“Re, really? That… I mean, this is… Ah, how do you say it in English? That thing….”
Jeong Minha, worried that Seo Sihan might have misunderstood, thought of English words. At that sight, Seo Sihan laughed.
“Why… why are you laughing! I’m really not joking…!”
Seo Sihan immediately hugged Jeong Minha back.
“Huk…!”
While it was fine when he himself hugged, now that Seo Sihan was also hugging him back, Jeong Minha froze in surprise.
Seo Sihan held him fully in both arms and looked at Jeong Minha’s reddened ears. They were more visible thanks to his swept-back hair.
Slow Seo Sihan finally gave answers one by one.
“I… like Minha. I really like you. So if it’s what Minha wants, I want to give you everything.”
Jeong Minha carefully placed his trembling hands on Seo Sihan’s back again. He obediently listened to the gently continuing voice.
“If Minha wants me… of course I’ll give myself to you. No, rather I’m so happy… that I can’t express it all in words….”
Seo Sihan spoke slowly while burying his head in Jeong Minha’s shoulder. He could feel Jeong Minha flinching.
“For a long time, I really… liked you. Always, even now…. What kind of emotion that was wasn’t very important. I just… wanted Minha to be happy.”
“……!”
“That you had a hard time because of me… I’m really sorry….”
“N, no, that….”
When Jeong Minha, whose heart had weakened, wriggled his body to say something, Seo Sihan hugged him even tighter.
“But I’ll continue to be Minha’s fan from now on too. Because Minha is so cool I can’t help it….”
“……”
“But if you ask whether I didn’t have other thoughts while seeing such a Minha, that’s not true.”
“Y, yes…?”
Seo Sihan raised his head and looked at Jeong Minha. Jeong Minha blinked in surprise with his entire face turned red. Seeing such a Jeong Minha, a smile naturally kept forming.
The athlete held in his arms was cool, his face flustered more than usual was cute, and the resonance of their touching hearts made him want to get even closer.
“What kind of thoughts I had while looking at you….”
Because of eyes that seemed more relaxed than usual somehow, Jeong Minha hurriedly raised his hand and covered Seo Sihan’s mouth.
“A, I get it! I understand what you want to say…!”
For Jeong Minha, who for the first time in his life had been desperately crushing on someone for a long time, it was difficult to endure the current situation. Various emotions like happiness, joy, surprise, worry, and excitement swirled around. His head wasn’t properly organized. He was going crazy because he liked Seo Sihan right in front of his eyes so much.
Because Jeong Minha said his piece and then covered his mouth telling him not to speak, Seo Sihan kissed his touching palm as it was.
“Uh, huh?!”
Only then did he pull his hand away in shock and hide it behind his back. Seo Sihan smiled with his eyes again and continued speaking.
“…So, in the end, I also….”
Because of Seo Sihan’s gaze looking directly at him from close up, Jeong Minha tilted his head back as much as possible and avoided eye contact here and there. He wished he would just hurry up and finish speaking, but Seo Sihan was slow. Jeong Minha, whose heart felt like it would burst, suppressed the desire to run away and waited for an answer.
“I like you as a fan, but… Minha yourself….”
Seo Sihan, who was likewise in a nervous state, stopped speaking. It was difficult to choose what words to use. Whatever he said, it was insufficient to fully express his feelings.
But he would tell him slowly from now on as well. Right now, he just wanted to give Jeong Minha the answer he wanted.
“…Just tell me the first letter.”
“…Yes?”
Jeong Minha, who had been waiting for Seo Sihan’s answer, asked back with a dumbfounded expression. What letter? At the sudden quiz, Jeong Minha also thought seriously. Is he asking what I want to hear right now? Well, there were many things he wanted to hear. He had even imagined it every day.
In a low, soft voice, Seo Sihan saying he also wanted to date him…….
Jeong Minha, who thought up to here, hesitated for a moment but calmed down again. Now was an opportunity that could become reality instead of imagination. Eventually, he squeezed his eyes shut and let out a small hint in a trembling voice.
“Sa…!”
Soon, a word came to Seo Sihan’s mind. It was a word he had never uttered once in his life. He briefly wondered if the pronunciation was correct.
And he opened his mouth.
“I love you….”
It was the simplest word, but the sincerity contained within it overflowed.
From then on, they couldn’t look at each other and talk. It was because Jeong Minha, frozen and spacing out, suddenly pushed Seo Sihan away and ran to his own room.
Bang, at the sound of the closing door, Seo Sihan came to his senses and was about to follow toward Jeong Minha’s room when he received a suddenly ringing phone call. It was the culprit who had just run away.
“…Minha-ya.”
—I, me too.
“Hm?”
—…I love you too….
“……”
When a trembling voice was heard from beyond the cell phone, Seo Sihan finally burst into laughter.
—Don’t laugh….
“Sorry…. But why by phone?”
—If I stayed in that spot any longer, I felt like I’d die of a heart attack…. You’d be sad too if your lover died as soon as you started dating, right, hyung….
Because of Jeong Minha speaking seriously despite it sounding like nonsense, Seo Sihan kept leaking laughter. I got it, do as you’re comfortable, Minha. After responding, Jeong Minha asked in a surprised tone:
—You’re not denying it?
“What?”
—That we started dating? That I’m your lover!
“I love it though?”
—…Your marriage prospects are all blocked now, hyung. If you say you’re getting married, I’ll shoot you with that gun from earlier.
“U, uh. I absolutely won’t.”
—…Today is day 1!
“We’ve been living together for….”
—That and that are different!
“I got it, everything Minha says is right….”
After that, they talked on the phone for quite a while. It was quite funny that they were on a call from each of their own rooms while in the same house. But Seo Sihan suppressed his laughter as much as possible. It was because Jeong Minha suddenly started speaking in English saying he wanted to match him too.
Really, I love you… you? Ah, but isn’t that rude? At Jeong Minha’s muttering to himself, Seo Sihan just kept his mouth tightly shut and only listened. There wasn’t really any difference in his speech whether in English or Korean. That point was cute.
Eventually, when Jeong Minha requested help, Seo Sihan taught him as easily as possible. I can’t live without you, love you no matter who you are…. You are the apple of my eye….
At Seo Sihan’s whispers, sneakily saying what he himself wanted to say under the guise of teaching, Jeong Minha suppressed his pounding heart and listened before asking. Apple? Why am I an apple?
—…Good night, Minha-ya. Sweet dreams…. See you tomorrow.
Seo Sihan changed the subject and hung up. Jeong Minha, who missed the timing to answer, just answered out loud. You sleep well too, hyung! Soon after, a message arrived saying [You too Minha haha].
‘Wow… it really feels like we’re dating…. Ah, we are dating, right?! Aaah! This is unbelievable!’
Jeong Minha swung his fist in the air for no reason before entering the shower room. He had finished training early and come straight home to confess to Seo Sihan.
Finally feeling lighthearted, he took off his athlete uniform. Actually, he had deliberately not taken it off to increase the success rate even a little.
Then, about to enter the shower room, he remembered Seo Sihan’s incomprehensible English and immediately turned on his phone.
“……!!”
After that, having learned the meaning, Jeong Minha could only fall asleep after cooling his head in the shower room for quite a while.
* * *
June, with its scorching sunlight beating down.
Already half a year had passed since they started living together. Seo Sihan and Jeong Minha spent peaceful days as they always had.
However, now one more thing had been added to the relationship between fan and athlete.
Seo Sihan and Jeong Minha became lovers.
What changes when you become lovers?
‘Living together…?’
The two had already been living together from the start.
‘Becoming a bit more affectionate….’
Seo Sihan had been affectionate enough to be misunderstood from the beginning, and Jeong Minha was also the obedient type.
‘Expressions of affection….’
Seo Sihan honestly spoke about his sincere feelings for Jeong Minha every day. There weren’t many big differences from before either.
“…That’s the problem!”
Jeong Minha kicked his blanket and sat up abruptly. He leaned his head against the wall and sighed.
‘I’m so happy that I’m finally dating hyung, but… why….’
Hasn’t anything changed?
After receiving Jeong Minha’s confession and Seo Sihan also talked about his own feelings, they hadn’t done anything more than that. He complimented him as always saying he was cool, but didn’t directly approach him.
“No way….”
Just because I said I wanted to… did he reluctantly accept…?
Jeong Minha squeezed shut his eyes that were experiencing pupil earthquakes. And he got up from his seat. After somehow becoming a couple, it was too unfair to worry alone like before again.
