Chapter Text
Hyun-su has been out and free from the arcade for maybe a week. They've been working as a team, making progress towards being able to relocate soon. The residents, however, have not made progress not staring at Hyun-su. As if they make a wrong move, or sound, he'll turn right there, and destroy everything. Somehow, the person who has been the most accepting is Eun-hyeok. Making a genuine effort to earn his trust, Eun-hyeok has been tentatively hanging out with Hyun-su. To be completely honest, Hyun-su has accepted that he's lonely, and has been letting it happen. Though, he'd be lying if he said he hadn't been enjoying their time together so far, even if it's been relatively surface level interactions.
Tonight, however, when Hyun-su approaches Eun-hyeok in the security office, he looks more exhausted than he's ever really seen him.
"Are you oka—"
"I need a break. A real one, away from everything."
Hyun-su just looks at him. He guesses Eun-hyeok is also quite young, and this is a lot.
"Is there anywhere else safe in the complex we can go?"
'We.' No ones included him in so long, Hyun-su ignores the flutter he feels in his chest.
"Well, my room, technically. If that's alright." Fidgeting with the ends of his sleeves, he continues. "I cleaned it up recently, the residents don't exactly seem to be warming up to me. So, just in case I need to get out of the way, or something."
"That's alright. Let me tell the others."
୭
Upon entering the room, they take off their shoes, Hyun-su rests his spear up by the door, and Eun-hyeok sets the candle down on a kitchen counter. It helps just a little, it's still dusk. Hyun-su seems to have covered a large hole in his window with a haphazardly taped sheet of plastic, so natural light can still come in. Now, where he got the plastic? Eun-hyeok assumes he raided another apartment unit.
"It's not much, but it's away from everyone."
"That's what I asked for, it's fine."
Sitting on the mattress with his legs bent, feet planted on the floor in front of him, Hyun-su's gaze follows Eun-hyeok's path as he sits down the same way next to him. Taking off the backpack as he does so.
He unzips the bag.
"Do you drink?"
"I'm nineteen." Hyun-su answers habitually.
"Exactly." He starts to pull something out of the bag, it's wrapped in a towel.
"Not really, I mean once, I guess, with friends. But that was a long—" he pauses, and observes as Eun-hyeok unveils a bottle of soju. "Oh. I thought we got rid of all the alcohol?"
Eun-hyeok exhales a laugh, as he sets the bottle down, and pulls out a second one, then setting the bag aside.
"I took these a little before then. Just in case."
"I can hardly believe you'd steal alcohol."
Deciding to ignore him, Eun-hyeok begins to open a bottle, but then stops, and continues talking.
"It's stupid, I guess, to say something like this— obviously the residents rely on us, and there's so much to be responsible for— but right now, I don't know, somehow it also feels like the most freedom I've had in a long time. I'm not doing the same thing everyday, merely keeping myself and Eun-yu alive."
"Wow."
This time, Eun-hyeok twists the cap of the bottle all the way off.
"Right." He says plainly, carefully unraveling the tamper seal from the neck of the bottle. "It's stupid, and you didn't hear me say it." Eyes scanning the area around him, he decides to set the cap aside on a small stool against the wall.
"No, I just… didn't realize you felt like that."
"You're not supposed to." He holds the bottle out to Hyun-su.
Taking the bottle, Hyun-su looks at it a little warily. He remembers the single beer he had a couple years ago being kind of gross.
"I assure you, it's not that bad."
Conceding, he takes a sip, and oh. He hands it back to Eun-hyeok. "That was sweeter than I was expecting."
After taking the bottle, he hums an agreement, and takes a drink himself.
Staring at the floor between them, Hyun-su continues his thought from earlier. "Also, I guess you just seem so put together— not that I now think you aren't— but like, naturally responsible, and okay with that? I mean, you just immediately took it all on, it seems like." He looks over to him.
He nods, and looks back at Hyun-su. "I'd say it's like a moral obligation I feel; the need to help, and lead. It's a common trait— instinctive, or learned— among medical students."
"You're a doctor?" Hyun-su asks, audibly surprised.
And then Eun-hyeok laughs. Which, Hyun-su didn't realize how much he'd enjoy hearing that. Smile wide enough to catch a glimpse of his teeth. They're small, kind of cute, he finds this endearing.
"No." Smile falling, he turns to face forward. "No, I never finished school. Eun-yu wanted to start ballet, and we only have so much money. It's really okay, I want her to succeed."
"So, what do you do?"
"I work in a pharmacy. It's open twenty four hours, which is why I was even downstairs the night this all began. I was leaving for work."
As he takes another drink, Hyun-su watches his throat as he swallows. He doesn't think anything of it. Eun-hyeok hands him the bottle again.
୭
Hyun-su feels warm, or nice, at least. It's been a long time since he's felt comfortably warm. Taking off his jacket, he aimlessly throws it on the floor in front of him.
His shirt collar is so wide, Eun-hyeok notices the neckline is laying on him in a way that shows off a bit of his shoulder and collar bone.
Looking down, Hyun-su takes in everything on his shirt with a grimace. There's just so much blood and grime.
"You're literally home. Just change your shirt."
"Oh, yeah."
He stands, and goes to the box the rest of his clothes are in. Pulling his shirt off overhead, he narrows his eyes at it for a second, before ultimately deciding there's no point. Turning around, he throws it away. He then digs a new shirt out of the box.
Really, Eun-hyeok doesn't mean to stare, he's almost tipsy, so he's not thinking too hard at the moment. Though, now, he can see Hyun-su's hoodie was hiding muscle he's gained— likely from his monster. After Hyun-su puts the shirt on, it looks like he's about to turn to sit back down, so Eun-hyeok looks away. Face hot, he wonders if his cheeks are flushed, giving him away, but y'know, alcohol does that, too.
Hyun-su noticed his staring, but he suppresses a smile, and keeps it to himself. He sits back down, a little closer than before. Their shoulders brush on accident, they turn inwards a little to face each other as they talk instead. One leg folded in the bed, and the other still up, resting and arm on it. Eun-hyeok ignores Hyun-su's scar, and gives him a soft smile once he's settled.
୭
They're on the second bottle at this point, the concept of personal space from just over an hour ago, already forgotten.
Subconsciously, they've gotten a little closer overtime, still facing each other, but their knees are brushing. Hyun-su is surprisingly comfortable.
"You're fun like this, relaxed. I like it."
A light laugh, and small smile escape Eun-hyeok. His cheeks are hot as he looks down. Some hair falls over his glasses.
Hyun-su finds it annoyingly cute. Deciding it's unfair he's the only one in just his shirt, he pokes Eun-hyeok's bicep.
"Aren't you warm?"
Eun-hyeok looks back up at him, combing his fingers through his hair, and pushes his glasses up. He hums a yes.
"A little."
When he moves to shrug his flannel off, Hyun-su remembers to take his finger away.
Once his flannel is off, he tosses it on the floor, the same way Hyun-su did with his hoodie. Eun-hyeok is just aimlessly staring ahead, because if he doesn't, he might just stare at Hyun-su.
There's a comfortable silence for a few minutes. It's nice to kind of just, be. However, Hyun-su can feel pure, unfiltered curiosity getting the best of him. He's beginning to understand where all the stereotypes around alcohol come from, liquid courage, or whatever. He just wants to know more about him.
"Is there anyyything that you've never told anyone before?" Hyun-su asks, head easily lolling to the side.
It might be a big question, but Eun-hyeok can refuse to answer, if he wants.
"Let me think." Eun-hyeok is not drunk enough to talk about his parents, or anything, and it's not like he's never discussed it; when they were much younger, Eun-yu would actually go to him for comfort. Other than that, he doesn't really have any friends, so, not a ton of thoughts leave him anyway, but also, not much happens in his life. He's not that interesting. He's also never had a partner, but he figures that— oh, well, there's that.
"I'm gay."
Hyun-su doesn't mean to laugh, he really doesn't, but he can't stifle the genuine laughter that bubbles up from his chest anyway. He picks his head up. "I'm sorry, that wasn't actually at you. Just, that's your big secret?"
"It's not a secret. It's never mattered, there's just never been an opportunity to share it, I guess. I don't think I've ever said it out loud."
"Oh, then, that's cool. Thank you for telling me, I think. Ohmygod." Hyun-su feels good. Everything from the first bottle has finally hit him, he thinks, and he's probably past tipsy. Not that he knows, this sensation is unfamiliar, but pleasant.
Eun-hyeok looks at Hyun-su. "Are you going to answer your own question, or are you trying to embarrass me?"
"I'm thinking." Hyun-su lies, he wasn't, but now he is. He should have asked a question he already had an answer to. "Uh."
Similarly, Hyun-su is also not drunk enough to talk about the last year or so, so he decides to give an equal answer.
"I guess I'll just do the same. I don't think I've ever said this out loud either, it wasn't really something my, uh, friends and I talked about, but, I'm pretty sure I'm bi. It's also never mattered." His eyes flit around the room as he answers, but he ends it by looking back at Eun-hyeok.
Albeit with a smile, Eun-hyeok scoffs. "And now the world is ending, and it never will."
Hyun-su just barely huffs out a laugh. "Yeah." He's speaking quieter than he intended. "Doesn't matter now." They're still looking at each other. Tearing his gaze away, Hyun-su picks up the bottle up from the floor between them, and takes a drink. He's noticing details on Eun-hyeok's skin he hadn't before, like the mole he has on his neck, and he feels way too ready to do something stupid. He doesn't even know what he's thinking about doing, but regardless, Eun-hyeok probably still sees him as a ticking time bomb, so he tries not to think about it at all.
୭
The candle on the kitchen counter has died out, gone completely unnoticed. Enough pale moonlight fills the small room. Both bottles are empty.
"This is nice. I wish we met under different circumstances." Eun-hyeok muses. When he turns his head to face Hyun-su, his eyes just barely flicker to his lips, before looking back up.
Meeting his eyes, Hyun-su agrees. "Yeah, it is. Sorry you're not an asshole— thas not right— sorry I thought you were an asshole." He giggles.
Considering they don't eat much, and they've both essentially had a bottle of soju each, they're definitely drunk.
Eun-hyeok finds drunk Hyun-su endearing. "I only brought those two." He nods to the empty bottles on the floor between them. "How d' you feel?"
Hyun-su lets out a contented hum. "Like, right now, everything's actually fucking good." He closes his eyes.
Good is the best word his brain can come up with at the moment, but it's true. Hyun-su doesn't think he could be worried about anything right now, even if he tried. He feels good, like loose, and comfortable. These conversations have been good, Hyun-su hasn't spent any meaningful amount of time with anyone in a long time, and he's drunk enough to admit that Eun-hyeok looks good too. His demeanor like this is attractive, relaxed and amiable, and also, he's simply pretty.
"It does feel like that." Eun-hyeok shifts to rest his legs out in front of him again, and lies down where he is, hands clasped over his torso.
Opening his eyes, Hyun-su looks over to find Eun-hyeok seemingly staring at the ceiling. Against his better judgment, Hyun-su is fairly certain he wants to kiss him, which, not that he's kissed anyone before, but he's also pretty sure that would feel good too. Thinking back to their previous conversation, he decides to pry a little more.
"Does that mean you've neverrr dated?"
"What?" Eun-hyeok turns his head to look up at Hyun-su, and ends up meeting his gaze.
"Never sharing your sexuality. Never kissed anyone?"
"I've never dated anyone, no."
"I asked you two things." Hyun-su holds up three— oops— two fingers.
He faces the ceiling again, and sighs. "I had a moment in college, I guess. One where I thought I could be a normal fucking twenty year old, and go to a party."
"I can't imagine you at a party." Hyun-su giggles.
Ignoring him, Eun-hyeok continues. "Sssome random girl kissed me— I don' even know why. I didn' stay long, I wasn' having a good time. So I probably looked pathetic, or something," He scoffs. "but when I didn' do anything, she left me alone."
"Thas not fair." Hyun-su pouts.
"To the girl?" Eun-hyeok gives him an incredulous look.
"N'you. First kiss wasn' even a boy."
Looking back up at the ceiling, he exhales, amused. "Does it count if— if I didn' even kiss back?"
Distantly, Eun-hyeok thinks this conversation is so fucking stupid. It's not important if he's kissed anyone. It's not like he'd kiss me to make up for it. What? Stop.
"No, I don' think so." Hyun-su lies down next to him.
"What about you?" Eun-hyeok is pretty sure normal high schoolers— as in, ones that aren't raising their sister— date, and whatever else.
"No, uh, to both."
Not thinking about it, Eun-hyeok replies. "I find that hard to believe."
"What does that mean?"
"Hard to believe no one liked you." He manages to withhold his full thought, that he's attractive, sweet, and that it's hard to believe no one liked him that way.
Hyun-su thinks about the past year. "Youuuu'd be fucking surprised."
It's comfortably quiet.
The alcohol in Hyun-su's system is bringing out his prior, more bold personality. As well as, anything he can think of right now, definitely does not seem like a bad idea. Rolling onto his side, he faces Eun-hyeok, supporting himself on his elbow, and resting his head on his hand. He just looks at him with a soft smile.
Eun-hyeok follows suit, just up on his forearm instead. His gaze accidentally flickers to Hyun-su's lips. He adjusts his glasses and meets his eyes, hoping he didn't notice.
However, he did in fact notice. Hyun-su licks his own lips, and simply stares at Eun-hyeok's mouth in return. In nearly a whisper, he breaks the silence. "You wan your first kiss to be a boy?"
God, they're both so drunk, the world is ending.
Who fucking cares.
Eun-hyeok grabs the front of Hyun-su's shirt, pulls him closer, and kisses him.
Twisting his own hand into Eun-hyeok's shirt, Hyun-su immediately kisses back. It's uncoordinated and desperate, by sober standards, it might even be bad. Except, right now, it feels even better than he was expecting. Eun-hyeok is warm, he tastes like the soju, and his breath is better than oxygen. If it were physically possible, he would meld right into him.
They're still half on the floor.
"On the— the fucking— on the bed." Hyun-su manages to pant out between kisses.