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The sky was dark and full of stars by the time Soobin made it home to his apartment. When he started med school, he expected to spend late nights studying for exams or preparing for clinicals but he found himself volunteering (aka getting bribed by Yeonjun) into helping out with the annual fundraising gala preparations.
“It’s because no one else is tall enough to put up the decorations,” Yeonjun had argued, giving Soobin his best attempt at puppy dog eyes. “Plus I’ll give you Taehyun’s notes for this unit if you help out.”
Soobin really didn’t have the time to help out but he also couldn’t resist Yeonjun’s pleas. Plus Taehyun’s notes were legendary among their peers for being near perfect, and he had already missed too many lectures from this unit due to his roommate getting him sick so that was a plus.
Speaking of the devil, Soobin thought as he opened the door to his apartment and was greeted by the sight of his roommate of two months, Choi Beomgyu, passed out on the couch. His notes were scattered all around him and his laptop was playing a lecture recording that Soobin guessed he was watching before it put him to sleep. He slipped off his shoes and quietly made his way to the other man, pausing the video before giving his shoulder a gentle shake. “Beomgyu? Wake up.”
Beomgyu didn’t even stir at that, which Soobin expected. His roommate was very hard to rouse from sleep. It definitely didn’t annoy Soobin when Beomgyu’s alarm would go off for 13 minutes straight and it would wake him up but not the actual person who set the alarm. But he also knew that Beomgyu had insomnia and struggled to fall asleep most nights so he couldn’t blame him for sleeping through his alarms. As a fellow med student he understood that they need all the sleep they can get.
He gave Beomgyu’s shoulder another gentle shake, and the other man shifted and groaned.
“...Soobin hyung?” Soobin’s chest squeezed at the sight of Beomgyu looking up at him, his big brown eyes hazy with sleep and drool drying on the corner of his mouth. He should have laughed at how ridiculous Beomgyu looked but something about this moment felt so soft that all he could do was smile and reach out to ruffle his hair.
“You fell asleep watching Dr. Kim’s lecture again,” Soobin said, voice softer than he expected.
Beomgyu sat up and yawned, stretching as he tried to wake himself up. “It’s fine, I only started watching it,” he paused to check the time on his laptop, “like thirty minutes ago.”
Soobin raised an eyebrow at that. “Didn’t you get home two hours ago though? Did you play video games instead of doing work when you got home?” He knew Beomgyu enjoyed video games and he enjoyed playing with him too when he had time, but he just didn’t have any time recently to relax like that. He tried not to let his jealousy at Beomgyu’s leisure time show.
“Contrary to popular belief I do have self control,” Beomgyu shot back, rolling his eyes and making his way to the kitchen. “I actually cooked dinner for us when I got home and the so-called ‘20 minute recipe’ was a lie because I spent an hour and a half making this dish.” Soobin peaked over Beomgyu’s shoulder as he took out a dish from the oven. Inside was some kind of pasta with creamy tomato sauce, and his stomach grumbled at the sight.
“That looks delicious Gyu, what is it?” He asked, grabbing some plates and forks so they could eat.
“Some recipe I saw online. I remember you mentioned craving pasta a few days ago so I figured I could find some easy recipe. Turned out to be bullshit though because this recipe was anything but easy and I ended up cutting my finger while chopping up the garlic.”
Soobin paused in setting the table and looked at Beomgyu with a frown. “What do you mean you cut your finger? Let me see.” Beomgyu held up his hand and Soobin could see a bandaid on the tip of his thumb.
“I’m fine, I even patched myself up, see?” He said proudly, and Soobin couldn’t stop the smile on his face when he noticed the little rabbits on the bandaid that Beomgyu had used. Suddenly, Beomgyu’s face turned mischievous and he smirked at Soobin. “Although it still hurts a little, maybe it needs a kiss from my favorite roommate to make it all better.”
That got a reaction out of Soobin, immediately choking on nothing as he felt his cheeks heating up. Before he could even respond Beomgyu was cackling in his face, grabbing his shoulder as he bent forward while laughing. “Oh hyung you should’ve seen your face, you looked so ridiculous!”
Soobin huffed in (fake) annoyance and poked Beomgyu’s side as he turned around to finish setting the table, ignoring the other man giggling behind him.
They sat down to eat dinner, which was fairly calm aside from a few minutes of Soobin teasing Beomgyu and pretending the food was bad then a few more minutes of having to reassure a pouting Beomgyu that no, the pasta wasn’t bad and was actually delicious no really thank you so much Beomgyu-yah for cooking for me can you please stop whining. The two chatted about their respective days, talking about their classes and labs and how the gala preparations were going.
“It’s been a lot of work but honestly I don’t mind helping Yeonjun hyung out, I know that if I have a lot of work to do then he has ten times that amount since he’s the lead coordinator for this,” Soobin explained. Yeonjun was a year ahead of him and Beomgyu in med school and was also preparing his residency applications while doing classes and clinicals and gala preparation. He had a lot of respect for Yeonjun and really looked up to him so even if it meant getting less sleep and working late nights, he’d help out with the gala preparations.
“It’s good that Yeonjun has you helping him out,” Beomgyu said softly, picking at his food. He was pouting down at his plate and Soobin couldn’t figure out if he was upset about something or if his lips just naturally fell into a pout as they often did. Not that Soobin would know anything about Beomgyu’s lips. It was just a guess.
“Yeah, I’m always happy to help him out if he needs it.” Soobin finished off his last bite of pasta, smiling at Beomgyu from across their small dining table. “Dinner was delicious Gyu, thank you so much for making it!” He smiled brightly at his roommate, who looked up at him in surprise before smiling back shyly.
“Well someone has to make sure you’re eating, I don’t think I’ve seen you cook in the last week so I started getting worried about you.” Beomgyu’s voice was soft and Soobin felt his heart skip a beat. He knew he had been too busy to take proper care of himself recently. He’d been coming home late after being out all day and most days he was running on convenience store food and coffee since he barely slept too. He felt bad for making Beomgyu worry for him but it also made him weirdly happy to know that Beomgyu cared about him enough to make him dinner.
“Thanks Beomgyu, you really didn’t have to worry about me. I know you’re busy enough as is too and I don’t want to be a bother.”
Beomgyu shook his head and gave Soobin another shy smile before turning away to put their plates in the sink. “It’s not a bother. I don’t mind helping you out when I can.”
Soobin just stared at Beomgyu as he washed the dishes. Something about what Beomgyu said made him feel warm inside, and his brain was too tired from studying and working all day to try and figure out what exactly that meant for him. He and Beomgyu had always gotten along in their friend group, but their relationship had mainly been teasing each other and joking around. They would hang out together after classes and they got along well enough that when their separate leases ended earlier that year they agreed to move in together to find a nicer apartment, but Soobin never really considered Beomgyu as someone he had been emotionally close to before. He had felt that they had gotten closer after they moved in together. Living with Beomgyu had been easy to get used to, and they’ve had moments that felt so domestic that it made Soobin feel weird, but not really in a bad way.
His thoughts were interrupted by water getting splashed at him, and he zoned back in to see Beomgyu smirking at him and wiping off his wet hands on a towel. “C’mon hyung, you can go shower first, I’ll finish cleaning up here.”
Soobin flushed at getting caught deep in his thoughts but nodded his head. “Are you sure? I can clean since you already cooked. Don’t you still have to watch your lecture?”
Beomgyu waved a hand dismissively. “It’s fine, you’re exhausted, hyung. I’ll clean and then watch my lecture since I don’t have anything until 1pm tomorrow so I can stay up a bit later.” Soobin opened his mouth to argue but Beomgyu quickly covered it with his own. “No arguments hyung. Besides, you stink.”
“No I don’t!” Soobin protested, but all Beomgyu did was laugh and push him towards the bathroom.
“Maybe you’re just used to the way you smell. Go shower and I’ll let you know afterwards if you smell bad or not.” Soobin scoffed but went into the bathroom to shower. He knew better than to try and argue with Beomgyu anyways.
~~~
They were two weeks away from the gala and Soobin was getting busier and busier. Luckily, Yeonjun had recruited some other people to help with the gala preparations, so Soobin had more time to prepare for a presentation he had for a class. He was sitting on the couch the morning before his presentation when Beomgyu walked out from his bedroom, yawning and wiping the sleep from his eyes. Soobin smiled at his sleepy roommate and watched as he went into the kitchen. “I made some coffee earlier, there should still be some in the pot.” Beomgyu jumped when he heard Soobin’s voice, which just made the taller man chuckle.
“Hyung! I didn’t know you were here this morning, I thought you were gonna be out helping Yeonjun hyung,” Beomgyu said, stifling a yawn as he poured himself some coffee.
“Yeonjun let me take a break because I have a presentation tomorrow. I have a lab later this afternoon though so I’m trying to get this done before then,” Soobin explained. Beomgyu nodded and sipped his coffee.
“It’s nice of Yeonjun to give you a break, hopefully he’s taking care of himself too.” Soobin nodded in agreement.
The two continued about their mornings in a peaceful stillness, the sounds of Beomgyu sipping his coffee and Soobin typing on his laptop being the only noises in their small apartment. He was engrossed in resizing an image when Beomgyu appeared in front of him, holding out a plate of toast. Soobin looked up in surprise to find Beomgyu smiling down at him.
“I figured you probably haven’t consumed anything but coffee today.” Soobin opened his mouth to protest when his stomach grumbled loudly, making his ears turn red and Beomgyu throw his head back to laugh. The sun shone through the window onto Beomgyu’s smiling face and one thought consumed Soobin’s mind: pretty. The shorter man set the plate down on the coffee table in front of Soobin and straightened up. “I have to go to class in a bit, but I put the rest of the coffee in a thermos for you.” Soobin felt his heart skip a beat. There was that domesticity again. Beomgyu was taking care of him like he cared about him, and it felt so nice and made Soobin want to return the favor to his friend, but he didn’t know where to start so he just smiled back and nodded.
“Thanks Beomgyu,” he said, his voice soft and gentle. “Take care on your way to class, let me know if you need anything.” He might have imagined Beomgyu’s cheeks turning a pretty shade of pink, but he definitely wasn’t imagining the way his smile became even brighter.
“Will do hyung, I’ll text you when I get there.” Beomgyu waved as he walked out of the apartment, giving Soobin one last big smile before he shut the door. Soobin stared at the door for a few more seconds before shaking his head to try and dispel his thoughts. He had to focus on his presentation. No time to wonder what the fluttery feeling in his chest was about.
He finished his presentation a few hours later and went to his room to prepare his clothes for the next day. He dug through his closet trying to find at least one of his two nice shirts but none of them were there. He suddenly remembered that he had worn them both in the last few weeks but he hasn’t done laundry since. He ran to his overstuffed hamper and dug through his clothes. After a few minutes of searching, he found the two shirts, both wrinkled and dirty. He ran through the math in his head: he had half an hour until he had to leave for his lab, and the washing machine took 45 minutes to run. He’d be in lab for three, maybe four hours but afterwards he promised Yeonjun he’d stop by to help with more gala preparation. That could take anywhere from an hour to five depending on what Yeonjun needed help with, which means that Soobin would just have to stay up late so he could run his clothes through the dryer then iron them when he got home later that night. He sighed, he really should’ve done his laundry last week but he’d forgotten with how busy he’d been. At least he could throw it in the washing machine before he left.
Soobin was almost late to his lab because in his haste to throw his shirts in the laundry, he spilled his detergent and had to clean it up. He thought about leaving it there and just cleaning it up afterwards but then he thought of Beomgyu and how he would probably end up cleaning it for him when he got home and felt bad. Beomgyu was already going out of his way to take care of Soobin and he didn’t want to burden his roommate even more.
It was almost 11pm when Soobin finally made his way into his apartment. He was exhausted and went straight to his room and was about to flop face-first onto his bed when he remembered he had to finish his laundry. He groaned loudly and dropped his bag on the ground and was about to walk out of his room when he noticed two shirts on hangers hung up on his closet door. He picked them up and realized they were his shirts that he had thrown into the washing machine earlier and they were dried and ironed and ready to be worn. For a second he wondered if he was somehow able to teleport back home and do his laundry at some point when he heard a knock at his door and Beomgyu peeked his head in.
“Hey Soobin, I see you’ve noticed your shirts,” he said. “I went to do my laundry earlier and saw them in the washing machine and I figured you were washing them last minute for your presentation tomorrow so I threw them in the dryer and ironed them for you.” Soobin felt the fluttery feelings in his chest again and opened his mouth to apologize for being a burden when Beomgyu held a hand up. “Now before you apologize for leaving them there, you have nothing to apologize for. It didn’t take me long and I know you’ve been busy. Besides,” Beomgyu looked up at Soobin with a small smile, “I wanted to do this for you.” Soobin’s eyes widened and his cheeks warmed. Beomgyu wanted to take care of him. Something about that thought made Soobin feel giddy inside and he just smiled back at Beomgyu.
“Thanks Gyu,” he couldn’t keep the fondness out of his voice even if he tried. That just made Beomgyu smile even wider and nod back at him.
“In the future, if you ever need me to throw your laundry in for you or help you out in any way just let me know.”
“I don’t want to bother you though, I know you’re also super busy.” Soobin argued, and Beomgyu just rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at the other man.
“How many times do I have to tell you, you’re not a bother, hyung.” Soobin shook his head but didn’t try to fight back. He would just have to find a way to pay Beomgyu back once this gala was over.
~~~
The gala was three days away and the person in charge of putting together decorations had gotten sick, so Yeonjun and Soobin had spent the last two days putting together centerpieces and wall decor and other random decorations they needed for the gala. To say they were exhausted was an understatement. Beomgyu had sent Soobin some worried texts throughout the last few days, asking if he’d been sleeping and eating and Soobin lied to him, saying that he had been napping during his free time when in reality he’d been working on these decorations any time he wasn’t in class or lab. However, it seemed as though his lack of sleep finally caught up to him because as soon as he got home that afternoon he ended up passing out on the couch.
Soobin dreamt that he was at the gala but there were no decorations, only bare tables and bare walls and a disappointed Yeonjun shaking his head at him from the stage. He tried to say that he had the decorations, he just had to go get them from his apartment but no noise came from his mouth no matter how hard he tried. People started filing in and he could hear them whispering about the lack of decorations and talking about how much of a failure the gala was going to be. Then Beomgyu walked in and started laughing with Yeonjun about how badly Soobin had failed at helping with the gala and how it was such a failure and it was all Soobin’s fault and--
Soobin sat up and bumped his head on something hard. He and the thing he hit his head on both let out a yelp of pain and Soobin finally opened his eyes to see Beomgyu holding his chin and groaning in pain. He stared at the other man in confusion before realizing that he just headbutted his roommate and started panicking.
“Shit, Beomgyu are you okay? What are you doing here?” Soobin asked, reaching out and gently taking Beomgyu’s face in his hands to examine his chin. There was a red spot from where he definitely hit him but it didn’t look like it was gonna bruise luckily. His eyes traveled up and met Beomgyu’s, who was staring down at him cross-eyed because of how close they were.
“I-I’m fine, hyung. I should be asking if you’re okay.” Beomgyu reached out and brushed Soobin’s bangs aside to look at his forehead. “You were making noises while you slept and I was worried you were having a nightmare.” It took Soobin a second to understand what Beomgyu had just said because he was too busy focusing on how gently Beomgyu was brushing his fingers over his forehead. He blinked and then blushed when he realized that he had fallen asleep and was having a nightmare, which explains why he’s on the couch. But that doesn’t explain how he was in a position to headbutt Beomgyu.
“I was just having a stress dream,” Soobin explained, pulling away slightly and letting go of Beomgyu’s face. “Was I… laying my head on your lap?” That was the only plausible explanation as to how could’ve headbutted Beomgyu when he shot up from sleep, but how did he get there in the first place?
Beomgyu chuckled. “Yeah, I found you asleep on the couch when I got home and when I tried to wake you up you grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. You only released me when I said I was going to sit on the couch with you and when I sat down you immediately laid your head in my lap and I’ve been trapped here for two hours.” Soobin blanched at the story and shook his head.
“I’m so sorry Beomgyu, I didn’t mean to do that and bother you.” Soobin checked the time on his phone and groaned. “Shit, I’m supposed to be helping Yeonjun with the decorations and it’s already almost midnight. Fuck.” He’d have to pull another all nighter to get this done, which meant another rough day tomorrow. Maybe he can get Beomgyu to bring him food after his lab, but he didn’t want to make the younger man go out of his way.
“Oh the decorations? I got some of them done for you.” Soobin blinked at Beomgyu in shock.
“What do you mean?”
Beomgyu gestured to the coffee table in front of them, which was full of jars with little flowers and string lights inside. “Yeonjun hyung called you and when you weren’t waking up I answered. He said you were supposed to help him out with the centerpieces but I told him you were getting some much needed rest and that he could just drop off the supplies here and I’d do it for you since you needed your sleep.”
Oh. Oh. Beomgyu not only let Soobin use him as his personal pillow, but also helped him out and let him rest instead of waking him up. Beomgyu checked in on Soobin to make sure he was eating and sleeping enough. Beomgyu cooked for him when he knew that Soobin hadn’t eaten yet and would be too tired to make himself food. Beomgyu would go out of his way to take care of Soobin, all while smiling at him so sweetly. His heart skipped a beat and he just stared at Beomgyu until the other poked his cheek.
“Looks like you might need some more rest. C’mon hyung. Let’s get you to bed.” Soobin tried to protest but Beomgyu shushed him before he could even get a word out. Beomgyu grabbed his hand and he let himself be pulled up from the couch and led to his room, where the smaller man let go of his hand (to his disappointment) and smiled up at him. “Don’t worry about the decorations hyung, I’ll make sure they’re all done and ready for the gala. You rest.” Soobin didn’t have the energy to fight and just nodded, giving Beomgyu what he hoped was an appreciative smile.
“Thank you Gyu,” he said softly, reaching out and giving Beomgyu’s hand a quick squeeze before letting go. Sleep deprivation was making him see things, like the pretty pink blush on Beomgyu’s cheeks and the fondness in his big brown eyes. The two stared at each other for a few more seconds before Beomgyu looked down shyly, clearing his throat.
“Um, okay I’ll let you sleep, hyung. Good night.” Soobin nodded sleepily and watched as Beomgyu walked out of his room and shut the door. After a few seconds of staring off into space, he made his way to his bed and flopped face down, drifting off to sleep with thoughts of pretty eyes and soft smiles.
~~~
“So have you asked anyone to be your date for the gala?” Yeonjun asked Soobin. It was the day before the gala and the two were putting up the decorations they worked so hard to make, and the venue they rented for the gala was looking fancier and fancier with each piece of decor they put up.
Soobin shook his head in response to the question. “Do you think I’ve had time to even think about a date to the gala? I’ve been too worried about these stupid decorations.” Soobin sighed as the flowers he was trying to pin onto the wall fell down again. He had no clue how Yeonjun had been able to put them up flawlessly on the first try.
“Is there anyone you are interested in asking?” Soobin turned to find the older man smirking at him and wiggling his eyebrows. He rolled his eyes and threw the flower at Yeonjun, making him squawk in defiance.
“What kind of question even is that. You’re ridiculous Choi Yeonjun.” Yeonjun just laughed at him and pinned up the flower perfectly.
“Oh really? There isn’t a certain person whose name may or may not start with a Beom- and end in a -gyu that you would be interested in asking?” Soobin felt his cheeks heat up and he scowled at Yeonjun, who just started laughing even harder.
“...Fuck off Yeonjun.” Soobin tried to keep the whine out of his voice but the way Yeonjun just laughed louder made him think he failed. “I don’t even know if he’d want to go with me. He’s probably annoyed with me because he always ends up taking care of me when he has his own problems to deal with.” He still felt bad about the time he headbutted Beomgyu because he was having a nightmare while the other man was doing his work for him. Soobin found out the next day that Beomgyu nearly pulled an all-nighter to make all of the decorations that were supposed to be Soobin’s responsibility. He felt so bad that Beomgyu did all of that, and the other man had also been avoiding him since that day so he couldn’t help but feel that he annoyed Beomgyu somehow.
“Dude, do you really think that Beomgyu doesn’t want to help you? Since when have you known him to do things he doesn’t want to?” Yeonjun had a point there. Beomgyu was notoriously stubborn and if he didn’t want to do something, there was very little anyone could do to convince him to do it.
“Maybe he just pities me too much,” Soobin pointed out. He must seem kinda pathetic, a grown man who can’t even take care of himself and lets himself starve and become so sleep deprived that he passes out as soon as he lands on his bed. Soobin couldn’t blame Beomgyu if he did pity him.
Yeonjun rolled his eyes and tossed a wadded up ball of tape at Soobin, hitting the taller man right in the center of his forehead and making him flinch. “You’re so stupid how did you even make it this far into med school.” Soobin opened his mouth to protest when Yeonjun threw the tape ball and hit him again. “If you’re not sure how Beomgyu feels about you right now then you should ask him. You’re always going on and on about the importance of good communication in a relationship.”
Soobin flushed and shook his head. “We’re not in a relationship,” he protested, but in his head he was picturing what it would be like to date Beomgyu. They already lived together and were pretty domestic with each other so that part wouldn’t change. Over the last few months of living together they’ve also gotten more physically affectionate, curling up next to each other on the couch while doing work or giving each other hugs after long and stressful days. Actually being in a relationship with Beomgyu actually sounded… nice, Soobin could admit to himself. Plus Beomgyu was one of the most attractive people he’d ever met in his life, so that was a fun bonus.
Yeonjun just stared at Soobin for a moment. “Don’t you like Beomgyu?”
Soobin shrugged. “I mean yeah definitely as a friend.” Yeonjun rolled his eyes.
“You know what I mean Soobin. Do you have romantic feelings for Beomgyu?”
Soobin stared down at the jar in his hand. It was one of the ones that Beomgyu had spent all night making just so Soobin could catch up on sleep. Does he like Beomgyu? He did just admit in his head that he wouldn’t mind being in a relationship with the other man, but he didn’t know if it was because he could admit that Beomgyu would objectively be a good partner or if it was because he actually did like him. He never really thought of Beomgyu that way in the past but ever since they started living together he’s started seeing him differently even before he started helping with the gala preparations. They first met at med school orientation but it wasn’t until the year after that they ended up in the same friend group and actually started talking. Soobin won’t deny that he thought Beomgyu was cute when they first met, and the more he got to know the other man the more he found to like. Like how he pouts when he’s concentrating on his notes or how he plays the most beautiful love songs on his guitar when he thinks Soobin isn’t home or how his face is all cute and swollen and his nose looks like a garlic clove when he’s just woken up or how his dimple pops out when he’s eating or--
“Holy shit I do like Beomgyu,” Soobin exclaimed, eyes wide in shock. How had he not realized it? He looked up at Yeonjun, who just rolled his eyes and laughed.
“You’re just now figuring this out?”
“What do you mean?! You’re acting like you’ve known this whole time!”
Yeonjun smirked and shrugged. “I mean I kinda figured you liked him more than a friend last month when he got sick. You kept worrying about him and checking in on him and offering to bring him soup or take him to the doctor or even hand feed him food.” Soobin flushed at the accusation but couldn’t even deny anything Yeonjun said because that was exactly what happened. “The only other person I could see you acting that way with was with Kai but in a more ‘Kai is my baby I need to make sure he’s okay’ way, and something told me that that wasn’t how you were feeling towards Beomgyu.”
Soobin couldn’t do anything but stare at Yeonjun with his mouth open in shock. “So you’re saying I’ve had a crush on Beomgyu for a month now?”
Yeonjun shrugged again. “I can’t tell you how you feel, only you can tell you how you feel. I’m just sharing my observations with you. Do with that information what you will,” he said, grabbing some tape and getting back to decorating. “Now that you know you can figure out how to ask him to be your date to the gala.”
Soobin visibly deflated at the mention of talking to Beomgyu. “He hasn’t even talked to me since that time I headbutted him while he was helping me make decorations.” When Soobin woke up the day after Beomgyu was already out of the apartment and when he tried texting him to thank him for his help the night before all he got back from the other man was a thumbs up reaction. Not even an emoji. Soobin had been sulky all day because of that, and when he got home later that night Beomgyu was already in his room with the door shut and the lights off. Soobin wasn’t sure what he did to make the other man upset but between Beomgyu avoiding him and the gala being a few days away he wasn’t home much already so he and Beomgyu hadn’t talked outside of short text messages in two days. “I think I made him uncomfortable the other day, and me asking him to be my date might ruin our friendship and you know that I can’t afford to live in that apartment on my own.”
Yeonjun just sighed and shook his head. “You’re so stupid, you know that?” Soobin pouted and threw a piece of paper at Yeonjun, who easily dodged it and threw it in the trash. “Beomgyu obviously cares about you, why else would he have spent the past few weeks helping you out? Plus you guys are good friends, even if he doesn’t like you back I don’t think it would ruin your guys' friendship at all. Sure things might be awkward for a bit but it won’t be the end of the world,” he explained, giving Soobin a pat on the shoulder. “You deserve to be happy Soobin.”
Soobin smiled at Yeonjun before pulling the older man into a hug. “You’re so sweet Yeonjun hyung. Thank you.” He could feel Yeonjun chuckle as he hugged back.
“It’s the least I could do after how much you’ve helped me with the gala. Plus I want to see my friends happy.” Yeonjuned pulled away and ruffled Soobin’s hair. “Now c’mon, I need your tallness to hang up some streamers.”
Soobin didn’t end up talking to Beomgyu when he got home that night because it was near midnight by the time he entered his apartment and Beomgyu had already gone to bed. He was disappointed that he had to go another day without seeing his roommate, but the disappointment quickly disappeared when he entered the kitchen and noticed a note on the table.
Hyung - I figured you’d be home late so I put dinner in the fridge, you can heat it up when you get home. -Beomgyu
Soobin opened the fridge and found a tupperware with another note with his name on top, and his heart was doing somersaults in his chest out of happiness. Surely Beomgyu wasn’t upset with him if he decided to cook him food, right? Soobin smiled to himself as he shoved the tupperware into the microwave and went to change while it was reheating. He hummed softly as he entered his room, quickly glancing at his suit hung up in his closet and wondered what Beomgyu’s suit looked like. Maybe they would be matching, even though Soobin never asked the other man what color his suit was. Maybe fate would find a way to get them to match. He laughed quietly and shook his head, as if to get rid of his silly thoughts. After changing, he went back to the kitchen and ate the reheated food Beomgyu made for him, and if he was daydreaming about slow dancing with Beomgyu no one had to know.
~~~
The day of the actual gala was surprisingly chill for Soobin. He woke up to an empty apartment but a text from Beomgyu saying he’d be back later that afternoon and another text from Yeonjun saying they didn’t need to be at the venue until 5 so Soobin could just relax all day. So he did. He spent the day doing some light cleaning around the apartment, hoping that it would make Beomgyu smile when he got home, and when he got bored of that, playing video games in the living room. At 3pm Soobin decided it was time to get ready for the gala so he showered and got dressed in his suit. He was in the middle of his third attempt to tie his tie when he heard the front door open. He walked out into the living room and stopped in his tracks. Beomgyu was standing at the front door with a bouquet of flowers, wearing a suit with a soft pink dress shirt, one that coincidentally matched with the tie hanging in a knot off of Soobin’s neck. He looked and this time Soobin definitely wasn’t imagining the blush that spread across the shorter man’s cheeks when they made eye contact.
“Hey Soobin,” Beomgyu greeted, smiling shyly. Soobin smiled back and went to wave but his hand got stuck on his tie. Beomgyu laughed and set the bouquet in his hands down before walking over. “Need some help there?” Soobin could only nod as he watched Beomgyu quickly free his fingers from his tie and then tie it. He watched as Beomgyu’s lips formed into a pout while he concentrated on tying the tie, and he smiled at how cute Beomgyu was. Beomgyu finished tying Soobin’s tie but didn’t step back, fiddling with the end of the tie. “You look nice,” he said after a few seconds of silence, peering up at Soobin through his long lashes.
Soobin blushed and was speechless for a few seconds before clearing his throat. “Thanks, you look really nice,” he whispered, smiling down at Beomgyu. “Who’s the lucky guy?” Even though he figured out that he liked Beomgyu yesterday he was probably too late to ask him to be his date to the gala, because there’s no way someone as beautiful as Beomgyu didn’t already have a date lined up. He felt a bit saddened at the thought of Beomgyu going as someone else’s date but he tried to ignore his feelings and instead be happy for his friend.
Beomgyu stared up at Soobin with an unreadable expression on his face before laughing loudly. Soobin just watched him in confusion before pouting. He wasn’t sure what it was about his question that was funny. After a few seconds Beomgyu composed himself and gave Soobin such a soft smile that his heart skipped a beat.
“Are you really that dense hyung?” The other man asked, twirling Soobin’s tie around his fingers. “Do you know how hard it was to find a shirt that matched your pink tie?”
Soobin’s mind raced as he tried to figure out what Beomgyu was saying. Actually, he knew exactly what Beomgyu was implying there but he didn’t want to get his hopes up. Because there’s no way that after two days of nearly no talking was Beomgyu saying that he liked him back. Right?
“Soobin? Please say something, you’re making me worried that you’re having a heart attack right now.” Beomgyu’s voice was light but Soobin could see a tinge of worry in his eyes, and he wanted to remove any doubts from Beomgyu’s mind.
“Well you know me, I’ve been so exhausted that my brain hasn’t been working properly,” he joked, resting his hands on Beomgyu’s waist with a light touch. “Could you spell it out for me?”
Beomgyu rolled his eyes but couldn’t hide the joy in his smile. “Will you be my date to the gala, Choi Soobin?”
It’s officially over for Soobin, he’s dead. Cause of death: Choi Beomgyu’s smile. His heart was beating a mile a minute and he couldn’t speak so he just nodded, his own smile growing to match Beomgyu’s.
After a few seconds of just smiling at each other like lovesick fools, Soobin cleared his throat. “Wait, can I ask you something?” Beomgyu blinked and nodded, resting his hands on Soobin’s chest. “Is this just for the gala? Because I don’t want to be with you just for the gala.” Soobin exhaled the words before his nerves could get to him, and he hoped that Beomgyu couldn’t feel how hard his heart was beating in his chest. Beomgyu’s eyes softened and he giggled, leaning closer to Soobin.
“If I only wanted you as my date to the gala do you think I would’ve been taking care of you this past month when you were a barely functioning human?” Beomgyu asked. Soobin pouted and shrugged.
“I felt like I was bothering you the whole time and that’s why you weren’t talking to me the past few days.” Beomgyu shook his head and lightly hit Soobin on the chest.
“Okay two things. One, the only reason I wasn’t able to talk to you as much the past few days was because I was trying to put together this surprise at the last minute. And two, did you think I was a burden when you were taking care of me when I was sick last month?” Soobin quickly and vehemently shook his head. He never thought of the younger as a burden, he was sick of course he needed help. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he let Beomgyu suffer while he was sick and it didn’t matter what the other needed, Soobin would gladly do it for him. Upon seeing Soobin’s passionate reaction Beomgyu laughed. “So why should I see you needing my help as a burden? Taking care of you would never be a burden to me. Not if it’s you.” If Soobin wasn’t already swooning he sure was now, and he felt his entire face turning red at Beomgyu’s words and he only had one thing on his mind.
“Can I kiss you?” He found some satisfaction at watching Beomgyu’s face turn red to match his before the younger man nodded. Soobin watched as Beomgyu’s eyes slid shut and admired how pretty he looked before he closed his own eyes and pressed his lips against Beomgyu’s. The other immediately melted into the kiss, wrapping his arms around the other’s neck and pulling him closer. Soobin felt like he was in a dream that he definitely didn’t want to wake up from, and he chased after Beomgyu’s lips as they separated, making the smaller man giggle.
“Don’t we have a gala we have to get to?” Beomgyu asked teasingly, playing with the hair at the back of Soobin’s head. Soobin whined and leaned down to capture Beomgyu’s lips in another kiss, the butterflies in his stomach fluttering so hard they must’ve caused a hurricane when Soobin felt Beomgyu smile into the kiss. The other humors him for a few more seconds before pulling away again. “C’mon, Yeonjun’s gonna kill me if you’re late because of me.” Soobin pouts but Beomgyu gives him another peck on the lips to satisfy him before pulling away. “Maybe we can even slow dance later like in those cheesy romance movies you love to watch.”
Soobin smiled softly and took Beomgyu’s hand in his as they walked out together. “You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting that.” Beomgyu squeezed his hand and smiled happily up at Soobin, and all he could think of was how beautiful Beomgyu was and how he always wanted to make him smile like that. From now until forever.