the best minho ship is minho & being loved

“So why do you dislike that Choi guy so much?” one of the other DJs asks as Jinki sits down next to Jonghyun. 

It’s weird for them to all be here together: a huge gathering of DJs and radio staff all gathered into a tiny bar. But Jinki’s excited for a night out without having to be on interacting-with-consumers behavior, so he figures he’ll let it unfold as it will. 

Jonghyun takes a sip of whatever soju concoction he’d ordered before looking over. 

“Well first off he’s my number one competitor for my time slot.”

“You know you don’t own the hours of 12-2am, right?” Jinki teases.

Jonghyun glares and Jinki isn’t sure if it’s at the comment or the interruption. “Second, it’s annoying to have listeners calling in to talk about another DJ while you’re DJing, if you didn’t know. His music is too broad in genre. Like I get it’s a show of soundtracks but I’m not and never will be emotionally ready to switch from “My Heart Will Go On” right into “Footloose.” Also he’s too damn tall.”

Jinki nearly spits out his drink at the last item in the list. The other DJ had wandered off halfway through the spiel, but now Jinki’s interest was piqued. 

“Too tall?”

“He’s 6’2” and that’s too tall.”

“And that matters...?”

“Jinki I know you’re my boss and you know I cherish you in that way and also in a friendly way but you’re too tall to understand my feelings about people who are too tall. Your complete averageness in terms of height prevents you from understanding the full plight I speak of.”

“First off I’m the show producer not your boss. Second of all I’m only two inches taller than you, tops. I thought you had to be under 5’4” to complain about height. Third, how do you know his exact height?” 

Jonghyun ignores his comments in favor of finishing his drink. As silence falls between them, Jinki finds himself reminiscing of the now locally famous Choi-Kim radio rivalry. 

“Hello?”

“Hello, is this purple dusk radio?”

“Yes it is. I’m DJ Jonghyun and you’re lucky caller number 4!”

“Oh my goodness!”

“What’s your name?”

“Miyoung.”

“I’ve got the prize package right here for you, Miyoung, all ready to go, I just need you to do one thing for me alright? Just tell me one thing you enjoy about purple dusk radio.”

“Well, to be honest, normally I listen to silver screen on channel 99...but I just happened to tune in to this station for the first time tonight and it really fits in with my music taste.”

“So what I’m hearing is purple dusk has a better selection than silver screen does?”

“It fits better with my likes, yes.”

“Well congratulations, Miyoung, you won! Just promise me you’ll stay tuned in to the better midnight show, okay?”

Jinki listens as the girl on the phone starts squealing in excitement and Jonghyun signs off for the commercial break. Once the “ON AIR” sign is deluminated, Jinki laughs at Jonghyun’s little victory wiggle. 

“Did you hear that, Jinki? We saved another poor soul from having to listen to silver screen!”

Jinki jumps at the feeling of a hand on his shoulder. It’s Kim Kibum, producer for silver screen. The rivalry between DJs didn’t extend to them -- mostly due to graduating from the same college program. 

“Mind if I join you?”

“Not at all.”

“You looked pretty far away there for a second, I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

“No, not at all. I was just remembering an old show.”

Kibum slides into the seat that previously held Jonghyun. 

“Any particular show? I mean you’ve only been on this show for six years now.” 

“A particular one but for no particular reason.”

The conversation is interrupted by the bartender appearing. Jinki waits for Kibum to order, turning around to glance around the restaurant for Jonghyun. He finds him at another table with a few other DJs from their station. 

“Minho’s got a significant other but he won’t tell me about them.” Kibum huffs once he gets his beer. 

“If he won’t tell you about them how do you know he has one?”

“I overheard him on the phone and ‘I love you, honeybun’ doesn’t seem like something you’d say to everyone, now does it? Also he has a new ring, one of those ones that leaves an impression of a heart when you take it off.”

“Kibum, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; you make a great producer but you would’ve been a great detective.”

Kibum laughs before sipping his beer. 

“So how are things at PYQK, besides the fact that Minho won’t share all the naughty details of his love life with you?”

“I never said I wanted the naughty details; even some sweet vagues would be nice. The station’s doing well. And at PYXQ?”

“Basically the same. Why doesn’t Minho ever come to these, besides the fact that Jonghyun’s here?”

Kibum scoffs as he puts down his beer. “He goes to work out after the show finishes like some kind of weirdo.”

“To each his own, I guess.” Jinki goes to take a sip of his drink, but pauses. “Weird question that I’ll explain the context of afterwards, but how tall is he?”

“Who? Minho? Bit over 6’ I’d say. Why?”

“Someone was asking Jonghyun why he doesn’t like Minho and one of the reasons was he’s too tall, but he said a very specific height, which I thought was a bit odd.”

“I think Jonghyun may be trying to get in on that sort of experience,” Kibum says with a giggle, pointing to where Jonghyun’s begun standing on a barstool and thanking people for coming to the party that he absolutely did not partake in planning. 

“Oh jeez...I’ll see you later, dude.”

Jinki makes his way over to Jonghyun quick as he can; persuading him to come down off the stool isn’t easy but eventually he manages. 

“I just wanted to make sure that everyone could see me!” Jonghyun explains with a hiccup as Jinki pulls him out towards the parking lot. 

“Where are we going?” Jonghyun slurs, clutching Jinki’s arm to help steady himself.

“I’m going to drop you off at your house since you’re in no condition to drive.”

“How do you know that?” 

Jinki gives him a stern look and continues guiding Jonghyun to his car. It takes Jonghyun a few minutes to remember his address to punch into the GPS but soon enough they’re on their way. 

It surprises Jinki to realize he’s never been to Jonghyun’s house. The latter had visited him many times for holiday parties and garden dinners but not once in the four years they’ve worked together on purple dusk had he ever gone to -- or been invited to -- Jonghyun’s place. The house isn’t that big, but it has a pretty little garden in front and there’s something charming about it that seems perfectly Jonghyun. As they walk up the driveway, Jonghyun seems to perk up and Jinki is somewhat relieved to see a light through the living room window. 

“My house!”

“Well I’m glad you recognize it.”

Just as quickly as it appeared, the perky feeling dissipates and Jonghyun stops in his tracks. 

“I don’t have people over at my house.”

“I just want to make sure you can get in, I’ll leave right after okay?”

“I...don’t want...can’t let people know about him.”

“About who?”

“Him.”

“Come on, I just want to make sure you can get in.”

Begrudgingly he starts walking again, searching his pockets for his keys. Eventually he finds them but after four attempts to unlock the door it's clear he’s too drunk for such a delicate operation. Just as Jinki goes to offer to try, the door opens. 

If Jonghyun revealed himself to be an alien at this very moment, it wouldn’t surprise him more than seeing Choi Minho standing in Jonghyun’s doorway. 

“Oh, hello, Jinki. I...wasn’t expecting anyone to be with him.”

“I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here either, least of all you.”

It takes Jonghyun a moment to process that the door is open but once he does he immediately wraps himself around Minho, seemingly forgetting about Jinki’s existence.

“Baby I had fun at the party and I missed you.”

Minho’s cheeks turn pink as Jinki’s jaw drops to the floor. 

“Do you...why don’t you come in for a bit so we can talk?”

“I...if that’s fine with Jjong I’d like that.”

It takes a few minutes of fussing and denied kisses for Minho to send Jonghyun off to shower. He joins Jinki in the living room after a moment, sitting opposite him. 

“Don’t the two of you hate each other?” Jinki asks before Minho has a chance to say anything. 

An odd smile crosses Minho’s face. “Only publicly. We’re very affectionate at home, as you can see.”

“How long have...”

“Have we been together?”

“I was going to say be friendly but yeah that’s also included in the question I guess.”

“We met in college, partnered for a project in a journalism elective.”

“Really. Did you get unpartnered for bad behavior or something?”

“No, actually-”

Minho’s interrupted by Jonghyun unceremoniously plopping on the couch with the highest amount of dramatic flair he can muster, still oblivious to Jinki’s continued presence. He’s snuggled up to Minho and asleep before he can even react. As confused as Jinki is, it’s a warming sight.

“As I was saying, we actually got along really well. Got bonus points on the project for being cooperative. We got into the habit of hanging out and things just...kinda went from there. We’ve been living here since I graduated. Sleepy here inherited it from his grandparents.”

“So wait...why the rivalry? Like we all legitimately thought that you two hate each other.”

Minho chuckles, but Jinki can’t tell if it's in amusement or in sadness. 

“It was his idea, oddly enough. I don’t know if you remember the predecessor to silver screen, but it was... to put it kinder than Kibum would, it was a mess. So when I got hired, it was made very clear that if I didn’t make it successful, I would get fired, Yunho -- the producer that pitched it -- would probably get fired, and the station would basically have to resort to playing ads and royalty free spa music during that slot. Jjong had already got purple dusk comfortable by that point so he was trying to give me pointers and things. It didn’t really help though; Kibum always said it wasn’t my hosting that was driving people away, it was the bad taste left from the old show. Obviously he couldn’t just give me a shoutout, being on different stations at the same time and all, so he came up with hyping the competition. I always thought that we should’ve included you guys on it, but he said it’d make it feel manufactured if you all knew and also tried to play it up.”

“Oh, so that’s why I’ve had to hear Kibum complain about not knowing about your love life for two years now.” Jinki teases. 

“Oh man, he’s got you hooked in on that too? I swear I can’t make a personal call at the station without at least 4 people scooting as close as they think they can get away with to eavesdrop.”

“If it makes you feel better, he was just as inquisitive about when I started dating my now-wife back in college.”

“I am not surprised in the least.”

An awkward silence falls between the two as Jonghyun starts to snore and Jinki struggles to process.

“It was hard to get used to the act, when we first started it. We’d both come home all apologetic -- ‘I know I said you sound grating but your tone was so nice today’ or ‘I’m sorry I was so mean today, but how can you not be mean when the theme of the show is noir films’, that kind of thing. Now it’s just a bit of a game. I always listen to the podcast recording when I go to the gym and come home telling him he’s recycled insults.”

Jinki chuckles and checks his phone. There’s a few messages from Kibum, asking him where he’s headed off to and if he took Jonghyun home. 

“I suppose you should probably be heading home now. I know we live the night life already but I’m sure your wife would appreciate you coming home before the sun.” Minho says as he tries to wiggle his way out of Jonghyun’s grasp. 

“You’re probably right. We don’t have the luxury of the same working hours like some people do.”

They walk to the door and Jinki half expects Jonghyun to wake up, but he doesn’t. 

“Thanks for bringing him home. While it is amusing that such a lightweight enjoys gatherings so much, I do worry about him getting home in one piece.”

“Oh it’s no trouble. Even if it was, this dramatic turn of events made it worth it. Good luck with your show tomorrow and surviving Sherlock Holmes- I mean Kibum’s investigations.”

Cleaning day had always been Ki’s least favorite part of potion making. Sure, it was always nice to significantly lower the chance of accidentally killing someone but at what cost? Much to Minho’s chagrin, they had mastered the art of leaving all their cleaning to Saturdays, the one day they closed the shop. 

It’s not early by any means when Ki wakes. They can’t exactly see the hands on the clock across the room but it’s clear enough that they’ve abandoned the fourth quadrant. Though it’s enticing to stay in bed, to stay wrapped up in blankets and Minho’s outstretched arms, they begrudgingly shuffle out of bed to their workstation. Basket in hand, they gather all their tools that need washing: mortars and pestles and knives and scoops and ladles. They bring everything up to the shop level, first the basket of tools and then the three cauldrons, then head out the back door to the washing basin. They’re surprised to find Jinki out as well, washing up what appears to be laundry.

“Good afternoon,” he says without looking up. “I was wondering if you were going to clean today.”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

Jinki chuckles and scoots over so that Ki has room to sit. They both set about working on scrubbing their respective projects, abandoning conversation in an attempt to quickly finish. As time goes on, Jinki starts mindlessly humming and Ki finds the dried on potion easier to scrub off the ladles. The caked on plant pulp also comes out of the mortars easier. Beside them, Jinki seems to be flying through his laundry pile quicker than before. 

“Did you add something to the water?” Ki asks, pouring some water into the cauldron. 

“Not to the main basin, no. I am using soap on my laundry, if you’re smelling something.”

“I figured you were, I recognized that smell. I was just wondering because it seems like everything is cleaning faster. Or at least, it was...this cauldron is taking its time to get clean as usual. Maybe I was imagining it.”

“It’s probably my laundry song that was helping.”

Ki meets Jinki’s cheerful smile with a puzzled look. Jinki doesn’t clarify, instead going back to his laundry and humming. They turn back to the cauldron; to their surprise, the grimy film that was clinging before wipes away with ease. 

“When you say laundry song...what do you mean?”

“It’s not a proper spell or anything but its a little tune my mother taught me that makes cleaning go easier.”

“Oh.”

“They didn’t use anything like that? At...when you were younger?”

“I mean, I assume they did. We were all kept separate. They said it was easier to keep track of our needs that way.”

“You didn’t get to try out anything else?”

“No. We had a fortune teller that as part of your initiation would read into your abilities and pick where you went to maximize output; after that, you didn’t see anyone from other groups besides the leaders.”

“I see. Well, I know that potions is comfortable for you and obviously your talent if that’s where you were placed, but if you’re ever curious about charms and stuff you’re more than welcome to come sit up with Jonghyun and I.”

“Thank you. I might take you up on that soon.”

Jinki smiles and once again goes back to his work. The door to the house opens and Minho comes out with his biggest cauldron in his arms, covered in soot. He empties the cauldron into the ash pit behind them and Ki grabs a clean mortar to hand him some water. 

“How do you even put new firewood in your hearth with all that ash in it?” he chides.

Ki glances over at Jinki. “You wouldn’t happen to have a spell for that, would you?”

“You know, you didn’t have to come. I’ve done this on my own before.” Taeyeon says as Tae dusts their knees off for no less than the fifth time that morning.

They can tell by her expression that it’s not a malicious comment but they can’t help but feel guilty. She reaches out a hand and helps Tae stand before continuing along.

“What are we looking for again?”

“Well, we got our wolfsbane and blue ginseng so now all we need is mandrake.”

“And how do we find that one?”

“If you want to try to help, it has purple leaves, but otherwise I’ll know it when I see it.”

They walk on silently. Tae tries to keep a look out for purple but the filtered light coming in from between the tree canopies makes it difficult.

“So why did Ki start coming with you on this?”

Taeyeon stops and inspects mushrooms on a tree before answering.

“Well, Minho used to come with me. I mean, he knew what he needed and he likes to be outside so it made sense. Our parents used to send us out for stuff as children so it was just normal for us to do. When Ki started living with Minho, they were so nervous that they would barely go outside. It was Minho’s idea to have Ki start coming. For a while, it was the three of us that would go. Then, to encourage Ki to have other friends besides him, Minho started to find ways to not need to come along. And it just kind of evolved from there.”

Tae hums in acknowledgement, somewhat distracted by the continued search for purple leaves.

“What made you decide to tag along, anyway?”

Why did they want to come along? Sure, Taeyeon’s one of the few people that they feel comfortable with, but herbalism hasn’t been a major interest of theirs and potion making definitely isn’t their forte...maybe it’s to seemingly make up for lost time within magical spaces.

Tae’s thoughts are interrupted by something in their peripheral vision: purple leaves, just across a little clearing in the trees. They try to hurry over to them to surprise Taeyeon but are surprised to find themself flat on the ground. They try to stand but are held down by some invisible weight.

“Stay still!” Taeyeon hisses, holding still herself. “You’ll frighten them otherwise.”

Doing their best to stay still, Tae glances around. Little specks of something float around their head. They emit a soft glow that intensifies before ultimately going out. After a few seconds, Taeyeon hurries over to them and pulls them back towards the direction they came from.

“Remember the bit when I said be careful where you step? That’s why.”

“What even was that?”

Taeyeon sighs with annoyance but then softens her expression. “Sorry, sometimes I forget that all this is new to you. You see all those mushrooms?” she says, pointing back towards the little clearing. “It’s a fairy ring.”

“So the little petals were fairies?”

“More or less.”

Tae begins to ask another question but shushes themself when Taeyeon begins walking around the clearing.

Jinki agrees to meet with Minhyuk on a Wednesday for lunch. Minho’s in class and Kibum has a new project to work on, so he figures it’ll be something good to do. They meet at a diner close to the apartment; Minhyuk’s there waiting for him when he gets there.

“Hey! Glad you could make it. Was traffic bad?” MInhyuk asks as Jinki slides into the booth.

“I just walked since the weather was nice. Have you been waiting long?”

“Oh no, maybe five minutes or so.”

“That’s a relief.”

He sits down and orders a drink when the waiter passes by.

“I hope I’m not impeding on any prior plans of yours, Jinki.”

“Oh, not at all.”

“I just wanted to give you some details about the wedding and ask you a few questions that I’ve been wondering but just never get the chance to ask when we all meet up like normal.”

Jinki nods. He waits for him to continue, but they’re interrupted by the return of the waiter.

“So, I guess I’ll ask my wonderings first, that way if we need to make any plan modifications we’ll only have to talk about it once?”

“Works for me.”

“So, the thing I guess I’m most curious about is how you and Minho ended up getting together? I know you’ve said that he’s been understandably quiet about family, but did he know who you were, in terms of family, or-”

Minhyuk’s cut off by a phone ringing. He reaches for his phone, slumping a bit as he answers. With a sigh he starts getting out of the booth.

“I’m so sorry, I have to take this. I’ll be back momentarily.”

Jinki nods in understanding, watching Minhyuk walk outside.  He chuckles to himself a little: it was rather uncommon for people to ask specifically about his and Minho’s relationship. Normally all anyone wanted to know about was how a relationship of three works.

***

It was almost the end of the semester. Their big project wasn’t quite due yet, but it was definitely getting to crunch time. Seemingly against his own will, he found himself becoming fond of his projectmates. He was at a party, he didn’t even know who’s, when he ran into a familiar face.

“Jinki! Is that you, Jinki?”

“Minho! Hey dude.”

Minho beamed at the confirmation that it was in fact Jinki. By the rosy tint to his cheeks and the red solo cup in his hand, Jinki can tell that whether or not he’s old enough, Minho’s had more than a little bit to drink. Minho reaches out for his arm, and though it wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, there’s something different about it today. Whether it’s because of Minho’s confession of feelings for him or because of the lost, lonely look on Minho’s face, Jinki feels concerned.

“Who are you here with?” Jinki asks, shouting over the music.

“I came with my roommate and his friend because their friend’s friend is the one who’s throwing this party but I can’t find them now.”

“Have you tried calling them?”

Minho shakes his head. It’s exaggerated, almost cute in a way. “I don’t know their numbers and my phone is dead.”

“Just stay with me for awhile, we’ll do a round around the place and see if we can find them ok?”

Minho nods and they start making their way through people. It’s a proper house they’re in and it’s rather packed, so Jinki lets Minho link their arms together. They finish searching the bottom floor to no avail before making their way to the second floor. When they still don’t see them, they make their way outside, to the backyard. The fresh air does Jinki good. He doesn’t know why he even came. Beside him, Minho’s starting to panic.

“I don’t have a ride home now I don’t know how to get back to the dorm I didn’t pay attention to the way we came what am I gonna do?”

Jinki can see where his car is parked and guides Minho towards it. He leans on the hood and gestures for him to do the same.

“Well, first we’re going to sit here until you calm down. There’s no need to panic. I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”

Minho nods and takes a deep breath; Jinki lets him continue holding onto his arm.

“I’m sorry you’re stuck with me, I know you’d rather be in there than dealing with me.”

“Actually I was thinking about leaving when you found me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I came with a friend but he’s much more life of the party than I am. I usually don’t go to parties. I guess it’s lucky for you I did though.”

Minho hums.

“How much have you had to drink, Minho?”

They both look at the now empty cup in Minho’s hand.

“Like....two of these? I think? But I don’t know what was in them, my roommate got them for me.”

“Have you ever drank before?”

“No.”

“How old are you?”

There’s hesitation and Jinki laughs. “I promise I’m not a cop, Minho. If you’re of age, I was going to offer to drive you back to campus for you to try and find your way home.”

“I’m twenty.”

“Alright, so that’s out.”

“Sorry.”

“No need to be sorry, bud. I’ve done it too. It’s all part of the experience.”

They sit in silence for a few minutes. Jinki feels his phone going off in his pocket and unlocks it to five variations of “you left already?”

“Minho, did you feel ok at my apartment when you and Kibum came over to work on the project?” He tilts his head, tries to take a sip from his empty cup. “Yeah, I felt okay there. Why?”

“If you want to, you can come crash at my place.”

“Really?”

*

“Here’s some clothes so you don’t have to put those back on after you shower or like sleep in them or anything. The underwear are new out of the package so you don’t have to worry about catching anything from me.”

Minho takes the clothes and pauses before shutting the door.

“Thank you for letting me stay, Jinki.”

Jinki sits on the couch and relaxes when he hears the water start running. He thinks back to Minho’s confession the week before. With projects and other homework due, he hasn’t had time to consider his own feelings. It’s been a while since he dated, been a while since he’s felt affection for anyone. Kibum had made a comment or two about Minho recently, concerning both his good looks and sweet personality. As he waits, Jinki weighs out the good and the bad points of Minho. Sure he could be a little dramatic and seemed to have more than a few issues on his plate, but even putting his looks aside, Jinki couldn’t help but feel fondness for Minho’s sweet and bright personality. He doesn’t realize that the shower’s done until he feels a dip in the couch and turns to see Minho sitting down next to him. He seems a bit more sober, though his cheeks are still pink.

“What are you watching?” Minho asks, pointing at the tv.

Jinki hadn’t even realized he turned it on.

“I just turned it on for noise, you can change it if you want.”

“Oh no, it’s fine.”

“What kind of phone do you have? I might have a charger you can use?”

“It needs a mic...micro...”

“MicroUSB?”

“Yeah! Sorry, technology isn’t my strong suit...” “It’s alright, bud. There should be a charger in one of the outlets in the kitchen if you want to try it.”

Minho gets up and scurries away. Jinki looks at the tv, trying to determine what exactly he’s watching: the scene isn’t well-lit, but he can mostly make out what seems to be a couple kissing. He doesn’t recognize the name and checks the synopsis. Of course he would pick a period drama full of romance.

“Oh I love this story!”

“You recognize it? I can barely see it.”

Minho plops down and begins rattling off details about the story that Jinki truthfully couldn’t care less about. But the enraptured glee in Minho’s face? Jinki is very interested in that so he leaves the movie on and tries his best to focus on what Minho’s saying and not just the way he chews his lip as he thinks. It takes all his effort not to reach out for Minho, not to kiss him until he’s quiet; and yet for all his efforts that’s exactly what he finds himself doing.

But Jinki doesn’t have to share that part of the story. Nor the part later in the night when he finds out that it’s Minho’s first kiss. And especially not the fact that Minho spent the whole weekend. And the weekend after, and the weekend after, and the...

“Sorry, business stops for no man.”

Jinki’s mind snaps back to the present at Minhyuk’s words.

“Oh, no worries. I understand.”

Minhyuk smiles cautiously. “It is nice to know that at least one of you do.”

There’s a lull and the waiter comes back to take their orders.

“So, you and Minho. What’s the story? I know you two met in that class, but when did you two call it official?”

It takes a few minutes for the connection to reestablish itself; as funny as Minho’s smeared and pixelated face is, Jonghyun’s not in the mood for it.

“You’d think for how seemingly expensive this place is they’d have decent wifi.”

Minho chuckles. “See you needed to buy the extra deluxe pack for the good wifi. They can’t just be giving everything away.”

“If they give anything away I’d prefer it be the ugly ass rugs in the lobby but that’s a different story.”

Minho’s face and the screen freezes again and Jonghyun can’t help but huff.

“So I think it’s just the visual that’s frozen.” comes Minho’s voice.

“The visual is the whole purpose of this.” he whines.

“Speaking of, we’re not bothering whoever you’re rooming with, are we?”

“No. The rest of the group all went out sightseeing.”

“You didn’t go?”

“No, why would I?”

“You’re in a big city neither of us have been to for a big conference that’s going to take up like one, maybe two whole lines of your CV, and you don’t even want to go out and snap a few photos?”

“No. I don’t like it here and I don’t like any of the people I came with and this conference isn’t anything like what I’d thought it’d be and you’re the only sight I want to see.”

It takes all of Jonghyun’s strength not to throw his laptop against the wall when the call drops. He scrambles to find his phone when it starts ringing.

“Sorry, I had to hang up. My laptop started screeching and I love you but I don’t want to be possessed by the computer demons or anything. Anyway, what were you saying? It cut out just as you started.”

It occurs to Jonghyun that this is the first time he’s heard Minho really sing. Sure, he’s heard him hum along with the radio and sing-scream along at concerts; but this is him, alone, with no radio, no concert, no accompaniment. Amber had mentioned once that she had discovered that Minho liked to sing when he was cooking alone but Jonghyun hadn’t believed it; nonetheless, here was Minho, apron tide neatly over his pajamas, whisking eggs and crooning “Soul and Inspiration”. He thinks to ask him if he’s drunk but fears to interrupt. Minho doesn’t stop when he catches sight of where Jonghyun’s hiding in the hallway, instead merely gesturing at where the coffee pot is full and waiting. Jonghyun walks over and fixes his coffee as silently as possible. He’d always been a fool for a deep voice, doubly so for Minho’s; he almost drops his coffee trying to give it all his attention.

“Am I putting you back to sleep?” Minho asks softly.

Jonghyun didn’t even realize he’d closed his eyes but quickly feigns sleepiness to save himself some useless embarrassment.

“No, I was just making sure I was awake.”

Minho chuckles as he goes back to his eggs.

“Sure you were. I hope scrambled eggs are okay. I was going to make you pancakes but there were bugs in your flour.”

It doesn’t take long for them to decide to leave the roar of the party: too many familiar faces, too many inquisitive looks, too many snide remarks about getting back together so quickly after taking a break. They walk side by side -- though not hand in hand -- down the street. Their feet lead them back to the bench in the nearby park that they once sat at stargazing. Following their tradition, Jonghyun trips and scrapes his knee on the pavement. He lets Minho pick up him and carry him to the bench, lets him try his best to clean and bandage the pinker parts of the injury. It’s a surprise that Minho even wants to talk to him, much less tend to him like this. Apparently satisfied with his work, Minho joins Jonghyun on the bench.

“It must be autumn.”

Jonghyun almost doesn’t catch the comment and whether it’s the alcohol in his system or the moonlight or the familiar smell of Minho’s cologne he’s having trouble making sense of it.

“What...what does that mean?”

Minho’s silent at first, opting to rest his head on Jonghyun’s shoulder. “I seem to end up falling for you in autumn.”

He’s glad that Minho’s not looking, doesn’t see his blushing cheeks. He’d missed Minho’s seemingly effortless romantic comments in the months they’d been apart.

Out of all the songs that Jonghyun expects to hear outside of Minho’s door at 7 in the morning, the Hallelujah Chorus is very low on the list. Yet, here he lays, song blaring but too wrapped up in Minho to figure out who in the world is assaulting his morning like this. It’s coming from the living room part of the dorm, which makes it extra confusing. Although this is technically Jonghyun’s first visit to Minho’s dorm, he knows enough to assume that it’s not his actual roommate. Maybe it’s a friend of his roommate? But then why would it be playing at Minho’s door? He tries to wiggle out of Minho’s sleepy grasp but to no avail. Accepting his fate, he runs through the list of potential players: a disgruntled project partner, a cleaning lady with a penchant for classical music, a zealous friend, a paid bugler. He’s interrupted by the sensation of kisses on his shoulder by the time he gets to malfunctioning terminator.

“Was that wake-up call on purpose?” he asks when Minho finally opens his eyes.

“What?”

“You didn’t hear either of the two repeats of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah?”

Minho finally lets go of him, rolling over to grab his phone off his nightstand. His laughter leaves Jonghyun even more confused.

“So...?”

“It’s an inside joke. There was one night Amber and I were hanging out at like 3 in the morning and I was complaining about being lonely and feeling like I’d never find anybody. I don’t really remember it but apparently that was all I wanted to talk about so Amber promised me that if I ever brought somebody home that she’d play the hallelujah chorus to celebrate the miracle.”

As much as he tries to be annoyed at being woken up, Minho’s laughter and story are too charming.

“I texted her that I got the message, though she probably already left.”

“Does she have a key or something?”

“Yeah but only to the front door.”

“I don’t have to leave until 11 so I guess we’ve got a little extra time for an encore.”

“Are you ready for your present, baby?”

Minho stops mid-bite and stares at Jonghyun. “You got me a present?”

“Well yeah, it’s Valentine’s, isn’t it?”

“Yeah but you hate Valentine’s day.”

“It’s not that I hate the day I just hate the capitalist motivation of it.”

“Same difference.”

Jonghyun waits for Minho to finish his bite before asking again. The way he starts chewing his lip after makes Jonghyun nervous.

“I do, you know I do, but I feel bad because I didn’t get you anything since we didn’t do anything extra for it last year besides dinner...”

“Minho, you know I don’t mind.”

He doesn’t give him a chance to give a rebuttal, opting instead to grab the neatly wrapped box out of the trunk of his car. He’s not nervous about it until the box is in Minho’s hands, heart starting to race with nervousness as he watches him unwrap it. Minho’s quiet at first, eyebrows furrowed and the confused look that Jonghyun loves so much.

“Okay so backstory to this gift. When we were at Amber’s party, however long ago that was, and you were drunkenly trying your damnedest to comfort drunk Luna, Amber and I were talking about how generous you are with affection and she made the comment that if affection was a sport, you’d be the world champion. When I went to the store the next day to get you aspirin for your hangover, they had just put out all the fake wrestling champion belts out and I had this weird idea and yeah.”

He lets his explanation drift off as Minho starts to examine it. He’s pretty pleased with it, if he’s honest with himself: the W for wrestling became a perfect M and he was surprised by how many heart shaped stick-on gems he was able to fit around it. It’s not until Minho’s unsure mouth turns up into a smile and his eyes begin to crinkle with laughter that Jonghyun’s able to relax. Putting the box aside, he stands and does his best to put the belt on. Jonghyun has to help, but eventually they’re both satisfied by the belt staying in place. As soon as they’re facing each other again Minho immediately begins to strike every weightlifting pose he can think of as Jonghyun scrambles to pull his phone out.

“Dinner may get cold if you keep posing, baby!” he says, struggling not to laugh.

“You’re the one that couldn’t wait to give it to me!”

The novelty wears off enough for them to return to their pasta, although Minho keeps the belt on even as they sit back down.

“So you like it?”

“If I didn’t like it I wouldn’t have let you take 9000 pictures of me in it, honey.”

“I was just checking. It could’ve been performative.”

Minho chuckles. “Do I need to pack this with my winter clothes so that I always have it for Valentine’s?”

“If you pack it away during the summer how am I supposed to text you and say ‘be ready in just your love belt for when I get home’?”