Enhacolor - 🧸

Strength

Summary: It takes courage and strength to publicly announce your relationship, but with Dino by your side, anything is possible. 

Oneshot 

Fluff, Hurt/Comfort (It’s mostly comfort), Established Relationship au

TW: Mentions of anxiety and slight negative comments about Dino’s and the reader’s relationship (in the very beginning).

Word Count: 1,711

Requested: just a comfort angst/fluff with chan who's having dating rumors around him and you but pledis/hybe said it was ok for them to date, but his s/o is still really anxious about coming out since they're scared fans might hate them, but dino comforts her and she appears on danceology with dino and carats are so happy dino's found someone

Chan (Dino) X Reader 

A/n: This may not be my best work, but I still hope you're able to enjoy it!

------

Maybe it would have been alright if you didn’t go out with Chan yesterday. If you didn't hug him before he went off to his schedule, then the rumors would have started. If none of that happened, it’d all be okay,...

But here you were scrolling through the news articles headlining, “SEVENTEEN's Dino spotted with a partner?!” While you had seen some fans rallying to support, all you could see were the negative ones saying, “It should be me!” or “Why are they with him?" Or worse, "They can’t possibly be his type?!” And it continued to break your heart as you read each one, but you couldn't stop consuming them. 

You just wanted to spend some time with your boyfriend on a starlit evening. And now, everyone is in your business. With a sigh, you put your phone on the nightstand and wait for Chan to return from his early morning practice. 

------

When you and Chan started dating, he took you to a meeting with the CEOs telling them of your guy's relationship. They were okay with it as long as you two were willing to keep it secret. But it doesn’t matter how cautious you are. You can still slip up, and you both did. 

While you loved Chan with all your heart and knew the risks of entering a relationship with him, you were now terrified that the risks would outrank the reward of being with the love of your life. If staying together not only meant destroying your boyfriend's life but his best friends' lives too... You weren't sure you could live with that. While there were cases where idols date and their fans are happy and support them with no problem. You lived through the era where an idol caught dating had to leave the industry and their 'family' behind. Perhaps times have changed, but their wretched words left you in doubt that they had. 

Before your thoughts can grow any darker, you hear the door creek open and see your prince charming. “Hey baby,” he cheers as he enters your shared bedroom before joining you on the bed. “Hi,” You whisper, and he asks, “You’ve seen the articles?” You nod, “Yeah,... that’s all I’ve seen this morning.” He nods, grabs your hands, and holds them in his, “Well, tell me your thoughts.” You start telling him how you worry it'll ruin his career if you two go public after telling the truth. And that you’d much rather deny it if it keeps him and his brothers safe. 

He listens to your worries as he rubs his thumbs over the tops of your hands. When he's sure you've let it all out, he counters your thoughts with his own, “What if it doesn’t go how you believe it will? What if it’s different this time? What if, like Rocky and Bo Yeon, we're alright? And what if Carats decide they're going to support our relationship to the nth degree?” You look at him with tears threatening to fall, “I… but, what if it doesn’t? I don’t want your dream to disintegrate before your eyes. If we decide to tell them.” He shakes his head, “But you’re a part of my dream too now, and without you, I don’t see a future where I am content.” You shake your head and whisper, “I feel the same way.” And he continues, “If you’re worried about Seventeen, you know them as well as I do. They aren't going down without a fight. Since you started dating me, they've considered you a part of the family. They'll do anything in their power to protect their family.” You nod and look down at the bedsheets. You let out a “Yeah,...” in disbelief.

He sighs, “Baby, look at me.” You slowly raise your head and look up at him, and he smiles, “I love you, and I promise no matter what happens, I won’t give up on you. And the rest of the members won’t give up on us either. If there is one thing I know about Carats, it's their endless support. And if they know I love you, they'll love you too. I promise.” You gulp and nod, “I love you too, and I won't give up on us. I know you’re right. I’m sorry those articles planted a seed of doubt in my mind, Chan.” He shakes his head, “You don’t have a reason to be sorry. Your feelings are valid, no matter the circumstance. Why don’t we think of ways to come out to everyone?” 

------

A day later, you're standing in their practice room after deciding that you two would perform a danceology together. It would be the first time you both danced on camera together. And while you were a little nervous, Chan kept reassuring you that you were doing fine. Choreography feels different from just dancing in your kitchen together, but the way it feels? It's magical, and you can't get enough of it. Experiencing his world firsthand, you see why he fell in love with it. Maybe the reason why you guys got caught was so you could experience choreography for the first time. 

You two worked your hearts out on it. Rearranging pieces that felt awkward until you both thought it was perfect. By the last Wednesday of the month, you had filmed the final choreography for the posting on Friday. With a few edits on Thursday, you both were satisfied with the outcome.

It started with you 'talking' with 'your besties' about Chan. Before they pushed you out into the middle of the dance floor at the same time as Chan’s crew did. Making you both meet in the middle of the room, he grasped your right hand in his left. And lead you in a ballroom-like dance around the room as if he was sweeping you off your feet before spinning you off. And separated, you mirrored each other’s moves facing the opposite way. You both made your way to the middle until your backs touched and slid down to the floor together. You two grasp your hands together as though you were finding strength in each other as you bring each other up and spin inwards to face each other. And you both couldn’t help but smile at each other as you looked into each other's eyes. He released your hands before wrapping his arms around you, and you wrapped yours around his neck. The video ended with you both staring into each other’s eyes. 

------

Pledis announced on Wednesday that ‘Dino’s Danceology with a special guest!’ would be coming out. And because the dating rumors were never confirmed nor dismissed. It left everyone wondering if this would be the answer to all their musings. Or if Chan wanted to keep the mystery guest a surprise for Carats. 

------

You both sat there waiting with bated breath as it uploaded to the internet. And watch as the comments came flooding in. You couldn’t help but grin as you read all the sweet words. “Did you see the way they moved across the stage together?!” You grin. You both had worked hard on the dance on such short notice. “Their chemistry is unmatched!” And he whispers to you, “If that ain’t the truth.” And you grin and grab his hand in yours as you laugh before reading another comment, “I don’t know if I wish to be (Y/n) or Dino!” You squeeze his hand and continue reading, “Forget biasing Dino- I am now a (Y/n) bias! Look at them!! They’re spectacular!” He pouted at that, and you laughed, “Don’t worry, baby. I’m sure they love you just as much~” You pause for a second before continuing, “Plus, you’re the real professional here. They’ll always love you. They have a different way of showing their support!” He grins, “I know. I’m so glad they support you, me, and our relationship.” You lean your head on his shoulder, “Me too.” 

When both of you grow tired of looking at the screen, you close the computer. Let go of Chan's hand, wrap your arms around him, and whisper, “I love you.” He says it back, and you tell him, “I guess my worries were all for not.” You feel him shake his head 'no' against your shoulder as he says, “No, they were valid, my dear. A bit misguided, but valid nonetheless.” You both sigh in contentment as he places little kisses on your collarbone. And enjoy that people perceive your relationship with positivity. 

------

The following day, news articles confirm your relationship. Your combined statement is the feature of each of them. And now everyone knew that you were dating Chan. And you check all the replies and only run into a few that are negative. But the majority are sweet, saying things like, “Oh, I’m so glad they found each other!” and “I’m so happy they’re together!” Your favorite was, "I can see why he fell for them! They're perfect for each other." And each comment warms your heart as you read them. And it makes you realize how thankful you are for Chan’s fans and all the non-carats that supported you both. 

He puts your mugs of tea down on the coffee table, “Well, what did they say?” You smile, “That we’re a perfect match, and how happy they are because we’re together.” He nods with a tiny smirk, “Just as I thought, then?” You agree, “Yeah, I think it went even better than we could have imagined.” He agrees, and you clink your cups together before drinking your tea. You put your phone away and reach over and grab his hand, “They're right. I'm so happy we're together." He grins, "Me too." 

You finish your tea together before he pulls your hand up and slowly dances with you. "I loved dancing choreography with you, but this? This is where all my dreams come true." You blush at that, "You're so cheesy, but I can't help but agree. Wherever you are, that's where I want to be." He grins, and you dance until the sun sets and retire to bed together. Both of you go to sleep basking in the fact that you no longer have to hide your relationship.

Half-Baked

Pairing: Jihoon x fem!reader

Summary: your job at the bakery becomes increasingly more dangerous the longer the cute new customer frequents it (and the longer your coworker teases you about him)

Word Count: 1.2k

Tags: fluff, bakery au

The first time he came in, you’d taken one look at him and accidentally dropped a tray of brownies you were taking out of the oven. You’d never done something that klutzy before, and it only made you more flustered. Surely if someone as pretty as him lived around here, you’d already know…?

He’d either graciously pretended not to notice the dropped brownies, or was entirely oblivious. He’d ordered a blueberry muffin and tucked his change into the tip jar with a smile at you. You’d nearly dropped the muffin while handing it over.

Vernon called him Cute Muffin Man after that. You dubbed Vernon the Most Insufferable Coworker Friend Ever.

Keep reading

hi!! congratulations on 100 followers!! you deserve it! and i have no doubt you'll rake in more attention in absolutely no time :)

also i hope you don't think i'm annoying haha but since you're doing requests; would you be down to write fluffy dk? anything would be great, i love your writing! :)

good luck on your exams!! you'll do great!!

Thank youuuuu! Thank you so much~ And of course not you I did say you could request. on the side note, fluffy dk has been on my mind for the past few days so i actually giggled when i saw your request. Thank you for requesting I hope you like it!

PAIRING || Seokmin x Female Reader

GENRES ||  Fluff

WARNINGS || Mentions of alcohol ft. drunk y/n

WORD COUNT || 0.3k

[23:55]

it was pretty late by the time all of them had stepped out of the restaurant. luckily none of them had really drunk much so everyone was still in their senses, waiting for their taxis.

“what about you, seokmin? how are you going home?” seungcheol asked, making sure everyone had a ride back.

“me?” seokmin asked, checking his phone once more. you had said you would meet up with him at 8, but it was already 8:30 and it got him wondering if you had forgotten or were caught up. you too were out with your friends but there was no text message from you about you being late and that worried him slightly. “y/n told she would pick me up but i think she’s running late-”

“oh i think she has her reasons.” minghao replied, pointing down the street with a grin tugging at the corner of his lips.

seokmin looked at where his fingers were pointing and felt his heart stop for a second.

there you were walking, or rather stumbling, up the street, a rather huge smile plastered on your face as you waved your hand wildly, showing him the bouquet you had. you were obviously very drunk and it was taking all of seokmin’s strength not to coo at how cute you were or double up with laughter like the rest of his members.

“seokminnie!” you said, practically throwing your hands around his neck as he pulled you into a tight hug to keep you steady. “i’m here!”

“if you were so drunk you should have just gone home directly, baby.” seokmin said, a soft smile on his face as he looked at your dazed one with adoration. 

“oh no! i promised you i would be here.” flashing him another smile you turned to the others, who were almost on the verge of tears. “hi everyone! i’m seokmin’s ride today so thank you for waiting for him!”

“i think you need a ride more than him.” jeonghan added, smiling at you nonetheless. 

you turned your attention back to seokmin, giving him a quick kiss and thrusting the flowers into his hand. “this is for the best boyfriend ever!”

this seokmin laughed, giving you a kiss too. “i think you deserve it more than me after tonight, baby.”

© 𝐆𝐘𝐔-𝐄𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑

unpredictable

woozi x reader (fluff, neighbors to lovers)

dialogue prompts: “have you come to laugh at me?” / “today isn’t your day, is it?”

wc: 2.5k

a/n: hello!!! it’s been a while, huh? i’m still working on those bigger projects (like vampire!bambam and vampire!ian), but here’s a little writing exercise i did recently. i don’t have nearly enough woozi content out here, right? thank you all for being patient with me and supporting the blog, love you all, uwu

The forecast did not call for rain, you think, grimacing. You know it didn’t because you had checked over and over again before getting dressed this morning, but here you were, walking through the icy cold, pelting rain, without anything more than your usual lightweight jacket.

You’re shivering by the time you finally make it back into your apartment, having tracked water into the elevator and down the hall. Your hair is dripping wet, and you trudge to the bathroom, barely peeling your soaked jacket off before you hear your door buzzer going off. Taking a glance in your bathroom mirror at your miserable appearance, you frown and snatch a towel before heading to the door, wrapping it around your shoulders as though that’s going to help.

It may be a bad idea, given your current state, but you open the door without looking to find none other than Lee Jihoon, your neighbor-turned-best-friend of the past year, standing at an awkward diagonal from your door to avoid the puddles you’d left while unlocking your apartment. You huff and pull the towel tighter around you.

“Have you come to laugh at me?” you grumble, narrowing your eyes at him. There’s no doubt in your mind that Jihoon had heard you coming home, considering he lives right next door, and that he might just be here to say ‘I told you so’ after you had ignored his nagging about keeping an umbrella on you. You still stand by your statement that always carrying an umbrella is impractical and annoying, but you have to concede that he has a point. Not that you want to.

“No,” he replies, looking you up and down. “But I might now that I’m here. Why didn’t you stop and buy an umbrella?” As he speaks, you step aside to let him in, wondering how long it will take until you regret that decision.

“I have one, so it seemed like a waste of money,” you reply, keeping your voice low as though Jihoon won’t be able to hear you. He lets out a sigh and gives you a witheringly ‘disappointed but not surprised’ look that rivals your mother’s in how badly it makes you want to melt into the floor.

“Have you eaten? Go shower and I’ll make you something,” he says, not even waiting for your reply. You had not, in fact, eaten anything since breakfast that morning — when you had noticed the rainclouds, you’d chosen to skip lunch in hopes that leaving a little early would let you avoid the storm. Ha.

Jihoon pushes you towards your bathroom, and you pout exaggeratedly at him before the door closes, trying to look extra pitiful.

“Thanks, Jihoonie,” you simper, and he cringes. 

“Shower,” is all he says before he shuts the door in your face. You can’t help but laugh.

Keep reading

to build a home

pairing: jihoon x gn!reader rating: T (for swearing) wc: 3.7k summary: on the train ride back to meet jihoon's parents in person for the first time, you realize you don't really know what it's like to have a childhood home — at least, not in the sense that most people seem to have. but it's okay, because you've found a home in jihoon instead. warnings: talks about divorce (reader's parents) tags: fluff, this is so sappy guys, kind of emotional hurt/comfort, soonhoon best frienemies (they’re ride or die dw their friendship is just based on mutual teasing lol), vaguely implied asexual reader, a truly excessive amount of handholding, i really made jihoon into a hand-holding fiend and i'm Not Sorry a/n: this might be one of the most self-indulgent things i've ever written since reader's experiences are 100% based off of my own lmao. also i can't believe i wrote almost 4k of them just talking on a train, like??? wow. also also, i listened to sleeping at last's cover of i'm gonna be (500 miles) on repeat while writing so i recommend giving it a listen for the Vibes haha

Jihoon was nervous.

Not in a bad way, of course. But he was taking you back home to stay with his parents for the next four days and they would be meeting you in person for the first time and he was nervous.

Soonyoung, the bastard, could definitely tell and had made it his mission to embarrass the hell out of him until the last possible second.

It was only supposed to be Seungcheol and Minghao dropping the two of you off at the train station, but Soonyoung had physically crammed himself into the backseat between you and Jihoon and refused to let go of either of you until you’d reached the train station. Even then, you had to physically pry him off of Jihoon and promise to tell Jihoon’s parents that Soonyoung loved them and missed them and—

“—make sure to take lots of pictures of all his cringey old anime posters!”

Soonyoung’s insistence is only diminished by the effort he’s exerting not to be forcefully dragged back into the car by a disgruntled Minghao. Jihoon knows Soonyoung’s being even more of a handful for his sake, and Jihoon is both filled with love and also the desire to strangle his best friend with his bare hands.

Minghao is able to get him mostly back in the car, Seungcheol watching on with a slightly fond but mostly concerned smile, but before they can get the door closed, Soonyoung claws his way back to the doorframe to tell you, “Also, his mom keeps all of his baby pictures in a bunch of photo books by the—”

“And that’s enough from you,” Jihoon interrupts, forcefully shoving Soonyoung back into the car by the face, Soonyoung screeching with poorly disguised glee, and slams the car door shut.

Jihoon waves at Seungcheol who he can see laughing through the glass as he pulls away from the curb, leaving the two of you standing with your suitcases.

He hears you giggling, and turns around to face you with a sigh. “Ignore him.”

You give a thoughtful hum, drawing it out as you grab the handle of your suitcase and wait for Jihoon to grab his and start walking with you through the station.

“No, I don’t think I will,” you finally decide, a mischievous grin tugging at the corners of your mouth.

Jihoon groans, tilting his head back as if to ask the universe why me?

“Why,” you continue, “embarrassed about your Nami posters?” 

Like Soonyoung, Jihoon knows you’re just teasing, and he falls into your easy banter with a smile threatening to tug at the corners of his mouth.

He glares at you half-heartedly. “It’s poster, singular. And no, I’m not embarrassed,” he adds as you both make your way across the platform and into the closest empty train car (the only benefit of leaving at the ass-crack of dawn). “Why would I ever be embarrassed about Nami? She’s badass.” He grunts as he stands on his toes and lifts his luggage to store on the overhead rack and then reaches out to take yours as well. “Plus, you’re one to talk, with your weird shrimp god poster—“

And this argument is familiar, too. He can’t help but smirk as you roll your eyes in exasperation and slide into the seat next to the window.

“It’s shrimp heaven,” you exclaim, “we’ve been over this.”

Jihoon just shakes his head, and he knows he sounds more than a little besotted when he says, “You listen to the weirdest shit.”

You give him a Look that manages to be both deadpan and undeniably fond, and no one except a few untitled projects saved on his external hard drive knows exactly how much he adores that particular look. “I am aware, yes, thank you.”

While this is the first time the two of you are traveling back to where Jihoon grew up, it is not the first time the two of you have traveled together. There’s a well-worn ease to the way your shoulders draw together like magnets, Jihoon offering up one of his earbuds as he balances his iPad across your joined knees.

It had scared him, the first time he felt himself leaning into your presence without a second thought — as easy and unthinkingly familiar as pulling on his favorite hoodie when he’s cold or the sound of his keys clinking against the countertop every night when he gets home. He’d never been one to seek out physical affection before, not unless he was desperate. But now he can’t help but feel like a flower seeking out the sun whenever he’s with you.

He leans his head against yours as he asks, “Want to watch some Bonobono?”

“Yeah,” you reply with a happy hum.

Jihoon presses play without further ado, and the two of you settle in for the next few hours.

You get through a few episodes quickly before taking a quick snack break, and it’s only a few minutes into the next episode that Jihoon notices you aren’t really paying attention. He turns his head where it's resting on your shoulder to get a better look at your profile, but he’s not able to see much since you have your own head turned to look out the window.

He finishes the episode and gets halfway through the next one, glancing over at you every few minutes, before deciding it’s time for him to check in.

Starting conversations is still not one of his strong suits, but he’s discovered interesting ways to wiggle himself into them, mainly by tricking you into getting the ball rolling for him. It’s in these moments that he channels his inner Soonyoung (he is taking this train of thought to his grave, mind you) and asks himself “How would cat-me ask for attention in this moment?” (Again, taking this train of thought to the fucking grave.)

So Jihoon leans away from you just enough for him to be able to turn slightly in his seat and gently plonk his head against your shoulder. When he gets no reaction, he does it again. And again, before doing it one more time as your turn to look at him with an amused smile. “Hi? You having fun, there?”

“Yep,” he says, popping the “p”. “The funnest.”

You snort and shake your head at him. “Okay, babe.” You turn your attention back out the window and Jihoon frowns.

With a quiet huff, he plonks his head on your shoulder once again, pushing in with his forehead and rubbing it back and forth against your sweater.

You start giggling — and god, it’s still one of his favorite sounds, he doesn’t think he’ll ever get tired of hearing it — and you turn to look at him again with a single eyebrow raised. “Yes, Jihoonie?”

He moves so his temple is resting on your shoulder and he can look at you properly. “You okay?” he asks, lighthearted and warm. “You’ve been staring out the window for a while, missed the last couple of episodes.”

You blink, a little surprised, and look down at the iPad still balanced between the two of you. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine, sorry.” You give him a smile and shrug the shoulder he’s leaning on. “Just thinking.”

The automatic retort of “oh, dangerous” is on the tip of his tongue, but he holds it back with a small frown. He’s never liked when you apologize unnecessarily, but he knows it’s something you’ve been working on, so he decides not to bring attention to it this time.

“What about?” he asks instead.

You’ve turned your attention back to Bonobono at this point, and you respond with a distracted “Hm?”

Jihoon pokes your temple with one finger. “What’re you thinking about?”

“Oh.” You look at him, considering, and then you huff out a short laugh as you reach over to pause the video. “You actually,” you tell him, tucking the iPad into your lap as you turn in your seat to face him fully.

That was not what Jihoon was expecting. “Me?”

“Yep,” you say, popping the “p” just like he did earlier. “Your bedroom, more specifically.”

That was definitely not what Jihoon was expecting. Both of his eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “My bedroom…” he trails off, voice dry and seeming to ask, are you really implying what I think you’re implying?

Your expression morphs into one of disgust so quickly Jihoon barks out a startled laugh. “Ew, no, don’t look at me like that, that’s not what I meant.”

Jihoon lets out a few of his own giggles as he asks, “What did you mean, then?”

He almost coos at the adorable way you pout as you cross your arms in faux anger. “Ugh, no I’m not telling you anymore if you’re just gonna tease me.”

“Aw come on,” he cajoles, reaching out to pry your crossed arms apart. “I only tease those who deserve it.”

You roll your eyes even as you let him pull your hands into his own. “Tell that to Soonyoung.”

“Are you kidding? He deserves it just for existing.”

You lift one of your conjoined hands to awkwardly point at him. “I’m gonna tell him you said that.”

Jihoon narrows his eyes. “Good. He needs the reminder.”

You fold over as you snort, falling into Jihoon’s space for a moment before you straighten back up with a beaming smile. “You’re such a terrible friend, Lee Jihoon.”

Closing his eyes, he nods solemnly. “I am aware of this, yes. It is my curse.”

“Oh my god,” you laugh, making him smack himself in the shoulder with your still joined hands. “You can be such a dramatic little shit sometimes.” There’s a glint in your eyes that tells Jihoon you’re about to say something purely because you know it’ll rile him up, and he’s proven right when the next words out of your mouth are, “Soonyoung must be rubbing off on you.”

Jihoon’s jaw drops in offended horror. “You’d better take that back right now, I swear to god, y/n—” He doesn’t give you a chance to respond as he untangles your fingers and digs them mercilessly into your sides.

You squeal at the onslaught and try your best to deflect, but Jihoon’s relentless and you’ve always been extremely ticklish, so it’s only a few moments later that you’re choking out through strained laughter, “Yield! Yield! Fuck, I yield, you absolute ass!”

Jihoon glares at you as he stops and generously lets you trap his fingers in your hold. “Take it back.”

“Yes, I take it back, geez,” you pant. He’s pretty sure he hears you follow it up with a near silent “Why are both of you so insane?”

He raises an eyebrow. “What was that?” He wiggles his fingers pointedly.

“Nothing,” you say quickly, glaring at him half-heartedly before rolling your eyes. “Absolutely nothing.”

“Good,” he smirks, wiggling his fingers again, but this time so he can lace them once again with yours. He brings each of your hands up to his face and kisses your knuckles before bringing them back down to his lap and letting himself drink you in.

You’re looking at him with something teetering the edge between incredulous and fond and over-the-moon, and Jihoon thinks he probably looks like a smitten fool just based on the way his cheeks ache and his ears feel like they’re on fire.

He’s come to love moments like these, where the both of you take a moment to just… take each other in — to simply exist in each other’s presence and soak it all in like sponges. And he doesn’t know if he’ll ever be able to put into words exactly what it feels like to look and be looked at like this. To see and be seen.

Jihoon doesn’t try to find the words this time, just lets himself bask in your glow with a soft smile.

After a few moments, he brings himself to break the ambient quiet of the train. “Hey,” he murmurs.

Your response is as soft and quiet as the smile you tuck into the corner of your mouth. “Hi.”

He stares at you for another moment before saying, “You never ended up telling me, y’know.”

“Telling you what?”

“What you were thinking about earlier.” He starts idly rubbing his thumbs across the skin of your hands, tracing gentle arcs with the pads of his thumbs.

“Oh.” You scrunch up your face a little before smoothing it out with a small shrug. “Eh, it wasn’t anything important.”

“Hmm.” Something tells him it probably is something important — to you, at least. And even if it isn’t, he still wants to know. “Tell me anyway?”

You tilt your head and look at him with a confused sort of amused smile. “Why do you wanna know so bad?”

Because I’m highkey obsessed with you and always want to learn more about you and how you think, is what he doesn’t say. At least, not out loud and not right now. He knows it’d probably fluster you and he doesn’t want to distract you from answering any more than he already has. (And maybe he’s still struggling with saying his sappy thoughts directly to your face instead of hoarding them in various notebooks, but that’s a problem for future Jihoon to work through.)

“Just curious,” he murmurs with a shrug. “And we still have a couple of hours left on the train.”

You stare at him for a moment like you don’t quite believe him and are trying to find the lie somewhere on his face. But eventually you mutter, “Okay.” You take in a deep breath and let it out slowly through your nose. “Well,” you start, after a moment of collecting your thoughts. “I said I was thinking about your bedroom, right?”

“Mhm.”

“Okay, so.” You purse your lips as you tighten your hold on Jihoon’s fingers, just for a moment, before loosening your grip with a quiet exhale. “I was mostly just trying to imagine what that’s like.”

Jihoon blinks at you. “...What having a bedroom is like?” His tone comes across more deadpan than he means, confusion flattening his question into more of a statement.

“No, no,” you shake your head. “What having a childhood bedroom is like.”

Jihoon blinks again, furrowing his brows. “...I don’t understand.”

“God, I’m not explaining this right,” you mutter, chewing on your lip in obvious thought. “Okay, so like… You know how in movies and books and stuff, a lot of times there’s this— trope, I guess, where a character goes back home and stays in their childhood bedroom and it’s like a glimpse into their past? A lot of times for comedic reasons?”

Jihoon slowly nods his head. “Yeah, I know what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, well.” You give a self-conscious little half-shrug that makes Jihoon’s chest hurt for some reason. “I was wondering what that’s like. Like…” You trail off for a moment, gaze drifting off to the side and focusing on the middle-distance. Jihoon forces himself to wait patiently as you try to find the words you need to explain, his thumbs continuing their silent metronome across your skin.

“What— what’s it like to have lived your entire childhood in the same house?” you start, gaze still locked somewhere off to the side. “To have the same four walls watch you go from toddler to kid to preteen to moody teenager and then reluctant adult? And to know those same walls are still watching you grow up.” You give a wistful little sigh and focus back on Jihoon with a crooked smile. “I’m trying to imagine what that’s like. Hadn’t realized how much of a foreign concept it was to me until I really started thinking about it,” you finish with a small huff.

During your whole little spiel, you hadn’t sounded sad or bitter or anything other than genuinely curious, but it still pokes at that little ache in Jihoon’s heart. He knows your parents divorced when you were young, and there’s a part of him that wishes you could have had the perfect childhood he knows doesn’t actually exist. He also knows you’re not one to really talk about yourself or your past, so he’s grateful for the vulnerability you’re sharing with him in this moment. Softly, he encourages you to share more with him. “You went back and forth between your parents a lot, right?”

“Oh, god yeah,” you laugh. “And not only that, but my mom could never stay in one place either. Growing up, I think my dad only moved like… four times? But my mom moved… uh.” Your brows furrow deeply for a moment. “Hang on, I need to think this out.”

Jihoon almost whines when you detangle your fingers from his, but manages to turn it into a pretty convincing cough. (It’s actually not at all convincing, but luckily you’re too preoccupied to properly clown him for it.) He watches you mutter to yourself with a small pout and then he looks back down at your hands like he can make them hold his if he just stares hard enough. Your fingers extend one by one as you count, and his pout falls away as one fist and then the other blooms fully. And then one fist closes again, leaving a single finger standing.

“So… eleven? Eleven times.”

He’d known you’d moved at least a few times as a kid, but… “Holy shit.”

“Yeah.”

Gently, he reaches out to hold your hands again. Squeezes. “And how often did you go back and forth?”

“Oh, god. That was a mess, too.” You’re laughing, but that ache in his chest keeps spreading, digging deeper. “We had different schedules that would change like— every few months. We did three days on, three days off, alternating sundays; we did two days on, two days off, with alternating weekends; at one point we even did every other weekday with alternating weekends… it was insane. Looking back, it seems even more insane.”

“Jesus.” He can’t even begin to imagine what that must’ve been like — almost constantly being on the move. Especially as a kid. “How old were you when they split again?”

“Five.”

“Jesus.”

“Yeah.” You sigh, long and gusty. It doesn’t sound sad, at least, just tired. Maybe a little bit like release. Then you send a small, amused smile in his direction. “So you can kinda see why the whole “childhood bedroom” thing is such a foreign concept to me, right?”

He can see why. And it aches. “Yeah,” he breathes.

Some of that ache must show on his face because you gently scold him, “Hey, don’t look like that.” You untangle your fingers once again to cup both of his cheeks, thumbs pressing into the corners of his mouth and smoothing out his unconscious frown.

You look at him, soft and warm and so full of love Jihoon’s breath catches in his chest. And then you adjust your grip so you’re pinching his cheeks, and you wiggle his face a little bit. “This wasn’t supposed to be a sad thing, Hoonie. Just a “we had vastly different experiences” kind of thing.” You stop pinching his cheeks and go back to simply holding his face between your palms. “Like, I know it helped me understand the concept of “home is where the heart is,” yanno?”

And, oh. Oh, Jihoon is so very head-over-heels in love with you. He can feel that love pooling and swelling inside him, curling up between his ribs and tickling the tips of his fingers as reaches up to cover your hands with his.

“Hmm.” His mouth moves before his brain can catch up. “And where is your heart, y/n?” he breathes.

For one infinite moment suspended in time, you and Jihoon are the only two people to exist. The world around him disappears as your eyes bore into his, and Jihoon gets to watch something in them soften, melt — pool into something that looks a lot like love as you turn your hands to let go of his cheeks and hold his fingers instead.

You bring his hands to hover in front of his face, and you roll your lips between your teeth like you’re trying to hold back a smile. What you’re trying to say finally clicks in Jihoon’s mind when you glance down at his hands and then back up at him with a raised eyebrow.

All of the blood in his body rushes directly to his face and ears so quickly that Jihoon thinks he might burst into flames.

 “Nooooooooo,” he whines, hiding his blazing blush behind your entwined hands and ignoring the way you’re outright laughing at him now. He lowers your hands just enough so that he can glare at you from over the tops of your knuckles. “How are you able to say the cheesiest things without actually saying anything? I can’t stand you.”

“Then sit,” you giggle, like the absolutely adorable little shit you are.

Jihoon growls in frustrated adoration before licking the back of your hands in retaliation.

You screech and try to yank your hands back, but he’s the stronger one between the two of you and he refuses to let go. “Lee Jihoon, you animal, what is wrong with you?!”

“Vengence,” is all he mutters.

You splutter. “Vengence for what?”

He continues to half-heartedly glare at you as he brings your hands down and presses them to the left side of his chest. Vaguely, he wonders if you can feel the way his heart is pounding against his ribs. “For stealing my heart,” he pouts.

The sound that comes out of your mouth reminds him of a dying seal, and that’s how Jihoon knows it’s over for him — because he’s never heard a more endearing sound in his entire life and he thinks that maybe he’d do anything to hear it over and over again.

You continue to tease each other back and forth, your love for each other a steady undertow, and Jihoon realizes that while they may be heading back to the house he grew up in, it’s not home in the same sense any more.

Not when he looks at you and his heart sings a steady home, home, home inside his chest.

The thought doesn’t scare him nearly as much as he thinks it should.

Home, home, home.

He likes the sound of that.