thank u @vegasandhishedgehog for the brainworms and @zelenchai for the pretty art, now let's make Chay lose his mind;
(technically set in this verse but also who cares, Kim with snakebites, let's gooo)
Chay has failed as a super fan.
Now, Chay's not an idiot; he knows Kim-as-a-person is far deeper than Wik-the-idol. Knows Kim-as-a-very-private-person tucks away pieces of himself so well few people even know they're there. Chay delights in it, in fact. He hoards every new scrap of information like the little treasures they are, overwhelmed in the best way over everything he's yet to discover about Kim-his-tutor, Kim-his-peer, Kim-his-boyfriend.
Chay, however, also takes great pride in being a longtime Wik fan and is more than a little smug about how much he knows about his favorite idol. Which is why it's unacceptable he didn't know Kim had gone and gotten snakebites until his favorite tutor(-boyfriend-person) walks into their usual room with two little spikes of metal nestled just under his lower lip.
"Hnngh," Chay says eloquently to the piercings, the injustice, and the world at large.
"What was that?" Kim asks, staring at his phone as his finishes up whatever business he has on it, tongue idly playing with his piercings in his distraction. It's downright indecent, is what it is, which Chay promptly informs Kim with his next strangled, "Mrphng."
"Eh?" Kim finally looks up, then smirks at Chay's dumbstruck expression. There should be a law against looking that hot.
"You--" Chay coughs to clear the rasp in his voice. "The-- Are those new?"
Kim's smirk grows. It, and Chay cannot stress this enough, should be illegal.
"No," Kim says, casually tonguing his lower lip again like the criminal he is, "I've had them for years."
Chay makes an indignant noise. "You have not!" Kim's tongue curls over his lip, brief and mischievous, and Chay's indignation grows. "I would've noticed!"
Kim makes a cute noise, like a little giggle caught in the back of his throat, the slightest flush dusting his nose. It's completely at odds with the image his leather jacket and piercings and cocky grin make, except it doesn't ruin his look, it just makes him hotter and endearing.
Il!-le!-gal!, wails a voice in the back of Chay's mind.
"I have!" Kim insists, suddenly shy as his hand flutters midair as though to hide his mouth (a travesty if Chay's ever heard of one). His hand hovers uselessly before he moves to scratch the back of his neck sheepishly. "I just...didn't advertise them. Management thought they'd be bad for my image."
Kim should fire his team. Now. Yesterday. Three years ago even. He should hire Chay instead, because unlike the morons currently in charge, Chay has a brain and eyes.
"But, now..." Chay asks, mouth dry and throat choked.
Kim waves him off with a laugh. "No, no, Wik won't suddenly get piercings. I'm just making sure the holes don't close up."
Out with the old management and in with Chay's. This is no longer a joke, Kim needs someone with vision.
Kim fidgets shyly under the weight of Chay's stare. "Anyways, uh, we could work on--"
"Do you have those studs in gold too?" Chay blurts out, because he wants to admire Kim's pretty lips with every variation and customized options. He admires Kim's dedication to their academics, truly, but this is far more important.
Kim scrunches his nose cutely. "Gold? With my skintone?"
Chay nods emphatically. Kim frowns at the skin of his arm skeptically. Chay wants to drape Kim in every piece of jewelry known to man to prove how beautifully he always shines.
Kim snaps out of it and shakes his head. "No, I-- Never mind, not important." Chay makes an indignant noise because it is absolutely important, is essential even, and Kim flicks his forehead.
"Chay. Tutoring. We should be studying--"
"I am!" Chay insists, eyes glued to Kim's mouth.
Kim snorts and rolls his eyes. "Study them up close if you have to, but--mmph."
Chay swallows down Kim's surprised gasp with a smile. Kim huffs against his lips and slips his hands around the back of Chay's head, fingers scratching pleasantly through his curls as Chay dips to capture Kim's lower lip between his own.
"Did you really think I wouldn't?" Chay murmurs after they break apart.
"I don't--mm." Kim huffs again, eyes skittering to a spot past Chay's ear. "They're just piercings."
"How dare you," Chay mutters and pushes Kim against the table. Kim's snakebites glint teasingly as he presses his lips together and fails to hide his smile. Chay steps closer to box him in, one of Kim's thighs sliding between his own.
"That much?" Kim asks. His smile is cocky and his tone smug, but Chay can feel the way his fingers shyly poke and knot together against the back of his head.
There are many things Chay's learned since he first met Kim: He flips between being a cocky shit to shy and flustered and back again on a dime. He craves attention just as much as he fears it. He's somehow missed that Chay's obsessed with every little thing about him.
As Chay leans in to kiss him again, he thinks he has a few things to teach Kim too.
