Chapter Text
Just go in and ask NORMALLY… This will work
“Hello?”
Without giving a warning Minkyun bursted open the door to the practice room so loud he was met with a high screech from their youngest, spilling the water bottle he was holding in the process.
That’s gonna get me an earful.
“Oh, Yuto, you’re here too?” Minkyun tried innocently.
He tried to start a conversation, hoping the person he felt shooting daggers from the left wouldn’t scold him.
Before Yuto could give a response however, a bright blond, slightly annoyed looking Seungjun chimed in.
“Oh my god, Minkyun, can you learn to control that dumb strength you have? You keep giving everyone heart attacks,” he stared at Minkyun, who was surprised the barking maltese was still wasting his breath on that sentence after having said it for the nth time. “And yes Yuto is here too, we are working on a new choreo,” Seungjun continued, “Anyway, what do you need?”
Just say, “you, singing”, something light, and normal, we practiced this…
“Your throat."
Anything but that.
Hearing that, Yuto nearly choked on the water he was still trying to drink. Seungjun just looked at him in surprise.
“What now...?”
“Idunno, I’ve just been playing around with some things for my new song but…”
SAY IT NORMALLY.
“I’ve been working with my own voice for too long. I just want to try working with something new. Will you record with me?”
Minkyun had a small personal victory about having finally asked Seungjun somewhat casually.
To be honest, it wasn’t like he planned this whole thing out that well anyway. He just wanted to spend some time with Seungjun. And he wanted to produce with Seungjun's voice once, he had been working on many songs and projects lately, hoping he could improve enough to have a bigger part in producing for their next album. Working with his own voice all the time was getting boring, so he finally mustered up the courage to ask the kinda cute, recently turned blond one, on their team.
'Kinda cute.'
He remembers catching himself thinking that when they were first introduced to each other. Which later turned into,
'Really cute.'
And eventually it became mixed with
'Really hot.'
After a while he just accepted that he was hopelessly in love with that man. That dumb, lanky, naggy, annoying, loud, weird, adorable, charming, seductive, talented, mesmerizing…. God he could go on for days, beautiful male specimen. Minkyun just loved the way he sounded too. His soft voice, that could turn so powerful, or the cute way he sang some words with a more nasal tone. He always wanted to make a song with that voice but just never had the courage to ask.
The thought of having Seungjun alone in his little recording room… Minkyun just knew he would be found out. He would definitely forget to press record the whole time, or do something else embarrassing because he would be lost in the beauty that was Seungjun standing next to him. Alone.
Going through all the doom scenarios in his mind every time he thought of asking Seungjun to record for him, made it so he had many unfinished songs in a folder called “SparkBeats”, hoping it was a vague enough name so no one would question him if they found it.
“So"-Seungjun cleared his throat-“when do you ‘need me’.” Putting it weirdly to mock the horrible way Minkyun stated his request before.
What, ‘need you’? like right now, to kiss me… What is he on about… OH right recording! I ACTUALLY managed to ask that? Wow…
“Minkyun.” Seungjun snapped his fingers, trying to get the attention of the man staring at him in an intense daze, a look only Minkyun was capable of.
“Ha? Ohyeah, uhm, whenever you have time,” Minkyun casually responded, trying not to sound too eager about having Seungjun to himself. “If you are busy with your choreo then I’ll wait.”
“Hmm…” Seungjun turned towards Yuto to get his opinion.
“In about two hours,” Yuto suggested. “We should have this down by then if we cut our break short now. Let’s turn the music back on. I’ll send him over once we are done!”
“send him over-? Am I some sort of callboy?” Seungjun uttered to Yuto.
“Well, Hyojin had you clean the kitchen this morning, then I requested to practice with you and now Minkyun needs you too. You are called a lot today.”
He might be small but man is he brave.
Yuto skillfully jumped towards the music station in the corner to avoid a flailing Seungjun trying to grab hold of him, annoyed that his “am I a callboy” statement wasn’t denied. Minkyun started to feel jealous of the fun the duo was having, so he quickly said some phrases to confirm the appointment set in 2 hours and left the practice room, closing the door softly this time to make sure he wouldn’t be hunted down the hallway by a bleached goldilocks.
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Minkyun couldn't sit still.
He had checked if everything was set up properly about 10 times already. He went over the lyrics again and again, making adjustments and immediately undoing those adjustments. He thought of what could go wrong; making a fool of himself (differently than he always did), looking unprofessional in front of the one he wanted to impress, accidentally blurting out a love confession… The more embarrassing things he came up with, the more anxious he got. Before he knew it he had, in a failed attempt to sip away the stress, drank the big bottle of water he had prepared for Seungjun in case he got a dry throat during recording. So, Minkyun set out to get a new bottle from the fridge next to their lockers.
Wandering down the hallway to his destination, he got lost in thought again.
Why did I get the courage to ask him all of the sudden? It’s not like the song I prepared this time around is that good. Maybe I should cancel our date… DATE?? What am I thinking this is!? He is just coming over to RECORD, THAT'S IT. PARK MINKYUN behave yourself.
But he smelled so nice today,
Stop it
and looked so sexy, all exhausted from dancing—
“It’s full of water, how hard can this choice be?” A mocking voice woke Minkyun up. Now realizing he had just been staring at the fridge, he looked back and was greeted by a bright red colour, the colour of a stop sign. A sign that he really should stop the train of thought he was having…
He just shrugged trying to be casual to save the situation, as if he totally wasn’t fantasising about this guy's childhood friend.
“There are many different brands of water,” Minkyun defended himself
You couldn’t even call that a save, you didn’t even shoot near the goal…
“Yes there are, and our company stocks one kind…” Hyojin lifted an eyebrow scanning Minkyun's face before turning to open his locker. “Kyunnie, are you alright?”
The little deer eyes always saw straight through him for some reason, so he decided to just be somewhat honest.
“Just… I’m thinking about a new project I’m working on. I’m recording a new song with Seungjun later, so I’m a bit distracted is all.”
“Oh, you finally got the courage to ask him out?”
Okay, yes, I was honest with Hyojin, but never that honest…
Minkyun stared at the red head that had now started cursing at the locker for not opening properly.
What else does this man know?
“How-...”
“Kyunnie,” Hyojin interrupted him. “You’re really not as subtle as you think you are, be happy the others brush most things you do off as ‘MK just being MK’.”
Noted.
“Aaaaanyway, goodluck," Hyojin said quickly when he realised he made Minkyun rethink all his actions with the previous statement. “I’m sure it’s fine. Don’t do anything too crazy later.”
“I wasn’t planning anything,” Minkyun bit back.
“Yeah, sure,” Hyojin winked, grabbed his things and quickly left the locker room.
Minkyun, now not only anxious but also annoyed, picked up a bottle from the fridge and went back, bumping into Seungjun and Hyojin who were in the hallway.
“There you are. We finished early so I went to your room but you were gone,” Seungjun said, more concerned than mad.
“Oh yeah, I was just getting water, I ran out and thought you’d need it in case you got a dry throat…”
Minkyun's eyes locked with Hyojin who tried his best to hold in his laughter at, probably, coming up with a different reason for 'a dry throat'
“...during singing,” Minkyun clarified
Hyojin wheezed, startling Seungjun and making Minkyun also find the hilarity in the situation. Hyojin's laugh was contagious.
“What is up with you two?” Seungjun asked, noticing that Minkyun had started giggling.
“Nothing, nothing,” Hyojin said, catching his breath, “We just met in the locker room and made a few dumb jokes which I got reminded of.” Luckily Hyojin was better at saving situations.
“If they are your jokes I don’t want to hear them,” Seungjun quipped, “Shall we go then?” he added, facing Minkyun.
“Sure, sure. I hope you like the song.”
Seungjun turned around and made his way to the recording room. Minkyun followed close behind, getting a slap on the back from Hyojin as he passed him.
Walking close behind Seungjun, Minkyun got more and more nervous again.
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They had settled into Minkyun's recording room. It was a small room. Just his chair with a keyboard and a desk behind it, where Minkyun always placed his laptop. There was a mic squeezed in between the chair and wall next to it. In the corner was a little wooden table just small enough to accommodate Seungjun, who was seated on top of it, concentrating hard on reading the lyrics Minkyun had printed out for him.
Minkyun tried his hardest not to stare, but he look too pretty. In contrast to Minkyun, who just had his everyday black shirt and checkered pants combo, Seungjun was still in his dance outfit. He was wearing regular black sweatpants and a baggy white shirt that, sadly, hid his pretty figure. A figure that Minkyun knew too well. Every time he had spotted Seungjun walking around shirtless in the dorm or when they had to share a dressing room for stages. He never looked in too much detail, Minkyun knew how intense his stare was. No way could he subtly look at the way the lines on Seungjun's stomach caught the light or how he slimmed down a lot, sometimes too much making Minkyun worry, when promotions got close. If he wanted to or not, those moments were burnt into his mind.
Again he tried his hardest not to stare… yeah right, he must've been staring the entire time already.
“Hmmm…” Seungjun looked up from the paper he was given by Minkyun. “These lyrics sure are… something… ‘The way you destroy me at night’? alright then. How did you come up with these?”
Don’t say “I was thinking of you”.
“I was-”
DON’T.
“listening to Taemin a lot lately.”
Seungjuns eyes lit up. “Oh, Taemin, yes! His songs are so good. Is that why you chose me?”
“Sure”
“Sure?”
“I mean yes."
Seungjun narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but decided not to question Minkyun and just take this as a compliment.
“Anyway, picking me for a Taemin inspired song is a sweet gesture. I’m excited to try this.”
Minkyun let out a relieved sigh, he was glad that Seungjun didn’t run out on him after reading some of the more suggestive lines.
“Alright then, I’m ready.” Seungjun stood up, picked up the headphones and settled behind the microphone.
With that, Minkyun gave some pointers on specific parts he had an idea for, but generally he let Seungjun give his own flavour to the song. The recording went a lot smoother than Minkyun expected and he quickly became comfortable, they just laughed when Seungjun missed a note or misspoke. It made Minkyun a lot less worried about trying to look ‘professional’.
After about an hour of recording they were nearly done.
“....—anymore,” Seungjun finished the note on a lower pitch. “hmm, that doesn’t sound quite right does it? Shall I try that again?”
“Yeah, try it a bit higher. You’ve done really well so far.” Minkyun reached to the left and pinched Seungjun's thigh as an encouragement, getting a backhanded slap on his shoulder as a response. Looking up, Seungjun smiled at him.
“Thank you though. I feel like we had to redo a lot,” Seungjun stated. “The others you recorded with before were probably a lot quicker at getting things right.”
“What are you being so insecure for suddenly?” Minkyun was surprised by the sad undertone Seungjun spoke with. “Just try it a few more times in different ways. No one will hear the embarrassing ones, I promise. Not that there are any, because anything you do is amazing”
Alright as true as that was, that last statement was a bit overkill for a ‘casual compliment’.
But luckily it just made Seungjun giggle softly and try the line a few more times.
“Haa, I really can’t do this. I’m so sorry” Seungjun let out a huge sigh as he looked at the ground in frustration, still not satisfied with how it came out.
“It’s fine; don’t stress yourself.” Minkyun stood up, trying to meet the eyes of the little blond floof. “I think it’s fine, but I’m not going to work with anything you yourself aren’t satisfied with. It’ll make you not like the final product.”
Seungjun looked up and Minkyun realised how close they were. They had been close the entire time, but with Minkyun being seated and Seungjun standing behind the mic, it was a lot less noticeable. But now? Now there were mere centimeters between them. Minkyun quickly moved back behind his chair, before he did anything stupid. Although now he was just awkwardly standing in the middle of the room.
“Why not take a little break? I mean as Yuto said, you have been doing a lot today.”
“No,” Seungjun shook his head, “It’s almost dinner time anyway. Let’s give this a few more tries and if I haven’t done it by then, let’s just use dinner as our break.”
“Okay, if you say so.” Minkyun didn’t like seeing Seungjun like this. He wanted to just have a fun time recording. All it did in the end was make Seungjun frustrated. He tried to lift the mood by offering his help. “What is the thing you are looking for, though? I mean, what is the sound you want to achieve? Maybe I can help a bit better if I know that.”
“Actually, I don’t know either.” Seungjun let out a defeated sigh.
Great job there ‘lifting the mood’.
“We haven't tried a cheery version, yet.” Minkyun stepped forward and reached out to tickle Seungjun. Instantly Seungjun tried to step back to avoid whatever was coming his way. However he was met with a wall against his back and promptly had to undergo Minkyuns ‘tickle death’.
“Pl...eease... stop," Seungjun managed to say in between laughs. Minkyun pulled his hands back, showing mercy. Seungjun finally could start catching his breath, wiping away the tears that formed from laughing too much. “How is this going to help make me sound good for a sexual song?”
“I don’t know, you’re panting pretty well now,” Minkyun wanted to sound cheeky but maybe it came out a little bit too serious.
Minkyun could see Seungjuns ears turn bright red.
What did you say idiot
Seungjun turned back towards the mic without saying anything.
Minkyun wasn’t going to comment on it further either. He got tired of sitting down however. So he bent over to hit the record button on his laptop again and went back to the middle of the small recording room. He just stared at Seungjun's small back. Seungjun, who again got more and more angry by every take he wasn’t happy with. Minkyun was getting annoyed now too, at not being able to help. He shuffled closer, placing his hands on the small shoulders, making Seungjun jump.
“It’s the third time today, can you all stop scaring me already.”
Minkyun ignored that comment, pulled the small back towards him and just chomped down on Seungjun's neck. Thinking it’ll get him out of the frustrated state Seungjun seemed to be in after failing so many times. He expected a fun screech and a stern talking to, he would take a scolding if it meant Seungjun would be a little more himself again.
However, what he didn’t expect was whatever sound Seungjun made next. Seungjun suddenly moaned, quite loudly at that, jerking his head back as if he enjoyed it.
Did he? Minkyun pulled back in surprise, now staring at the little bite mark he made.
Meanwhile, Seungjun had frozen in place.
They both didn’t know how to continue this situation. They stood there in silence for what felt like hours until Seungjun mumbled something.
“What did you say?” Minkyun mumbled.
“Why did you do that?” Seungjun repeated, a bit clearer this time. Taking off his headphones and placing them back on the mic.
“Uhm,” Minkyun had almost forgotten his reasoning for his actions, he was too occupied trying to replay whatever magical sound came from Seungjun just before. “I… was trying to lift your mood again?” Minkyun didn’t sound so sure anymore.
“Don’t be so careless as to do that to everyone,” Seungjun's tone turned a bit sharp.
“Everyone? What? I don’t, why do you sound mad. I didn’t mean to make you angry, sorry”
“I’m not angry, just that you shouldn’t do it to everyone, you.. you did it to Hyojin before too.” Seungjun started to stumble a bit over his words, and Minkyun found it incredibly adorable which gave him a little boost in confidence. He turned Seungjun around so he could face him, curious about the expression he was making.
“What, are you jealous?” Minkyun flirted, expecting a slap or another scolding. Instead Seungjun's face went bright red
Seungjun was just full of surprises today.
“No!” Seungjun said, as unconvincing as a human could, shaking Minkyun's hands off his shoulder.
"Are you sure?" Minkyun started to feel a bit hopeful with the cute reactions Seungjun was giving to the flirting. He stepped a bit closer, invading the others space.
Seungjun bit his lip as an attempt to not let any words slip out, it failed.
"Ma—... Maybe," he said, trembling as he looked up, his face still flushed with a pretty shade of red.
Now what?
As Minkyun tried to carefully decide his next action, Seungjun had made up his mind already and planted a soft kiss on the others mouth. Minkyun stopped trying to think about his 'next actions' and answered the kiss by leaning into it, cupping Seungjun's face. Eager to have the kiss last longer, making sure to make notes of everything he felt in case this was the only time.
Seungjun's lips were small and soft. His cheeks felt warm in Minkyun's hands. Seungjun smelled sweet, a mixture between sweat from dance practice and the deodorant he put on before coming to record.
Minkyun pulled back.
"I don't want to continue this if I don't know your actual feelings. If this is just because of the moment—"
"Because of the moment?!" Seungjun sounded a little offended. "You have no clue how long I've wanted to kiss you."
"Will you tell me?"
Seungjun stayed quiet for a bit before continuing. "Only if you tell me first," he added in an attempt to get a love confession out of the other.
If he is going to play it like this, let's just lay it out then.
"I've always thought you were a ray of sunshine, from the moment I first met you," Minkyun started, "But do you remember when we were starting to learn our first group choreo for our debut?"
Seungjun hummed a confirmation in response.
"And do you remember when you stayed behind to practice with me because I was having so much trouble with some of the steps?"
"Yes I do. You didn't want me to stay, but I insisted because otherwise you would've pulled an all nighter trying to practice on your own."
Minkyun smiled, remembering the silly argument they had that day and then continued.
"Something just clicked that day. Being alone with you that night in the practice room, having you care enough about me and the team to stay behind. Not being mad at me whenever I still got it wrong."
Seungjun had started to stare at the ground, being too nervous to meet Minkyun's eyes. Minkyun just rambled on.
"Maybe I was too tired from practicing that day to come up with an excuse for all the times I felt butterflies looking at you, got flustered whenever you complimented me, or felt the places where you touched me burn. That day… I just finally realized, well more like, accepted, 'I'm hopelessly in love'."
Minkyun placed a finger underneath Seungjun's chin lifting his head up. He wanted to make sure Seungjun would hear this.
"I love you, Lee Seungjun."
Seungjun didn't know what to do, but tried anyway. "I… love you too. That doesn't feel like enough to say, after the whole romance story you drew up."
Minkyun let out a relieved sigh. "It's all I wanted to hear" Minkyun cut the conversation by leaning back in to kiss Seungjun. Who happily answered by parting his lips.