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In hindsight, maybe it wasn't the cruel hand of fate and instead Jisung's habit of barging into his friends' houses unannounced that landed him in this situation, but he's always been a bit too dramatic for his own good, so at the first moment that Hyunjin has his back turned, Jisung shakes an angry fist at the sky.
"Jeonginnie went out to meet his classmates for a group project." is what Hyunjin is saying when Jisung finally manages to tune himself back to reality. He leads Jisung out from the hallway and into the humble space of their living room, kicking some clutter out of the way while mumbling under his breath— something about dongsaengs being terrible roommates.
"Oh." Jisung responds, hovering by the couch he's draped himself over a handful of times already, but always in Jeongin's presence. Now, he feels antsy and out of his depth, standing in front of Hyunjin— beautiful, striking, unattainable Hyunjin— who's been the center of Jisung's affections the moment Jisung first came over to Jeongin's under the pretense of hanging out instead of blatantly skipping class together.
"You could've told me your roommate was hot hot," Jisung had seethed, ducking his head back after stealing yet another glance from Hyunjin as he disappeared into the other room. "I'm not even dressed for the occasion, dude!"
"What occasion?" Jeongin deadpanned. "The start of my misery now that you're going to be insufferable about Hyunjin-hyung?"
"Hyunjin." Jisung echoed, a dreamy quality to his voice, and that about sealed his fate for the next three months, pining after his friend's roommate while also mourning the fact they went to different universities, thus the improbability of ever meeting in-campus.
Presently, Jisung feels that loss tenfold, the dead air hanging heavy between them for the lack of anything in common to talk about, but he's saved from making any half-baked attempts by Hyunjin himself.
"So, what brings you here, Jisung?"
Oh, right.
Jisung hastily reaches for his backpack, his arm caught at an awkward angle as he rummages through his stuff. "I was— gonna ask Jeongin—" he wrestles his wrist out and triumphantly presents a smaller bag, the contents clacking noisily. "to paint my nails."
Hyunjin blinks, stepping closer as Jisung crouches by the coffee table and takes out the bottles one by one, placing them in a neat row for Hyunjin to inspect.
"I was gonna go with black again— it's kind of my go-to color ever since I started painting my nails, but I figured rainbow colors would be more appropriate, you know?" Jisung clamps his mouth shut, internally screaming at himself for his propensity to mindlessly babble in the presence of people he found very, very attractive. He might as well have stuck a neon sign on his forehead that said I AM A RAGING HOMOSEXUAL.
But all Hyunjin does is smile at Jisung, his eyes hiding nothing except a glimmer of interest. By anyone else's standards, the gesture isn't much, but it instantly inflates Jisung's ego.
"Yeah, I think a rainbow would be really nice." Hyunjin says, taking the red bottle before twisting it open. He walks around the table to sit beside Jisung on the floor, now dabbing the little brush inside the vivid red liquid. "I know I'm no Jeonginnie, but I can do your nails for you. I mean, if that's okay with you?"
More than okay, extremely more than okay, Jisung wants to say, but he swallows the beating lump in his throat long enough to manage, "Of course. I don't mind at all."
Hyunjin graces him with another smile, friendlier now as he regards Jisung with those warm, honeyed eyes. Jisung, in turn, quickly wipes his palms on his jeans before presenting his hands to Hyunjin, barely holding back a squeak when Hyunjin takes one of them.
Jisung has watched and read a lot of anime and manga— shoujo in particular— to anticipate something as groundbreaking as making physical contact with his crush for the first time, and yet nothing could fully prepare him for the feel of it. Hyunjin's fingers are precise and diligent, soft to the touch despite Jisung knowing that he spends a lot of his free time pursuing different crafts, from bracelet-making to drawing traditional art.
Then there's also the simple beauty of watching Hyunjin at work, his long, dark hair falling from the loose half-ponytail he'd tied it in as he leans down to assess his progress. Jisung's free hand itches to reach out and tuck the strands behind Hyunjin's ear, but he figures he's already using up all his luck until his next life for this opportunity alone.
"I really hope I'm not messing this up." Hyunjin mumbles, a nervous edge to his voice seeing as he'd been painting a bit outside of Jisung's nails, not as precise as Jeongin's handiwork. But Jisung frantically shakes his head, earnest when he says, "No, no, no. You're perfect."
The giggle that bursts out of Hyunjin is mutually unexpected, with Jisung openly staring at how pretty Hyunjin's cheeks fold in layers of mirth while Hyunjin tries to tamper his embarrassment by pressing his lips together, a lone dimple digging into the corner of his mouth in the process.
"I really do mean it, you know," Hyunjin says after a few moments of companionable silence. His gaze sweeps up from where he's holding Jisung's hand to stare at him directly, like he wants Jisung to understand that there is no room for anything but the absolute truth in this moment. "I always thought you were cool for painting your nails even though Jeongin's told me it isn't allowed in your school. Then making a statement like this too— I think it's really neat. You're really neat."
Jisung has always known he was a weak man— weak to temptations such as one more hour binging his latest Kdrama obsession, one more packet of ramen despite the two he's already cooked, one more question to bug Jeongin about Hyunjin— but he doesn't dare buckle under this moment. Instead, Jisung gracefully takes the compliment with barely a stutter to show for how smitten he is, and says, "Thanks. I think you're really neat too. Extremely neat, in fact. I always— I always thought you were really cool for keeping your hair long."
"Really?" Hyunjin places the nail polish down, Jisung belatedly realizing that he'd already done all of his nails. He's looking at Jisung again, but this time instead of a glimmer there's evident stardust glittering in his gaze. "You should try growing yours out too."
"I'd never. I mean— I don't think I'd look half as pretty as you."
Hyunjin tucks his smile into something small, compact enough to let Jisung know he's trying his best not to let his amusement show. "Careful, Jisung. If you keep complimenting me it might get to my head."
And before Jisung can respond, Hyunjin ducks his head back to inspect his nails, humming to himself before jerking back with something like realization. "I have just the thing to complete the look." is all he says before jumping up to his feet and disappearing into his room, leaving Jisung to disperse the butteflies fluttering in the vicinity of his heart.
It doesn't take long for Hyunjin to come back, his mouth stretched into yet another smile that Jisung hurriedly tucks into the pockets of his memory.
Crouching beside Jisung, Hyunjin opens his palm to present him with a bracelet, multicolored pastel beads joined together with a lone star hanging in the middle. "For you."
Jisung's seen some of Hyunjin's creations wrapped around Jeongin's wrist, ranging from simple two-colored ones to an explosion of colors, little details like a tiny bread charm or the letters Innie arranged neatly.
"Are you sure?" he asks even as tentative hands pluck the small gift from Hyunjin, reverent when he puts the bracelet on, fitting snugly around his wrist. "Oh, wow. This is so pretty."
"It's just one of my spares," Hyunjin waves off the compliment with a careless wave of his hand, but the pleased flush along his cheekbones says otherwise. "next time, I'll make you one with your name."
"Sweet." Jisung grins, beyond elated with his rainbow nails and his equally colorful bracelet and this pretty boy who gives his promises just as easily as his gifts. "I'd really love that, Hyunjin."
It's safe to say that a week later, Jisung is not only donning two bracelets— one with the lone star in the middle and the other with his last name spelled out as H-A-N— but also Hyunjin's number, saved in his contacts list as (My) Pretty Boy.