stuck on my tongue (like cinnamon)

Denial is a river Minho has been swimming in for years. She’ll take a kiss, a heavy head on her chest and moves with the jealousy of an angry girlfriend, but ask her if they’re dating and Minho would tell them Chan is just an itch.

Notes:

i know this has probably been done already but writing is beautiful and here is my take on fem minho best friends minchan for anyone who feels like reading. minho’s a little bit of a bitch in here but it’s from a place of love, trust.
edit: sabrina is mentioned in this ONLY for her clothes ok its halloween and minho is in sparkly bodysuit lets just focus on that thank u

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter Text

“Close your eyes, oppa.”

Chan probably doesn’t want to, but he closes his eyes anyway, because Minho knows exactly when to use the honorifics to get what she wants and Chan falls for it every single time. He should probably grow a backbone and tell her no sometimes, but she knows exactly which buttons to press and what names to call him to get him to give in. Their friends like to call it the Minho specialty; Chan is always soft and kind, but he is also always softer and kinder to Minho.

“If this is another one of your pranks and I end up having to hold your pet tarantula or something, I am calling it quits.” Chan tells her with his eyes squeezed shut, his hand finally putting down the phone he has been glued to for the past hour.

Minho wants to throw something at him for even bringing up Tara, her very dead and very dear pet tarantula, but she doesn’t want to spoil the surprise she’s worked on for so long. Halloween is coming up in three weeks and Chan has always been the first one to see her new costume. She’s turning twenty-eight in two weeks, but no one said anything about being too old to dress up. Plus, she’s in her prime time and her costume looks great.

Probably not original, but great.

Think Sabrina Carpenter’s pink rhinestone bodysuit and garters she wore for her short n sweet show in Charlottesville, 2024. Minho is wearing exactly that. She has the wig and the stockings and sewed the rhinestones herself and while she may not be as small as Sabrina, Minho thinks the bodysuit hugs her perfectly. Her very first thought when she had finished making this outfit was that Chan would absolutely be floored.

He’s been perched on the couch in her apartment for the last two hours at least, so focused on his phone that she uses the chance to get into her bodysuit, careful not to rip out any rhinestone in the process. It’s another typical Friday night; Chan has just gotten off work and for some reason, instead of going out to drink with his friends, he chooses to rot on Minho’s couch.

No matter. Minho actually genuinely likes Chan’s company.

She doesn’t bother putting on her wig, happy with how the bodysuit looks on her and she decides against her heels as she pokes her head out of her room to make sure Chan still has his eyes closed. Seeing that he does, Minho tiptoes out into her living room and poses, a hand on the curve of her waist.

“Channie,” she calls again, her cheeks stinging from how wide she’s been smiling. She’s beyond excited, because Chan always has the best reaction. “Yah, oppa, you can look now.”

Chan peeks an eye open and then both his eyes open and Minho witnesses firsthand as they threaten to pop out of his skull. Success, she thinks, because Chan always looks like he wants to eat her. She giggles and does a little twirl for him, a hand coming up to slip into the top of her bodysuit to make sure her boob fills up the push up bra nicely. She’s a b-cup, at the very least, and happy with it. Hannie’s c-cup looks good in most of her clothes, but Minho won’t complain.

“Well?” She smiles at him and adds, “Ignore my face because I am not glamming up for you but what do you think of the bodysuit? I made it myself!”

Chan fidgets in his seat and clears his throat, “Jagiya, it’s October. You’re gonna freeze your tits out.”

Minho frowns. “Oppa, it’s Halloween. Where is your spirit? This is not the Chan I know! Come on, tell me I look good.”

“You look amazing, Minho-yah,” Chan flashes her a dimpled smile, the one she thinks he reserves especially for her. “But it will be cold. Tell me you’re wearing a jacket, at least?”

Minho hums and turns towards the wall mirror to her right, checking herself out one more time. She sees him in the reflection behind her, his gaze scanning her from top to toe. Minho likes the attention. “Well, I have you to keep me warm.”

Chan finally tears his gaze away and he gets up to his feet to close the distance between them. Minho watches in the mirror as he comes up behind her and feels his warm, familiar touch just above the line of her bodysuit. She tries not to fight her body’s urge to react to his touch, swallowing as he lifts his hand to show her a piece of rhinestone that must have come off when she puts it on.

“Yeji asked if I wanted to go to the party with her.”

Minho spins her head around so fast she thinks she hears a crick in her neck. “Hyunjin’s sister Yeji?”

“Whoa, hey, slow down,” Chan laughs, his large hand curling gently around her nape to massage the spot she must have strained a bit and only then does she feel a little sore. “Yes, Yeji. Hyunjin was there too.”

Minho goes quiet, letting Chan continue to massage her neck as she thinks of a proper way to respond. She’s not jealous, not really, but if Chan goes with Yeji then she would rather drop dead than be a third-wheeler. And she hasn’t gone to Yongbok’s Halloween party without Chan like, ever. Not to mention, Yongbok had said it’s the last Halloween party she would host. She doesn’t expect him to be the one to ruin this. He’s clearly waiting for her to say something but she pretends to forget that she’s supposed to, making a soft sound close to a moan from the pressure of his skillful hand.

Chan snorts and lets go, going back to the couch to pick up his phone. “So will you be wearing that jacket?”

“No,” She rolls her eyes, turning back around to look at him and pushes her bangs back out of frustration. “I said I have you to keep me warm. You’re not going with Yeji, are you?”

“Why not?” Chan frowns at her. “You can come with us.”

Minho lets out a dramatic gasp. “You don’t understand, do you? She asked you on a date and you said yes!”

Annoyed that Chan could be this oblivious and accidentally agreed to a date, Minho huffs and pads away into her room and shuts the door a little too loudly. Getting out of the bodysuit turns out to be a lot more work than getting inside it and after fifteen minutes of trying to unzip herself, Minho gives up and yells for Chan to help.

He still knocks at her door even though she very clearly already allowed him in but he doesn’t wait for her response when he opens it and pokes his head inside. He smiles and steps in, not bothering to close the door behind him as he strolls over towards her. She only needs to turn her back to him for him to know what she’s asking.

They’re like two halves of a whole, Minho likes to tell everyone. She reads him like an open book and Chan knows her like the back of his hands. They have been friends for so long Minho can’t remember when exactly they’d realised their friendships don’t feel like any others.

After he pulls down the zipper and takes the initiative to undo the hooks of her corset, Chan steps back and sits on the edge of her bed while she strips down to nothing. He toys with the necklace he never takes off, a gift she’d gotten for him after he’d scored for the campus’ baseball team. It has a ballerina pendant because she was in ballet. She uses her forearm now to cover both her tits, kicking off (gently) the bodysuit aside and left in only her panties before she grabs the shirt she was wearing before she tried on the suit.

“Do you wanna tell me what’s gotten you so upset about going with me and Yeji?” Chan asks as he bends down to pick up her bodysuit, handing it to her.

She ignores his question in favour of taking the clothing from him to hang on a hanger, disappearing into her walk-in closet to put it away. When she returns and finds him still seated on the edge of her bed, she sighs and goes to her vanity table to grab a claw clip before she closes the distance between them. Her arms go up so she could put her ash blonde hair up in a bun and he steals this chance to pull at the waistband of her panties and let go so it thwacks against her skin.

She kicks him in his shin. “Are you staying?”

Chan shrugs, smiling up at her. “Should I? The guys are asking if I’m down to hang out or whatever. I’m kinda tired though.”

“Stay,” she tells him as she climbs into her bed and drops onto her back against her soft pillows, stretching like a cat. “We can finish up that stupid show you like so much. You still have some of your clothes here right?”

She looks up at him just to find him staring at her. Her eyebrows raise to emphasise her question and when he nods his head, Minho smiles and spreads her arms out in invitation. This is normal, she thinks. Normal is watching Chan eagerly shrugging off his leather jacket to drop it on the floor so he could dive into bed with her. Normal is his strong arms circling around her small waist and his warm cheek resting against her chest, like a big giant baby who can’t go where she isn’t going.

Minho hugs his head close, lets her fingers play with his soft, dark curls and she thinks about his question. Should she be honest? Should she just tell him a lie and say Hyunjin would probably kill him if he hurts Yeji? Minho decides she’s physically incapable of lying, at least to Chan.

“I never go to Yongbokkie’s party alone, Channie,” she says quietly, almost soft enough for him to miss, but they’re too close for Chan not to hear her.

Chan raises his head and looks at her before he shifts and rests back onto her pillows, tugging her down so now her head is on his chest, his arm draping around her shoulders. “So come with me and Yeji?”

Minho stares up at the ceiling, wishing Chan could read her mind this one time. “Oppa, she basically just asked you out and you’re asking me to thirdwheel? First of all, that’s disrespectful to her and second, you’re embarrassing me.”

A second ticks by in silence and then two before Chan laughs, “What? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Shut up,” Minho sits up and pinches Chan’s nipple, eliciting a high pitched squeak out of the guy. “Don’t pretend to be stupid, Channie. She obviously asked you on a date. She asked you to go to the party with her and you said yes.”

Chan looks at her and clears his throat, rubbing at his pec. “Um, okay? I can’t say no to her because…?”

Well, what the fuck is Minho supposed to say? Why can’t he just read her mind and understand? She glares at him, annoyed, and Chan has the audacity to laugh again but this time he manages to catch Minho’s hand before she could pinch his nipple again.

“Like I said,” Minho huffs, trying to pull her hand away but he has a grip around her wrist. “I never go alone to Bokkie’s parties and if you’re going with her then I’m gonna have to go alone.”

Chan releases his grip and lets her palm rest on his chest. “Jagiya, you go with Hannie too. And Hyunjin and Mina sometimes, right? Aren’t we all going together?”

She could give up. She could tell him okay and move on, really, and never speak of it again, but she wants Chan to be there with her when she walks into the party looking like the best Sabrina Carpenter clone in town. She kind of wants to cry and he must have picked up on it because he sits up with her and reaches up to cup her cheek, thumb grazing over her soft skin.

“We’ll go together, yeah?”

Minho blinks, pulling her best doe-eyed look that always works on Chan. Just a simple dip of her head, a lift of her gaze, a little pout on her lips. It’s not too obvious and just enough to get her what she wants. She thanks her mother for blessing her with big eyes.

“Yah,” Chan laughs again, covering her face with his hand in a lame attempt to get her to look away. He only pulls away when she licks his palm. “You’re a cheater. Quit cheating.”

“I’m a fair player,” Minho scoffs, reaching up to ruffle up his hair. “You’re just weak for me, oppa.”

“Weak? I’ll show you weak, Lee Minho,” Chan lunges at her to her surprise, causing her to squeal out as he starts to tickle her sides where she has always been sensitive.

Minho bursts into a fit of giggles at the tickle attack, squirming and trying to fight her way out of his hold. There are fingers digging into her waist, wriggling in the way that gets her completely breathless. She doesn’t know how he ends up on top of her, perched between her legs with his face buried in her neck to maximise his attack because of course she’s ticklish on her neck too. She might be crying from laughing too much.

He lets up eventually but they are both breathless at this point and Minho feels so weak she doesn’t have the energy to push him away. His body is a comfortable weight on top of her and she shamelessly parts her legs to accommodate the size of him between them. Just because it’s warm.

She’s still smiling when she feels the soft press of lips on her neck. It feels nice; gentle, careful, an accidental brush of Chan’s lips against her skin. But then there’s another one and another and Minho likes it. She likes it enough to let an embarrassing sound leave her and it must have broken the spell because Chan laughs and pulls away, meeting her gaze.

“You smell nice,” he says, and for a moment, his eyes shift down to her lips before they look up again. “Did you put on perfume before I came here, Minho-yah?”

She rolls her eyes and squirms a little under his weight but keeps her thighs caging his hips so he doesn’t move away. “It’s my natural skin scent, stupid. Get off me.”

Chan responds by leaning down to threaten to bite her neck but just as he does, there’s a knock on the front door and Minho uses this chance to push him off her body. The lack of his warmth and weight is unfortunate but she ignores it as she climbs off the bed to get to the door. It must be a friend if they’re able to get up to her floor but only Chan has access to her unit so anyone else would have to give it a knock.

She opens it to find Hyunjin and her sister, Yeji, both of them wearing big smiles to greet her. Minho’s face lights up as Hyunjin is first to step in and give her a hug before Yeji does the same.

“We texted you but I’m assuming you didn’t see,” Hyunjin explains as she finds her way to the couch and plops down onto it. “We were at grandma’s and thought we should drop by, you know, since she’s just a few blocks away. What were you up to?”

Minho parts her lips to speak but Yeji cuts in, “Is that Channie oppa’s bag?”

As if summoned, Chan comes out of Minho’s bedroom having changed into his home clothes that he keeps here for nights he plans to stay over. Home clothes that happen to be a black tank top and a pair of grey shorts. Minho steals a second to appreciate all the hours Chan spent at the gym before she belatedly realises what she’s wearing. That explains the look on Yeji’s face. Fuck.

“Hey,” Chan greets the other two girls before bending over to pick up his bag that he’d left on the floor, putting it neatly inside the drawer Minho had made space particularly for Chan’s bag, considering he is almost always here.

Hyunjin looks between the two of them. “Were you guys fucking?”

“No?” Minho squeaks.

“What?” That’s Chan.

Yeji clutches at her gut. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

Minho is a girl’s girl. At least, most of the time. She would fight a man for a girl, she would be a murder accomplice if her best girlfriend had killed a man, she would always fight for women’s rights and the lot, but where Chan is involved, Minho might come off as a little bit of a bitch. It really is not her fault; Chan is a man of many talents, deep-rooted in his moral beliefs and he’s funny. His kind is rare on the market.

She would feel terrible over Yeji cancelling on Chan for the Halloween party, but he was going to cancel on her anyway so it’s better that Yeji did it first to save her from getting rejected. She probably wouldn’t want to see Minho again, but that’s okay. It really isn’t her fault that Chan doesn’t like Yeji that way. If anything, Yeji has earned Minho's respect for being so brave. Not many girls would be as brave.

Minho has an inkling she is part of the reason why the other girls don’t try with Chan. She hates to be that girl best friend everyone gets warned about, but Chan finds his way to her apartment even without her invitation and she really can’t complain, not when she gets to spend so much time with him.

Yeji isn’t even the first one. Chan has dated before, obviously, and so has Minho. She doesn’t go out of her way to ruin things for Chan because she genuinely loves him and hurting him would be the last thing Minho would do. It’s just- Well, Chan’s company has always felt more… enjoyable? Her ex boyfriends were fun and cool and great, even. They were just not Chan.

She would never admit this to anyone. Not even Hannie.

Changbin likes to tease her about being in love with Chan, which, she guesses from the point of view of an outsider, is a plausible cause to all their failed relationships. But it’s Bang Chan and they have been platonic soulmates since college. There is no way Minho would harbour feelings for Chan. It’s just not possible.

If you must know, though, the reason she is turning twenty-eight and single is only because her last serious boyfriend had turned out to be a total cheating asshole, and while she might not have been in love with him, it still messed up her ability to trust someone with her heart. It has been three years since she walked in on him having sex with his co-worker, which is supposedly a long enough time to move on from her hurt, but Minho finds being single feels a lot better.

Come to think of it, Chan has also been single for as long as she has been. His fate had been different from hers; an unfortunate turn of events with someone he had thought would be his last. He claimed they weren’t on the same page. His ex, Erica, was a lovely, pretty girl and while Minho tends to disapprove of the people he dates for some unknown reason, the three years with Erica had softened Minho. But being broken up and hurt at the same time had made Minho and Chan closer.

Closer than they have always been. Close enough to make a pact.

It’s a stupid, corny pact she likes to giggle over and doesn’t take seriously. They had been tipsy, in the living room of her apartment, faces swollen from crying and a rerun of Friends playing on the tv. It was Minho who brought it up.

“We should get married if we’re still single in ten years,” She had proposed, a little drunk, a lot hurt and mostly angry with herself for being so foolish. Angry with the girl Chan had chosen to love who still decided he wasn’t the one. “What do you say, oppa? Are you down?”

He had laughed at her, dimples deep in his pink cheeks, chest flushed and eyes turning into crescents. He did not take five minutes to seal the deal. Minho had felt like she had signed a back up plan if all else fails.

Who else has her back if not her best friend, right?

She doesn’t need to get married to survive, let’s make that clear. Her parents made sure she was born on a gold bedding and have ever since provided every single thing she wishes for. A good school, the main character role for the school play, her very first car at eighteen, her own luxury apartment as soon as she graduated college. She lives a good life with their wealth, unemployed, traveling the world for experiences and all without an ounce of complaint from them.

Minho is good for the rest of her life, thanks to her parents. So, really, the idea of marriage only lingers in the back of her head because, truthfully, Minho does want to start her very own family. She wants a baby eventually, a nice little house for her to decorate, a husband to kiss and to pamper her. She still keeps her book of wedding plans in that box she hides in her walk-in closet. There might have been a list of baby names between those pages. She dreams and wishes and indulges in her own girly fantasies. Reality is just not as sparkly.

“Unnie,” Hannie calls for Minho’s attention with a pout in her voice, clearly upset about something.

They are a week away from Halloween and only a few more days until Minho’s birthday. Hannie still doesn’t have a costume for Yongbok’s party, so Minho has dragged her out for a little shopping. It’s too late to get anything that looks good but she’s confident she can make Hannie look decent.

“Did you upset Hyunjin, unnie?” Hannie continues to ask, though this time it effectively gets Minho’s attention.

“Did I upset Hyunjin?” She repeats with a tilt of her head as she looks up at Hannie, a hand stopped at one of the leather jackets she’s checking out at this thrift store they had dropped by. “What makes you think so?”

Hannie shrugs, her round cheeks dusted pink from the cold. It’s only October and it really is not that cold, but Hannie is only a small girl. “She told me she doesn’t wanna see you for a bit. What happened?”

Minho winces as she goes back to the jackets, picking one up that looks the closest to what Tiffany from the Chucky movies wore. She has an inkling as to why Hyunjin is upset, but it really isn’t her fault. “It’s probably a misunderstanding. She thinks I fucked Channie oppa.”

“Why would that upset her? And don’t you guys fuck from time to time?”

“What? No, we don’t.” That’s ridiculous, Minho thinks, but she’s quick to address the situation at hand, looking up at Hannie once more. “You don’t know? Yeji asked him out to Bokkie’s party. He was just over at my place when they came to visit and I guess- I was a little underdressed and she might have made the assumption that we were fooling around.”

There’s a brief pause from Hannie before she speaks again. “Were you?”

“We were not,” Minho’s voice raised a little, feeling defensive and perhaps a little offended that Hannie would think so. She sighs and walks away from the leather aisle, going all the way towards the white wedding dresses section. Hannie is close behind so Minho continues to talk. “You know oppa likes to stay over at mine, even when he was still dating. He isn’t so what do you think is gonna happen? He’ll be at my place a lot of the time. Besides, I don’t think he knew he was saying yes to a date. He invited me to go with them.”

“Oh, oppa can be so dense!” Hannie whines, taking the white dress Minho just shoves to her chest. “That’s very brave of Yeji though. I didn’t think she would really do it.”

Minho blinks, “You knew she was going to?”

“Um,” Hannie avoids her gaze. “I knew she had a crush on oppa. I didn’t encourage it of course! And I don’t think she was gonna do anything about it because, you know, you and Channie oppa have this thing going, but I think Changbin oppa said something like if you two were gonna get together you would have already and I guess Yeji convinced herself she might have a chance?”

Poor girl. “Poor Yeji.”

“You don’t sound sorry at all, unnie.”

Minho frowns as she tugs Hannie over to the dressing room. “Why should I be sorry? Plus, I feel a little offended that I had no idea she likes him. Shouldn’t I know?”

“Should you?” Hannie teases, “Do we have to go through you to see who gets to ask oppa out?”

Yes? Minho shrugs, “I would have disapproved anyway.”

“Why?”

“Because, Hannie,” Minho sighs and places her hands on Hannie’s shoulders. “Yeji is Hyunjinnie’s little twin sister. Think of the bigger picture. If they don’t work out for whatever reason, and you’re still engaged to Hyunjin, you and I can’t hang out anymore and I won’t get to go to your wedding! We already have the bridesmaids' dresses picked out.”

Hannie frowns, looking genuinely confused. “Why won’t we be able to hang out? That doesn’t make sense!”

Minho sighs again, tugging Hannie into one of the cubicles so she could start stripping the girl to try out the wedding dress. No, not for her wedding. For Halloween. “Because I’m Channie oppa’s favourite person ever and if he and Yeji broke up I’ll have to make him feel better, which means I’ll be on his side and Hyunjin will be on Yeji’s side and where does that leave you?”

She knows she probably sounds horrible, but Minho genuinely doesn’t see where she’s wrong. It makes complete sense, and Chan is too kind to be rejecting any advances. She wouldn’t want him to say yes out of basic courtesy. This is her best friend we’re talking about. Minho will protect what she must.

Hannie doesn’t seem to share the same understanding because she still looks confused as she lets Minho turn her around, zipping up her dress. “But they could work out.”

Ugh. Minho hates it when Hannie makes sense because she is almost always right. Minho just disagrees. “Chan oppa doesn’t like her like that, so let’s just say Yeji dodged a bullet there.”

“Chan oppa is a good guy though,” Hannie says, checking herself out in the mirror. “He could so treat Yeji right. Are you sure it’s not because you want oppa for yourself?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Minho mutters before she turns Hannie around to unzip her dress. “You look great, Tiffany! Now you have something to wear for Halloween so you better show up. Why don’t you come over early so we can get ready together?”

Hannie pouts as she finishes putting her clothes back on. “I’m going with Hyunjin, unnie. Yeji’s going with us.”

Of course. All this for a guy too? Minho grabs the dress and jacket and beelines towards the cashier. She pays for them and hands the bag to Hannie, who follows her out of the store and to her car. It’s chilly outside and Minho’s choice of dress probably isn’t ideal, but she has her jacket on and it’s enough to keep her warm. Today she had picked out a mini dress to wear, the one she’d gotten as a gift that’s in pink and white floral print, paired with her favourite pair of couture heels.

In the car, Minho waits for Hannie to climb into the passenger seat before she pulls out of the parking lot. Hannie clears her throat and speaks up gingerly, “Did I upset you?”

“No,” Minhee says a little too quickly. “But do you see what I mean, Hannie? You’re already split up like this and they didn’t even date!”

Hannie mumbles something under her breath that Minho doesn’t catch and she’s about to ask when her phone starts to ring. It’s Chan and Minho answers it at the third ring, putting it on speaker since she’s still driving.

“Jagiya~” Chan greets her as he usually would, his smile heard through his voice. “Are you free tonight?”

Minho glances at Hannie, who raises her eyebrows at her as she tucks her dark hair behind her ear and crosses her arms over her chest. Minho rolls her eyes. “Hey, Chan-ah. Yeah, I’m free tonight, I think. Why?”

“You remember that sushi place I was telling you about last week? Wanna get dinner there with me?”

Hannie giggles and she interrupts before Minho could say anything else. “Am I invited too, oppa? Or is this supposed to be a date?”

“Hannie?” Chan laughs, perhaps a little nervously. “Of course you are. It’ll be on me.”

Minho pinches Hannie’s waist, bringing a yelp out of her. “She’s just messing with you, oppa. She’s extremely busy tonight so it’ll just be you and me.”

“Ah, okay then. I’ll see you around, Han-ah.”

Minho ends the call. She ignores Hannie’s stare until the younger girl speaks up. “Jagiya? Are you sure oppa knows you guys aren’t dating?”

That somehow makes Minho giggle. “Of course he knows. It’s just a stupid nickname. He likes to tease me.”

“What about when he has a girlfriend? Or you have a boyfriend? Is he gonna keep calling you that?”

Minho thinks about the way Chan had kissed her neck that day Hyunjin and Yeji had visited them. That’s only allowed because they’re both not seeing anybody, just like Chan calling her jagiya is okay because he’s single and so is she. He can’t possibly think they’re…? Minho shakes her head.

“Obviously not,” Minho tells Hannie and glances at her one more time, unable to fight the smile on her lips. “He’s also gonna have to stop kissing my neck.”

Hannie gasps, “He did what?!”

Minho laughs and adds, “You know what? Maybe I should talk to him about boundaries.”

Chan’s lips feel soft against the hollow of her neck, the dip where her sternum begins, his breath warm against her skin. There’s nothing sexual about it, Minho thinks to herself. Chan is tired from work and he has always been a big, giant puppy who likes to nap on her chest and Minho likes his weight and warmth. They’re sprawled on her couch in her living room, stuffed with sushi and Chan is drifting off on her chest, his head heavy where her heart is beating.

Minho is not usually a fan of such affections, especially physically, but she makes it an exception for Chan merely because she finds comfort in it herself. With pillows propped up against the armrest to support her neck and back, she’s in the perfect position to accommodate the size of him. His arms feel sturdy around her waist. Clingy, touchy puppy, she thinks.

The TV is playing an episode of The Good Doctor. Minho barely focuses on it, drowsy from the dinner they just had and doom scrolling through her tiktok while her free hand plays with Chan’s soft curls. She assumes he’s sleeping by now just from how softly he’s breathing, how quiet he’s been for the past twenty minutes. She thinks about the boundaries she told Hannie she would set, except she likes this. She doesn’t want this normal to change.

Their friends like to question her feelings for Chan, for some reason, as if the idea of being just friends is a crazy concept to them. Surely, if she does, she would have known about it. She’s had crushes, she has fallen in love before. The kind of joy she feels with Chan doesn’t feel like anything romantic.

She sighs, wondering why she’s stuck on this thought now when she would have just moved on from it usually. She continues to scroll her tiktok, stopping at a particular video about a couple who met in school, starting off as friends and ending up falling in love. She smiles at this because it sounds like a silly little movie and she wonders what would happen if she and Chan happen to experience the same.

Silly, she thinks, but the idea of Chan kissing her, holding her like this… Minho’s heartbeat picks up, just a little bit. She has never let it cross her mind or even dwell on it, not after the countless times their friends had brought it up. Chan has always been her best friend. He’s attractive, sure, but anyone with eyes would agree. He understands her, which would make dating so much easier. He knows her down to her core, knows where she would get sore after a run, knows what her favourite things are because, well, because they’re best friends.

God, Minho groans internally, forcing herself to shake the thought off because it’s ridiculous to think about. There’s no way Chan feels that way either. He’s so close, though. She could smell his cologne, the soft musk of the day still clinging onto him. It’s not unpleasant, although it’s probably because she’s gotten so used to his presence.

“Why is your heart beating so fast?”

Fuck.

“You scared the shit out of me,” Minho complains as she tugs at his curls, effectively causing him to yelp at the sting. She frowns and frowns deeper when he lifts his head and their eyes meet. Minho clears her throat. “Thought you were sleeping.”

Chan raises his eyebrows, his smile teasing. “You got all nervous watching some best friends to lovers tiktok video? Minho-yah…”

“Shut up,” she tries to push him off her but he’s strong and stays in place effortlessly. “It’s just a video. And if anything, I think you’re the one who has feelings for me.”

Chan hums, shifting a bit just so he isn’t crushing her under his weight. Minho tries not to protest. “What if I do? Is that so bad?”

“You don’t,” Minho scoffs and ends up giggling because the more she thinks about it, the funnier it gets. “I mean, I’d totally get it if you do but, oppa, come on. It’s me. It’s us. Are you telling me you’re looking at me right now and you’re thinking about kissing me?”

Probably not the right question to ask, because Minho witnesses firsthand as Chan’s gaze drops to her mouth and for a second, he looks like he might actually kiss her. It’s a chain reaction because now Minho is looking at his lips. They look so soft and plush and… Minho swallows the sudden lump in her throat and finds herself clutching onto his bicep.

What the fuck is happening?

“You are so dangerous, Minho-yah,” Chan finally says, his gaze back up to meet Minho’s. He’s still smiling and Minho stops breathing when Chan dips his head and bumps their noses together instead. His lips find the spot between her eyebrows before he goes back to his previous position, face in her chest. “Only six years until we gotta live up to our pact. I’ll wait.”

Minho exhales. She wants to push Chan off of her and deal with whatever is going on in her guts in the safety of her room, but instead she says, “Not if I find someone else to marry.”

Chan scoffs against her skin, “Good luck then.”

With her birthday happening this Sunday, Minho’s parents have her go back to their house for her birthday dinner before they fly back to Europe, where they are currently living out their retirement days. She does occasionally fly out to stay with them for a week or two, though that usually only happens when she goes on her quarterly vacations. She’s expecting to spend Christmas this year with them at their house in Italy, but if Chan isn’t going back to Australia, Minho might just stay in Seoul to spend it with him.

It’s tradition, really. Chan doesn’t always get to go back because of work and sometimes his siblings, Hannah and Lucas, choose to spend their time here instead and for those Christmases, Minho stays back to spend time with them. Being an only child can get pretty lonely so she genuinely enjoys the Bangs’ company. Chan forbids it, but Minho likes to sneak his younger siblings out for a shopping spree especially when he’s stuck at work.

“Are you spending Christmas here, Minho-yah?” Her mother asks in the midst of dinner, her smile genuine as she waits for a response, though she adds even before Minho could speak. “We were thinking a small get together would be enough, maybe invite a few friends over. You’ll meet this boy I know. He’s the son of one of my friends there.”

Minho looks up at her mother with a sigh, “I told you I’m not interested at the moment. Especially with an Italian boy, mama. All my friends are here and I don’t wanna move there just because my boyfriend lives there.”

Her mother laughs at this, lighthearted as always. “I was just wondering if you’d be open to it. No pressure. I think he’s pretty cute.”

“Hush, jagiya,” her father adds, a cheeky smile on his lips. “Our Minho already has eyes on her Bang Chan. What’s an Italian boy compared to him, right?”

Minho genuinely finds this funny, so she laughs as she takes a bite of her mother’s amazing food. “Why does everyone say that? He’s my friend. It’s purely platonic.”

Her parents share a look before her mother continues to speak, “You don’t look like just friends. You spend Christmases together like a couple. You decorate the apartment together and house his siblings like they’re your children. That Bang Chan is always sleeping at your place.”

“I also heard you’re both single,” her father hums, finishing whatever food he’s been chewing. “Aren’t you interested in building your own family?”

In all her twenty-seven and three hundred and sixty-four days of life, this is the first time she gets the insinuation that her parents want something out of her. They had never been strict, even when it came to her studies. They never forced her hand in college either and the choice to go was completely her own. They have never told her to work a day in her life, or do anything she doesn’t want to do. This question, while it may have been from genuine curiosity, makes Minho feel a little… Well, icky.

She makes a quick assumption that they must want a soft pair of little feet pitter-pattering in their house. To be grandparents, probably like most of their friends. Minho is quickly reaching her thirties and it would make sense that they would start getting worried about it. She considers actually marrying Chan just for a baby. The craziest bit of this equally insane thought isn’t that she doesn’t find it disgusting, but that Chan might actually say yes.

“Papa, is it my fault that I haven’t found anyone?” She asks this carefully, keeping a respectful tone while also getting her point across. “Marriage is a big deal to me. I want to reach your age with my husband and actually like him like you guys like each other.”

They share another look, one she wishes she understands, before her mother nods her head and says, “You understand why we think Chan is good for you?”

Minho’s a little taken aback by this, because she did not think her parents were serious about Chan. She offers them a smile and changes the subject, something about Hannie’s wedding next spring. They don’t bring Chan up again.

Minho runs a routine the night before her birthday; have an everything shower when she gets home from dinner with her parents, do her skincare, shave where she needs shaving, moisturise, get ready her clothes for her birthday dinner and watch Love, Rosie with Chan.

This has been her annual routine every year since she met Chan. He has never failed to be the first to wish her a happy birthday when the clock strikes midnight. Not even her boyfriends had been so quick. Perhaps she should have known their presence never mattered as much as Chan does because it has never upset her when they forget or were late to wish her.

It is currently thirty minutes to midnight, however, and Chan isn’t here.

Minho wonders if he’s just been held back at work, but it’s Saturday and Chan doesn’t work on weekends. She’s left him several messages reminding him not to forget to get an extra bottle of wine on his way over, but all her texts have been left delivered. It’s so unlike Chan not to reply to her immediately. She would try to call him, but fears Chan might be on the road on his motorbike and doesn’t want to risk his safety.

The clock keeps ticking too fast. Thirty minutes lessens to fifteen and Minho is seated on her couch wearing her pink pyjamas, smelling fresh and feeling clean and absolutely Chan-less. She starts to worry this would be the first time he isn’t here for her birthday in the last decade. She’s not sure she likes the change. A heads up would have been great.

She picks up her phone and opens the chat she has going on with Chan. He hasn’t even read her texts. It’s just then that she hears the door opening and Minho frowns, crossing her arms over her chest and ready to nag his ears out about ignoring her messages. Except when the door does open, Minho sees Chan with steri-strips on his face, the bandages they use to close up cuts, and even a small wound stitched up on the right side of his forehead.

It takes her no time at all to get off the couch and rush over, hands coming up to cup his cheeks gently. “Oppa, what happened to you?”

His look of surprise at having seen her move so quickly morphs into a sheepish grin and he closes the door with one hand before it finds her hip. “Got into a little accident. Good news, I get the week off of work to rest. Bad news? My bike’s gone to the workshop so, no rides at least until next week.”

“Wait, slow down,” Minho urges, taking his hand off her hip to pull him towards the couch, where she sits him down and sinks onto her knees in front of him so she could check out his wounds. “You needed stitches? On your head? Oppa, that doesn’t sound like a little accident.”

Chan’s hand comes up to touch his new stitches but he seems unfazed. “It was kinda funny, actually. I was on my way here, right, like two hours ago? I was thinking about getting you your flowers and I got distracted because I remembered how cute you looked crashing out over your dried petals disintegrating and- I didn’t see the car in front of me. Flew straight out of my bike and on the ground.”

He has the audacity to remove his jacket and show off the abrasion on his elbow, skin red but not broken probably thanks to his jacket. Minho thinks she might cry.

And then Chan adds, “Oh, and guess who the driver was? You remember Jihyo from my finance module back in the day?”

Minho’s heart drops into her stomach. She knows Jihyo, alright, and she knows how infatuated Chan had been over her. Who wouldn’t be? She looked like a goddess in heels stuck in a business major instead of modeling. Minho is pretty sure the only reason they never dated was because Jihyo had a boyfriend. Is she single now? Is that why Chan doesn’t look like he just flew out of his bike the way he’s grinning from ear to ear?

Oh, Minho feels sick. It’s her birthday in six minutes and she might actually throw up in his face.

She rises up to her feet a little too quickly, barely managing to steady herself because the sudden movement made her a little dizzy. She doesn’t say a word as she goes into her kitchen under the false disguise of getting him a drink. There’s no reason why she’s feeling this way. So what if Chan starts dating again? She would have to find something else to do to occupy her time. Maybe she should find a boyfriend again. She wonders if Seonghwa would want her back. Probably not.

“Minho?”

Minho lifts her head from her bouts of overthinking to see Chan standing at the doorway of her kitchen. Her fingers feel cold and she realises she’s let the water overflow from the glass she was filling up. Clearing her throat, she turns off the water dispenser and holds the glass up for Chan.

“Drink.”

Chan takes the glass gingerly, “Alright, Minho-yah?”

“Yeah,” Minho nods, feeling a little suffocated suddenly. She should open the windows. “Just- I’m glad you’re okay, oppa. I guess meeting an old crush made it less painful.”

There’s a look of confusion that crosses Chan’s features before his expression softens with realisation. “It wasn’t a bad crash.”

“Oh, yeah?” Minho crosses her arms again, and she doesn’t know why she’s trying to pick a fight but it feels right. “Did you guys sit down after over coffee and caught up over the last, what? Eight years? Is that why you couldn’t at the very least send me a text to tell me you’ve gotten into a fucking accident?”

Chan is clearly fighting back a smile and it pisses Minho off because she wishes he would actually fight her. He never does. He counters her tantrums and arguments with his stupid dimpled smiles and stupid strong arms holding her long enough for the fire to cool down inside her.

“First of all,” Chan says as he glances down at his wristwatch and back up at her, closing the distance between them. “Happy birthday. You’re a grumpy little bunny this year, huh?”

Minho clenches her jaw. “What’s your second point?”

He’s right up against her at this point, so close she’s forced to let her arms fall to her sides and ignore the way his palms find her waist. He’s too familiar, too close, and Minho can’t help but melt against him. One of his hands comes up to tip her chin up and she thinks he might lean down and kiss her but Chan simply smiles.

“She’s happily married with two kids, jagiya,” Chan says with a soft laugh, shaking his head before he actually bends and lifts her up over his shoulder. “You’re being jealous for no reason.”

“I’m not jealous!” Minho defends herself with a smack on Chan’s back while he carries her back into the living room. He places her down onto the couch, where she scoots to rest her back against the armrest and plants her feet onto his lap. “I was just mad you didn’t tell me you’d be late.”

Chan smiles again, hands already starting to massage her feet. “I’m sorry for almost dying?”

Oh, Minho doesn’t mean it like that. She can’t help the way she bursts into tears because, as annoyed as she had been, Minho is glad Chan is here with her. Alive. She sniffles and moves to wrap her arms around his thick torso, burying her face into his neck. “I’m so glad you’re here, oppa. I’m not letting you ride your bike ever again.”

Chan is laughing, as obnoxious as always, but he holds her close and kisses the top of her head. Minho thinks about Hannie’s words and she thinks about what her parents said and she wonders if Chan would ever love her like that.

She can’t make sense of why she’d gotten unreasonably upset over the idea of Chan and Jihyo being a couple. Or, well, over Chan and anyone being a couple. She tells herself it’s because Chan getting into a relationship means she would be left behind and there would be no more nights of Chan sleeping on her chest, no more late night movie dates, no more tickle attacks that would leave her completely breathless. The memory of Chan’s weight would slowly leave her and her apartment would feel so empty, so quiet with his absence.

Minho fears voicing this out loud. Voicing it out means admitting to things she doesn’t even want to think about, things she doesn’t even understand and Minho is much too comfortable with her normal that the idea of it changing at all scares her. Chan is her best friend and despite all the times their friends have brought up the idea of them dating, Minho has never entertained it.

But even she can’t deny the intimacy of waking up this morning with him spooning her, his chest strong and sturdy against her back, his arm draped around her like a safety blanket. They’d fallen asleep late last night after two rom-com movies and a tub of ice cream and in the morning, after a whole fifteen minutes of simply cuddling, Chan had gone to make breakfast for them. He’d stuck candles into her pancakes and sang her the happy birthday song.

Minho wants to say that it’s simply tradition, but all of the things she’s done with Chan, she has never done with her actual romantic partners.

Now as she’s seated with the girls at the bar they had collectively agreed to stop by for some drinks after her birthday dinner, Minho can’t stop glancing over to where Chan is by the pool table with Changbin, Jeongin and Seungmin. He’s wearing his usual black tank top with dark blue denim jacket paired with a pair of his dark jeans, his curls sitting nicely on his head, and his dimples are showing as he laughs over something Changbin had said.

Minho’s perched at her seat in their booth, circled by Hannie, Hyunjin and Yongbok. She had made up with Hyunjin about a week ago and Hyunjin apologised for being dramatic, claimed it’s not her business if Minho is fucking Chan (in which she’s quick to deny), and told her that Yeji is okay. Minho’s glad she could still make it to their wedding on good terms.

“Why are we staring at the boys like they just brought down the moon for us?” Hannie brings Minho’s attention back from the pool table, popping a fry into her mouth. “You straight girls are so typical.”

Hyunjin snickers under her breath, reaching over to wipe off whatever stain that must have stuck to her fiancé’s mouth. “Be nice, Hannie. Minho unnie is in her big revelation. Am I actually in love with my best friend?”

Minho frowns before rolling her eyes and sipping at her minty mojito. She’s gone for a mocktail because there’s a gut feeling that tells her she doesn’t want to be shit-faced tonight. “That’s getting old, Hyunjin-ah. Channie oppa and I-”

“Are just friends, we know,” Hyunjin mirrors her eyeroll before breaking into a fit of giggles with Hannie.

Hannie sighs, eating another french fry and talking as she chews. “You’re looking at Channie oppa the same way Bokkie here is staring at her husband.”

Yongbok’s attention returns to them at the mention of her name, her smile sheepish. It’s cute, Minho thinks. Yongbok has been married to Seungmin for five years now and she still has that same dreamy look to her whenever he’s around. She’s smiling a little wider as she leans in to whisper to them, “I think Chan oppa is also guilty. Have you seen the way he looks at you, unnie?”

Naturally, Minho turns her head to look at Chan, who happens to already be looking at her. His face breaks into a smile, all dimples and crescent eyes. Changbin shoves the pool cue to his chest but Chan doesn’t look away as he takes it and goes around the table for his turn. Minho watches as Chan bends and aims for the cue ball, their gazes meeting again and she catches him shooting a wink at her.

Minho feels a flutter in her belly. Is this tradition? Minho can’t hide this behind the same reason this time. A little bit of flirting here and there isn’t entirely alien to them; Minho is a big flirt herself and Chan is good at it. They have always been physical with each other; he kisses her neck to fall asleep! It’s normal. It should be normal. She blames it on the fact that she hasn’t been able to stop thinking about things being more than platonic with Chan. A recipe for disaster, she thinks.

She isn’t about to back down from even more flirting now, obviously. Minho would rather jump than admit defeat, so she raises a brow at him and turns bodily so he has her full attention, crossing a leg over the other just to show off more of her freshly shaven skin. Chan’s gaze drops to her calves as he straightens up and he pulls that thing he does where he shoves his tongue into his cheek and half smirk before he crooks a finger towards himself, beckoning her over.

Minho thinks her panties feel a little damp. Fuck.

“And you call this platonic?!” Hannie whisper-shouts as Minho rises to her feet and leaves the booth.

She leaves her bag with the girls as she makes her way over. Minho likes attention, so she basks in it as her walk gains her a few stares here and there. Her birthday outfit is the new black lace up mini dress with a corset top she had gotten for herself a month ago, a pair of Louboutin shoes, specifically the Cassia Nodo Alta 160mm pumps in black to match her fit. The clacks of her heels against the wooden flooring makes her feel sexy.

And she is sexy, she thinks. She feels the blood pumping in her veins, and she knows she looks good. She had kept her dyed, ash blond hair down, styled into loose curls and her signature curtain bangs. It’s cold outside, but Chan has done a splendid job at keeping her warm.

The wolf whistles that followed her aren’t all that surprising, coming from different groups of men she doesn’t bother turning to check out as she makes it to the pool table. Chan doesn’t look as pleased with how much attention she’s gotten but he doesn’t say a word and simply presses a palm onto the small of her back.

“Noona, wanna score one for us?” Changbin smiles at her, a cheeky smile on his lips as he tugs her closer by her hip.

Minho’s lips stretch into a giddy smile as Chan all but shoves Changbin aside while Seungmin and Jeongin laugh. Minho hums, taking the cue from Chan as she eyes the balls. She’s never been a fan of this, so she has no idea how it really works. She looks back over her shoulder at Chan, over the smooth curve of her bare skin to meet his gaze. “Teach me?”

“Here,” Chan moves to guide her, one hand on her hip as he bends her down enough into the right position. His breath is warm against her cheek and his body is sturdy behind her.

Minho looks up to find her girl friends watching and she lets her teeth sink into her soft bottom lip as she continues to play this game with Chan. It’s all for fun, right? Her skin buzzes from the heat of him, her heart is racing against her chest and there are butterflies in her belly as if they’d finally woken up from being dormant for years.

Chan guides her move, his touches gentle, his voice low against the shell of her ear and when they hit the cue ball, Changbin cheers. Minho assumes they’d scored a point or two. She turns to look at Chan to celebrate her little victory and he’s already smiling at her, an arm slipping around her waist for a poor excuse of a hug as he pulls her to his chest and it’s only natural that Minho wraps her arms around his neck.

For a moment, everything and everyone around them disappears. Minho drowns in the warmth of Chan’s hold, the soft smile of his lips, the smell of his cologne. Has Chan always looked so good? She knows he looks good. She knows he smells good. When did her casual knowledge of his more than decent looks become something to make her stomach turn?

“Happy birthday, jagiya,” Chan says, breaking her away from her reverie. Their faces are so close she thinks, not for the first time, that he might kiss her. “Have I told you how beautiful you look today?”

Minho hums, letting her hand rest on his bicep. “You might have. I like reminders, though. Do I look beautiful, oppa?”

“The most beautiful,” Chan whispers, no longer bothered to hide the way he stares at her lips. Minho’s breath hitches in her throat when he leans in once more, only to press his forehead to hers. “You’re always the most beautiful.”

She considers closing the gap between them. She considers, really, really considers, about what could happen to them if she just leans in and kisses him. Her mouth feels like cotton and there’s a need deep within her gut that she doesn’t know what to do with. A voice in her head tells her only the feel of his mouth on hers would scratch that itch. What is the worst that could happen?

It could either be the best feeling in the world or it could be something they eventually laugh off and move on from. Would it break the bond they’ve built all these years? Maybe. Minho’s not sure it’s a risk she’s willing to take.

“You’re thinking too loud,” Chan breaks the moment, giving her waist a squeeze. “Come, finish your drink and we can head home. There’s an hour left of your birthday.”

She allows him to pull her away from the pool table, taking her hand in his larger one. Minho swallows and tries, “What are we doing when we get home?”

When he glances back at her, he has an eyebrow raised and a teasing smile on his lips. “Whatever the birthday girl wants to do.”

Minho doesn’t even know what she wants to do but the idea of doing something with Chan feels exhilarating. They might just end up cuddling to sleep as they always do and Minho would be content. It’s a belated realisation, Minho thinks, but it’s obvious she is happiest whenever she does something with Chan. It’s not just tradition. It is simply a fact.

The group decides they also have had enough of the night and each one of them wishes her a happy birthday one more time before they separate. Hyunjin with Hannie and Seungmin with Yongbok. Changbin convinces Jeongin to hop to another bar with him, maybe stop by a club, so that leaves Minho with Chan again.

It starts to rain when they’re making their way across the road to get to her car. Minho squeals as the rain pours, soaking her completely and she has to take off her poor Louboutins so she could make a run for it with Chan tailing close behind. Chan, the gentleman that he is, offers her his jacket to keep warm once they’re inside the car. He also offers to drive.

Thankfully, her apartment building isn’t too far away and they’re already in the elevator not even thirty minutes after they had left the bar. Chan is carrying her pair of heels for her, wet from the rain and he’s silent as he watches her. She’s equally soaked, her hair matting to her scalp and she’s smiling sheepishly at him, trying to keep her teeth from chattering.

“Cold?” Chan asks as the doors open to her floor, ushering her out with a hand on her back as she nods her reply.

She shudders as she pads into her apartment and turns the heater on, turning around to find him placing her shoes down. She smiles, suddenly a little nervous, which makes no sense. She clears her throat, “Do you have to go?”

“No,” Chan smiles at her, already moving to peel off his wet tank top, revealing hard, defined muscles on his abdomen. “I can stay, if you want me to. Might take a shower too actually.”

Tearing her gaze away from his body is proving to be a challenge Minho is struggling to overcome. She’s hoping the gyms would stop operating. “Okay, good. I don’t wanna be alone tonight.”

Chan’s smile widens and he comes close enough to kiss her temple. He smells like rain and cologne and her perfume. “I’ll be here, jagiya. Why don’t you take a nice, warm shower first? We can put on a movie after that. I’ll even make you your favourite hot chocolate.”

We could kiss, she thinks but doesn’t say it aloud. She should stop thinking about kissing Bang Chan.

She doesn’t stop thinking about kissing him.

It’s a week-long attempt and Chan doesn’t make it any easier with the way he’s practically living with her since he has the week off to rest after the accident. Minho obviously doesn’t mind that he’s there; she might be liking it a little too much. Going to sleep with him, waking up with his face pressed into her nape, having breakfast prepared and brought to her in bed.

While she knows his routine by now and has his schedule memorised, Minho is usually absent for most of it. It’s usually gym, work, a call with Minho to keep her updated on his day, and then he either goes home or hangs out with the guys. He comes over on Fridays and sometimes sleeps in the guest room over the weekend, and he’d go back to his place on Sunday to start a new week. Minho knows his routine like she knows her own. It’s the one thing they have in common.

Minho’s own routine consists of hitting the gym every other day, visiting her parents if they’re in town, maybe hit up Hyunjin at her flower shop to get lunch together. Being part of the corporate world has never been in her interest so Minho never tried to work. She does, however, join little fashion groups and sometimes helps out at fashion shows, just because she has the connections.

With Chan at her apartment all the time this week, they can’t help but incorporate their routines together. Chan goes to the gym in the morning and he comes home in his tank top, looking a little bigger than when he left. Since he’s here, he uses the gym facility downstairs instead of going to his usual one and he doesn’t bother showering there. Minho can’t say she doesn’t appreciate the sight of sweat glistening his biceps.

Since work is out of the way, Minho drags Chan with her to her shopping sprees and he reminds her they need to get groceries for her fridge. Apparently she’s running out of things to eat. She wouldn’t know, really; she’s never cooked a day in her life.

By Wednesday, however, Chan is sick of the building’s gym and convinces her to follow him to the place he has a membership with. Minho thinks there’s no harm to it. There would be boys there, and girls. And maybe today is the day she meets her soulmate, one she likes enough to marry.

“Good luck then,” Chan’s voice replays in her head. She ignores it.

The gym he brings her to is relatively big and there are private rooms for clients who prefer to work out in, well, private. Minho thinks she sees a studio for pregnant moms’ yoga sessions or whatever they do. Chan leads her all the way back, where there’s an entire room with a whole boxing ring in the centre. He introduces her to a man that’s apparently his coach and then he leaves her to go and train.

Minho is in her matching baby blue high-waisted leggings and sports bra under a training jacket of the same colour, her hair put up in a bun and a duffel bag that has her towels and other necessities. She’s thinking of doing a lower body workout, or she attempts to at least, because her focus is distracted and she keeps looking back at the boxing ring to watch Chan train.

Chan is good. Minho knows nothing about boxing but Chan is dodging hits and throwing punches and the muscles in his biceps flex each time he does. His curls are matted with sweat, his shirt long discarded, and he’s only wearing a pair of black shorts and even those are riding up his muscular thighs.

“Need a spotter?” Someone from behind her interrupts her very much self-indulgent view of her best friend.

Minho turns around and finds a man smiling at her. He’s cute in a dimply, boyish way. He’s probably a little younger than herself. She smiles and finally turns away from her focus on Chan. “That’d be very nice, thank you.”

The man offers her a nod of his head as she starts on her first round on the hack squat machine. Not her favourite part of working out, but a little bit here and there would be enough to make her feel productive enough. The guy who offers to spot her does just that, keeping an eye on her and making small talk, which kinda pisses her off a little bit but he’s cute so she lets it slide. He tells her his name is San. Minho wonders if she’s an attractor of men with single syllable names.

Is Chan even attracted to her?

San is funny, though, so she can’t even complain. He asks her casual questions she doesn’t mind answering; do you come here often? Do you work out a lot? You look like you do. You look great. He asks for her number and Minho is happy to give it.

“Hey, you,” Chan calls as he makes his way over, drenched in sweat and still missing his shirt. He raises a brow at her before glancing at San. “Hey, man.”

Minho offers him a smile but addresses San first, “Thank you for spotting me, San-ssi. You’ll give me a call?”

San’s smile widens, “I’ll definitely call you, noona. See you around. You too, hyung.”

They fall silent as she watches San walk away. From their casual conversation, she learned he’s only a year younger than her, he comes here a lot, and that apparently he doesn’t always know how to start a conversation and he thought she was approachable enough for him to pick up the courage. She calls bullshit on that and thinks he just wants to hit on her. That’s fine, though, Minho doesn’t mind.

“Did you do your sets at all?” Chan asks with a scoff, grabbing his towel to swing it over his shoulder.

Minho shoots him a look. “I got distracted. How come you never talked about San? He’s cute. He told me you guys work out together a lot.”

“Why would I talk about San?”

“Because he’s cute and your best friend has been single for three long years?”

Chan makes a face and grabs his water bottle to drink from. Minho can’t help but watch the way his adam’s apple moves as he swallows. Chan wipes his mouth using his towel when he’s done, offering Minho a teasing smile. “Didn’t think you were looking to date. Do you think San is okay with me spooning you to sleep? We’re gonna have a problem if he isn’t.”

Heat spreads at Minho’s cheeks for no damn reason but she hides it with a roll of her eyes, drinking from her own bottle as well. “Obviously you’ll have to stop sleeping with me if I start dating again.”

“But you like sleeping with me,” Chan says as a matter-of-factly, taking another swig of his water. He reaches a hand out to wipe at her upper lip with his thumb. “When’s the last time you had a nightmare?”

Minho crosses her arms over her chest, as if it would stop the random way her heart starts beating too fast. “I want someone I can kiss to sleep. I haven’t been kissed in ages, oppa.”

“You wanna kiss?”

Minho swallows. Is Chan asking if she wants them to kiss? Is he asking if she just wants to kiss in general? She blinks and clears her throat and she makes a mistake of looking at his mouth before meeting his eyes again. “And if I do?”

Chan raises his eyebrows at her and then he smiles, wide and teasing and his dimples punched deep into his cheeks. He’s so cute and hot at the same time. Fuck. “You want oppa to kiss you, Minho-yah?”

Fuck, fuck, fuck. What exactly has she gotten herself into? Minho’s not one to back down, though, so she repeats. “What if I do?”

“Mm,” Chan hums, still smiling, as obnoxious as ever. “But if I kiss you, jagiya, I fear you won’t wanna kiss anyone else.”

Oh. Minho feels hot all over. This is not supposed to happen. This is Bang Chan. It’s her best friend. She should stop this from going any further, but instead she says, “I don’t believe you.”

Chan laughs, shaking his head as if he can’t believe what she’s saying, what she’s willing to risk. It makes her feel as though this attraction is only one-sided, and she should feel ashamed, but there is fire in Minho’s gut and she feels it go south when he meets her gaze again, licks his lips when his eyes drop to her mouth. He has the fullest lips, the perfect nose… She wonders…

She wonders.

“You hungry?” He asks, as if they weren’t just talking about crossing lines. “I know a place across the street I think you might like. I’ll take a shower first though.”

Minho nods absently, trying hard to shake the thoughts off. She probably just needs to break her dry spell. Has she really not had sex since her last boyfriend? The idea of having anyone else in her bed makes her stomach turn. Not in a good way.

“I’ll shower too,” she finally says as she grabs her jacket and bottle. “I stink.”

Chan snickers, “You did like, one set. You don’t stink.”

“Where’s the shower?” Minho ignores Chan’s comment and offers him her polite cat smile as he likes to call it. Apparently she does this tight-lipped smile a lot when his parents are around, according to Chan.

He simply smiles in response before gesturing for her to follow. She’s quick to grab her bag and follows him as he leads the way. It doesn’t take long for his hand to find the small of her back again as he says, “I have access to a private bathroom, if you’d prefer that than the shared one.”

“Um, duh? Are you like half the owner of this place?” She wonders aloud as he leads the way towards the bathrooms and watches as he produces a key from his bag and unlocks the door to one of the rooms.

“No, you would know if I do,” Chan half laughs, closing the door and locking it after. “I’m just pretty close with the owner and he likes that I got a lot of people to come here, so he’s a little biased. There’s only one shower, though. You can use it first if you’d like.”

The private room is like a small studio of sorts, with a vanity area, a couch on one side and a bathroom with a shower installed as well as a toilet. There are towels already provided and a locker for valuables. Minho hums as she checks out the place, dropping her bag on the couch next to Chan’s. She lets go of her bun and shakes her hair out, letting it fall over her shoulders. She’s painfully aware of Chan watching her, as he always does, and a part of her feeds so much on his attention that it makes her skin buzz, makes her feel brazen.

“Wanna shower together?” She asks when she turns back to face him, just to tease and see his reaction. If somewhere deep down a part of her expects a yes, she denies it.

Chan’s smile is oh so mesmerising. Minho wants to kiss it off his face. When did she start thinking about kissing him? He hums, and the thirty seconds he takes to respond offends her a little bit. “You’re aware how many lines we’d be crossing if I said yes?”

She doesn’t give a fuck about lines. Don’t friends fuck sometimes? She thinks a good fuck with Chan could probably scratch her itch and it’d stop whatever the fuck is going on with her brain. “Do you want to say yes?”

“Yes,” Chan says without hesitation but he doesn’t move, just stays seated on the stupid couch. “Yeah, okay. We can shower together.”

Minho smiles, victorious and giddy, as she beckons him over and raises her arms. “Help me take this off.”

Chan rises to his feet and closes the short distance between them. Minho keeps her gaze locked to his as he comes up to her, breath caught in her throat and she fights off the gasp that threatens to leave as his hot fingers graze along her sides, up her ribs and hook underneath her bra. He slides the apparel up with ease, pulls it over her head and lets it drop to the floor. It’s not the first time he’s seen her naked but he has never been so close and his eyes have never looked at her so hungrily.

It’s so easy to get lost in the moment, to let herself submerge into the depths of his eyes and risk drowning in them. Chan’s hand comes up to brush his knuckles over the side of her neck and Minho tilts her head just enough to allow him access to her pulse point, her eyes fluttering shut at his touch. His fingers slip into the tresses of her hair and they run through the strands, lifting them to press against his nose. Minho watches, mesmerised, as Chan inhales her scent.

Somehow that only makes the throbbing between her legs even more prominent.

“Pretty,” Chan whispers, pushing Minho’s hair back and letting it rest behind her shoulder as that same hand reaches down, down, until the pad of his thumb caresses her already erect nipple and Minho gasps, the touch almost electrifying. Chan hums, pleased with the reaction he gets, and he’s smiling so gently at her Minho couldn’t help but lean forward, wanting, her own lips parted as she eyes his plump ones.

He leans forward and for the nth time, Minho thinks Chan is going to kiss her. They’re so close. Minho feels his naked chest against her own, his skin warm. She leans up, lets her eyes close again, and her lips part in invitation. She wants the kiss more than anything she’s ever wanted.

There are knocks on the door that break them apart. Minho’s heart races against her chest but Chan’s hand is reassuring on her hip, still present despite being interrupted. He grabs her towel and wraps it around her shoulders. Unfortunately, the moment is broken and Chan is gone to answer the door.

Minho wants to yell about how this private room is supposed to be private but instead she huffs and disappears into the shower as he falls into conversation with whoever had the audacity to interrupt them. They don’t talk about the almost kiss, not even when they’re alone again in her bed.

Minho is only half aware that this is a dream. It has to be. There is no way that she has no memory of how she’d gotten naked in her bed and Bang Chan is in between her legs. She would have remembered every single step of it until this moment. She feels hot, she’s sweating against her sheets and there’s that familiar heat in her belly and throbbing at her core. Chan has his mouth latched onto her right nipple and Minho is desperately, pathetically grinding against his firm thigh.

Oh, it’s good. It feels good. She’s hot everywhere and he’s not touching her enough. She’s so wet where his thigh is pressing against her pussy and his mouth… God, his mouth. Minho moans and whines shamelessly, her need so intense it makes her sob. She needs him to touch her where she wants him most, needs to feel him inside, needs to know how much he wants her too. His hand squeezes her breast, the pressure just enough to have her keening, thumb toying with her neglected nipple and she wants to open her mouth to start begging, but the words don’t come.

Like most of her embarrassing wet dreams, Minho wakes up with a whimper, squeezing her thighs together to relieve some of the ache in her cunt. Her heart is racing and Chan is sleeping so soundly next to her, his arm wound around her waist, his nose buried in her neck. Minho has half the mind to reach her hand down between her legs, to touch herself to the memory of her dream, but she cowers at the idea of getting caught.

Chan isn’t a heavy sleeper and if Minho even tries to touch herself, there’s no doubt it would wake him up.

But she needs. She wants. It aches where she needs him and the only reason she even moves to hide in the bathroom is because of the horny demon that’s possessed her. In her tub, Minho gets rid of her two-piece lacey sleepwear and lays down. It’s cold, but she’s horny, and she’s guilty of using water from the tub faucet to get off. Oh, but its pressure feels good against her clit and she has to cover her mouth when she starts to moan Bang Chan’s name, wishing it was his mouth on her, wishing it was his cock making her cum.

Yongbok’s Halloween party is tomorrow and Chan tells her today that he has no idea what to wear.

It pisses her off to no end but somehow that amuses him because he’s still smiling as Minho ruffles through coats and jackets at a random store they drop by to look. It’s not the same thrift store she brought Hannie to a couple weeks ago, but it’s relatively cheap and Chan has been specific when he said he’s only going to wear it once so he doesn’t want to spend a fortune for it. Minho doesn’t mind buying for him but Chan is allergic to the idea of her even using her money.

She doesn’t think about her wet dream or what she did after to relieve that ache. The dreams don’t come back, which she is glad for, though she can’t say she doesn’t think about him in the last two days since she had that dream.

“I could just go as like, a wrestler or something,” Chan says as she picks up a long coat to examine. “Roman Reigns? He just wears a pair of pants and he’s good to go.”

Minho turns her head to look at Chan, “You wanna go there shirtless? Really?”

“Why not?”

“No,” She says pointedly and picks up a grey coat to look at. It’s familiar in a way she can’t pinpoint and Chan would probably look good in it. “You’re gonna get all the girls’ attention and we don’t want that.”

Chan laughs, “Why won’t we want that? I’m a perfectly healthy, somewhat attractive, pretty young male. And I’m available.”

“Somewhat attractive?” Minho gasps, unable to believe her ears. She abandons the coat to walk up to him and cup his cheeks in her hands. “Oppa, you’re incredibly, annoyingly and undeniably attractive and extremely, otherworldly hot. I can’t believe I’ve just heard that come out of your mouth.”

“Really?” Chan asks, although he sounds a little more cocky than unsure as his hands circle around her wrists to get her hands off his cheeks. Instead of letting them go, however, Chan leans down to steal a kiss on her nose.

Odd. He’s odd and cute and definitely not available, if it was up to Minho. She rolls her eyes and pulls her hands out of his hold, ignoring the way her heartbeat has picked up as she turns back to look through the rows of long coats. “You’re so not available, by the way.”

“Says who?”

“Me?” She glances over at him, and the look of knowing on his face is unmistakable. “I mean, unless your new girlfriend doesn’t mind you sleeping with your face in my neck.”

“Is it my fault you smell good?”

“Is it mine that I do?”

Chan parts his lips to speak but fails to come up with a retort. He scoffs, shaking his head as if in disbelief. “You’ll cry if I stop sleeping in your bed.”

“I’ll cry because that means you hate me,” she huffs, picking up another long coat and trying not to think about Chan going back to his place after his sick leave is over. “You’re going back to work on Monday and I won’t have a big clingy puppy on my chest until the weekend. I think you do hate me.”

This somehow brings another laugh out of him, and he so casually, so naturally pulls her by her waist to blow raspberries into her neck, leaving a playful bite onto her skin, to which she responds with a giggle because it tickles but doesn’t try to push him away. He’s unbelievable. No wonder everyone thinks they’re dating.

It’s not the worst idea, is it? Why has it taken her a decade to actually, genuinely think about it? It has obviously crossed her mind, probably has crossed his mind, but everything had felt platonic up until— When exactly had she started thinking and feeling differently?

“I could never hate you,” he says after pulling away from her. There’s a softness in his voice tinged into the playful tone he picks up. Minho thinks he’s the most handsome when he’s smiling so gently at her like this.

Minho turns away so she can hide the smile that forms on her lips. Her cheeks feel a little warm and from the way Chan reaches over to playfully pinch at her ear means her ears have gone a little red. How embarrassing. She feels like crushing on a boy back in high school again. Is she crushing on Chan?

Ignoring this because she’s good at running away from her problems, Minho picks up a better looking long coat and turns again to show it to Chan, who at the same time is putting on a flat cap like the ones they wear in Peaky Blinders. She grins at the sight, remembering all the nights she’d binge-watched the show and thirsted over Tommy Shelby (don’t judge).

“Oh, Channie oppa, I just made you absolutely irresistible.”

Chan turns out to be, as she said, absolutely irresistible, and Minho kind of hates it.

His look is complete, from head to toe, looking like he’s just come out of the year 1919 and leading a street gang in Birmingham, England. She wouldn’t let him show up half done, especially not as her date, so she had made sure he wears a three-piece suit consisting of a shirt, a necktie and a waistcoat to pair with his slim-fit trousers. She doesn’t forget the 8-panel flat cap as well as his grey long overcoat to complete the look.

True to his words, however, it is cold and Minho ends up having to wear his overcoat on their way over to Yongbok’s house. Her own look had taken her nearly three hours to perfect; from the rhinestone bodysuit to her blond wig and her makeup, shoes and stockings. It’s mildly uncomfortable to move around in, but she looks fabulous and pretty has never been easy.

Chan looking this good only annoys her because she knows for a fact that he would be swarmed with all the single, horned ladies and gents who want a piece of him. She can’t exactly stop him from going around to socialise, so she’s resolved to being an observant best friend. She considers looking for someone to hook up with, if it means it would get rid of whatever feelings she’s starting to feel around Chan.

Yongbok’s party house is a mansion she bought specifically for her parties. She doesn’t live there, especially now that she’s married and lives with Seungmin in their new house, but she keeps the mansion clean and hosts her parties there. One time, during college, Minho had accidentally broken one of Yongbok’s expensive vases and had Chan help bury it at the back of the house. She’s taking this secret to her grave.

Besides Hannie, Minho has no idea what the rest of their friend group is wearing for the party. Chan drives her car over to Yongbok’s place and they’re pretty early, which means the house isn’t crowded just yet. Yongbok is dressed as Princess Peach, with her pink princess dress and pink umbrella and her little crown. She’s dressed so cutely Minho has a serious case of cuteness aggression.

It’s only right that Seungmin dresses as Mario and he doesn’t disappoint when he appears from the kitchen with his overalls and Mario’s famous moustache. Minho thinks they’re meant to be.

Minho, obviously, gets her compliments. She struts around shamelessly, showing off the outfit she has so long worked hard for. She knows there are a lot of eyes on her, some brave enough to strike a conversation, others admiring from afar. When one or two of them actually does talk to her, Minho thinks she feels Chan’s gaze the hardest. Somehow knowing this makes her skin buzz with anticipation, her ego definitely fed and she feels like she can rule the world.

Jeongin shows up, and this surprises Minho, as Luigi to match Seungmin’s Mario. He tells her it’s because he lost a bet and has to get the outfit with Seungmin and explains the reason Changbin is here as Yoshi is because he owes Jeongin a favour. Minho loves her friends so much.

When Hannie finally gets there, the party is full blown. Yongbok is a social creature, much like Chan is, and she makes new friends every year that her parties are always lively. Minho might not be as friendly but she never pushes away anyone who could be a friend, which means almost everyone at the party knows her, either through Yongbok or, well, as Chan’s best friend. Some of them confessed they never tried getting closer because they thought she was Chan’s girlfriend.

A flattering idea, she thinks. It makes the butterflies in her stomach go into a frenzy.

“You’re an hour late,” Minho says to Hannie as soon as she gets a hold of her, still pleased over how good she looks in her wedding dress and leather jacket and blond bob.

Hannie giggles, her cheeks flushed pink. “Sorry, unnie. Hyunjin and I were a little preoccupied. Getting ready took sooo long.”

Minho rolls her eyes but doesn’t stop herself from smiling. “You guys were totally fucking. Hannie, I’ve got to tell you something.”

Like every girl ever, Hannie’s eyes widen before a teasing smile forms on her lips. “I haven’t seen you in a week and you already have tea to spill? I’m listening!”

She wants to tell Hannie about Chan, but the music is getting a little loud and Minho doesn’t want to be shouting about how she’s starting to feel things for someone everyone in this party knows. Hannie stares at her expectantly and Minho takes her hand gently to pull her towards the nearest powder room. It’s thankfully empty and once they’re inside, Minho makes sure to lock the door before turning around to look in the mirror.

“You’re kinda scaring me,” Hannie says as she fixes the top of her dress where her boobs are spilling a little out of her bra. “Did something bad happen?”

Minho shakes her head as she stares at her own work on her face. She looks a little different with the wig on, but her sparkly make up makes her eyes pop. The corset feels a little too tight. She turns to Hannie, feeling a little warm. “Hannie, I think I might have a crush.”

Hannie’s eyes widened again, “Unnie? You met someone?”

God, how does she bring herself to say Chan’s name? Should Hannie even know? Would everything change if she says it aloud and makes it real? “I- I don’t know, actually. I think it’s a crush? I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him.”

“Oh, unnie!” Hannie squeals, bouncing on her feet in excitement. “Who is it? Is it anyone I know? Have I met him?”

Her heart is beating so fast. She smacks her lips together and exhales, shaking her head like it’s some big reveal that she somehow ends up liking her own best friend. Does she, though? Are her feelings involved? Is this not just a need she indulged in a little too deep and won’t be satisfied until she’s had the real thing?

She parts her lips to speak but what comes out is the sound of commotion coming from outside where the party is. Distracted now, Minho turns to open the door and Hannie naturally follows her out. She doesn’t have to look far to see that someone had fallen onto the table of refreshments, making a mess she’s so glad she doesn’t have to clean up.

She scans the room in search of Yongbok just to see how she’s handling it, but she finds Chan instead, perched against the wall on the other side of the room. Their gazes meet and she watches as Chan lifts a hand to beckon her over. Just a simple crook of his fingers, a smile on his lips, so stupidly hot in his flat cap. Minho knows once she moves there are already lines crossed and there would be no going back.

Fuck it, she thinks. It’s Chan. They have been best friends for so long. Surely a single night of pleasure wouldn’t change anything?

Minho makes her way over, ignoring the others still gathered around the mess of food and drinks on the floor. She goes right up to him and curls into the safety of his arm that winds around her waist. He smells of cologne and the fruit punch he’s been drinking. No alcohol; good, she thinks. He’s driving her home tonight and she would much prefer he remembers what he does to her as soon as they’re home.

“You’re so stupidly hot, oppa,” she says in a voice that’s almost a whisper, pressed up against his chest and lifting her gaze to look into his eyes. “Are you trying to seduce me?”

Chan laughs and the arm around her waist tightens, pulling her a little closer. He leans in just enough to bump his nose against her cheek, the kind of affection she’s used to. “I’m seducing you? I think it’s the other way round.”

“Why is that?”

“You’ve been so bold lately, jagiya,” Chan explains in a quiet voice, as if he’s carefully picking the right words to say. “What’s going on?”

Her cheeks heat up at the question and she dips her head to look at his chest instead. Her hands find his biceps and she slowly massages at the clothed muscle. “I just- You know I’ve always thought you’re hot, oppa.”

“You’re asking to cross so many lines,” he whispers and she feels one of his hands come up to tuck a strand of her wig behind her ear.

She looks up at him then, “You don’t want to?”

Chan’s smile falters a little and his gaze softens. The pad of his thumb grazes over her bottom lip and her eyes close briefly as she kisses his thumb. Her body aches for his touch, so much it’s almost laughable. Chan hums, “You have no idea how much I want to.”

“Then what’s stopping us?” She sounds desperate. She feels desperate. She wonders if he gets off on that. God, she has absolutely lost it.

There’s another smile that forms on Chan’s lips, softer, almost as if he’s thinking it over. Chan has always been an open book for Minho, but she can’t read him at the moment. He leans forward and his lips brushes over her bare shoulder, trails over her clavicle and then he pulls away. “Are you afraid?”

Is she? She’s terrified. Her big eyes meet his again as she nods her head, swallowing the lump in her throat. “I am, but I want- I want. And I don’t know what else to do about it.”

“What do you want, Minho-yah?”

“You,” Minho swallows again. Her mouth feels like cotton and her corset feels a little too tight. She wonders where his coat is, reaching up to take off his flat cap and run her manicured nails through his soft curls. He’s warm and familiar, safe, someone incapable of hurting her. “I want you, oppa.”

His hand finds her waist and his free one goes up to curl around her throat. It’s so easy to close her eyes and submit as he finally, finally, kisses her. His lips are so full against her own, so soft as he coaxes her mouth open, and she can’t help the little sound she makes when his tongue licks into her. They kiss and kiss and kiss and Minho loses track of where she begins and he ends. It’s better than she had dreamed of, it’s everything she wants and more.

He deepens the kiss just as Minho thinks it might end, strong hands curling around her hips while her arms come up to wrap around his neck. He tastes like fruit punch and Chan and the cherry chapstick Minho had put on to layer her lipstick with. She moans into his mouth and feels his groan from deep within his chest. The sound goes down to her cunt, already throbbing with the need for his touch. She hopes he touches her, hopes she gets to come apart underneath him and be put back together, over and over and over again.

When she parts from him for air, Chan looks wrecked and Minho can’t help the smile that stretches on her lips upon the sight. Her lipstick is smudged on his mouth, sending a different kind of spark through her entire body and when he smiles back at her, dimpled and dopey, Minho leans in to kiss him again.

It’s Chan who pulls away this time, kissing along her jaw, down to her unblemished neck and the hollow of her sternum. Each press of his lips feels hot to her skin and she releases a soft gasp when his mouth finds the plush of her breast that spills from her corset.

“Oppa,” she whispers soft into the tuft of his hair, emitting another soft whine as he squeezes her breast in his palm.

Chan groans against her skin and he pulls away to kiss her again before he smiles against her lips, speaking in between kisses. “Do we steal one of Yongbok’s rooms or do we go home?”

Minho whines again, catching Chan’s plush bottom lip between her teeth. “Home is too far. I might start sucking you off in the car and we might not make it.”

“God, no,” he laughs, shaking his head as he pulls her with him by her hand. His palm is warm against her own and Minho giggles as she follows him, away from the crowd and life of the party.

She catches Hannie on her way, perched on Hyunjin’s thigh and the two of them gape at her as realisation dawns. Minho will have to do a lot of explaining later, but for now she’s shaking with anticipation and the excitement of doing something she probably shouldn’t be doing. Yongbok will just have to forgive her for doing this in her precious party house. It’s the last party she’s hosting anyway, Minho and Chan will simply christen it.

Upstairs, they barely make it into a random room before Chan is lifting her up and kissing her, a single hand closing and locking the door behind them. She moans into the kiss, letting Chan explore her mouth, letting him drop her down onto the bed and gasping as his lips move to her jaw again, leaving hot, wet kisses along her neck, to her breasts. Her cunt throbs when she feels his cock brush against her thigh and she so desperately wants them to get out of these stupid clothes.

He looks amazing in that waistcoat, but Minho tugs at it anyway, wishing Chan would get rid of the offensive apparel. His mouth finds hers again, biting at her lips, licking into her mouth as his hands work on removing his clothes. The waistcoat goes first and then his necktie before his shirt follows, leaving him bare in all his muscled glory. He’s pale everywhere safe for the yellowing bruises from his accident a week ago. His muscles are so defined, ridges formed on his abdomen, a singular vein popping out on his bicep when lifts his arm to discard his clothes.

Minho swallows the saliva pooling in her mouth at the sight of him, sitting up and caging him between her legs as her hands roam, feeling up the lines of his muscles. His skin feels hot under her fingers and she leans to kiss the spot above his navel, her gaze lifting to meet his as she flattens her tongue over his skin. Chan hisses at this, hand coming up into her hair and carefully removing her wig.

There’s a gentleness in his movements that makes her heart leap, makes her stomach turn in the best possible way. He casts the wig aside and starts to remove her wig cap, gently releasing her long hair until they fall down her shoulders. Minho keeps her eyes locked to his as he does this, an intimacy she hasn’t quite shared with anyone else. He smiles down at her, runs his fingers through her hair and she ignores the way her heart flips as she returns to tasting him.

Her fingers work on the button and zipper of his pants, shifting so that she’s on all fours on the bed for better leverage. He helps her in pushing his own pants and briefs down, releasing his hard cock that springs free against his abdomen, bigger and longer than she had anticipated. Minho giggles and Chan laughs, though he’s quick to release a moan as soon as she takes him in her mouth.

She suckles on the fat tip, trying to relax her jaw before she even attempts to take all of him. The stretch is pleasurable and the weight of him on her tongue makes her pussy throb with need. She gathers her spit in her mouth and pulls away to let it drip onto his cock, taking it back into her mouth with a moan and a bob of her head. His fingers curl around her hair and he groans in pleasure, hips fighting the urge to thrust forward.

Minho wants that, though. She can take it, she thinks, so she pulls off with a pop and kisses the slit. “You wanna fuck my throat, oppa? Make me choke on your cock?”

“Fuck,” Chan tightens his grip around the lock of her hair. “Shit, baby, can I?”

Minho has never nodded her head so fast and Chan doesn’t need to be told twice. With a hand cupping the back of her head and the other around her throat, Chan pushes back into her mouth and goes all the way, bringing a gagging noise out of Minho before she relaxes. Her eyes water and nose starts to clog, but he takes one more look at her before he pulls out and shoves back inside, this time repeating the act until he’s incessantly fucking deep into her throat.

The sounds it makes are downright sinful, each wet gargle bouncing off the walls of the room every time he fucks in, pace quickening as he chases his high. His moans fill her ears and she’s blinded by the tears in her eyes as he uses her throat.

“Fuck, Minho,” Chan groans, forcing himself to pull out and squeezing at the base of his cock to stop himself from cumming.

She mourns the loss of his cock in her mouth and tries to chase after it, tears staining her cheeks as she tries to lick at his tip. He stops her with a half laugh, and she giggles as she makes a show of licking her lips, toying with the precum he’d left in her mouth.

“Oppa,” she purrs and it’s enough to get him moving again, fingers curling around her jaw to kiss her, to taste himself on her tongue.

The speed of which he gets her out of her bodysuit and corset is impressive and it makes her burn to know he’s just as desperate as she is. He kisses her again once she’s left in nothing but her stockings and bejeweled garters, hair spilling down her shoulders, her nipples erect and needy, her pussy leaking with want.

He backs down until she’s laying on the bed, gasping when his mouth latches onto her neck, leaving a mark on her unblemished skin. He mouths at her nipple and uses his fingers to squeeze and toy with her other breast. Her chest heaves as her back arches off the mattress and her legs automatically spread as he kisses his way down. Her flat stomach, her inner thighs before he uses his palms to add pressure to her thighs so she keeps them open. The cry Minho lets out as soon as his mouth closes around her clit is obscene and she keens as he starts to eat her out.

It’s so good. Her body feels like it’s on fire and he’s relentless as he forces her legs up and apart so he could feast on her. She can’t explain the pleasure of it, the way it sends sparks through her entire body, each suckle and lick of his mouth on her pushing her towards her climax quicker than she’d thought. Her eyes roll back into her skull, moans spilling past her lips as her fingers clutch at his hair. His tongue laps and circles her clit, the pressure just enough and she’s so close. So close-

He pulls away, cruel and teasing, and she clenches around nothing, desperate for her orgasm. She sobs and she’s about to complain when she feels him push two fingers into her. She expects it to hurt, maybe at least a little uncomfortable but his mouth is back on her clit and his fingers move so expertly, curling and rubbing against her sensitive spot, over and over again until she’s forced to push his face away and starts to squirt.

The stream she releases is embarrassing, but she’s lost in the pleasure of it to care. She thinks she might have passed out for a second, out of breath from how good it feels. She whimpers as she rolls onto her side, shaking from the force of her orgasm and she whines as she feels Chan kiss her hip, gently rolling her onto her back.

“Hey,” Chan smiles down at her, his clean hand curling around the side of her face to get her to focus. “You okay?”

Minho feels dizzy, nodding her head as she smiles up at him. “I’m okay. Kiss me, oppa?”

Chan’s smile widens as he leans down to kiss her and she immediately melts into it, feels her body start to burn up again as he palms at her breast, tweaking her sensitive nipple. His tongue tastes like her and Minho moans as her thighs wrap around Chan’s hips. Her cunt throbs again despite having just orgasmed, aroused by the weight of him on top of her.

“Fuck me, oppa,” Minho whines, growing needier by the second. She needs to feel him inside her. “Need to feel you. Please?”

Chan groans as he nods his head, reaching down to line his cock to her cunt. She gasps as he teases her with slow rubs of his shaft between her folds, the fat tip bumping against her clit and her breath catches in her throat when his free hand comes up to curl around her neck. The hold isn’t choking her, but the pressure is enough to feel a strain in her throat, just the way she likes it. He notches his cockhead into her, slowly, carefully, and she moans, long and high-pitched as he slides all the way home.

The size of him stretches her to a point of slight discomfort but he’s patient, pausing any of his movements to distract her with another kiss. He’s so big, Minho thinks. She doesn’t think she’s ever been with anyone as big as he is, and the slight curve of his cock presses into the right spot, reaching so deep inside her she thinks she’s ruined for everyone else.

Minho is never going to like having sex with anyone but her own best friend.

She meets his gaze then, releasing a soft, needy whimper as her hands come up to press her palms over his chest. “Move, Channie. You’re so big- Fuck, you’re so deep inside me.”

Chan grunts, his hold around her neck tightening as he begins to move. His hips roll into hers, fucking his cock in and out of her body and she sobs when he makes another sound of pleasure, free hand reaching between them to press against her belly. “Fuck, baby. You feel that? You feel how deep I am inside you?”

Minho sobs again, nodding her head as she lifts it to watch the way a bulge protrudes against her flat stomach, gasping when she sees it move as Chan does. Her head drops back onto the pillow, pleasure consuming her whole, and she grips onto Chan’s arms as his elbows cage her head in. From this angle, all Minho sees is his firm, sweaty chest, the necklace he’s wearing swinging in her face as his cock punches deep inside her over and over again.

“Please, please- Oppa,” Minho sobs with every thrust of his hips, letting him take and take and take as she digs her nails into the flesh of his back, toes curling from the pure pleasure of it all. Her orgasm hits her out of nowhere, thighs quaking as she clenches around him. “In me- Fuck, cum inside me!”

Chan cusses low under his breath, his thrusts growing sloppy and Minho thinks he might change his mind and pull out but he doesn’t, cumming with a deep groan before he kisses her. She moans into his mouth, feels the satisfaction of feeling him spill into her only to then realise belatedly that they’d forgotten all about protection. In her post-orgasm haze, however, Minho only knows that it feels good. He’s filled her up and that itch has been scratched.

It takes a moment for both of them to come back to their senses. Minho is drowsy from her orgasms and she drifts in between sleep as Chan moves first. He’s careful as he pulls out of her and quiet when he disappears and comes back with a damp towel to clean her up. Minho doesn’t say anything either, half afraid that Chan had regretted it, though she lays there mostly content, happy to have experienced this with him.

She must have fallen asleep because she wakes up to him climbing into bed next to her, his familiar arm curling around her waist to pull her close. He remains silent and even though Minho is half asleep, it’s driving her insane not to hear his voice.

“Chan-ah,” Minho whispers, turning around in his arms to face him. It’s dark, but she could make out the shape of his features. She gets a kiss pressed to her forehead, another one on her lips.

“Yeah, baby?”

Minho flushes at the nickname, as if she hasn’t just let this man cum inside her. “That was… I feel really good.”

Chan smiles at her. She feels it against her mouth more than she can see it. “I feel really good, too.”

Good, she thinks. She might think about it again when she’s awake and clear-headed, but for now Minho is content. He holds her close against his chest and Minho falls asleep to the faint sound of his heart beating.

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