Chapter Text
Jun was a dog. A very loyal one at that. It was a fact anyone in his perimeter could easily come to understand.
Whenever some ONER staff's tone raised just a tad too loud, he would appear with his annoying smirk and distract the angry person, diverting the attention from the scolded member.
During public events, if murmurs got too loud about a mistake one of the MARS members did on stage, his laugh would boom in the whole venue and all eyes would turn to him.
When more confrontational people would face one of his friends head on, you could always hear the sound of his approaching footsteps. He would simply put an arm around a shoulder, raise one corner of his mouth, then spit his venom, effectively shutting up and neutralizing the nuisance.
He could be a pain in the ass to put up with on a daily basis, but as much as that annoyed Dylan to admit it, Jun wasn't a bad person per se.
He was just... loud and over-present in his personal space. He could tolerate that, if it meant their band would amass more fans.
His charms were too bright for his eyes, but for the sake of MARS's popularity, Dylan would just grit his teeth and endure this overbearing puppy.
That he could live with.
What he could absolutely not tolerate, though, was unjust slandering.
And that, to his utmost irritation, was also something that came with a personality like Jun's.
When you presented yourself so loudly to the world, you had to be prepared for backlash, and that included all sorts of comments and rumours that would follow you to the end of your career.
With a mouth as big as Jun's, you would expect him to be loud and proud, and jump to defend himself whenever his ego was as much as grazed.
With MARS, and these days Po, he would do just that, and they would bicker until Pepper would gently chide them, or Dylan snapped and stormed off to lock himself in their house studio.
However, when it was someone outside his close circle, Jun would just smile and pretend he didn't hear the negativity hurled towards him.
He would just let it ricochet against him and would resume with his daily activities.
Dylan couldn't, for the life of him, understand why he never snapped back to correct people when they talked bad about him.
Sure, those comments were sometimes true, he wasn't a saint, far from that, but the fact that he just shrugged and acted like it didn't matter was pretty unnerving, if you asked Dylan.
Jun couldn't be that unbothered all the time, surely some of those words had to get under his skin and sting a bit.
Dylan resolutely decided he would start intervening, because Jun was annoying him by letting his reputation get tainted by insignificant people.
Let us see how the man will react to said interventions...
⤕
One morning, while getting ready for a showcase, Jun accidentally elbowed a bottle of water left open on a shelf, making liquid spill on the floor. A slipping hazard in a room full of people.
"—Oops, sorry about that," he just plucked a few tissues from a nearby box and crouched down to wipe it off.
The organiser's assistant wasn't having it that day, though.
"—Hey kid, stop doing useless stuff and get back in your chair. You guys need to be on stand-by in fifteen minutes."
Jun didn't listen to him, and continued blotting away liquid from the tiled floors, then got up and went to throw the tissues in a nearby trash can.
He was about to go back to his seat to get final touch-ups done to his hair, when the man put himself between Jun and the hairstylist.
"—You shouldn't let small incidents like this distract you, someone else could have wiped that off quickly. You're making everyone get behind planned schedule and stress," the man said, crossing his arms and scolding the idol.
Jun just gave him his best camera smile and tried to minimize the situation.
"—It's quicker like this, sir, some staff could have slipped and-
—Don't try to talk back to me! Do you realise how you're wasting everyone's time by roaming around instead of just sitting down like you've been asked to? Hm?"
Jun kept his smile on, but you could see his eye twitch a bit from getting yelled at for something as stupid as that. However, he knew that everyone was on edge for the event so he didn't add more, just tried walking back to his seat so he could get it done with and flee the scene.
The man didn't budge, though, and kept looking at Jun with a disapproving look.
A low sound echoed on their left, causing both to look at the source of the noise.
Dylan had cleared his throat and was looking at the man from under his silver bangs, awaiting his attention on him.
"—Move. You're in the way... sir."
The man sputtered from such tone used against him, but Dylan didn't care.
He just kept looking at him with disdain, waiting for him to clear the path so he could already go wait outside, near the performance stage.
Next to them, Jun was also looking at the grey-haired man, a bit startled by the interference.
After a few moments, the assistant grumbled but stomped away, muttering about "disrespectful youth" and so on. Then Dylan crossed the room and went out. Silence returned.
Did he just...
But no, that couldn't be possible, Dylan hated his ass.
Well, not literal hate, but they couldn't be in the same room for more than a few seconds before one of them started riling up the other one.
Shaking his head, Jun bowed to the hairstylist and got back in his designated chair. His eyes hovered towards the door where Dylan had just gone out.
He let the thought go for now, preparing himself to go on stage.
⤕
The second time it happened, they were at Emsphere to promote a rising makeup brand in Thailand.
MARS had been freshly appointed as ambassadors. Nano had especially been ecstatic about it, as he was a big fan of their mascaras and lip glosses.
Even Jun had been interested in their newest product. It was a rose-scented lip oil, declined in neutral and pH-detecting models.
They had been gifted samples of it. The oil wasn't sticky at all and had a particularly yummy taste.
They made all the cracks on their lips disappear, and, in Jun's not-so-humble opinion, made his lips look very kissable.
After being given a short briefing in a nearby lounge, they stepped outside the mall and made their way to the designated area, where they would make their appearance.
They were welcomed by SPHERE's screams. Their fans were really sweet, always respecting their boundaries and giving them little gifts and letters during fan-meets.
Jun had to admit they got quite lucky with that, as he had seen their co-star Ice's fans. He felt a bit bad for him, as he was always chased by people, whenever he was recognized outside.
MARS arrived near the booths and took place behind them, wearing colourful outfits with matching aprons. Today, they would gift free products for the fans that showed up, to promote the brand they were working with.
The brand CEO themself were already talking into a mic to announce their arrival, expertly handling the logistics and chatting with the members.
It was an indie brand owned by a queer person, known for their good quality products and bold collections.
As Jun was handing packed samples from a cute basket, he noticed a fan had come with her boyfriend. She was approaching him with a friendly smile, and he reached out to give her a little bag with the products wrapped carefully inside.
Before she could grab it, though, the man next to her quickly snatched the bag and glared at Jun.
A bit taken aback, he quickly gave back a smile to the couple and thanked them for coming today. The girl didn't even have time to respond before the man said:
"—Can't believe they make men give out that shit, how disgusting."
Jun's smile vanished and a frown appeared on his face, creasing his handsome features. He didn't respond back, though, it would be useless to argue with close-minded idiots like that.
Next to him, Dylan also stopped handing out stuff. He slowly deposited his own basket on the surface in front of him and turned in Jun's direction.
He didn't even bother looking at the man, and muttered lowly, but loud enough for him to hear:
"—Can't believe there are still imbeciles who think makeup should belong to only one gender."
The man sneered and, in a few strides, approached the booth, slamming his hands on the table and startling a few fans.
"—What the fuck did you say, asshole?"
Dylan slightly leaned over so he was closer and, still not looking at him, like he was just commenting on the weather, continued:
"—There are some real dumbfucks on this planet, what a waste of oxygen."
Then, he was about to step back when the boyfriend suddenly grabbed him by his apron and yanked him even closer.
The people nearby shrieked and parted away from the booth, murmurs quickly rising. Some people were already looking for the nearest security guard to handle this troublemaker.
The girlfriend quickly grabbed his arm and tried reasoning him, while simultaneously bowing to Jun and Dylan, and whimpering excuses.
Jun kinda felt bad for her, she seemed very sweet but was stuck with her close-minded, poor excuse of a boyfriend.
Dylan didn't flinch at all, but his eyes finally landed on the nuisance holding him hostage. He calmly put his hand above the man's and, in a graceful gesture, forced him to let go.
He didn't even stumble when he took a step back, just rearranged his outfit to make himself look presentable again.
The man was fuming now, but before he could charge back again, two security men appeared and, each taking hold of one arm, started escorting him backwards, towards their quarters.
You could hear him hurling profanities, but his voice got further and further the more he was pushed back. His "girlfriend" hurried behind, still shaken about his sudden outburst.
Jun sincerely hoped he would become her ex.
What a fucking moron, getting jealous of an idol. Why the fuck would he show up, then? Just stay home man...
As he was still cursing the man in his head, he didn't notice Dylan's gaze on him at first, but, upon feeling the heat of an insistent look, turned his head towards the booth next to his.
Dylan kept his eyes on him, silent. He just tilted his head slightly and raised an eyebrow, as if quietly asking if he was good.
Jun just gave him his signature smirk and raised a thumb up. Then they broke eye contact and resumed their activity.
At first glance, it seemed like none of them got affected, but if you looked closely, you would notice the slight redness on the tips of Jun's ears.
Later in the car, Thame was still fussing about the previous incident, with an equally stressed-out Pepper.
Nano was in the back between Jun and Dylan, and kept holding their arms, checking if they were okay.
Jun just ruffled his hair and tried to appease the mood in the vehicle.
"—Don't worry guys, it's nothing. Happens when you're a heartthrob like me."
Then he winked to no one in particular.
Dylan just gave him a deadpan look, then put on his headphones and turned to gaze out the window.
Jun looked at him a few more seconds, then also settled in his seat. He felt Nano drop his head on his shoulder, and readjusted his stance to make it more comfortable for the maknae to doze off on him.
During the ride back home, he kept replaying Dylan's intervention from earlier. It definitely didn't feel like a mere coincidence anymore.
Almost as if... Dylan had begun looking out for him. Well, in his own grumpy and sarcastic ways.
He mentally noted to keep an eye on the grey-haired man, if these moments were to happen again in the future.
⤕
By the third time, Jun had thought he was ready for Dylan's interventions. How naive of him.
They were at an after-party of a sportswear brand, the marketing team having generously invited them to attend en event, having introduced their newest apparels the same afternoon.
Surrounded by other famous celebrities and influencers, MARS members had quickly started wandering around, after recognizing some friends from the industry.
At this point during the party, most guests were tipsy or straight-up drunk, even Nano, Thame and Pepper were red-cheeked, stumbling a bit as they were chatting with some co-idols Jun couldn't care less about.
He was the assigned driver tonight, wanting to take some weight off the shoulders of Pepper, who drove them around most of the time when Mick wasn't available (which was... quite frequent).
Inspecting his surroundings, Jun gazed at Dylan who was standing a bit further on his left, and noted that he also wasn't drinking, which wasn't surprising as he never touched alcohol outside the MARS house, not wanting to be vulnerable outside his comfort zone.
Smirking because he remembered that cute quirk, Jun quickly shook his head and looked away from his bandmate, pulse stuttering a bit.
What the fuck, since when do I find his habits endearing...
He had recently started having these strange reactions around the other man, which was unlike him. Since when does the great Jun let himself get shaken up by this grey-haired menace?
Determined to clear his head of these random thoughts, he quickly pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against, and started scanning the crowd, looking for a distraction.
In no time, he had made eye contact with a cute woman and she approached him, swaying to the music while holding a flute of champagne.
They started discussing about the event, their day and other surface things that didn't require much thinking, each matching the other's flirty energy.
She was caressing his bare arm with her manicured hands, blinking up dreamily at him. Jun hoped she wasn't drunk and still conscious of what she was doing, as he didn't want to take advantage of an inebriated person.
Facing away from the crowd, Jun didn't feel another presence approaching him, he just continued speaking with this nice stranger.
He was so engrossed in what she was saying, that he almost jumped when someone took a hold of his arm and yanked him back violently.
His eyes widened and he turned his head to look at the intruder.
It was a man, a bit older than him and all muscles, clearly hammered beyond reason. Jun gulped silently but tried to not show his unease.
The man sneered and spat in his face:
"—Why the fuck are you talking to my woman, huh?"
The woman in question had let go of Jun when she saw him approach, and crossed her arms in front of her, looking annoyed:
"—Fuck off, Pong! We broke up two months ago, why are you still trying to get back to me? Go crawl back to all the other sluts you've been messaging behind my back!"
Great, Jun thought, just my luck, flirting with the girl with a crazy ex...
The brute still had his big hand locked around Jun's arm, squeezing it painfully, making his face slightly twist from the harshness of his grip.
Jun wasn't a weak man per se, but this was a category above him, he couldn't escape.
Looking quickly at his surroundings, he tried to find one of his members or their manager to signal the awkward position he had just gotten himself in.
When he didn't even find Dylan, whom he had spotted earlier, he quickly gave up and, after letting out a silent sigh, looked at the ex-boyfriend again.
"—Hey man, look, I wasn't trying to do any harm-
—Fuck off. You knew exactly what you were doing, flirting with someone else's chick!"
Faye, the "chick" in question, let out an indignant huff and interjected:
"—I'm not yours anymore, when are you going to get that through your stupid skull?"
But he was too out of his mind to process the info. Mind you, Jun thought, it's been two months but he still hadn't given up, even following his ex at public events. How lame.
He was so engrossed in his own head, trying to come up with a solution to appease the tension, that he didn't feel a presence approach their little group.
Suddenly, he felt the man's grip falter, and saw his face twist in pain. Behind him, Dylan had carefully twisted his arm, not too hard to necessitate medical intervention, but enough to make him let go of his bandmate.
Jun's eyes opened wide and his pulse stuttered traitorously at the quiet display of strength.
Dylan didn't look like it, but he needed a lot of training for all the dancing MARS had to do on stage.
All the members went to the gym, in addition to their daily practices, to build a strong core and endurance.
Jun remembered a specific moment where they had all been fooling around and played arm wrestling. Surprisingly, Dylan had won the final round against Jun, making everyone cackle when Jun's face had turned crimson, and he had quickly excused himself to go sulk in a nearby room.
Back to the present situation, Dylan was still holding the ex's arm in an unmoving grip, staring at his back icily, the only proof that he was angry underneath that calm facade.
In a quick movement, he struck the man's nape, making him faint, then he unhanded him, letting him fall unceremoniously.
Faye shrieked and took a step back, then looked at Dylan with wide eyes. He reassured her calmly:
"—He's not dead, just out for a bit."
Still composed as ever, he hailed a passing server with snacks on a plate and pointed to the man on the floor:
"—He fainted from drinking too much. Please take care of him."
Then he took a hold of Jun's not-prickling arm and excused himself.
He led them both to a nearby restroom and, to Jun's surprise, turned the lock after closing the door. The party's noises faded in the background, leaving only their breathing's echoes against the tiled walls.
Dylan fixated Jun with an intense stare, making his ears redden slightly from the sudden attention. That, and the fact that they were alone in a room together.
It wasn't unusual for them to end up without other members around, but they would always end up bickering, and one of them would leave to not escalate things further.
Now, they were face to face, an awkward silence starting to build up.
Jun quickly averted his eyes and scratched his neck, a bit embarrassed to have been saved like he was some fragile creature.
He mumbled a quiet "thanks", then just awaited for Dylan to say something. But the silver-haired man just kept silent, still looking at him.
"—Hey, so... I think the problem has been dealt with, we can get out-
—No.
—Huh?"
Startled, Jun glanced up again and his ears betrayed him once more, turning crimson under such intense scrutiny.
"—Look Dylan, it's okay, it was just a misunderstanding.
—It's not okay."
Then, without warning, Dylan took a hold of his shoulders and backed Jun up until his back painlessly hit the sink's counter.
Sputtering, Jun let out a "wha-" before Dylan started feeling up his arm, checking for any injuries. When Jun's face didn't twist much, indicating fading pain, he let out a noise of relief.
"—Stop acting like you're untouchable, Jun. It makes me fucking pissed." grumbled Dylan.
He was still trapping him between the sink and his body, creating a funny picture in Jun's head: he, with broader shoulders, was blocked by his leaner bandmate.
He wasn't laughing on the outside, though. No, it was another feeling that was dangerously creeping up his spine.
Want was a very traitorous entity, it didn't wait for your brain to catch up on it, just spread in your body until you noticed, too late, that it had lodged itself deep in your bones.
Jun had wanted a handful of people, always quick, fleeting encounters that had sparked and extinguished in one intertwining of bodies.
Never had that switch been flipped because of Dylan. Especially not for a reason as stupid as him saving his ass from getting beaten up.
Sighing, Jun dropped his head to hide his brightening cheeks, then mumbled an "asshole", but he didn't try to move again for a few moments.
Being this close to his "nemesis", as their fans had funnily nicknamed their bond, he suddenly felt exposed in a way that he didn't want to analyse yet.
He just waited for Dylan to back off so they could get out of here, get a hold of their members and head back home.
After what felt like an eternity, but was in reality only a mere quarter, Dylan finally decided it was time to get out of the room. He let go of Jun's arm but, after unlocking the door and opening it, waited until latter stepped out first.
They quickly gathered their members and helped them back to their car. After making sure everyone was put in the backseats with their belts attached, Jun drove them back to the band house.
Again, to his surprise, Dylan had chosen to sit in the passenger seat, albeit with his earbuds secured in his ears, and looking out the window.
Still, Jun couldn't help but think how strange the recent events were. Dylan, his nonchalant bandmate, always happened to be there when he got in trouble, like he was constantly looking out for him and making sure he stepped out of these arguments unscathed.
Looking back at the road ahead, Jun didn't notice how, through the reflection, two eyes were still gazing upon his side profile.
⤕
At this point, the picture grew bigger around Jun. The guard dog still jumped in conversations, wagging its tail to appease tension.
He still put his arms around shoulders, still let his laugh carry through rooms to diffuse insistent murmurs, but it was always followed by a shadow. A clawed, dark cloud that moved behind, unnoticed until it struck.
Where Jun was all smirks and laughter, Dylan was cold stares and laconic clap-backs.
It was very funny to observe, for those around them, especially Nano who would give them know-it-all smiles and repeat "it's happening, guys" like a cute parrot.
Dylan just thought, smirking mentally, that he was finally about to sink his claws into his most prised possession, after a long hunt.
But let's get back to our oblivious hound.
⤕
When the thread snapped, it was unexpected. At least for Jun, who was still battling this newfound attraction. Towards his bandmate, for fuck's sake.
He had tried ignoring Dylan, but a quiet force like that couldn't be removed easily, especially if it had set its sights on you.
In the end, Jun just resigned himself to be tailed by a persistent, trying-to-be-nonchalant-about-it cat.
It was truly a bizarre situation for everyone witnessing it, yet nobody was stopping it from happening, finding it almost endearing how Dylan wanted to get noticed by Jun.
Almost, if it wasn't for how they still kept being at each other's throats whenever one pushed the other too much.
An absolutely ridiculous, yet again, inevitable collision between two souls who kept gravitating towards each other.
⤕
Jun was in a bad mood. They had an upcoming song in the making, and were juggling between promotional photo shoots, memorizing footsteps and recording the track.
It was an exhausting process, but it was still enjoyable to see the fruits of their hard work growing slowly but steadily. Soon, they would be able to harvest it and release their single.
But that wasn't what currently made him feel like shit. No, far from it.
He was just looking at Po devour a sandwich with barely concealed envy. A luxury he couldn't afford yet, as they had to maintain perfect form during the whole process of preparing their comeback.
To spare himself from his ongoing misery, he got up and went out of their assigned resting lounge, then wandered in ONER's corridors, trying to find a coffee or vending machine; anything ranging from espresso to energy drink would suffice to momentarily lessen his hunger.
To his luck, both were situated in the wing he had arrived at. Making a happy noise, he strode towards them. In the end, he settled for the coffee.
As he was waiting for his drink to drip in a cardboard cup, two men approached the vending machine. They were so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn't seemed to notice Jun's presence.
For once, Jun was happy to be invisible, he who was used to always be under the spotlight. He wasn't in the mood to suck up to people from the company right now.
Unfortunately, he had forgotten that when he wasn't present, there were many things said about him.
"—Did you see the MARS members today? They're shooting pics for their upcoming single.
—Those lanky kids? Yeah, I saw them going out the dressing room downstairs earlier. Their shirts looked ridiculously short."
Jun froze and straightened up slowly, acting like he wasn't concerned by the nearby conversation.
"—Yeah, it looked like crap if I'm being honest. They're supposed to be manly but the agency insists on dressing them like hookers."
His jaw tightened, but he forced himself to act unbothered, praying for his drink to drip faster, his teeth grinding together in annoyance.
"—Especially that... June one or whatever. He acts all high and mighty but can't do shit except flex what he calls muscles. All he has is his face to compensate all the lacking areas."
The two employees continued mocking Jun a few steps further, while inserting coins in a slot and waiting for their snacks to fall, still unknowing of his own presence at the crime scene.
He was gripping the side of the coffee machine so hard you could see his knuckles turn white, but still he kept quiet. He wouldn't give them the pleasure of seeing him crumble today, or ever as long as he was a public figure.
Jun bitterly thought about how easy, it was, in the end, to crack one's confidence. That's what happens when you indeed only have your face card to make up for the rest, he thought while slowly forgetting why he had come here in the first place.
How stupid to let small comments like that get to him...
A loud bang made him and the employees next to him jump, everyone turning to their heads towards the commotion.
Dylan was literally a few centimetres away from the men, having hit his fist harshly against the same machine they were trying to get snacks out of.
His eyes were blazing but he still maintained a facade of calmness. Slowly, he withdrew his hand and seethed:
"—Your crackers were stuck in there. It would be a shame if they couldn't reach their destination."
Still looking down on the now trembling men, he quickly averted his gaze and looked past their shoulders. They followed his stare and, upon seeing a seemingly upset Jun, all colours drained from their faces. They hurriedly fled the corridor, not even bothering to take their snacks with them.
Leaving the two bandmates alone, in a silence so suffocating Jun looked around him to see if there was a room he could hide in for a few moments, to try patching up what little dignity he had left.
But Dylan didn't give him the chance to do that. Instead, he mentally collected the broken parts and, in a few strides, reached Jun.
He grabbed a pan of his shirt and yanked him further in the building.
Jun stumbled a bit, startled by the sudden harshness, but quickly regained enough clarity to take hold of the hand pulling him forward.
He tried speaking over the loud silence, but his voice cracked mid-sentence:
"—Hey Dyl, please not now. I want to be alone."
Dylan stopped dead in his tracks, and Jun would have collided against his frame if it wasn't for the hand still tightly fisted around his shirt. He didn't even turn, just started pouring out his frustration:
"—Spare me your whining. What are you even going to do alone? You obviously aren't in a lucid state right now, so can it and follow me."
Having stunned Jun to silence, he continued guiding him until he found what he was looking for. The cleaning supplies closet in that area.
Swiftly opening the door, he pushed Jun inside, then closed the door and locked it behind him.
"—We have thirty minutes until lunch break ends."
Then Dylan started acting. He manoeuvred Jun against a part of the wall free of cleaning supplies, pressing him against the cold surface. Next, he grabbed both his hands and put them behind his waist, securing himself between the brown-haired's arms. He finished by also encircling Jun's waist with his own arms and tied them up together.
The cherry on top was when he dropped his head against Jun's shoulder, having successfully trapped him in his embrace.
Jun was still a bit out of it when they had arrived, but quickly froze when he felt himself being hugged by the person he swore hated his ass a few weeks back.
Now, he wasn't sure of anything anymore but, too tired to fight the upcoming crash, he also let his head drop against the silver-haired's shoulder, still tense.
Being so close to his neck, Jun could smell his sweat from a harsh day of running around to take pictures, mixed with Dylan's surprisingly fresh cologne.
He smelled like citruses, a very refreshing smell. The little kick of acidity helped him sort out the mess in his brain.
Dylan kept mumbling things against him, but he couldn't make out any of his words.
"—I don't understand what you're saying, you're talking to my shoulder right now."
Dylan huffed but ended up turning his head a bit more towards Jun's neck. His hot breath made goosebumps rise against Jun's skin. He knew Dylan could feel it but chose to not comment on it.
"—I'm saying you're a lost cause.
—Hey-
—Why do you always let people spit on you and wag your tail like you don't understand their words? It's so fucking annoying."
Dylan was breathing more harshly now, tensing against his bandmate.
"—They don't have the right to say that while looking like they crawled out of a kid's drawing. Fucking morons. I should have punched their shitty faces instead of that stupid machine."
As Dylan kept cursing people, Jun embarrassingly realised he was gone.
Because why was this man, who he swore couldn't tolerate being around him, holding him so tightly while cussing the people who had wronged him just a few moments ago?
Again, to Jun's mortification, the switch flipped, and he just felt himself melt against the warm embrace. He couldn't fight his emotions anymore, too overwhelmed by such displays of affection coming from the same man who cursed him every time their paths crossed.
He buried himself as far against his ribcage as science permitted, then let out a shaky exhale. He had stopped resisting, just admitting defeat, and let his shadow swallow him, at last.
Behind closed doors, Jun wasn't a guard dog anymore. He didn't need to bark to defend his family. He just had to lay down and let the cat's purring strip away his defences.
A sarcastic rhythm that invaded his being, but was surprisingly pleasant to feel against his skin. He felt the last remnants of his distress ebb away, leaving only static behind.
"—Jun.
—Hm.
—I can feel you against my leg."
Jerking his head back and hitting it against the wall behind, Jun loudly cursed and tried to untangle himself from Dylan's grip.
Shit, why am I hard right now of all moments?
As if it wasn't already embarrassing to be held after a breakdown, he also had to get excited from letting the cat chase away the intruders in his place.
He was the one who was supposed to be strong at all times and defend people, not be the one needing assistance.
⤕
Sensing Jun was getting distressed again, Dylan leaned even more against him and just pressed his leg further against Jun's hardening front.
⤕
Jun let out a shaky breath, but he finally stopped wrestling against Dylan. With widened eyes and a quickly reddening nape, he looked down at the man still buried against his shoulder.
⤕
Dylan wanted to tease him some more, so he slowly attached his lips to the flushing skin. He caressed the jumping pulse with damp presses of his mouth, while also lowering his own defences to match Jun's, not wanting to make him feel like he was the only one wanting.
Because he had been waiting for a long time. He didn't want his prey to escape him after having circled around it so carefully. He had finally found an opening to strike and sink his fangs in the flesh he had been eyeing hungrily from afar.
He never wanted to let go. It was a feast oh so delicious, he would indulge in it for as long as Jun would let him.
Dylan felt the warmth leave his sides, but then hot palms took hold of his face and lifted it. He glanced up to meet Jun's gaze.
His tanned skin had turned a luxurious shade of crimson, painting it a rich gradient.
"—It's not fair, why am I the only one affected?," he muttered with a pout Dylan wanted to bite off. So he did just that.
⤕
Jun hissed when his lower lip almost got punctured by Dylan's teeth, but the moisture of his tongue soothing the pain away afterwards made his knees feel numb.
Suddenly, he felt Dylan press himself even more against him, and finally noticed his own growing desire.
Oh.
"—Who said you're the only one getting affected? I also want you, Jun," Dylan murmured against his mouth before stealing his air away in a devastating kiss.
It was more tongue and wetness than a meeting of lips, but none of them cared enough to break away and catch their breaths, too busy consuming each other like starving animals.
Soon enough, Jun felt Dylan give a tentative shift, creating friction between both their legs.
Jun broke away from the kiss, letting out a grunt from the pressure applied on his groin. He could also feel the press of Dylan against his own thigh, making him want, and want, and want.
But time caught up to their little escapade. Soon enough, a device vibrated in Dylan's back pocket, shaking both men out of their trance.
They quickly stopped moving, and Dylan retrieved one hand from Jun's back to quickly fish out his phone. It was a call from Pepper.
"—Break ends in five. Please tell Jun that info also applies to him. See you."
Beep beep.
They looked up from the dimming screen, silent and still dishevelled, then Jun burst out laughing; Dylan's own shoulders were shaking in barely concealed amusement. They looked undone beyond needing mere touch-ups; Thame would kill them if they went back downstairs looking like this.
With quick movements, they tried making their hair look presentable again, which proved to be difficult as their make out session had made a mess of it. Their shirts were also quite rumpled but with some pats, they managed to smoothen out fabrics.
The trickiest part was... their hard-ons. Jun conjured up some unwanted images in his mind, and felt Dylan do the same. After breathing deeply for a moment, they reached a state they considered acceptable enough to step back into the outside world.
Jun was leading the way, followed as always by his loyal shadow. Always physically a step behind, but mentally way ahead, already calculating when it would next pounce again.
But the darkness he had tasted in the supply closet didn't feel as overwhelming now, because he now knew what it felt like to be engulfed in it.
As they were approaching the door to resume their photo shoot, Dylan reached out his hand and linked his little finger with Jun's, stopping him before he pushed the door to join their bandmates. The brown-haired man glanced back one last time at his... he didn't know how to qualify him anymore, but maybe words weren't necessary at that moment.
Dylan readjusted a strand of silver that fell over his dark gaze and, leaning a final time near Jun's ear, whispered:
"—If you have trouble falling asleep, come find this lonely cat to cuddle."
Then he let go and pushed the door open, leaving a stunned Jun at the threshold. He quickly shook his head and let a big smile stretch his face in a playful grin, his smug mask back on.
He couldn't wait to get clawed again.
⤕
The next morning, the sky had just started turning pale hues of pink and orange, when quiet footsteps padded downstairs in the MARS house.
Pepper was already awake, mixing up eggs to make omelettes, for the future hungry mouths that would soon request sustenance, when he heard the approaching entity behind him. Not turning away from his task, he just commented:
"—I had a bit of trouble sleeping last night, woke up early too so I'm making food for you guys."
Dylan only gave a noncommittal "hm" at first, then quietly stepped next to him, taking out a pan from a cabinet and passing it to his friend.
"—s'that so.
—I heard some howling, I think there was a dog nearby."
That made Dylan stop in his tracks, having reached the fridge to take out some butter. Nevertheless, he swiftly resumed his task and, in no time, Pepper was expertly flipping omelettes for everyone.
Dylan had washed some vegetables and was cutting them up to make a salad, when he finally responded:
"—Oh, that. I also heard some meowing, guess there were some animals playing outside."
Pepper hummed without taking his eyes away from the pan.
"—M'yeah, must have been playing quite a lot."
Thame had stumbled into the kitchen sleepily and plopped down on a chair, eyes half-open.
Dylan quickly put the cut-up vegetables in a bowl before he concluded:
"—They must've had a lot of fun, taking turns playing with each other," with a twitch of his lips betraying his satisfaction.
Thame just let his head drop on the table with a dull thud, groaning:
"—Please stop talking about the mating calls from last night or I will move out of this damn house," he whined, making Pepper chuckle and Dylan finally smirk.
Indeed, the cat had gotten the cream like it had so carefully planned. The hound had been laid down to submission. Mission accomplished.