Chapter Text
Jeonghan’s heart was still pounding wildly in his chest.
It was too much. All of this was too much— the bet, the sudden realizations, the feelings. Most of all, Jisoo was too much. Jisoo with his soft pink hair and perfect voice, his brilliant smile and gentle demeanour, all of him; all of him and the heart that belonged to some other guy that the brunette still didn’t know enough about. Why did he have to fall for his best friend, anyway? This whole bet was going to be the end of him, Jeonghan was sure.
Earlier was a crystal clear example about how he’s losing his control over keeping his feelings in check. The brush against his neck was still okay. He didn’t completely melt at that, at least not obviously, anyway. Jisoo holding his hand wasn’t even a new thing and they’ve held hands like that a lot, but this was the first time it meant something different for Jeonghan. It wasn't even the romantic kind of hand holding, no entertwined fingers at all, but still. He was fine then, right? Even when Jisoo became worried over the flush of his cheeks?
It was the moment in the kitchen that really got to him, though. Their faces were a mere few inches apart. Almost touching, especially their lips. On a normal basis, maybe Jeonghan would have joked around about it; smile and say something witty, jokingly flirt like he would to some of the other members sometimes, but after everything that has happened it was just too much to handle in one afternoon. Jisoo was fine about it, of course, barely flustered. At least he didn't judge Jeonghan's weird reaction. Maybe he did? He reacted so calmly, though.
"Of course he would, Jeonghan, you're the only one who feels like this anyway," the brunette muttered to himself, a sinking feeling growing in his chest as he tried to shake the thoughts out of his head.
It was all that stupid bet's fault.
Then again, it was technically his fault, too. He started the whole thing, after all. He had been the one who barely noticed what his friend was doing and what Jisoo was like. He had jumped to conclusions, opened his big mouth, and was now paying the price for what he did. Maybe fate was just playing a truly cruel trick on him to end up falling for his best friend right as he told Jisoo to go after the man of his dreams. He couldn't help it. Jisoo was just so... Jisoo. In everything he did. Even with how he took the bet. Meanwhile Jeonghan was an idiot for starting all of this. Jisoo had recently mentioned that the mystery guy was definitely confessing him soon, thus making him win the bet. He sounded so sure and so happy.
He didn't want Jisoo to end up with somebody else.
Bet or no bet, could Jeonghan really break his friend's happiness for his own selfish reasons?
He wanted to be that guy. The one who ended up in a relationship with Jisoo— and not just for a few days or weeks like he usually does, but a long and lasting one. He could be that guy, if it were with Jisoo, he thought. Could he really, though? Jisoo would definitely be that type of person. He had said so himself, after all. He wanted something stable and not just for fun, two things that Jeonghan's past has shown that he wasn't good at. What if it wasn't his fault, though? What if it was because his past relationships weren't with Jisoo?
Jeonghan groaned in frustration, "this isn't the time to be thinking this. Why does this have to be so hard?"
"Whatever you're dealing with must be terrible since it's been a few minutes and you still haven't noticed me."
What?
The brunette looked up and finally noticed two things. One, he had entered a room in his sudden panic and it was not his room. Two, Junhui was smiling at him cheekily from his bed, waving a hand when he finally got Jeonghan's attention. Brilliant. He's in an emotional crisis and it had to be in front of another member. He should have been careful, but Junhui was right. There was something plaguing his mind. Maybe the younger boy could actually help.
"Jeonghan, you can tell me," the Chinese boy said softly, losing that teasing air once he realized that Jeonghan really was in a state of distress. "Is it about Jisoo? Did you guys fight?"
"No! Well, I mean, first of all the rumour you heard— or started— was false. We're not together," the older boy explained, walking over to Junhui's bed and asking the other boy to scoot over so he could have space. "But it is about Jisoo."
"Can I help?"
Jeonghan sighed, giving in, "I don't even know where to begin. Long story short, I guess: I like him. He likes someone else. I want us to end up together, but..."
He trailed off, mind wandering back to his previous thoughts. Beside him, Junhui had a mix of both surprise and concern on his face. The latter was first and foremost surprised to hear that Jeonghan thought Jisoo didn't like him— he had figured that bit out years ago, but apparently not Jeonghan. He had a trained eye for these things. He was almost positive that the vocal didn't have to worry one bit about Jisoo not liking him, but that wasn't his secret to tell. Instead Junhui nodded, silently asking Jeonghan to continue.
"What if I confess and things just go wrong? What if I'm stealing him from his happiness with that other guy? He might reject me," Jeonghan finally continued, voicing out his concerns.
"Yoon Jeonghan? Angel and visual and beautiful vocal of the group, get rejected?" Junhui asked in fake surprise, managing to get a small chuckle out of the brunette. Pleased, he continued in a bit more serious tone, "In all honestly, Jeonghan, I've known the two of you long enough to know that things will work out. You've been friends for so long. It wouldn't hurt to try; something like this won't ruin the friendship. I thought I was gonna die when I confessed to Haohao, but look at us now."
Jeonghan shrugged, "yeah, but Jisoo wants something lasting. Something with this foundation thing. You know how I am."
"I know how you are, the whole group knows how you are—"
The older boy lightly swatted at Junhui's shoulder as the latter giggled, effectively brightening the mood even if it was just a little. Junhui smiled at him, bright and positive as ever as he spoke again.
"If your friendship isn't foundation enough, I don't know what is. Are you just gonna let Jisoo go? Will that really make you feel better? Imagine him in some random dude's arms, hugging, kis—"
"I have to find Jisoo again," Jeonghan announced abruptly, cutting Junhui off as he stood to walk quickly out of the room. The Chinese boy watched him, amused.
"Ah, jealousy. Truly the driving force of many people."
/
It took Jeonghan so long to find Jisoo. The dorm wasn't even that big, why was he so hard to find? He had passed by almost every other member before being pointed to the right direction. He went to the boy's room first, but he wasn't there. Only to end up where he started, in front of the door, this time certain that Jisoo was inside. If anything, the time spent looking for Jisoo just added to the general anxious feeling he had. Seungkwan and Seokmin were in the room, too, but they were pre-occupied with something to fully care about what was happening.
"Shua."
"Yeah?" Jisoo stood up from his bed to greet Jeonghan at the door. "Mingyu said you were looking for me."
"I need to talk to you," Jeonghan said, glancing at the other boys in the room then back at Jisoo. "Privately."
Somewhat surprised yet ever so obedient, Jisoo nodded. He stepped out of the room and into the hallway, closing the door behind him as he did so. Normally, Jeonghan wouldn't have considered talking out in the hallway as private, but all the other rooms were probably occupied anyway. Anywhere else also had a member or two lingering about, even if some of them were out. As long as he kept their voices relatively soft, it should be fine. He couldn't wait anymore. This had to do.
"You know how you mentioned your mystery guy is a vocal, visual, and has a good personality?"
Jisoo smiled fondly at the thought and nodded, which made Jeonghan's stomach clench. No backing out now, thought.
"I mean. I'm all of those too, right?"
"You can say that," the other boy said, a twinkle in his eye as he said so.
"I make you laugh, too. I'm fun."
"Of course."
"Okay, see, I had a point with this," the brunette whined, pouting a little since he can't seem to get the words out. The other boy remained patient as ever, just watching him. After a few more seconds of internal panic, he could feel the sudden fast heartbeat inside his chest. He was finally going to confess to his best friend, of all things he could be doing. Taking a deep breath, Jeonghan looked at the pink haired boy squarely in the eye before finally continuing, "Jisoo, date me instead."
"Hm? What do you mean?" Jisoo asked, the corners of his mouth twitching.
Jeonghan huffed, "you know precisely what I mean, Shua. I'm like your mystery guy anyway. No, actually, I've even better. I'll prove it. Date me instead."
"Are you just saying this to win the bet?"
"No!" He blurted out in panic. "No, no, definitely not that. I— I like you, Hong Jisoo. A lot. I'd really like it if you would date me instead. I'll even quit the bet and cancel everything. Just don't go after that mystery guy. If he asks you out, reject him. Date me instead."
Each second spent in silence was like torture to Jeonghan as Jisoo looked like he was pondering over what had happened, lips pursed and eyes trained on the ground. Despite his calm appearance, maybe his friend was panicking too. At least he wasn't straight up rejected.
Yet.
"Let's get Jihoon to hear all this first, then, to prove you're cancelling the bet and that you're being serious," Jisoo finally said, already walking towards when Jihoon was last. The latter had found his way back in the living room once Jeonghan had left. Upon seeing the two approach, he almost left again until Jisoo held a hand up as a sign to wait. Thankfully, the shorter boy obliged.
"Jeonghan has something to say."
"Way to put pressure on a guy, Jisoo," the brunette complained half-heartedly in an attempt to calm his nerves, but was only met with smiling eyes in return.
"Well?" Jihoon asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Jeonghan swallowed, throat suddenly dry as he spoke, "Wooji, I'm forfeiting the bet. I told Jisoo to date me instead. The bet is cancelled. I won't let him date whoever that guy is."
The blonde looked back and forth between the two boys, expression impassive. Until the smallest of smiles began to work its way to his face, finally ending with him breaking into full blown laughter, loud and clear. Jeonghan should have been used to Jihoon laughing at his face at this point, but it was still really unnerving to have it happen right after he confessed his feelings to Jisoo. What gives? There was also the concern of the other members popping in and ruining the whole moment, but that thought left his mind when Jihoon spoke again.
"Yoon Jeonghan, I told you so."
"What?"
The younger boy smirked as he turned towards Jisoo, "as always, congrats on winning the bet, Jisoo. What prize do you want?"
“Thanks, Jihoon. I already got what I wanted.”
"What?" Jeonghan asked again, louder this time, about to follow up on that question when he suddenly felt an arm snake around his waist. Next thing he knew, there were soft lips on his, effectively shutting him up and drowning anything else he was about to say. Along with that, the bones in his body began to melt and he felt weak in the knees. His body was pulled closer to deepen the kiss. This part he liked. He wouldn't complain. But still, Jisoo was kissing him, Jihoon had said the other boy had won the bet, and—
Oh.
Jisoo pulled away soon after, grinning widely, "care to say anything about how subtle ways don't work, Jeonghannie?"
"You— this whole time—"
"Mhm," Jisoo hummed, placing a kiss on his forehead.
"You made me believe— I had a list! I was so sure— you're so mean, Hong Jisoo!"
"Yeah," he continued placing kisses on Jeonghan's cheek as the boy spoke, which really just distracted him from his train of thought. He was annoyed. He was shocked. He was being kissed by Jisoo again. All complaints flew out the window at that, along with trying to understand what has happened throughout the past few weeks. It made sense, somewhat, if he looked closely. It also just completely blew his mind.
Still in the living room, Jihoon had a look of disgust on his face that neither boys saw.
“Gross.”
Break ups, failed relationships, and broken hearts. Yoon Jeonghan was pretty used to these things, but he was beginning to think that he'd much rather get used to the idea of kissing Jisoo. He’ll force some kind of explanation out of the other boy some other time, for now he was too distracted by how good of a kisser his best friend was. Yet another thing he didn’t know, but was glad to be experiencing firsthand instead of hearing from somebody else. Most important lesson of all: never make a bet with Hong Jisoo. Still. This was definitely worth losing the bet.