Chapter Text
It wasn’t until Aaron was in Minhyun’s arms that Minhyun felt it. The sensation sank into his bones, anchoring him so his travel-weary body no longer threatened to float away. His head stopped spinning, as he inhaled the familiar scent of Aaron’s shampoo.
Aaron still used the same one. After an entire year without Aaron, here Minhyun was, in Seoul, in the stairwell of their old apartment.
Smelling Aaron’s old shampoo.
Like all Aaron had done was wait for Minhyun to come home.
Aaron pulled back from the hug. He clasped Minhyun’s shoulders, eyes scanning like he needed to make up for lost time. “You’re late.”
Minhyun laughed. He couldn’t help it. He had to release the sheer joy that bloomed in his chest as he enjoyed Aaron holding him. “You’re lucky I stopped here at all. I smell like the airport.”
“You missed dinner. I had to eat all the food I got for you myself.”
“What a sacrifice.” Ugh. Minhyun’s heart was pounding, for no goddamn reason, and it only grew worse as Aaron laughed. He had this way of putting his entire face into it, his expression contorting into something that was both beautiful and far from picture-perfect. God, Minhyun had seen Aaron’s face through a high-quality lens twice a week while away, and he’d still been unprepared.
“You must be exhausted,” Aaron said. “Come in.”
Minhyun was. It had not been an easy travel day, not with the flight cancelation stacked atop the rush of memories and worries and everything he’d left behind in South Korea—in this apartment. Things had been so awkward between them in the weeks before Minhyun left, and no matter how well their videocalls had gone wile Minhyun was abroad, he'd feared that they hadn't totally recovered. He should have known better. Nothing would ever break him and Aaron apart.
“I shouldn’t stay,” Minhyun said. “I was just—I wanted—Dongho offered me his air mattress, and I am tired. But I wanted to see you first.” It would have been blasphemy to not immediately drop himself onto Aaron’s doorstep—or, as it was, the welcome mat outside of Aaron's door.
His refusal burst the bubble keeping them in their own tiny world. A flight down, someone began scaling the stairs, their shoes slapping against them. Technically, he and Aaron did not have to be reunion-ing in public.
Pulling the rest of the way from Aaron’s arms, Minhyun straightened his rumpled shirt, attempting in vain to smooth it to his standards.
“What are you talking about? You’re staying here.” Aaron cocked his head to the side. Another familiar tic Minhyun had missed. Unlike Minhyun, Aaron didn’t seem to care if they yelled their personal business out to the whole building.
Minhyun wrinkled his nose. “I remember what that couch is like. I’m not sleeping on it.”
“You didn’t think I’d tell you to come without having your room ready, did you?” Aaron was pouting now. Minhyun had not missed that expression, that expression was annoying, and Minhyun chalked the way his heart softened at it now as a side-effect of exhaustion. Look, he might have come to terms with the whole in love with his childhood best friend thing, but that didn’t mean he had to get sappy about it.
“Isn’t your housemate still here?” Minhyun couldn’t remember the guy’s name. When he’d applied to the internship in Japan nearly a year ago, he’d done it on a whim, right after re-signing his lease with Aaron, and hadn’t found a subletter in time. Such a thing had never been a good plan, and was extraordinarily unlike Minhyun, but he’d gone through with it anyway. A couple months ago, Aaron had found someone who needed a place, and had negotiated a fair way to split the costs for Minhyun.
“Jonghyeon’s fine with it. Some of his stuff is in there, but the room is yours until—well, until you go back. If you want it.”
Huh. Minhyun wondered what Jonghyeon was like, that he was so willing to give his room up. But faced with the opportunity to live with Aaron again, in the apartment that they’d called theirs for three years, Minhyun didn’t linger on some stranger.
“So?” Aaron asked. He was nervous, Minhyun realized. It was cute, and weird. You didn’t get nervous around a person who saw you in braces. Minhyun wondered what the hell triggered it.
“Will you be mad when I make you spend all tomorrow cleaning with me?”
Aaron laughed and finally led Minhyun inside. “I will be mad,” he tossed over his shoulder. “I offered you a party, and you told me to clean instead. Jonghyeon and me spent an entire day on it.”
“You actually did that?” Warmth pooled in Minhyun’s chest. He’d assumed Aaron would take it as a joke. Hell, Minhyun had meant it as a joke. Weird, that Aaron did it. But Minhyun wasn't going to complain.
Aaron gestured around to confirm it. Minhyun surveyed the place, hesitating at though stepping over the threshold meant stepping straight into the past. He only realized he’d closed his fists when he noticed how clammy his palms had gotten.
But already Minhyun had found differences, too. More plants now. A list pinned to the refrigerator of groceries to buy, written in a scrawled handwriting Minhyun didn’t recognize. A new blanket tossed over the same uncomfortable couch.
It would be small, with three of them living there. Even with only two of them, they had spent a lot of time on top of each other. Back when Aaron had first mentioned a subletter, Minhyun had made him promise that he was actually okay with living with a new person, and that he wasn’t only doing it to save Minhyun money.
“You never had any faith in me, did you?” Aaron made a face at him as Minhyun took his time looking everything over. “You’re lucky I didn’t throw you that party anyway.”
But Minhyun wasn’t listening. He had caught sight of a plaque hung on the wall. Something he’d seen before, but not in person. “So this is it, huh?” he asked. The golden play button gleamed too brightly in the warm light for Minhyun to read its text, but he didn’t go any closer. When Minhyun had left, Aaron had had 900,000 subscribers. Now he had over two million.
Aaron didn’t answer verbally, but he smiled one of his widest smiles. Minhyun’s hands were still clammy. Having a best friend the internet cared about was nothing new for him, but it never grew any less surreal. Aaron wasn’t the kind of popular that people recognized in the streets, but Minhyun had had a coworker who’d worn his merch sometimes.
“Congrats,” Minhyun said, and matched Aaron’s smile. The word came easy, because Minhyun was proud of Aaron, proud of all he’d done and the places he’d gotten. While Minhyun chose the path of least resistance and a future of stability, Aaron fought for what he wanted. Minhyun would always admire that.
Aaron did not need to hear all that, though, and so Minhyun only continued onward toward his room, his suitcase rolling on behind him.
Jonghyeon had not changed much of it. He’d hung a couple posters, and the desk now had a PC on it. Minhyun figured his drawers were probably full, so he’d have to live out of his suitcase while he stayed. It was no worse than what he’d planned to do at Dongho’s.
“If you touch Jonghyeon’s computer, he might kill you,” Aaron said. “So I’d avoid that.”
“Where is he?”
“Work. He’s a horrible workaholic, worse than you. Jonghyeon barely, like, gives himself time to breathe. He—”
“I should let Dongho know I’m not staying with him,” Minhyun said. It was more a thought said aloud than actual conversation, and Aaron only hummed back. “I’ll have to make it up to him. Maybe tomorr—"
“You’re busy tomorrow. Or at least, at seven you are.”
Minhyun looked at him, and Aaron had the audacity to avert his eyes. Once again, really not something old friends did. Aaron and shy already didn’t fit together very well. Aaron and shy around Minhyun? Unfathomable.
“I got us a reservation somewhere. I want to tell you something.”
“Is something wrong?”
“No!” Aaron waved a hand like he could physically bat Minhyun’s concerns away. “It’s a good thing.” Despite his condolences, the little line between his brows didn’t go anywhere. Minhyun didn’t know what to make of him, but again, he blamed it on all the white noise in his head. His ears had been ringing since he’d landed in Seoul.
Before Minhyun could say anything, his phone lit up. Staring at it, he finally registered it as a phone call. “It’s Dongho,” he said.
“I’ll leave you to it then—but remember, seven tomorrow. I’m taking you out. I’ll pay, too, so don’t worry about anything.”
And with that, Aaron left Minhyun to stare at his old bedroom door. It had some videogame's poster on it.
He ended up waiting too long to answer Dongho, and had to call him back.
--
Now that Aaron was gone and things with Dongho cleared up, Minhyun took a few minutes to change and freshen up. Then he took a few more to gather himself, body leaned into the bathroom counter, looking at his own face in the mirror.
He did not look great. Eyes a bit watery. Face pale. Not only was this his and Aaron's first time seeing each other in nearly a year, but it was also Minhyun's first time being around Aaron while aware that he wanted more than friendship from him.
This, as it turned out, was absolutely excruciating. Except, in a way Minhyun enjoyed. Kind-of. He grimaced at his reflection.
He still enjoyed the same things. Aaron cooking for him. Aaron wanting him to stay enough to convince his housemate to give up his room. Minhyun liked that stuff. He looked forward to spending more time with Aaron desperately and earnestly.
The thing was, Minhyun was certain the feelings weren't new. It had just taken him some time to realize them. Distance apart, or maybe just the look on Aaron's face when Minhyun had told him about his application to work abroad, and how that had haunted Minhyun in the early months of his internship.
In the months after he'd realized, Minhyun could think only of how much he and Aaron had left unsaid. Feelings that went unspoken, as they followed the well-worn grooves of a decade-long friendship. Times where they'd edged toward a line only for one of them to pull back, afraid to cross it.
Minhyun was ready now. Ready to talk about it with Aaron, face-to-face. Ready to do what he'd always been so bad at, and take a real risk.
All his friends in Seoul thought he'd returned because of some administrational blip as his position changed from intern to an entry-level full-time job. But the truth was, Minhyun had negotiated for this. One whole month back in South Korea. To his bosses, he'd cited that he wanted to spend time with his family.
Truthfully, he'd returned for Araon.
In the nights before his plane ride, Minhyun had lied awake, agonizing over how Aaron might respond to Minhyun's confession. He'd gone through every possible one, from the impossible to the more likely, to the ones Minhyun hardly dared to imagine.
And now here Minhyun was, in their old apartment because Aaron wanted him to stay there, interacting with an Aaron who was being shy and awkward and weird. He'd scheduled them a date at a restaurant fancy enough to require reservations, all because he needed to tell Minhyun something important.
While apart, Minhyun had hardly dared to hope. But Aaron had always made Minhyun want to reach for the stars. For a moment, he allowed himself.
What if they planned on the same confession? What if, after all Minhyun’s panicking and plotting, Aaron would say it all first?
Whole years spent dancing around each other, but now they were on the same page. Not one love confession, but two. They could be happy together, truly happy together.
Aaron would be all nervous, would maybe even give Minhyun a flower, as they sat down at a too-fancy table in a too-fancy restaurant. He’d say it, and Minhyun would smile.
Isn't it funny, how after so many years, two friends can fall for each other?
Everything else, Minhyun was certain, they could figure out after that.
He spent the next day visiting Dongho and Mingi and reconnecting with some other old friends, but in the back of his mind, the countdown to his and Aaron’s dinner ran. For that reason, he excused himself much earlier than originally planned, with the explanation that he was still tired from traveling and that he would spend more time with them later.
Despite the guilt in him—he really did want to catch up with his friends—Minhyun’s smile overtook his entire face as he returned to his and Aaron’s apartment.
The soft sound of the shower greeted Minhyun inside. As he went toward his room, only a bit bummed he couldn’t immediately talk with Aaron, he passed the closed bathroom door. Now closer, Minhyun could even hear Aaron’s soft voice from within. Minhyun basked in the sound of Aaron’s singing, a sound he had missed dearly, until his bag grew heavy in his arms. He left it in his room, then returned to listen more.
Aaron had begun a loud, dramatic rendition of a song Minhyun had never heard before. A love song, from the sound of it. His voice, interspersed with sudden laughter, reminded Minhyun of the many, many times they’d gone to a noraebang, where Aaron would open up around his closest friends and fool around and look so beautiful—
Normally, Minhyun tried to stop that kind of thinking, but tonight, it got a bye. Soon he’d be allowed to think it all the time, if he wanted.
Aaron laughed again from in the shower, and Minhyun smiled. What a weirdo. Making himself laugh like that.
Minhyun sat with his back against the wall beside the bathroom door and listened. He and Aaron used to spend hours sitting together and playing song after song, showing each other their newest favorites. Minhyun had missed that so much, and now he was getting it back. Maybe even permanently.
Minhyun had not planned on what he’d do after confessing to Aaron. It depended too much on how Aaron responded. But now that Minhyun was more certain—and why had he doubted it so much before, anyway, when he and Aaron had always been more than friends, on some level?—he dared to think further ahead.
Yes, he was supposed to return to Japan. Yes, he had a job there. But if Aaron really wanted to stay in Korea, and he asked Minhyun to stay with him, Minhyun would find something else. He believed in himself enough for that.
Or Aaron could move to Japan with Minhyun. He could film anywhere, after all, and if he still had business in Korea… well, it wasn’t like he was poor. The flights weren’t that expensive.
So yeah. If this confession went well, and they started talking about what came next, Minhyun planned to tell Aaron that it was up to him. Minhyun wouldn’t leave when Aaron wanted him to stay. Not again.
When Aaron started a new song, this time a ballad he recognized, Minhyun joined in. First under his breath, but then louder and louder, until he was certain Aaron could hear him.
Aaron’s singing faded, but Minhyun continued. He’d used to do this to Aaron a lot, back before, and Aaron would roll his eyes and fake a complaint, and somehow they’d end up laying on the couch, Aaron’s head in Minhyun’s lap as Minhyun ran his fingers through Aaron’s hair and sang… They did have time to kill until dinner, after all.
When the water stopped, Minhyun waited for Aaron to come out, giddy as he tried to guess Aaron’s reaction. Fake annoyance? Laughter? Or just looking at Minhyun with that painfully fond look he got sometimes?
The door opened a couple inches and Aaron looked through the crack. Minhyun stopped singing to grin up at him.
“Minhyun! You’re back early?” Aaron’s voice strained across the words.
Minhyun blinked. This was not in the catalogue of reactions he'd expected. Aaron’s face was flushed red from the hot shower, his wet bangs hanging in his eyes and water dripping down his forehead. He hadn’t dried off very well. Before Minhyun could do more than form the beginning of a question, Aaron went on.
“Go back in your room! Give me ten minutes.”
“What? Why?”
This wasn’t how it normally went.
“Just do it!”
“Are you… okay?”
There was a sound from behind Aaron. He turned his head and, in the process, opened the door slightly further. The extra space gave Minhyun a view of a sliver of Aaron’s chest, all the way from his collarbones to where his towel was around his waist. This was the sort of view Minhyun wanted to drown in now that he got to see Aaron in person, but things were too weird right now for him to appreciate it.
Aaron said something Minhyun couldn’t hear. Like, said something to someone else, who was also in the bathroom. Slowly, Minhyun got to his feet. Aaron sighed and opened the door further. He came out—and so did another person. Someone who was also wet and had a towel around his waist. The man was slim but muscular, with dark mussed hair that someone had clearly rubbed at to dry. One hand clutched his towel, to avoid further disaster.
"Hi," the stranger said. Despite being the one to speak first, he couldn't quite meet Minhyun's eyes.
Minhyun did not answer.
“You…have a really nice voice," he tried next. It didn’t help. Aaron didn’t like showering with other people. Minhyun had never crossed that line with him, even though they’d been friends forever.
“Who is he?” Minhyun asked Aaron.
Aaron sighed. “Minhyun, this is Jonghyeon, my boyfriend. Jonghyeon, meet Minhyun, my best friend. This isn’t really how I wanted you two to meet, so maybe we should—”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Jonghyeon said, the epitome of politeness as Minhyun’s entire world crumbled around him. “Aaron’s told me a lot about you.” He smiled, but he could as well have spat on the ground in front of Minhyun.
Minhyun couldn’t bear to look at him. “You never told me,” he accused Aaron.
“I told you about Jonghyeon.”
“Not that you were dating him!”
“I wanted you to meet in person first! That’s why… Tonight, at dinner—you weren’t supposed to be back until later!”
Minhyun’s sudden return had messed up Aaron’s plans with his boyfriend. He’d started singing from outside the shower, as both Aaron and Jonghyeon were inside. Aaron hadn’t been singing and laughing alone, he’d been doing all that with Jonghyeon, and Minhyun had interrupted.
Flames licked their way up Minhyun’s face. Before, he’d struggled to look at Jonghyeon, but now that spread to Aaron too. The two of them had created a puddle of water in the hallway. The kind of thing Minhyun would have scolded Aaron for in the past. But Minhyun didn’t live here anymore. Minhyun was a guest living in Aaron and Jonghyeon’s apartment, which they shared even though it was small for two people.
“I’ll let you get dressed,” Minhyun muttered. He took his remaining dignity with him, barely refraining from openly fleeing, and firmly closed his bedroom door. Or rather, Jonghyeon’s bedroom door.
Fuck.
Minhyun spent the next twenty minutes doing everything he could to avoid thoughts of Aaron, and managing nothing other than to run what had just happened through his mind again and again and again.
Aaron had mentioned dinner. He’d been stuttering and unprepared and as honest as he always was when caught off guard, and he’d mentioned dinner tonight. This was Aaron’s news: Jonghyeon, who until right now Minhyun had only ever heard casual anecdotes about, was actually Aaron’s boyfriend.
No fucking wonder Jonghyeon didn’t care if Minhyun took his room back while in Korea again. He wasn’t sleeping on a lumpy couch. He was sleeping with Aaron.
Minhyun squeezed his eyes as tightly shut as they could go. The only thing that could have possibly been more embarrassing than this was if he’d managed to confess to Aaron before he found out. A boyfriend. Minhyun had been preparing to ask Aaron out, and Aaron had been waiting to tell Minhyun about his boyfriend.
Aaron’s told me a lot about you.
Jonghyeon had known about Minhyun, and Minhyun hadn’t known about Jonghyeon, and it all had the acrid taste of betrayal, thick and sour in Minhyun’s mouth. Aaron had waited to give Minhyun any details until he met Jonghyeon in person, but he’d clearly told Jonghyeon all about Minhyun.
Had Jonghyeon been okay with Aaron lying to his best friend? Not telling him about his relationship? Aaron didn’t do things halfway, and his relationships tended to last long and leaned toward serious. Clearly, he adored Jonghyeon, but maybe Jonghyeon was less invested.
After all, the first thing he'd said to Minhyun was that he had a pretty voice. You can't just tell men you've just met that you like their voice, especially while scantily clad in an awkward situation. It was super weird.
Now Minhyun was scowling. Maybe Aaron hadn’t told Minhyun about Jonghyeon because Jonghyeon wasn’t that good. Maybe he knew Minhyun would disapprove, and that Minhyun had a Best Friend Veto he wasn’t afraid to use. Aaron cared too much sometimes. Minhyun had used to step in and tell him when to give up. Clearly, this was one of those times.
Either that, or Aaron hadn’t, like, trusted Minhyun enough to tell him. Which was absurd and stupid and if it were true, Minhyun wouldn’t be able to take it.
Which meant the problem had to be Jonghyeon, right?
Right?
It didn’t take long for someone to knock on his door. Minhyun looked up at it from where he sat on the bed, both palms curled around his knees. “Come in,” he called, and hoped more than anything that it was not Jonghyeon, realizing he’d forgotten something in his room.
Aaron had dressed hastily. Glasses, sweatpants, wet hair that dripped down into an ancient t-shirt. He looked far more like he used to late at night, when they’d curl up together. Not as though they had a reservation at a restaurant soon.
“We don’t have to talk about it,” Minhyun said, because it was clear Aaron didn’t have the words, and Minhyun needed more time to guard his heart. Though he’d previously pretended he’d prepared for the possibility Aaron did not have feelings for him, Minhyun saw now that that had been a horrible lie.
But Aaron didn’t seem happy with Minhyun giving him an out, either. Minhyun didn’t know what Aaron wanted from him. Not even though too much of him wished he could be it.
“Really,” Minhyun said, when it seemed Aaron truly did not have the words. “We’re going to dinner soon so you can tell me about it. We’ll talk there. You should get dressed.”
They left it at that.
Their reservation was for three. Three. If the events from earlier hadn’t doused Minhyun in cold water, this would have. As it was, it still slapped him across the face. Aaron truly had planned for Minhyun to meet Jonghyeon tonight. That was the purpose of this meal.
Minhyun could hardly look at either of them. He’d been so stupid.
“I used to take the shelter dogs for walks,” Jonghyeon was saying. They’d been seated already, and Jonghyeon had so far failed to read the room and was attempting to make light-hearted conversation. “We met because Aaron stalks the local park.” Jonghyeon shot Aaron a teasing smile, and god, Aaron was gone for this guy. You’d think Jonghyeon had hung the stars for how Aaron looked at him.
Minhyun didn’t see the appeal. Like, Jonghyeon was handsome, but Aaron always had this spark to him. Something indefinable, but the sort of thing that made a normal person able to become a Youtuber people actually watched. Jonghyeon didn’t have it.
“The dog park,” Aaron clarified. He had an arm around Jonghyeon’s back, and Jonghyeon was settled very comfortably against it. Minhyun regretted that they’d gotten a table with booth seats. “I do not stalk the local children’s park.”
“So you admit you stalk dog owners?” Jonghyeon asked.
“It’s the closest park to the apartment! Where else would I go for a walk?”
“So you say.”
“You come with me now! Three times a week!” Aaron shook Jonghyeon a little to emphasize his point. Despite how it made Jonghyeon grin, he tried to shake Aaron off. Ultimately they settled back into the same position as before.
Minhyun was going to die if he had to watch this any longer. Most of Aaron’s past relationships had had to third wheel Minhyun and Aaron when the three of them were together. Being on the other side was a lot less fun.
The most infuriating part about it was how far Jonghyeon went out of his way to try and prevent Minhyun from being excluded, and how bad he was at it.
“Do you like dogs?” Jonghyeon asked. “I mean, you must since you’re Aaron’s friend.”
“I’m allergic.” Did Jonghyeon just imply Minhyun wasn’t truly Aaron’s friend.
Jonghyeon seemed to realize the same thing and instantly regretted it. “Oh, fuck, that must suck. I’m sorry. Are there any animals you can be around?”
“I had a frog once,” Minhyun said. “Growing up.” Aaron’s eyebrows furrowed as Minhyun said it. They both knew his opinion about most pets: they were dirty, even if they couldn’t help it, and Minhyun didn’t want to deal with any kind of life other than the human-kind in his apartment (and even they were pushing it, in some cases).
“Oh, cool! What kind?”
“I don’t know,” Minhyun admitted. “I caught it outside, and my parents let me and my sister keep it for a while.” A while meaning a single school day, where they returned in the evening to find his mother had freed the poor thing. Minhyun had been distraught at the time, but looking back now, he recognized that that had been the best outcome possible for the frog.
Once again, conversation grew awkward, and once again, it was Minhyun’s fault. “Do you… have pets?” he asked. He tried to not make it clear he really, really hoped the answer was no.
Jonghyeon shook his head. Thank god. “I was too busy with school. I graduated back in spring.”
So Jonghyeon was younger than him. Minhyun had followed Jonghyeon’s lead when he’d treated him as though they were the same age, but apparently Jonghyeon just didn’t care about being respectful.
“I know Aaron’s lax about honorifics, but I would prefer—”
“He’s older than you,” Aaron said. “By a couple months.”
Jonghyeon didn’t offer an explanation for why he had graduated a year later than he should have. Minhyun didn’t press, but he filed that away all the same. Maybe Jonghyeon didn’t care about academics, and had failed classes. Or maybe he was just dumb.
Their food came, which made things marginally less awkward. It really was good. Minhyun had found a couple places in Japan with good Korean food, but he had missed this all the same. When he said as much, Aaron started asking him for stories from the past year. With Jonghyeon seemingly content to listen and not speak much, it made the evening almost salvageable.
Soon enough, he and Aaron were joking and laughing, talking in the mix of inside jokes and old references that Minhyun had missed so damn much. Finally, he could relax. Even if Aaron paused on occasion to explain things to Jonghyeon.
During one of those times, Aaron explained that he’d helped Minhyun with the application that had gotten him to Japan. Minhyun’s heart squeezed when he brought it up, because Minhyun’s sudden urge to leave the country had caused a fair amount of issues for them back then, but it seemed a year apart had smoothed everything over.
Minhyun was so relieved, he even let Jonghyeon in on some of their jokes. “After that Aaron started calling himself a ‘foundational aspect’ of my success.”
Jonghyeon laughed. It was an easy sound, a little on the goofy side. “That’s peak jargon, even for him.” He nudged Aaron. “What does that even mean?”
“I think it’s perfectly fine for me to acknowledge my role in Minhyun’s life. Where would he be without me?”
Aaron shot him a teasing smile as he said it, even though Minhyun had been thinking about that question for months.
“Yeah, you two have really been friends forever, huh?” Jonghyeon asked, and it was probably because of how easy Minhyun and Aaron’s conversation had flowed after so long, but Minhyun bristled. Jonghyeon didn’t seem to notice, instead punching Aaron’s shoulder lightly. “Can’t believe he took so long to introduce me to you with how many times he’s canceled on me to talk to you.”
Hearing that made Minhyun happy a normal amount.
“How long have you known each other?” Minhyun asked. At least three months because that was when Jonghyeon moved in with Aaron, but Minhyun guessed they’d dated for a while before that. Half a year?
Aaron exchanged a look with Jonghyeon. “A year? More?”
“More—it was cold, remember? The first time you came on a walk with me we got hot chocolate.”
“Right.” Aaron smiled at the memory, but Minhyun felt a bit like he’d been stabbed.
“You’ve known him since before I left but didn’t tell me?”
“We were friends for a while first…” That was a weak argument at best. They were supposed to share everything together.
“It wasn’t a clean start,” Jonghyeon added. Great. The last thing Minhyun wanted was Jonghyeon to defend Aaron for not telling him. “I had to ask him out three times before he agreed.”
“Right,” Minhyun said. “Well. I’m a bit tired. I think I’m going to go back to—to your place. Sorry. I know it’s early.”
He pulled out his wallet, but Aaron stopped him. “I told you. My treat.”
“Right.”
“I think we’re going back too,” Jonghyeon said. He looked at Aaron. “We could split the costs for a taxi, instead of walking—?”
“Actually, Jonghyeon, you’ve been saying we should see that one movie. Let’s do it tonight.”
Jonghyeon looked between them. “Oh. Yeah. The movie. Yeah, let’s do that.”
So there was another fault of Jonghyeon’s: he was a shitty liar.