when he sits down, fingers clenched around his bag strap and posture uncomfortably rigid.
“So?” Minho asks.
Jisung meets his eyes. “Yeah?” it comes out like a squeak and Jisung can instantly feel the heat rise to his face.
“What’s on your mind, Jisungie?”
Jisung shrugs.
Minho sighs, his knee bumping against Jisung’s as he says: “You know you can tell me anything, right?”
“I know, it’s just…” Jisung looks anywhere but towards Minho, “It’s hard.”
“Why?”
Jisung shrugs again. “I don’t wanna mess up our friendship,” he finally gets out.
He feels Minho nudge his shoulder with his own. “There’s nothing you could do to mess up our friendship,” he says, “That is, unless you secretly broke into my parent’s house and murdered all my cats so you wouldn’t have to share my affection with them, because you knew you’d always be second place.”
Jisung snorts. “Hyung,” he whines and Minho laughs.
“I mean it, though,” Minho then adds, quietly, “You mean the world to me, Sungie.”
His lip finds it way back between his teeth, his eyes glued to his hands. “Really?”
When he feels Minho’s hand on his cheek his heart almost stops, his roommate turning his head to make him face him. Jisung’s breath hitches at how close Minho is. There’s a slight curl to his lips, though his eyes are sincere when he says: “Really.”
Jisung doesn’t know where this sudden surge of courage is coming from, when he lets go off his bag to softly move his hands up to Minho’s face. He watches Minho’s nose twitch cutely, slowly moving his thumb over his cheekbone. He finds Minho’s eyes again, already watching him intently. Jisung raises his eyebrows, the silent question resting on his lips, not quite coming out, and Minho smiles, nodding.
And then he kisses him. Just for a second, over before Minho can even reciprocate, and when Jisung pulls back he’s met with a pout. His laugh is swallowed by another kiss as he’s pulled back in. His heart gives out a little, a yelp leaving his throat, and he feels Minho chuckle against his lips. A hand finds its way to his waist, pulling him a little closer and Jisung relaxes into the kiss.
It’s so very easy to get lost in the feeling of soft lips on his. And when they break apart again, Jisung can’t help the breathless laugh that tumbles out of his throat.
“See, that wasn’t too bad now, was it?” Minho asks with a teasing smile.
Jisung blinks at him, pulling back a bit further as the realization dawns on him. “You knew?” he asks and when Minho doesn’t answer, he smacks his shoulder, “You knew? And let me suffer?”
Minho ducks his head sheepishly. “I hoped,” he admits, “And I may have received an ominous phone call from Changbin asking me if I maybe felt the sudden urge to confess to you.”
“He did what?!”
“He may have also said something along the lines of that it’s my responsibility to put you out of your misery, your pining is getting unbearable.”
“That little bitch,” Jisung gets out, “I can’t believe he would jeopardize our friendship just for some stupid bet. I swear, the next time I see him it’s on sight! He deserves to suffer, like, who does he even think he is?”
Minho’s laugh pulls him out of his rant.
“You know, we could totally plan our gruesome revenge on that little gremlin we call a friend,” Minho says, his eyes flickering back to Jisung’s lips, the hand on his waist tightening just a bit, “Or we could do that later, and you could kiss me some more.”
Heat rises to Jisung’s cheeks. “Uhm, yep. That’s- that sounds like a good plan,” he nods to himself, “Yeah. Let’s do that.”
Minho lets out a little laugh and then he comes closer until Jisung can feel his breath on his face, waiting. Jisung blinks at him, Minho arching his eyebrows, taunting him. And then, Jisung finally gives in, closing the last inch between them and fitting their lips back together.
~*~
Jisung watches Nugget snuggle between him and Minho, looking all too content.
“It’s like she can tell,” he murmurs in awe, petting her feathers, “That little rascal was being difficult on purpose.”
Minho laughs, his hand scratching the back of her little head, his fingers brushing against Jisung’s as he cards them through her feathers, before placing his hand on top of Jisung’s, fingers slotting in between his.
There’s a cough form the other end of the couch.
“So… who confessed?”
“Changbin, I swear to God if you’re not out the door within the next three seconds I will hunt your ass down.”