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instead of you [part ten] || l.mh

pairing: [best friend’s brother] lee minho x college!reader ft. han jisung

summary: you didn’t expect to spend your summer pretending to be your best friend’s girlfriend- then again, you didn’t expect to fall for your best friend’s brother, either. 

warnings: swearing, alcohol, mentions of sex (18+ mdni)

word count: 2.6k

a/n: revamped my tom holland series from my main blog ( @wazzupmrstark ) to try and motivate myself to finish it!!

series masterlist | early access to the next chapter on ko-fi

“Just that you’re not technically a chef yet,” Minho explained defensively. “You’re not certified.”

“A chef doesn’t need a piece of paper to call themselves a chef,” Leo countered. “Anyone can be a chef. But don’t tell the WAC I said that.”

“Yeah, Minho haven’t you ever seen Ratatouille?” you teased.

“Great movie,” Leo added. “Jisung, great job on your dough,” he reiterated.

Jisung stuck his tongue out at his brother across the table who rolled his eyes in response as Leo picked up his ball of dough and rolled it in his hands.

“Minho, yours is still a little tough. Keep working on it.”

He nodded and took his dough back to continue kneading it. You noticed his jaw clenched subtly in frustration, but he didn’t say anything else. You watched as he rolled the pasta dough with a little more force, maybe a little too much.

Leo checked yours next and gave you similar feedback to Minho’s, even though Jisung had helped you with yours. You didn’t want to think about what kind of feedback you would have gotten on your own.

Your dough was still flaking apart when you went back to working on it, and you tried desperately to hold it together with little success. Jisung had left your side to help his mom so you were on your own.

At least Minho was also struggling. You felt a little better knowing he was miserable too.

You were starting to sweat with effort, you were so out of shape that even cooking had you catching your breath. You had thought this was going to be fun, but instead you were having flashbacks to high school P.E. class.

Leo made his way down the rest of the table and checked everyone else’s dough before circling back to you and Minho. He took over for Minho and instructed Jisung to finish kneading yours so that he could move on with the lesson. It was embarrassing to be singled out, but Jisung assured you it wasn’t your fault. He wasn’t making much progress with yours either.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with yours,” Jisung whispered to you.

“I probably did it wrong,” you hissed back.

“I watched you do it, you did it the same way as everyone else.”

“Then why is it being like this?”

“Sometimes food has a mind of its own,” Leo interjected, making you realize the entire class had been listening to you and Jisung’s back and forth. “This is good enough, though. We can set it aside with the other balls of dough to let them rest while we make the fillings.”

You and Minho set your sad pasta balls on the counter with the others before moving to the sink to rinse your hands.

“I think they’ll still taste good,” Minho said thoughtfully as he offered the bottle of soap to you and pumped some into your hands.

“I hope so.”

“It’s pasta, it’s almost impossible to fuck it up.”

“Yet somehow we still managed to.”

“Some would say it’s talent,” he said and shrugged.

You bumped his shoulder with your own as you fought over the water stream. You managed to stick your hands in first and Minho put his above yours only for you to shove them away.

“Hey!”

“You’re completely ruining the purpose of washing my hands!”

“I have soap on my hands, you have soap on your hands, what’s the issue?”

“And you’re washing off your germs and they’re going on my hands now!”

“Fine, fine, I’ll wait my turn,” he seceded and let you finish washing your hands before he rinsed off his own.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Making the fillings for the pasta was a much simpler process than making the dough. All you had to do was mix certain ingredients together. It didn’t matter what order you added them, if you whisked fast or slow, the only important thing was that everything made it into the bowl one way or another.

You worked in pairs for this step. Jisung mixed together the pesto filling while you did the parmesan-truffle one.

“This is different than the pesto I make,” he said, looking at the mixture in his bowl.

You frowned. “But I like your pesto.”

“It’ll still be good, baby,” he assured you with a kiss to the forehead. “Don’t worry.”

When the fillings were done it was time to revisit the balls of dough and roll them into pasta. Jisung explained it to you like rolling Play-Doh, but it was far more difficult in your opinion. Play-Doh was nowhere near as stubborn as this. The pasta dough somehow retained tension, and would bounce back every time you tried to stretch it.

Jisung ended up having to help you and Minho because both of you were starting at a disadvantage with your fucked up dough.

“I never want to hear you say I have it easier than you ever again,” Jisung warned as he folded your strands of dough into raviolis.

The class had moved on to the final step, shaping and filling the noodles, but you had already tapped out. Jisung was done with his portion before you had even finished one so he had taken over for you.

“I’m sorry for saying that,” you said, remembering all the times you had teased him for stressing out over his ‘soufflé final’ or ‘crepe labs’. “I would much rather be writing a paper right now.”

He shrugged. “Everyone has their strengths.”

“I’m starting to think that Ratatouille movie was bullshit,” you groaned.

“How ironic,” Minho snorted across from you.

He was really starting to get on your nerves. But you let his comment go, not allowing your temper to get the better of you. He was still Jisung’s family, even if they had a… complicated relationship.

When the class finally settled in the dining room of the restaurant to eat you were sweaty, sore, and exhausted. You could feel your skin sticking to the leather seat, and you felt severely underdressed. Back in the kitchen you hadn’t been so self-conscious. But now you couldn’t stop thinking about your appearance.

The atmosphere was much more sophisticated. The lights were dim, and soft music played in the background. All of the other guests were following an unspoken black-tie dress code while the fifteen of you were still wearing your disposable aprons, only now they were covered in flour and egg yolk.

And to make it worse-

“Smile!”

Nikki held up her phone and motioned for you and Jisung to scoot your chairs closer together. You took a deep breath and complied, leaning your head against your fake boyfriend’s and managing a grin. You really didn’t want this moment to be immortalized, but you didn’t want to be difficult either.

The camera flashed once, then again. Jisung wrapped a hand around your waist and pulled your body against his, pressing a kiss to your cheek for another picture. You scrunched up your face as the flash went off, the tickle of his breath against your skin and the feather-light touch of his lips making you squeeze your eyes shut.

“That’s a good one!” Nikki complimented, even though you were sure it wasn’t as flattering as she was making it out to be.

The pasta was served with a glass of red wine for everyone. Jisung was right, the pesto was different from his, but it was still good. It was no match for his recipe, but the handmade pasta did give it a few bonus points. You were sure you hadn’t gotten any of the noodles you made because all of the ones on your plate were perfect. It didn’t feel fair that you got to enjoy somebody else’s hard work while they got your shitty excuse of a ravioli.

But as the wine dwindled from your glass the negative thoughts began to ebb away too. Your muscles, though still sore, relaxed slightly and you rested your head on Jisung’s shoulder as everyone else finished their meals around you. The conversation carried on without your contribution. Your social battery had died hours ago, but you were content to listen to the Hans chat with other students at the table.

You weren’t a huge fan of wine, but the one served with dinner was palatable, and to be honest you weren’t one to turn down complimentary alcohol anyway. It tasted more expensive than anything you had ever drank, like the equivalent of velvet on your tongue. You finished your glass and the rest of Felix’s.

-

The next few days in Florence passed in a similar fashion. You ate a lot of carbs, drank a lot of alcohol and let the business of the itinerary overwhelm you. It was getting tiring, living in an act. Trailing along behind the Hans like a dog, worn on Jisung’s arm like an accessory.

You had known what you were getting into, and you were trying your best to enjoy the experiences- because who the fuck knows when you’ll ever get to go on such a nice vacation again, but pretending to be in love with your best friend was a harder feat than you had thought.

It felt like being in a school play. Every move and phrase had to be intentional. You tread the lines of your relationship with rehearsed expertise. And you had to watch what you said, because everyone’s eyes were on you. At least that’s what it felt like.

Jisung’s parents were easy. They fully bought into your lie, seeing what they wanted to. They usually left you to your own devices, too. His brothers were the ones who needed convincing. Not even Felix, though. Minho was the problem. Minho was always the problem.

You were in Rome now, walking back to the hotel from the Colosseum. Jisung had his arm slung around your shoulders and was talking his twin brother’s ear off about the Gladiators and inaccuracies in films about Ancient Rome.

You didn’t think you’d seen him this excited the entire trip. It was cute, the way he talked with his hands and looked off into the distance whenever he was really engaged in something. Felix was also cute. He was trying his best to keep up with Jisung, nodding his head at all the right points, asking questions when there was a pause in conversation.

“Yeah, gladiators fucking unionized,” Jisung explained. “They put their lives on the line all the time, ya know? Might as well get benefits.”

“If I was a gladiator I’d join their union,” you said, adding to the conversation for the first time in a while.

“There were women gladiators too, babe! You totally could’ve been one.”

You laughed. “You remember my season on the intramural dodgeball team? I wouldn’t last a day. But I appreciate the thought, Ji.”

You had dinner in the restaurant attached to the hotel lobby. Nikki passed around her Canon for everyone to look through the pictures from the day while a bottle of limoncello was passed around the table.

You’d scarfed down your pasta and passed on dessert in favor of another shot of limoncello. Rookie mistake.

In the past the sugary drink had always tasted like cough syrup to you, but this batch tasted like straight-up lemonade. You were tipsy, bordering on drunk, but nowhere near blacked. Nikki and Dom turned in around shot three, leaving the tab open for the four of you. Jisung went upstairs next, having gone too hard too fast on the limoncello (he was on shot five when his parents went back to their room).

Then it was just You, Felix, and Minho. You told Jisung you’d join him in a bit after the pianist played a couple more songs. In all honesty, the music reminded you of Jisung. Back at school you could always find Jisung in the music hall if he wasn’t in the culinary building. You’d always hear him playing as soon as you walked through the double doors. You could always tell it was him at the keys by the way the playing sounded. He was self-taught, but still a genius in your mind. He didn’t need any formal training to make beautiful music, and that’s what you loved about it.

When he moved out of the dorms and into an apartment he bought a keyboard, and you’d spend nights together in his room illegally pirating sheet music for him to learn new songs. He’d play whatever you requested, and if he didn’t know how to play it he’d teach himself.

The pianist in the restaurant played with a little more expertise. The notes sounded refined, perfected. Jisung always told you that perfect music was restrained music, that real music had flaws, that a song should sound a little different every time it was played.

After an encore of Beethoven the man at the piano stood from his bench and took a bow, passing his hat around the room to collect tips. Minho dropped a bill into the hat and you did as well, handing it back to the man afterwards. He dumped the contents of the hat into a briefcase and closed the lid of the piano, thanking everyone in the audience for their donations.

“Well, I think I’m going to head up now,” Felix said, yawning for emphasis. “We still have to get up at the ass crack of dawn even though we’ll all probably be hungover.”

“Speak for yourself,” Minho said cockily, then turned to you. “One more shot?”

The bottle of limoncello was almost empty anyway. Might as well finish it off, it’d be a shame to let it go to waste, right?

“Hit me.”

“God, you’re both going to be so fucked tomorrow,” Felix groaned.

“We’ll be fine,” Minho insisted, rolling his eyes at his younger brother.

“Good night, Felix,” you sang, waving at him as he walked off.

“Yeah whatever.”

Minho wasted no time pouring you both a shot of what was left of the limoncello. The restaurant was beginning to clear out so he worked fast, filling the glasses up to the marked line. You both took one and clinked them together before throwing them back.

You winced at the burning sensation in the back of your throat and put the glass back on the table, searching for something to chase the shot with. Your eyes fell to Minho, lingering on his cheeks, his lips, both pink from the alcohol or something else. You flicked your gaze down to his neck, his collarbone that was peeking out from the neckline of his shirt. You thought about how it would feel to kiss him there, to run your tongue over a love bite you’d given him.

You forced your gaze back to his eyes, hoping he hadn’t caught you staring. You had to act uninterested, you couldn’t let on to- but he was staring back. His eyes were intense, and almost impossible to read in the darkness of the room. You knew you should look away, knew you had to keep up appearances, but you couldn’t.

Later you’d blame it on the alcohol, but in that moment you knew the limoncello wasn’t what was making your head spin, or your what was making your vision cloudy.

You were about to leave the table, about to rush to the elevator and back to Jisung but then suddenly Minho was kissing you. He cradled your head in his hand and tilted your chin up to meet his lips. It wasn’t desperate or messy like most drunk kisses were. Instead, it was delicate. You swore you could feel every line of his lips against yours, feel his heartbeat through his hands on your cheek.

It was only for a second, not enough time for you to react or reciprocate and then he was pulling away, eyes wide with panic.

“Please don’t tell Jisung.”

lmk what you think i always appreciate feedback!!

no taglist today bc my laptop is broken but if you’d like to add yourself to the taglist you can do so here!

instead of you [part twelve] || l.mh

pairing: [best friend’s brother] lee minho x college!reader ft. han jisung

summary: you didn’t expect to spend your summer pretending to be your best friend’s girlfriend- then again, you didn’t expect to fall for your best friend’s brother, either. 

warnings: swearing, mentions of sex (18+ mdni)

word count: 3.5k

a/n: revamped my tom holland series from my main blog ( @wazzupmrstark ) to try and motivate myself to finish it!!

series masterlist | early access to the next chapter on ko-fi

The flight from Naples to Tokyo took fourteen hours, not including the two-and-a-half-hour layover in Istanbul, meaning you had sixteen and a half hours to sit in awkward tension-filled silence next to Jisung. The tension was one-sided, of course, but it was still agonizing to endure.

You had been able to push your anxiety aside during your last day in Italy because it had been so busy. There had been a power outage in the middle of the night, causing everyone to oversleep and miss the ferry for one of your tours that morning. It had been a scramble to get back on schedule and do as much as possible with the time you had left. The boys had been hungover and their parents were tired of wrangling them. You had dozens of photos on your camera roll of Jisung and Felix bickering when they were supposed to be posing for a nice picture, and even more of Minho flicking them off. 

But now you were stuck alone with your thoughts, unable to use distraction as a means to escape. You tried reading your book, but found yourself unable to concentrate on the words on the page. After staring at the same paragraph for over fifteen minutes Jisung noticed and asked if you were okay and you finally decided to call it quits. 

You almost wished the Hans hadn’t scheduled in a day and a half to adjust to the time zone change. You’d rather exhaust yourself with the nonstop tourist bullshit than have to cope with the reality that you had gotten off to thoughts about your best friend’s brother. Not to mention living with the secret that the same best friend’s brother had kissed you not long before that. 

If Jisung noticed anything was off, he didn’t mention it. He probably chalked it up to lack of sleep, or perhaps was too tired himself to care. 

“Which one of us do you think will be randomly selected in customs today?” Felix asked, stretching his arms above his head. 

You were standing in the aisle waiting to deplane, placing bets on who’d get searched by border agents this time. Somehow each time you traveled to a new place one of you was always chosen to get pat down or have your carry-on searched. Minho had yet to be the lucky winner, and you suspected it had something to do with his celebrity status. 

“Y/n,” Minho answered easily. “She has the U.S. passport.”

You rolled your eyes. “Like Korea has a squeaky clean record with Japan.”

“Okay, but it’s the other way around for us. At least we didn’t-”

“Bro, you can’t say the b word on a plane,” Felix interrupted.

“Even when the plane’s on the ground?”

Jisung shrugged. “Better safe than sorry.”

“Whatever,” Minho continued. “It’s definitely going to be y/n.”

-

“Would you mind stepping out of line, ma’am?” 

You sighed, not even bothering to look back at the boys. You already knew they were grinning like idiots and you didn’t want to give them the satisfaction. The agent ushered you to the side behind a glass partition, but not before you heard another agent repeat the same question to one of the Hans. You smiled to yourself, happy not to be the only one singled out.

Behind the privacy screen another agent greeted you and asked you to take your sweatshirt off, explaining that it was too baggy and needed to be checked. You saw other people in baggy clothes who weren’t getting pulled out of line, but assumed they didn’t have the red flag of “U.S. Citizen” printed on their identification that would be cause for any additional suspicion. You complied with the agent’s request and pulled your sweatshirt off for them to further inspect.

You were glad you’d worn a sports bra beneath your sweatshirt because you usually didn’t wear anything underneath them. As soon as your head was out of the pullover you immediately met by Minho’s polite smile. 

He averted his eyes as soon as he saw you, pausing his conversation with the official to mumble a quiet ‘sorry’ to you as he was shown to the spot next to yours. 

You zoned out as they spoke, only aware of him again when he started unbuckling his belt. You caught his eye this time. 

“Forgot to take it off,” he explained.

“Sweatshirt’s too loose.”

You both faced forward as the customs officials proceeded through the motions. You were stuck standing there half-naked with your arms wrapped around your chest self-consciously while an agent pat Minho’s legs down. 

“Dad said we can meet them at baggage claim,” Minho said after a few moments of silence between the two of you. “They went on without us.”

“Okay,” you squeaked back in response. 

You knew it wouldn’t take long, but it still made you nervous to be alone with Minho. Jisung was like a safety blanket, or a buffer between you and him and without him you were afraid it would be painfully awkward. 

The woman handed you your sweatshirt back and you had to wait for Minho outside of the screening area. He joined you a minute or so later.

“They find any dirt on you?” you asked from where you were leaning against the wall across from the exit. 

“Nope, you?”

“Yeah, actually I’m in custody right now. Can’t believe you missed the handcuffs.”

“Man, what’d they get you for?” 

“Identity theft,” you sighed. 

“Damn, that’s a bummer,” Minho replied, false sympathy rolling off his words. 

He cocked his head in the direction the rest of his family had went, indicating that you should get going, and held out a hand to pull you upright. You took it hesitantly and let him help you. 

“I was actually hoping you could bail me out?” you went on, continuing with the bit. 

Minho made a sound through his teeth and grimaced. “I’m kinda broke right now.”

“Aren’t you a famous dancer?”

“Sorry, but I think you have me confused with someone else.”

“No, you’re definitely the guy!”

“You’re thinking of Choi Minho,” he insisted.

“Remember that IOU you gave me? I’m cashing it in now.”

“That’s not how it works!” 

You laughed. “No, but if I ever actually get arrested I’m using my IOU to get you to bail me out of jail.”

“I don’t think that a kiss and getting bailed out of prison are comparable, but I didn’t put any conditions on that postcard, did I?”

“Nope!” You smiled happily.

“Well that’s on me, so…”

You took the shuttle together to the other side of the airport where the rest of the Hans were waiting and finally found them with all of your luggage at the furthest carousel from the entrance. 

“It’s about time!” Felix yelled over the crowd as soon as he saw you. 

Jisung grinned when he saw you and you couldn’t help but grin back. He wrapped an arm around you instinctively and you relaxed into his shoulder, relieved to be with him again. It hadn’t dawned on you until that moment just how attached you were, but you didn’t have time to dwell on it because the other Hans were all looking at you expectantly.

“Did everything go okay?” Nikki asked. 

Minho nodded. “They made y/n strip, but it was uneventful otherwise.”

You pursed your lips, cheeks burning. “It was just my sweatshirt!” you hissed to Jisung. 

“Yeah, but you never wear anything under your sweatshirts!” Jisung hissed back.

“I had a bra on this time.”

“Oh, so it was just another night at the bar for you?” You wrestled yourself out of Jisung’s grasp at that and glared. “Am I wrong?”

Jisung’s dad cut in before you could respond. He had a habit of calling “family meetings” in the middle of public spaces to finalize plans and get everybody on the same page, which was always an experience. 

“Alright, gather up, gang!” he said, beckoning you all closer. “So we’ll be staying at… this hotel,” he explained and turned his phone around to show you the name of it. “And the thing is, we have two rooms to share between the six of us. One for your mother and I, and another for you four.”

“What?” Jisung asked. “You’re going to make us stay with them?”

“I thought we were getting three rooms like every other time,” Minho chimed in.

“We were meant to, but I made a mistake when booking it,” Dom clarified.

“How?”

“The entire website was in Japanese, Jisung. I don’t know Japanese!”

“Dad, Google has a translate webpage option!” Felix groaned.

“Well no one told me that while I was booking this entire trip by myself!”

You traded a look with Minho, who looked just as panicked as you felt. But it would only be for a week. You would find a way to manage. You didn’t really have any other option.

“I’m sure it’ll be fun,” Jisung tried, forcing a smile.

“That’s the spirit!” Dom cheered. “We’ll make it work.”

-

“Ji and I will take the bunk beds.”

The room was a decent size. It was definitely bigger than Jisung’s dad had made it sound. A large window on the back wall flooded the space with natural light and offered a view of the city below. By the door was a small fridge and a countertop with a sink and a couple of burners built in so that guests could cook their own meals. There was a queen sized bed jutting out from the western-facing wall and built into the adjacent wall were two twin-sized bunks, one on top of the other, making the room feel… cozy.

Felix and Minho traded looks with each other.

“Kidding.”

The boys visibly relaxed and chuckled awkwardly.

“If I ever have to share a bed with Minho again it’ll be too soon,” Felix sighed.

“Is that any way to treat your big brother?” Minho scoffed.

“I’m taller than you.”

“That’s only because you’re wearing boots.”

“Whatever,” Felix grumbled, kicking off his shoes by the door.

Minho slung his backpack onto the top bunk and pulled his sweatshirt off over his head, exposing a strip of his stomach in the process. You looked away instinctively, hoping that you hadn’t drawn any attention to yourself while doing so.

“You always get the top bunk,” Felix whined.

“Yeah, because I’m older.”

“That’s not fair!”

“My brothers are actually ten years old,” Jisung explained to you, raising his voice so that you could hear him over the bickering.

“No, I think ten-year-olds know how to take turns,” you said dismissively, not missing the glares from the other two Hans.

“You’re right,” Jisung agreed. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and sighed. “Reminds me of the family vacations we used to take. We used to share one hotel room when we traveled.”

“All boys… I don’t know how your mom did it.”

“None of us do.”

“I thought we were going to sleep,” Felix muttered from where he was already laying down on the bottom bunk, clearly irritated.

“Give us a minute to settle in, dude,” Jisung shot back before dropping into a whisper. “It’s going to be a long week.”

You shook your head, putting your hands on his shoulders. “Everyone’s just cranky because they’re tired,” you reasoned. “We’ll get some sleep and then grab some food and then maybe they’ll be in a better mood.”

“You don’t know them like I do,” Jisung warned.

“That’s true, but won’t they tone it down since I’m here?”

Jisung snorted. “Wishful thinking.”

You rolled your eyes. “Whatever, I’m going to hop in the shower. I feel gross after being on a plane for so long.”

“I’ll go after you,” Jisung replied with a nod. “Let me know if you need anything.”

You thanked him with a kiss under the watchful eyes of his brothers who both groaned in protest.

“Oh, fuck off,” Jisung growled against your lips.

“By the way, sharing a bed doesn’t mean you get to mess around because I don’t want to hear that shit.”

“Felix!” Jisung and Minho shouted, Minho going as far as throwing a pillow at his younger brother from the top bunk.

“Just being honest! We heard you going at it like rabbits when you had your own room, and I didn’t say anything about it then-”

“Felix.” To your surprise, it was Minho who cut him off, raising another pillow in warning. Thankfully, Felix took the hint that time and shut up, crossing his arms over his chest in annoyance.

You smiled to yourself with the knowledge that your little Easy A stunt had worked, and looked over to see that Jisung was wearing a matching smirk. He winked at you before turning to glare at his brothers.

“On that note, I’m going to shower,” you said, mostly to Jisung, and made your way over to where you had dropped your suitcase by the door.

You gathered a set of pajamas to change into and then wandered into the bathroom, quietly closing the door behind you. It was one of those rolling doors so you had to be extra careful not to knock it off its hinges or the track and cause even more noise than necessary. You set your change of clothes on the counter next to the sink and began to undress, leaving your worn clothes on the floor.

The shower was kept in a room separate from the room with the sink and vanity, something you had read was common for Japanese washrooms. Inside the second room was a bathtub with a complicated looking panel next to it. With a closer inspection you determined it was used to fill the bath with water and customize the temperature. The showerhead was secured to the wall just to the side of the tub which meant you would have to hold it while you showered, but you didn’t mind. You were used to holding the showerhead for… other reasons.

Your shower was quick. You didn’t want to take too long when you knew other people were waiting for it. You were drained too. Even as you dried yourself off with a towel you could feel your arms start to get heavier.

You wrapped your hair in your towel and put on your pajamas shortly after, trying not to cringe at the way the fabric clung to your still-damp body. Usually you wouldn’t get dressed in the bathroom right after taking a shower because it was always so humid and sticky, you’d go out in the bedroom to do it, but as Jisung’s girlfriend the latter wasn’t an option. So you dealt with the discomfort and ventured back into the main room.

It was dark now. Someone, you assumed Jisung, had pulled the blackout curtains shut so that the daylight could no longer stream through the window. Felix was already fast asleep, but Minho and Jisung were still awake, scrolling through their phones on their respective sides of the room.

Jisung was perched on top of your bed, resting comfortably. He wasn’t underneath the covers, probably because he knew you didn’t like to share a bed with someone who hadn’t showered.

He smiled when he saw you and pushed himself up onto his elbows.

“Shower’s all yours,” you said.

“Thanks.”

You watched him rifle through his suitcase for pajamas and then eventually disappear into the bathroom before finally flinging yourself onto the bed. You still needed to take your hair out of the towel and brush your teeth, but you took a moment to just. Lay there.

Minho didn’t acknowledge you, hadn’t so much as looked at you since you came out of the bathroom, but you still found yourself looking over to him.

At the airport he had seemed at least a little concerned that he would have to share a room with you. Even in the cab to the hotel he kept sneaking glances at you when he thought you weren’t paying attention. But now he looked completely relaxed and you were second guessing yourself. Maybe you’d been projecting. Maybe he hadn’t been anxious at all.

You, on the other hand, felt like you hadn’t been able to exhale since Dom had announced that you’d be sharing a room with Jisung’s brothers.

It had dawned on you as soon as you stepped into the hotel room that you’d never be able to let your guard down. Before this point you had at least been able to take breaks, retreat to your hotel room with Jisung and be yourselves without worrying that one of his family members was around. You hadn’t needed to keep up the act 24/7, but now you had no other choice. It was only for a week, but you knew it was going to be exhausting. You weren’t even sure that your current performance was believable, and that was without all of the more intimate interactions couples had in private. The good night kisses, the cuddling in bed together, falling asleep in each other’s arms, the good morning kisses, all things you’d have to take into consideration. Most couples you knew moved in harmony, like they were one person, half of a whole. You and Jisung were more like the hands on a clock. You were always moving in the same direction, and once in a while you’d overlap, but more often than not you were facing each other on completely opposite sides of the clock. It was what made you such good friends. Best friends. But what would make you terrible lovers.

To be fair, a lot of people misunderstood your dynamic, which you had been using to your advantage. They assumed that since you were always together you were basically the same person- and they weren’t necessarily wrong. You and Jisung spent a majority of your time together. You knew each other well enough to finish each other’s sentences, to voice aloud what the other was thinking before they even said it.

The vibration of your phone next to you disrupted your train of thought. It was a text from Jisung.

Can you come here rq? I need help lol.

Confused, you pushed back the covers and stood up. You dropped your phone back on the bed and walked over to the bathroom, keenly aware of the way Minho stiffened in his bed.

You rolled back the door and found Jisung standing in his boxers next to the tub.

“What is it?” you asked, shutting the door behind you.

“How did you figure out the shower? I can’t get the water to be hot.”

“This is what you called me in here for?” you said, exasperation dripping from your voice.

“Yes! I don’t want to take a cold shower.” He said it like it should’ve been obvious.

“Did you try messing with the knobs? That’s how I figured it out.”

Jisung’s cheeks turned a faint shade of pink as he pursed his lips, thinking about how to answer.

“Not all of them,” he admitted.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Sorry?”

“It’s the one on the left, dumbass,” you said and twisted the knob for him.

“Thanks,” he mumbled sheepishly. “I just didn’t want to fuck up the shower or anything.”

Men, you thought to yourself shaking your head.

“I’m going to bed,” you told him. “Before your brothers think I’m in here giving you head or something.”

“Let them think what they want,” he said, shrugging it off.

“I want to preserve what little amount of respect they have for me, thanks.”

Jisung just chuckled and thanked you again as you let yourself out into the room with the sink. While you were there you hung up your wet towel and brushed your teeth with your finger and the toothpaste the hotel provided. You were too lazy to go get your toothbrush out of your bag.

“That was fast.”

You jumped, hand racing to your heart when you realized it was just Minho. He was still in his bed, but had rolled onto one side so that he could talk to you.

“You scared the shit out of me!” you hissed.

“Sorry.” He didn’t sound very sorry. “What did my brother want?”

God damn it, Jisung.

“Why do you ask?”

Minho shrugged. “Just wondering.”

“He needed help figuring out the shower,” you explained.

“Glad he has you for that.”

You narrowed your eyes at the boy in the top bunk. He was trying to get under your skin. Why?

The ball was in your court. You could be the bigger person and let it go, or-

“He has me for a lot of things.” You pushed your tongue against your cheek so that there was a visible outline and brought your fist up to your mouth, moving it back and forth subtly so that he’d get the idea without being too obscene. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

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instead of you [part thirteen] || l.mh

pairing: [best friend’s brother] lee minho x college!reader ft. han jisung

summary: you didn’t expect to spend your summer pretending to be your best friend’s girlfriend- then again, you didn’t expect to fall for your best friend’s brother, either. 

warnings: swearing, mentions of sex (18+ mdni)

word count: 4k

a/n: revamped my tom holland series from my main blog ( @wazzupmrstark ) to try and motivate myself to finish it!!

series masterlist | early access to the next chapter on ko-fi

You should get some rest,” Jisung urged, trying to pry your phone out of your hand. “You’ve barely slept.”

It had been a full twenty-four hours since you landed in Tokyo and you’d only managed to get a few hours of sleep. You were too paranoid, too afraid to let your guard down in front of Jisung’s brothers that no matter how hard you tried you couldn’t relax enough to drift off for more than an hour at a time. 

You knew you were fucking yourself over, but you’d tried everything and still couldn’t sleep. 

“You know I can’t,” you grumbled back, holding your phone out of reach. 

Jisung rolled on top of you, scrambling for your hand. His arms were longer than yours so he was able to reach your phone without much effort, and clapped his other hand over your mouth to muffle your complaints. His brothers were still asleep in their bunks and neither of you wanted to be the ones to wake them up. 

“Jisung!” you protested, trying to push him off of you. 

He surrendered easily with your phone in hand and moved back to his side of the bed, placing it facedown on the bedside table. 

“You’ll thank me when you fall asleep,”

“What are you guys doing?” Felix asked, his voice gravelly with sleep. 

“Nothing, Lix, go back to bed.”

“Well it’s hard to sleep when you two are being so loud.”

“We’ll be quiet,” you promised.

“Good.” He yawned. 

Jisung stuck his tongue out at you from his side of the bed and you did the same, adding a middle finger for good measure. Without your phone you had nothing to distract you, and your thoughts started to overwhelm you again. 

Jisung must have noticed your distant stare because he outstretched his arm towards you, a silent offer. You shifted under the covers so that you could rest your head on his shoulder with his arm under your neck. 

“C’mere,” he whispered, pulling you in closer by wrapping that same arm around you 

You snuggled into the crook of his neck and inhaled deeply, trying to relax. He smelled like the hotel shampoo: self described as lotus and white tea. He brought his hand up to your head and began playing with your hair, absentmindedly twirling strands of it around his fingers as he talked. 

“Want me to tell you a story?” he asked. You nodded. “Okay.”

He fell silent as he came up with a plot in his head and you thought to yourself how long it’d been since you’d done this together. Jisung used to tell you stories all the time in your early college years. On breaks between studying he’d convince you to rest on his bed and tell you all sorts of fairy tales that he’d made up on the fly. You always told him that he should be a writer, but he usually just responded with “maybe in another life”.

You knew that he only offered to tell you stories under the guise of getting you to fall asleep, but you loved them too much to ever call him out on it. They worked like a charm, too. Whenever Jisung thought you weren’t getting enough sleep or suspected you had pulled an all-nighter he would hit you with, “want to hear a story?” and you’d be out like a light. 

Jisung cleared his throat to let you know he was about to begin. He spoke in a whisper so that his brothers couldn’t hear him. “Once upon a time, in a land far, far away… there lived a horse.”

You turned your head to look at him. “A horse?”

“A horse. What do you want the horse’s name to be?”

“I get to name it?”

“If you want.”

You took a second to think. “Persephone.”

“Should’ve known you’d go with Greek mythology.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, just listen to the story.”

You finally started to drift off as Jisung laid out the details of Persephone’s life. She was adopted by the royal guard as a foal, and grew up in the palace stables. Her best friend was a young princess. They grew up together, and Persephone would help the princess to escape the palace to visit her secret lover. It was one of your best friend’s more fantastical stories, but it had the same effect nonetheless, and you fell asleep within minutes. You never got to find out what happened to Persephone. 

When you woke up again Jisung was still laying beside you in bed. He was scrolling through his phone, ignoring his brothers who were having a conversation in the background. He smiled when he noticed you were awake and kissed your cheek. 

“Look who’s awake,” he announced. “Morning, sleepyhead.”

“What time is it?”

“3:36 p.m.,” Minho chimed in before Jisung could answer. That damn Rolex on his wrist was way too convenient. 

“Why did you let me sleep so long?” you whined. 

“You needed it,” Jisung insisted. “We have about an hour before we’re supposed to meet my parents downstairs.”

“An hour?”

“That’s plenty of time to get ready. And Minho and Felix brought us some leftovers from their lunch to eat so we won’t be hungry.”

You sighed, rubbing the sleep from your eyes as you pushed the covers off. It was still dark in the room from the blackout curtains, but you could make out two figures standing near the kitchenette. You blinked them into focus and saw Minho and Felix wearing matching blue t-shirts. You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion, then it dawned on you. 

“We have to wear the shirts again?”

Minho smirked. “Come on, you know you love them.”

You forced a smile through gritted teeth. “Yep, they’re my favorite thing to wear.”

“I knew it.”

“You can read people so well, Minho.”

“Thanks, I get told that a lot.”

“I’m sure you do.”

You slipped past Jisung’s brothers into the bathroom where you got dressed for the day and brushed your teeth. You stuffed your pajamas back into your suitcase and joined the boys at the little dining table in front of the beds. Jisung had reheated some rice and vegetables for you both on the stove.

The food was still steaming when you sat down in front of it, but you started eating it right away anyway. There wasn’t much time left before you had to leave, and you didn’t want to be the one making everyone late. 

“We tried to order stuff that you’d like,” Felix said. 

“It’s good!” you replied appreciatively, holding up your chopsticks for emphasis, “thank you.”

You finished scarfing down your lunch before Jisung and rinsed your bowl in the sink, doing the same with his when he was done. 

The four of you all piled in the elevator together and met the other two Hans in the lobby, where they were also wearing their matching blue shirts. Minho called an Uber for everyone and then you were finally on your way out into the city after two days inside.

“Where are we going?” you whispered to Jisung.

“Asakusa first, then tonight we’re going to Yomiuri Land, which is like a theme park I think.”

“We’re going to a theme park at night?”

“I guess. It’s what Felix wanted to do.”

“Yeah, that checks out, I guess.”

You turned to look out the window and rested your forehead against the glass, watching the buildings and people fly past. Billboards ran up the faces of every skyscraper in sight, depicting colorful characters and neon lights. It reminded you of Times Square, but much cleaner. 

Jisung held your hand as the car navigated through the streets of Tokyo until the driver dropped you off in Asakusa. You walked through the district with the rest of his family, stopping in front of every notable structure and monument to take photos and read informational guides about each one on Google. 

Nikki and Dom decided everyone should take a break in front of the Senso-ji Temple around an hour and a half in, so Felix picked a spot in the shade to rest and everyone followed in suit. 

It was cool for summer, and a breeze was blowing through the arches, making windchimes whistle in the distance. 

It was so nice that you had almost forgotten you were a walking target for pickpocketing with your t-shirts. If it weren’t for the strange looks you were getting from other tourists you might have felt a little better, but locals and foreigners alike seemed to be judging your group for their fashion choices. You couldn’t blame them. You’d be doing the same thing if you weren’t the one on the receiving end. 

Despite the weather you were feeling sweaty, and you had a feeling it had something to do with the man who was not your fake boyfriend letting his shoulder brush against yours as you leaned against the wall together. He was testing the boundaries, testing you. Or maybe it was all in your head and he was just leaning against the goddamn wall without noticing he was also touching you. Either way, it was making you flustered. 

Your thoughts drifted to the other night, when you had been two fingers deep in yourself thinking about your best friend’s brother on top of you, breathless and groaning your name. 

Fuck. 

Minho suddenly made a face at you and you realized you had been glaring at him subconsciously. You quickly averted your gaze and looked over at Jisung who was giving you a similar look. 

“Anyone want to go look at the gift shops with me?” Felix asked, completely oblivious to any tension woven throughout his brothers and you. 

“I do!” you exclaimed, scrambling to stand next to him. 

“Okay!” He seemed excited that you had volunteered. “Anyone else?”

You thanked whatever higher power that had blessed you right then because nobody else seemed interested in tagging along so it was just the two of you. You let out a breath that you didn’t know you were holding and walked with Felix over to the other side of the square. 

The gift shops turned out to be little stalls lined up down an aisle of the street. There were so many things to look at: clothes, toys, hats, lanterns, candy. It was like every shopkeeper had jammed their storefront with as much merchandise as they possibly could. 

You waited beside Felix as he sifted through a manga stand at one of the shops. 

“Will you be able to read them?” you asked. 

“Um, no,” he admitted, cheeks turning a little pink. “I collect them.”

“Oh, what got you into that?”

“When I was in high school we had this assignment where we had to find a pen pal that lived abroad. Mine ended up being this guy named Yuji and we actually got really close through sending letters. He used to send me manga and I would send him Korean stamps. He would roughly translate the manga for me so that I could understand it, but I mostly liked it for the pictures anyway.”

“That’s really sweet,” you said. “Do you guys still talk?”

Felix shrugged. “We follow each other on Instagram, and sometimes we play video games together on Xbox Live, but we don’t send letters anymore. We only really did that for the year I had the assignment, and then a couple months after. But I still collect manga because of him.”

“Did you get an A on the project?”

“I did,” Felix said with a chuckle. “It was the best grade I got in that class. My teacher was shocked.”

“I bet.”

Once Felix had found a couple of books that he wanted, he let you have a turn looking through the stalls to find something you liked. You realized you hadn’t bought many souvenirs on this trip so far. One of the only things you had was that postcard from Minho. It was still folded up inside a pocket of your backpack. 

You ended up purchasing a Japanese mythology book, written in Japanese and translated in English, a flower-printed potholder, an empty journal with a pagoda on the cover, and a Japanese cookbook for Jisung. 

When you returned to the rest of the family they all inquired about your finds, passing each souvenir around like it was show-and-tell. 

“And this is for Ji,” you said, pulling the final item out of your tote bag. You handed him the book and leaned into him as he wrapped an arm around you. 

“Thank you, baby.” He leaned down to kiss the top of your head. “I’ll have to try some of these when we get home.”

“That was so thoughtful of you, y/n!” Nikki exclaimed.

You beamed in response, happy to have won some points from Jisung’s parents. Jisung seemed pleased as well, glad to receive affection from you in front of his family.

“We better get going,” Dom reminded everyone, “it’s going to start getting dark soon.”

Minho called another Uber and this time you fell asleep on the way to Yomiuri Land and were shaken awake by Jisung when the driver pulled up in front of the gates.

The sun had just started to set, and the park was already lit up with hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights. Jisung had told you that the light display was one of the theme park’s biggest draws, and that the displays changed theme each year. 2021’s theme happened to be mythology. 

“They’re beautiful,” you gasped, clinging to your best friend’s arm as he guided you to the ticket booth. 

“Wait until you get inside.”

As breathtaking as the lights were, the boys were far more enthusiastic about the roller coasters, and they dragged you to the line for the fastest one almost immediately. The queue wasn’t too long, and before you knew it you were being called to split up into groups of two for loading.

“Wait, I want to ride with Jisung,” Felix interjected once he saw you and his twin situated next to each other at the gate. Jisung opened his mouth to protest, but Felix cut him off. “Come on, we always ride roller coasters together! Your girlfriend will be okay for one night, right?”

Jisung looked to you and you wanted to smack him. Now you’d look like the bad guy if you said no. So you mustered up a smile and nodded in agreement. 

“Yeah, I can ride with Minho.”

“Are you sure?” Jisung asked. 

“Yes, I’m sure. It’s not a big deal, babe. Go have fun with Felix.”

You cursed him out in your head as the ride operator instructed all the pairs to get into the cars together. 

You and Minho were in the row behind the twins. You slid in first and he squeezed in next to you. Your shoulders touched for the second time that day and you stiffened, pursing your lips as Minho brought the lap bar down over both of you. 

“Sorry,” he said, trying to lean away from you. 

“It’s okay,” you assured him. “It’s a small ride.”

“Yeah…” he trailed off. 

You didn’t know what to say. God, it was awkward. Painfully awkward. You felt like you might be sick, and the ride hadn’t even started yet.

As if on cue, the cars jerked forward, making you yelp out in surprise as they began to ascend the first hill. 

You had a vice-like grip on the lap bar and you didn’t know whether to close your eyes or keep them wide open. The coaster lurched higher, higher, higher until you could see the entire park and all of its lights from the top. Maybe you should have mentioned your fear of heights beforehand. 

You were shaking. Minho bumped your shoulder purposely this time. You looked over to see that he was smirking. 

“Scared?” 

You nodded vigorously. “I’m fucking terrified!”

Minho’s face fell in realization. “Oh shit.”

All of the sudden, he looked as panicked as you felt. You could see the gears turning in his head as he tried to think of something to say that would calm you down. Coming up short, he settled for grabbing your hand. 

“What are you doing?” you shouted.

“Just squeeze my hand!” he yelled back as the coaster began to tip over the edge. “I won’t let go!”

“Promise?”

“I promise!”

You closed your eyes and clutched Minho’s hand as hard as you could, feeling your stomach launch itself into your throat as you began hurtling downhill. You were aware that you were screaming, but you couldn’t find it within you to care. 

Minho’s hand was sweaty. Maybe it was your hand, or both. Regardless, the grip was slippery and you were worried he’d accidentally let go so you slapped your other hand on top of his, sandwiching his hand between yours. Despite the unpleasant amount of moisture in between your palms, you were grateful for the comfort holding his hand brought you. His hands were strong, rough with callouses that had long-since healed. They were much different than Jisung’s, but somehow still felt familiar. 

The coaster rounded around a corner and you were thrown into Minho, who steadied you by turning his body to catch yours. 

“Sorry!” 

“Don’t worry about it!”

You heard the screams from the front of the car and assumed there was another hill coming up so you braced yourself for the drop by leaning against the back of the seat, but instead the ride jerked around another corner, flinging you in the opposite direction instead. This time Minho fell into you, his head knocking your shoulder. He had you squished between his body and the wall of the car, and for a second you felt like you couldn’t breathe. 

Minho was off of you as fast as he was on you, though, because the track dipped and you both went flying forward. 

You forced yourself to open your eyes so that you could see what was coming. Minho was staring at you, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“I’m fine!” you lied.

“You’re crying!”

You hadn’t even realized there were tears streaming down your face until he said something, but you felt it now. The wind on your damp cheeks was freezing, almost painful, and you could only imagine how windburnt they’d be when you got back to the hotel. 

The roller coaster was an excruciating two minutes long. When it finally rolled to a stop at the loading dock you were still holding Minho’s hand like a frightened child. 

“We’re here,” he said softly. “It’s over.”

“Oh, sorry.” 

You reluctantly let go, noting the tiny crescent moons your nails had left imprinted in his skin. You turned your palm over and saw similar impressions left behind on your own hand. They were deep, physical proof that Minho had taken his promise not to let go to heart. 

“No, it’s okay,” Minho assured you. 

You took a deep breath and stood up. To your surprise, your knees didn’t buckle and you were able to step up onto the platform with Minho’s help. 

Jisung’s face fell as soon as he saw you, and you knew any chance of playing it cool had gone out the window. But to be fair, he’d know something was wrong even if you didn’t look like a wreck. He’d known you for far too long. 

“What happened?”

“I just got scared,” you explained. “It was so high…”

Jisung held his hand out for you and pulled you close once you accepted it, wrapping you in his arms. You melted into him, comforted by his steadiness.

“I’m sorry, baby, I shouldn’t have left you. I wasn’t thinking.” He wiped the tears from your eyes with the sleeve of his jacket.

“It’s okay,” you sniffed. “I wasn’t thinking either.”

Jisung turned to his brothers. “I’m going to get y/n a soda or something. We’ll catch up with you guys after the next coaster.”

“Are you sure?” Minho asked. “We can all go-”

“No, you guys go ahead,” Jisung insisted.

“I’ll be fine,” you added.

You followed Minho and Felix out of the queue and then went your separate ways, agreeing to meet back up at another ride in half an hour. 

Thankfully, all of the park’s signage was in English and Japanese so Jisung was able to find a concession stand without much issue. He bought you a coke and told you to go wait for him over on a bench while he paid. He joined you a minute later with your drinks and a small container of popcorn. 

“I asked for it without butter, but I think there’s still some on there,” he said, offering it to you. 

“Thanks.”

“Popcorn was the only thing on the menu that I figured wouldn’t upset your stomach.”

“It’s good.”

“You should drink something too.”

You nodded and took a sip of your coke. The bubbles felt good on your throat.

“Do you feel sick?”

You shook your head. “No, I was mostly just scared. I haven’t been on a rollercoaster in a really long time.”

“And you’re deathly afraid of heights.”

“I mean, that too. It’s mainly that.”

Jisung took a sip of his own drink, filling the silence. Together you watched people walking past your little bench. Parents chasing their young children, groups of teenagers loudly joking with each other in a language you didn’t understand, older couples who were just there to look at the lights, their eyes still filled with wonder after decades of life. 

You scooted closer to Jisung and rested your head on his shoulder. There wasn’t anyone around to put on an act for, you just felt like being close to him. 

The sun had set a couple of hours ago and it was starting to get chilly even though it was July. Jisung wrapped an arm around you, assuming you were cold. With the breeze making the temperature drop and all of the lights on display the park felt like something out of a Hallmark Christmas movie. You and Jisung would be the protagonists, best friends pretending to date each other to satisfy his family, eventually falling in love for real along the way. 

But you weren’t living in a Hallmark movie. Jisung wasn’t secretly in love with you, and in a few more weeks this would all be over. You thought you would be looking forward to the end of the trip, but now everything was complicated. You should be excited. You’d get your best friend back, finally be able to drop the act, and put all of your complicated feelings from the summer behind you. You’d get to start hooking up with people again. Just not with who you wanted to.

You couldn’t even let your mind go there. Even if you hadn’t been fake-dating Jisung, he was still your best friend’s brother. It was an unwritten line you couldn’t cross. It was also a written line. Jisung had made a whole rule about not flirting with his brothers on the contract you’d both signed. He wasn’t fucking around. 

Not that Minho even saw you like that. Sure, he’d kissed you once when you were both super wasted, but that didn’t mean anything. He was a flirt by nature, it was probably something he did all the time. You were the one that got off to the thought of him. Not him. 

At least it’s only physical attraction, you told yourself. Nothing technically wrong with that. Minho’s hot. Anyone with eyes could see that. 

“Fuck, my brothers,” Jisung said suddenly, making you spit a sip of your coke on the ground. He had been texting them, but he looked over when he heard you choking. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” you coughed out. “Went down the wrong way.”

Jisung looked at you for another second, like he wasn’t sure if he believed you. 

“I’m fine,” you repeated. 

“If you’re sure…”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay, well then let’s go meet my brothers. They’re already waiting at the next line.”

You nodded, your throat still burning from the carbonation. “Sounds good.”

lmk what you think i always appreciate feedback!!

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instead of you [part twenty] || l.mh

pairing: [best friend’s brother] lee minho x college!reader ft. han jisung

summary: you didn’t expect to spend your summer pretending to be your best friend’s girlfriend- then again, you didn’t expect to fall for your best friend’s brother, either. 

warnings: swearing, angst, reader has emetophobia,

word count: 3k

a/n: revamped my tom holland series from my main blog ( @wazzupmrstark ) to try and motivate myself to finish it!!

series masterlist | early access to the next chapter on ko-fi

As soon as the cable car reached the peak, Minho ushered you into the Men’s Room with your head buried in his shoulder so that no one could see you. He blocked the door with the trashcan once you were inside to prevent other people from coming in. Anyone else who had to use the bathroom would just have to hold it until they were back at the loading dock.

You were a goddamn wreck, and that was sugarcoating it. Your eyes were red and puffy from crying, your nose was running- you’d gotten some snot on Minho’s shirt, which would have mortified you way more if you weren’t having a meltdown, and you couldn’t catch your breath no matter how hard you tried.

Minho helped you up onto the counter and yanked a bunch of paper towels from the dispenser on the wall for you to blow your nose and wipe your eyes with.

“Thanks,” you murmured as you took them from him.

He slotted himself between your legs, eyes searching your face. He had this helpless look on his face and you just wanted to kiss it off, but that was what had gotten you here in the first place. It was clear that he didn’t really know what to say, and you didn’t blame him.

You, yourself, couldn’t pinpoint the reason you were crying. It was either your paralyzing fear of heights that had sent you spiraling a few minutes prior, or the fact that you were falling for your best friend’s brother and had kissed him… also a few minutes prior. The most likely answer was a combination of both, but you weren’t ready to come to that conclusion.

You let Minho dab at your cheeks with a paper towel, let him attempt damage control, even though you were far beyond repair.

“I’m such a horrible person,” you groaned.

“No, you’re not,” Minho assured you in a hushed tone, but even if he believed what he was saying you knew it was a lie.

In his mind, you had kissed your boyfriend’s brother twice now. Once had been his fault, you were both drunk, and even if you’d shittily played it off like you thought you were kissing Jisung, it was still Minho who had initiated it. The second time was on you. You were sober and you knew exactly what you were doing. But the reality was potentially worse. You’d kissed your best friend’s brother twice, when you were supposed to be pretending to be in love with him. You’d betrayed him, and if he ever found out you were afraid it’d ruin your friendship. And what made it worse, was that stupid list of rules you’d agreed upon on the plane before meeting his family. There was an entire clause dedicated to not flirting with Jisung’s brothers. You were pretty sure kissing went way past flirting, not to mention all of the other things you thought about doing to his brother.

“Yes, I am,” you insisted. “I kissed my boyfriend’s brother! Twice!”

“Technically, the first time was my fault.”

“But the second time- there shouldn’t have even been a second time.” Minho didn’t respond. “I’m the worst girlfriend ever!”

“You’re not the worst girlfriend ever. It’s not like we slept together.”

You gave him a look. “Well, I’m a pretty bad one.”

“I mean, I kissed you back. I’d say that makes me a pretty shitty brother.”

“We’re both awful people,” you seceded, sniffling. “Maybe we deserve each other.”

Minho’s upper lip twitched almost imperceptibly, but he shook his head.

“Are you going to tell Jisung?” he asked.

“Should I?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“I just- I know it’s wrong not to tell him, but I don’t want to hurt him.”

“I mean, you love him, right?”

“Yes.” You answered automatically, because for the millionth time, you did love Jisung. But not in the way Minho thought you did.

“And you don’t want to break up with him?”

“No, I don’t.” You stared at the ground, suddenly fascinated with the dirty grout between the tiles. “Do you think he’d forgive me if I told him?”

Minho didn’t respond right away and your heart sank. “Probably. Eventually. But I don’t think he’d forgive me.”

You felt your eyes well up with tears again. “B-but you’re his brother. He has to forgive you.”

“Jisung, uh,” he paused and you thought he might’ve been getting emotional too. “Jisung hasn’t had it very easy because of me. I know he’s always kind of felt like he was living in my shadow, that’s why he went abroad for uni. He’s completely unique, you know? Of course you know, you’re his- anyway. He’s got his own talents and ambitions, and so many achievements! But he feels they pale in comparison to mine. I think most of it comes from people who used to pretend to be his friend or use him to get to me. I know h- I know he resents me for it.”

You shook your head. “That’s not true.”

“Why do you think he never told you what I do for a living? Why do you think I’m always joking about him being upset with me?” You pursed your lips, unable to give him an answer. “Exactly. And you, I’ve never seen Jisung look at anyone like the way he looks at you. If he finds out I kissed you, more than once, if he finds out that I think-” he stopped short. “That’s just one more thing he thinks he’s lost to me. I don’t think he could forgive me for that.”

“He’d get over it eventually,” you tried.

“I don’t know if he would.”

You could tell Minho had been beating himself up over this for a while. Maybe you had more in common than you thought.

You weren’t sure if Jisung would forgive you either if you were being honest with yourself. You knew Minho was right on some level. Jisung had always been a little possessive of you, but it wasn’t until you met his brother that you understood why. You’d stabbed him in the back in spite of that, and yet part of you still wanted Minho.

You wanted to take him by the collar and kiss him again and again until you couldn’t think anymore. You wanted him to kiss you back, chasing your lips like he couldn’t get enough of you.

He was like the sun: blinding and brilliant and warm. If you lingered in his presence for too long you’d get burned.

“I have an idea,” Minho murmured finally after a painful silence. “You’re not going to like it.”

“What is it?”

“Maybe… tell Jisung after the trip is over? I know it’s asking a lot, but it’ll just make things less complicated.”

“I… don’t think I’m going to tell him,” you said quietly.

“Wait, really?”

You nodded. “I don’t want to ruin you and Ji’s relationship.” And selfishly, I don’t want to ruin me and Ji’s relationship.

“Are you sure?”

“I think so.” You sighed and pushed your hair out of your eyes. “I’m sorry for kissing you.

“It’s fine. Guess we’re even now.” He gave you a weak grin.

“Yeah, we’re even. Consider your IOU voided.”

“Do you still have the postcard?”

“It’s in my backpack back in Tokyo.”

His smile brightened and he opened his mouth to respond, but at the same time, the door to the bathroom rattled against the trash can as someone tried to get in.

“Sorry, man, it’s um, out of order,” Minho sputtered out in a panic as he walked over and pushed the door closed with more force. He held his hand to it for several seconds as the person on the other side continued wrestling with it.

You gave him an anxious look, but he just returned the look and shrugged. He seemed entirely too calm for someone who was about to be discovered in the men’s room with a woman that looked like she’d just been railed. You looked like a mess for a completely different reason, but you knew no one would believe you if you tried to explain yourself. And after being recognized once today it wouldn’t surprise you if it happened again. Minho was pretty famous. Getting caught fucking someone in a bathroom halfway across the world wasn’t a great look for a K-pop idol.

Maybe you should get down from off the counter. Sitting up there only made you look guiltier.

Minho didn’t let up until the knocking eventually stopped. He was stronger than you thought he’d be. He’d only used one hand to hold the door closed while the other person had seemingly thrown their whole body weight into it. He hadn’t even broken a sweat.

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up,” he said casually and helped you hop down. “Your eyes are still pretty red, you should splash some cold water on your face.”

You followed his advice and turned on the faucet, cupping your hands underneath the running water and bringing them to your face. The chill was a shock to your system, grounding you in the moment and helping soothe the burning of your cheeks.

You straightened up and made eye contact with Minho in the mirror who had been standing behind you the entire time watching. He handed you another paper towel to dry off with. You thanked him silently and turned around, looking to him for his approval.

He gave you a once over, uncrossing his arms and reaching toward you hesitantly. “Can I?” he asked, eyes flitting to yours. You nodded and he brushed a strand of hair out of your eyes. “There.” His voice had dropped to a whisper and you found yourself staring at his lips again. He was a walking distraction. He didn’t even have to do anything to have you at a loss for words. “I think… we should probably keep our distance from each other. At least, for a little while.”

You did your best to ignore the pang in your chest as you nodded in agreement. He was right, and you knew that. The fact that he was the one to suggest it should be a relief to you, but it wasn’t.

“Okay, let’s go back down to the bus before they leave us here.”

Minho held your hand in the cable car on the way back down the mountain, but neither of you spoke. The bus was also silent. Minus the handholding.

There was only one more stop before the tour was finally over and you could collapse into bed and try to forget the entire thing. It was a bullet train that would take you back to Tokyo, but it was running a couple minutes behind so your tour group was ditched at the train station by the guides who left with the buses while you waited.

You were standing next to Minho on the platform when his mother pulled you aside suddenly, asking to speak with you for a moment. Your heart leapt into your throat as you followed her a couple paces away from the group. What could she possibly want to talk to you about? Did she know something? Was she going to confront you about how close you seemed to be with the son you weren’t dating? A million possibilities ran through your mind, but you honestly had no idea what to expect.

“Is everything okay?” you asked breathlessly.

“Oh, everything’s fine! I’m sorry if I worried you by asking for a word. I just wanted to let you know that I talked to Jisung earlier today and he mentioned your… aversion to stomach illnesses so Dom and I looked to see if there were any extra rooms available at the hotel and we’ve booked you your own for the next few days until we leave. Jisung can join you when he’s feeling better, but we didn’t want you to have to deal with that ickiness.”

“Oh my god, you didn’t have to do that!” you exclaimed, embarrassed that Jisung had told his mom about your stupid irrational fear.

“Well, you and Jisung were supposed to have your own room anyway, but someone,” she looked pointedly at her husband, “messed that up. We would’ve switched you both sooner, but nothing at the resort had opened up. It’s not a big deal, trust me, okay? We want you to get some good rest and I know you won’t be able to do that with the twins keeping you up all night. We know Minho will be fine with them, but you shouldn’t have to suffer through that.”

You clutched your hands to your heart. “That’s so thoughtful of you, thank you!”

“Of course! We just want you to be comfortable, love.”

You thanked her again, but she insisted that it was really nothing and let you get back to standing silently with Minho.

The train pulled up a few minutes later and everyone got their tickets stamped as they boarded and filed into their seats. You and Minho sat across from each other while his parents took the seats beside you- Dom next to Minho and Nikki next to you.

It had been a long day so no one was in much of a mood to talk, thankfully. You tried to nap, but you were still too on edge to relax. The events of the day had exhausted you, but not enough for your body to give in to sleep. It was like your brain was trying to protect you from letting your guard down.

Y: what did you say to your mom??

J: what do you mean

Y: she told me you talked to her about my “aversion” and now i have my own room??

J: oh yeah

J: you’re welcome ;)

Y: it’s EMBARRASSING

Y: they got me my own hotel room??? like? i don’t want them to spend extra money on me!!

J: technically they were already going to spend that money anyway but dad fucked up the reservations. they’re still saving money

Y: ig but still :(

J: look, i knew you wouldn’t get any sleep tn if you came back to our room. i still can’t keep much down and neither can felix. it’ll just stress you out- not to mention that you have a tendency to puke whenever you’re around people who are also sick

Y: …

J: you know i’m right

J: i didn’t want you to be miserable

Y: i know…

Y: thank you. i love you.

J: always :)

J: and make some use of that alone time ;)

You rolled your eyes and slipped your phone in your pocket. His idea might help you relieve some stress, but you knew you’d be out like a light as soon as your head hit your pillow.

Your new room was much smaller than the one you shared with the Han boys, but it was cozy. It was on a completely different floor, which made you feel a little lonely, but mostly you were relieved to have your own space. There wasn’t a kitchenette like there had been in the other one, which wouldn’t be a problem since you weren’t going to be doing any cooking, and a queen-size bed lay in the middle of the room. You almost cried when you saw it, thinking about how you’d get the whole thing to yourself for at least a night.

As tired as you were, you still took the time to shower the day off. You scrubbed yourself with the bar of hotel soap until your skin was raw and the bottom of the tub was full of suds. All of the sweat and grime was long gone, but you still felt dirty.

Eventually, you gave up and rinsed yourself off before wrapping one of those big white towels around you and calling it a night.

You went to sleep naked, not having bothered collecting a change of clothes from the boys’ room. You didn’t want to venture in there if you didn’t have to, and you’d just text Jisung in the morning to bring you something to wear anyway.

-

The morning came far too quickly. You felt like you had barely blinked and the sun had already risen. It was past nine, the Hans had let you sleep in a little, but only barely. There were still plans for today, and you had to be downstairs and ready for them in a little less than an hour. You weren’t sure if the twins were feeling up to tagging along today, but you hoped they would. You didn’t know how you were going to spend another day alone with Minho- especially now that you had agreed to keep a distance from each other.

You texted Jisung to ask him to bring up a change of clothes. His mom had left the second key to the room with him so that he could join you when he was feeling up to it so you told him that he could just let himself in and leave the clothes on the bed.

Instead of waiting around, you decided to be proactive. You pushed yourself out of bed, groaning at the stiffness of your muscles, and made your way into the bathroom to wash your face. You used the bar of hand soap sitting on the counter to lather up- against your better judgment- and then rinsed it off with cold water to wake yourself up.

As you dried off with a washcloth you heard the door to your hotel room open and close and you breathed a sigh of relief.

“Y/n?”

“In here!” you called back, not thinking twice about it. Jisung had seen you naked plenty of times, and even though you had told him to leave the clothes on the bed you figured he might just want to say hi or something.

The bathroom door slid open and you turned towards Jisung to ask how he was feeling, except it wasn’t Jisung standing there. It was Minho.

no taglist bc i'm feeling lazy sowwy... but lmk what you think i always appreciated feedback!!

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instead of you [part twenty-one] || l.mh

pairing: [best friend’s brother] lee minho x college!reader ft. han jisung

summary: you didn’t expect to spend your summer pretending to be your best friend’s girlfriend- then again, you didn’t expect to fall for your best friend’s brother, either. 

warnings: swearing, mentions of sex (mdni)

word count: 4.5k

a/n: revamped my tom holland series from my main blog ( @wazzupmrstark ) to try and motivate myself to finish it!!

series masterlist | early access to the next chapter on ko-fi

“Oh fuck, I-” Minho sputtered, frozen to the spot with wide eyes. His reflexes kicked in a second later and he spun around, squeezing his eyes shut and covering them with his free hand as you attempted to cover yourself with your hands. “I’m so, so sorry!”

“It’s fine! You’re fine!” you cried as you yanked your towel down from the hook it was resting on. You wrapped it around yourself and secured it like a sleeveless dress.

“Where did you want your, uh, clothes?” he asked, holding them out to you, eyes still closed.

“Here, I’ll just take them. You can open your eyes now, by the way.”

Minho opened them hesitantly, like he couldn’t tell if you were being serious. He relaxed a little when he realized you were wearing a towel, but still appeared on edge. He handed you the folded stack of clothes, gaze lingering on your bare shoulders. You weren’t sure if it was because he couldn’t meet your eyes, or if-

“I’ll just wait out here,” he said quietly and backed out of the bathroom.

You rushed to get dressed, pulling the T-shirt and shorts on in record time. You didn’t have time to think about how Minho had seen and touched your bra and underwear because you were too busy thinking about how he had just seen you naked, which was arguably far worse.

Back in the main room, Minho was sitting on the bed with his hands in his lap. He scrambled to his feet when he saw you, awkwardly shoving his hands in his pockets.

“I’m so sorry,” he repeated. “I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s okay.” You were out of breath. It was like you had just run up several flights of stairs.

“No, it’s not!”

“It was an accident.”

“Yeah, but…” he trailed off. “I don’t know, I feel like after what happened yesterday, this is the exact opposite of what we talked about.”

Right, the distance thing.

“But this doesn’t count,” you said automatically. “Unless-”

“Unless what?”

Unless you liked what you saw.

“Nothing, never mind.”

Minho looked like he wanted to press further, but didn’t. Probably because he knew he wouldn’t like what you’d say. “Jisung sent me to bring you the clothes because he still wasn’t feeling great, and he didn’t want you getting anxious over… you know,” he explained.

“That was nice of you.”

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t like I could tell him that I was trying to stay away from you.”

Ouch.

You frowned. If Minho noticed, he didn’t acknowledge it. He rocked back on his heels nervously, hands still in his pockets.

“Jisung also told me to tell you I love you.”

“What?” you gasped.

“He said, ‘tell y/n: I love you’.”

“Oh.” Why the fuck had he phrased it like that? “Got it. I, uh, won’t make you say it back to him. I’ll just text him.”

“Thank god.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “I should get going… the twins are probably wondering what’s taking me so long.”

“Probably,” you agreed.

“I just stuck around because I wanted to apologize again.”

“You really didn’t have to do that.”

“I felt like I needed to.”

You walked him to the door in silence, lagging behind as Minho reached the threshold.

“See you downstairs?” he asked, turning to face you one last time.

“Yep.”

“It’s going to be just the two of us again,” he added. “Since Jisung and Felix are still feeling a little under the weather.”

Dread settled in the pit of your stomach. You could tell Minho was feeling the same.

“It’ll be fine,” he said unconvincingly. “Just one more day.”

“Yeah, we’ll be fine.”

“Uh huh.”

“Guess I’ll… see you down there.”

Minho seemed to remember that he was supposed to be leaving and grabbed for the doorknob behind him, missing a couple of times before finally getting hold of it.

“Yeah, see you.”

As soon as he was gone, you snatched your phone off the dresser to give Jisung an earful only to see a bunch of messages that you had missed.

J: i’m still not feeling great so i’m gonna send minho to bring you your clothes

J: hope that’s ok

J: did you fall back asleep??

J: doesn’t really matter anyway bc i’ll just give him my key

You wanted to bang your head against the wall. If you had just taken your phone with you to the bathroom this would have never happened. You sighed to yourself and texted him back. You figured that you might as well tell him what happened. It’d be one less secret you had to keep from him.

Y: your brother saw me naked

J: WHAT

Y: i didn’t see your messages!!! it was an accident he felt really bad

S: he should

Y: jisung!!!

J: what! i’m justified in being upset

Y: it’s not like that and you know it

It was a half-truth, but you were trying to do some damage control. You didn’t think he’d have such a strong reaction.

J: still!! you’re my fake gf not his

Y: he was doing you a favor

Y: don’t yell at him

J: i wasn’t going to yell at him

Y: …

J: fine i won’t say anything

Y: good, because it’s literally not a big deal

You ended the conversation by telling him to get some rest and that you’d see him later and then went to meet his parents downstairs. He texted you back saying to have fun and that he hoped to join you in your room later that night.

The day was spent exploring a botanical garden in the heart of Tokyo. You and Minho created a scavenger hunt game where you would give each other different plants to find and then time how long it took you to actually find it in the greenhouse. His parents bought lunch and brought it to the outdoor part of the garden to have a picnic.

They’d gotten a pitcher of American-style lemonade for you. You hadn’t even realized how much you missed home until you took your first sip from the clear plastic cup.

And in the evening you wandered the grounds of the Imperial Palace as the sun set behind the castle walls. The Hans booked an official tour, but the tour guide let you all do your own thing after the walkthrough since you were his last group of the day.

You and Minho walked around the courtyard in silence together while his parents chatted with the guide about the history of the grand doors. Neither of you had anything to say to the other. Casual niceties and small talk were exhausting and you’d already spent all day exchanging them. But you had to keep it surface level with each other. You’d agreed.

Night was encroaching on the city, casting shadows off of the palace roof onto the pavement below. They cut through the golden light that lingered from the sinking sun, cloaking half the courtyard in darkness. The line that divided the halves ran right between you and Minho, leaving you standing in the dark while Minho’s figure was illuminated with the light. If you were in a novel, some college lit student would write an entire dissertation on the ironic metaphor of it all with an argument about the tension written in between the lines.

-

The next day was a free day. Jisung ended up spending the night with you and you both slept in late. You woke up with your head resting on his shoulder and he smiled fondly over at you, setting his phone down on the nightstand. You were confused until he rolled over onto you, resting the weight of his entire body onto yours.

“I missed you!” he cried dramatically.

“I was just asleep!” you choked back.

“I meant the past two days,” he clarified.

You tried pushing him off of you, but he was too heavy. “Missed you too, idiot.”

“It sure doesn’t seem like it!” he scoffed. “You’re trying to push me away!”

“You’re heavy!”

“Excuses, excuses,” he tsked, but ended up rolling off of you back onto his side anyway. You gasped for air and he just rolled his eyes at the theatrics. “What do you want to do today?”

“I feel like I should be asking you that question. You’re the one who missed out on all the activities we did.”

“You know I don’t really care about all that stuff. I have more fun when it’s just the two of us anyway.”

“I’m flattered.”

“You already knew that, and the bar isn’t very high.”

Your jaw dropped. “I’m offended on behalf of your family and myself!”

“What happened to being flattered?”

“You literally insulted me in the next breath!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

“You think you’re so fun to be around?” you demanded.

“Oh, we’re going there?” Jisung raised an eyebrow and propped himself up on one of his elbows.

“You already did!” you shot back. He looked at you expectantly, waiting for you to continue. With a big sigh, you rolled over away from him stubbornly, muttering, “you are fun to be around.”

“I know I am.”

“You’re such a dick!”

“I know I am,” he repeated. You could hear the smirk in his voice.

You surrendered and flopped onto your back, a declaration of peace.

“I wouldn’t have gotten myself into this mess if you weren’t fun,” you added.

Jisung chuckled. “Yeah, but it hasn’t been so bad, has it? The trip, I mean.”

You don’t know the half of it, you thought to yourself.

“No, it hasn’t been.”

“We can make anything fun,” he decided.

“We’re the life of the party,” you agreed sarcastically.

“We are!” your best friend insisted. “How do you think we got nicknames?”

“By making fools of ourselves,” you snorted.

“And that’s fun.”

“I’m banned from four frats because of our reputation.”

“That’s because they can’t handle Drunk and Drunker.”

“No, it’s because I stole shit from them and got caught.”

Jisung shrugged, brushing your explanation off. “Okay, but think about all the times you got away with it! I still have that old Delta Chi composite hanging in the living room of my apartment.”

“I wonder if they’ve realized it’s missing by now.”

“They’ve had to, right?”

“I dunno, academics aren’t really their forte.” You pushed Jisung’s chest, changing the subject. “C’mon, what should we do today? It’s our last day in Japan.”

“Why don’t we walk around the city? See what we find.”

It was mid-afternoon by the time you finally made your way out of the hotel. You wanted to take it easy since Jisung was still recovering from his bout of food poisoning, but he assured you that he was perfectly fine. You walked together aimlessly for blocks, stopping in gift shops and bodegas to look at the trinkets and souvenirs on display. You bought a miniature snow globe with tiny little torii in front of Mt. Fuji, and a cheap silver ring with engravings of cherry blossoms all around it. You convinced Jisung to buy a case of sake to send back to his apartment in the states, and he also got a keychain with the Tokyo Tower dangling from it.

You ended up at a quirky techno-themed diner for a late lunch slash early dinner. The servers were actually robots that zoomed around taking orders and delivering meals. Apparently, restaurants like this were really popular in Japan, and you could see why. The colorful atmosphere was warm, and it was bustling with activity. You finally convinced Jisung to let you pick up the tab this time. You grabbed the check as soon as the pink robot spat out the ticket, inserting your card in the slot where their “mouth” was before Jisung could change his mind.

Both of you agreed to call it an early night after wandering for another couple of hours. The shops were beginning to close for the evening, and you had a flight to catch in the morning. It didn’t make sense to stay out and chase the sun since you’d be rising with it soon enough.

Dusk settled on the city like a fine layer of dust. Stars began to shine weakly through the fading sunset as night turned the sky purple.

Jisung took the lead back to the hotel, revoking your GPS privileges after you got lost twice. He put on a movie while the two of you got ready for bed together. It was one they played on cable all the time back home, dubbed in Japanese with English subtitles. But neither of you really paid much attention to it. Jisung was too busy brushing his teeth and washing his face, and you were already half-asleep, fighting to keep your eyes open. If anything, the movie playing in the background was making it harder to stay up.

You had almost drifted off when a buzz from your phone underneath your pillow startled you awake. You groaned, cursing yourself for forgetting to put it on Do Not Disturb. You checked the notification anyway, just in case it was important.

You squinted at the screen and tapped on the message. It was a text from Minho.

M: i need a favor

You groaned and rolled over onto your side. Jisung was still brushing his teeth, but you didn’t want to risk him reading over your shoulder just in case Minho were to say something damning. It was odd for him to be texting you in the first place so you imagined it couldn’t be anything good.

Y: it’s 11pm what do you want

M: do you have a condom

Y: do i have a what now

M: a condom

M: it’s kind of urgent

You rolled your eyes. Was he serious? He could easily pop down to a convenience store and buy an entire box of them and fuck whoever he wanted to his heart’s content. And why was he texting you of all people to ask for one? Maybe you were overreacting. It shouldn’t be a big deal. Friends ask friends for condoms all of the time, right? It was just like asking for a pad… kind of.

It shouldn’t bother you as much as it did. Minho could have sex with whoever he wanted. The prospect of him in a stranger’s bed made your stomach churn, but it wasn’t your place to judge, not when you’d spent countless nights in the very same position. Not when you weren’t even available to him in the first place.

Y: are you fucking kidding

M: no…

Y: can’t you ask one of your brothers for one

M: ji isn’t answering my texts

You glanced over at the bedside table on Jisung’s side of the bed where his phone had been buzzing for a couple of minutes. Of course.

M: pls- i’ll owe you one

Y: we can’t keep going back and forth with these ious

M: why not

Y: …

M: do you have one or not- this is kind of time-sensitive

Y: sorry didn’t realize your dick softens so quickly

M: OH

M: it’s not for… that. sorry, should’ve specified

Y: then what the fuck is it for

M: listen just bring it downstairs to the hotel bar you’ll see what i need it for

Y: fine. i’ll be down in two.

“Jisung!” you called across the room. He popped his head out of the bathroom. “Do you have a condom?”

Even from afar, you could see his eyes widen.

“What, why?”

“It’s not for me, it’s for your brother.”

“Felix?”

“Other one.”

“Minho?”

“Yeah, he said he texted you, but you didn’t answer.”

“So he asks my girlfriend?”

“Listen, I don’t pretend to know what goes on in your brother’s head. He knows we’re having sex so he probably figured we have some. And he says it’s not for sex, so I don’t even know what he needs it for.”

Jisung shook his head but chuckled weakly.

“There should be some in my backpack.”

“Wow, you brought condoms on our ‘no sex’ trip?” you scoffed.

“It’s the same backpack I used for uni. I just never took them out.”

“So you’d just carry them around to your classes? Thinking you could squeeze in a quickie between labs?” You flinched as he threw a washcloth at you.

“You’re so annoying,” he groaned. “Don’t you have an errand to run?”

You smirked, pushing yourself out of bed. “Don’t you have a classmate to fuck?”

You didn’t bother changing before heading downstairs to the bar. You wouldn’t be down there for more than a minute, so you figured there was no point. You were wearing the same t-shirt and boxers combo that you usually wore to sleep, but the shirt was so long that it practically covered the shorts. You couldn’t remember where you had gotten it, it was a graphic tee for an anime you’d never seen. Some girl had probably left it at your place after hooking up.

You saw Felix first, which answered the question of why Minho couldn’t have just asked him for a condom. Minho was sitting beside him, talking to the bartender. The place looked relatively empty, aside from Jisung’s brothers and a couple of other patrons sitting around them, all participating in the same conversation.

“Here,” you said, clearing your throat to get Minho’s attention.

His face lit up as he turned to greet you, the movement drawing everyone else’s attention as well. You fought the urge to cross your arms over your chest, wanting to make yourself feel smaller in front of all of the strangers. It was stupid to get self-conscious all of a sudden, even if you were the only one in your pajamas. And it looked like you weren’t wearing pants.

“Oh, thank you so much,” he exclaimed.

“Yeah, no problem,” you mumbled.

You turned to leave, only to be stopped as Minho grabbed your wrist.

“Wait, don’t you want to see what I needed it for?”

You sighed, shrugging noncommittally. “Something tells me I’m going to be disappointed.”

“Probably, but I’m sure you’re used to it,” he said with a wink, holding up the condom for emphasis.

His comment caught you off guard. He was right, you were used to disappointment when it came to sleeping with men, but you couldn’t tell if that was supposed to be a dig at his own brother. Minho was drunk, tipsy at the very least, evidenced by his flushed cheeks and thick accent. Not like you couldn’t tell from what he’d just said to you.

You rolled your eyes at him but didn’t deny it. If he needed a refresher of what your “sex life” was like, you could give him an encore to your Easy A performance when you were sharing a wall again.

Felix nudged Minho’s shoulder, reminding him that he had an audience that was waiting.

Minho turned back towards the bar on his stool and grabbed something from behind the counter that you couldn’t see before pivoting back in the direction of you and the rest of the patrons. In one hand was a jar of maraschino cherries. In the other was the condom.

He ripped the foil packet open with his teeth and gingerly pulled the contraceptive out. He stretched the latex over the lid of the jar, grimacing as he struggled to make it fit. Once the condom was on the jar he held it up for everyone to see, and then used his free hand to tug at the loose rubber at the end. The lid resisted the pull for a brief second, but then twisted and popped off the glass with a loud suction sound.

The bartender and the other observers applauded enthusiastically as Minho handed the open jar back. You bit the inside of your cheek as you took a deep breath, trying to suppress your anger. It didn’t work.

“That’s it?” you asked, voice brimming with annoyance. “That’s what you dragged me all the way down here for?”

“None of us could get it open,” Minho explained defensively. “We all tried, and then I remembered this trick I saw in a YouTube video and-”

“I was about to go to sleep!”

“Look, Angela wanted a Shirley Temple,” he argued, nodding at the clear glass of fizzy red liquid the bartender was sliding across the counter to a blonde woman. “Daiki went to make her one and couldn’t open the new jar of cherries so he asked Lix and I to try-”

“You already gave me the abbreviated version of the story,” you huffed. “I don’t need the full one.”

“I just thought you should know that the cherries were actually going to use. We weren’t just playing a game of ‘who can open this jar’. Although if we were, I would’ve won.”

Felix snorted and shook his head at his older brother, sipping his own drink wordlessly.

“You’re drunk,” you scoffed. “Both of you are.”

Minho ignored the statement, eyes softening a bit as he gazed at your face. “Thank you again, by the way. Sorry for making you come all the way down here. I owe you one.”

You sighed, your frustration dissipating as you stared into his warm brown eyes. “Whatever, I’m fucking exhausted, okay? I’m going to bed.”

“Wait-” Minho stopped you for the second time that night by grabbing your wrist again. “Did you… want it back?”

“Want what back? The condom? Ew, no!”

“Well it’s not technically used,” he pointed out.

“I don’t think anyone wants to put something that’s ‘not technically used’ in their vagina, but maybe that’s just me. I don’t know how many people have touched that jar- you can do whatever you want with it. I don’t care. We have plenty more.”

Minho pursed his lips and nodded abruptly at the last sentence, like that was the uncomfortable point in the conversation.

“Yeah, okay uh, goodnight then.”

“Goodnight, Minho. Goodnight, Felix.”

-

“What was it for?” Jisung asked as soon as you fell into bed next to him. He had been reading the book you finished a couple of days ago, but dogeared it and let it rest on his chest to give you his full attention.

“He used it to open a jar of cherries,” you mumbled into your pillow.

“What?”

“Angela wanted a Shirley Temple.”

“Who’s Angela?”

“Like I said, I don’t know what goes on in your brother’s head.”

“Fair enough,” he sighed and placed the book on the bedside table. “Come on, let’s get some sleep before our flight tomorrow.”

-

The next destination on the trip was your choice, and to say you were nervous was an understatement. For one, you had never been to Shanghai so you didn’t know what to expect. Even the excursions you’d chosen had relatively vague descriptions so everything was up in the air. For two, you wanted the Hans to have a good time. You were terrified that they would hate the experience and think you’d made the worst choice of the group.

The flight to Shanghai from Tokyo was only around three hours long, but it felt a thousand times longer than the sixteen-hour one from Italy you’d been on just a little over a week ago.

Jisung knew you were anxious about the days ahead so he let you have the window seat while he sat in the middle and helped Minho draft choreography ideas for a project he’d be working on when he got back. You didn’t know what it was for, you didn’t want to ask after what happened last time.

It was sweet of Jisung to offer to help his older brother. You knew he wasn’t too fond of Minho’s career and the attention that came with it, but to see him still willing to put that aside to lend a hand.

Usually, Felix would be the one to help Minho with this sort of thing, but he had opted to sit with his parents to get some work done so Jisung was filling in.

“Maybe you should change career paths,” you whispered in the middle of one of their little breaks, seizing the opportunity to sneak a word in as Minho finished making notes on the section they’d just gone over.

“You think so?”

You nodded. “You’re pretty good at this. Maybe it runs in the family.”

“Felix did force me to enter the school talent show with him a few years ago,” he mumbled.

“What? Why have you never told me this? Is there a recording of it? I need to watch it immediately.”

“That’s exactly why I never told you.”

“You can’t just drop this information on me and expect me not to want to watch it.”

“Okay, well, fat chance.”

“I’ll do that thing you like,” you blurted.

Minho’s eyebrow quirked up slightly at that, showing you that he was listening to you and Jisung’s conversation. You knew how it sounded, which was partly intentional, but you were really just talking about a drinking game your best friend loved. The “game” involved matching Jisung shot for shot at whatever restaurant you happened to be at. It wasn’t so much of a game as it was your best friend thinking it was hilarious to see you sloppy drunk. It was a well-known fact that Jisung could out-drink you without even trying. In fact, every time you’d played this “game” you could barely remember anything about the night, other than your devastating loss.

He knew what you were talking about immediately, eyes lighting up. “Really?” he asked, squeezing your thigh in excitement. “Promise?”

“Promise,” you agreed. “But it has to be on a night where we’re not doing anything the next day.”

Minho cleared his throat suddenly, clearly having heard enough of what he likely thought was a very different conversation.

“One second,” Jisung told his brother. “Fine, you can see the recording. But you can’t tell any of our friends back home about it.”

“Your secret’s safe with me,” you assured him. He grinned at you in satisfaction and took your hand in his, resting them together on his lap. “Can’t believe my boyfriend is a dancer,” you teased.

“Listen, if I’m going to change careers now, I won’t be able to cook for you anymore. You know that, right?”

You sighed dramatically. “Never mind. God knows I can’t cook. We’d starve.”

“Guess you’re stuck with a chef boyfriend,” he said with a shrug.

“I think I can live with that.”

“I sure hope so. Because I don’t know that I’m cut out for the spotlight.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” you argued playfully.

“Yeah, well that’d be one more thing I have to share with my brother,” he muttered lowly. Your pulse quickened and you snuck a panicked glance at Minho. You couldn’t tell if he was still listening, but something told you that Jisung didn’t care. He was trying to come off as sarcastic, but you could hear the genuine bitterness hidden underneath. “Or should I say compete with him for,” he added, smirking to himself. “And we both know I’d never win against him.”

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instead of you [part twenty-two] || l.mh

pairing: [best friend’s brother] lee minho x college!reader ft. han jisung

summary: you didn’t expect to spend your summer pretending to be your best friend’s girlfriend- then again, you didn’t expect to fall for your best friend’s brother, either. 

warnings: swearing, alcohol consumption, mentions of sex (mdni)

word count: 3.8k

a/n: revamped my tom holland series from my main blog ( @wazzupmrstark ) to try and motivate myself to finish it!!

series masterlist | early access to the next chapter on ko-fi

Shanghai was only an hour behind Tokyo so you were able to hit the ground running as soon as you landed. Unlike Japan, the itinerary didn’t allow for a day to rest and reset. Check-in at the new hotel wasn’t until later in the afternoon, but they let you drop off your luggage with them so you wouldn’t have to lug it around the city with you.

You passed your bags off to a woman who promised you they’d be safe in the closet behind the desk- not that you were too worried about your collection of t-shirts and Vera Bradley duffle bag that was nearly two decades old- before joining the Hans by the seating area a few paces away. The lobby was dressed with dark woods and jade tiles, accented with plush white furniture and expensive-looking plants. It was easily the most sophisticated place you’d ever been, and that was saying something considering you’d been on a fucking yacht a few weeks ago.

You felt extremely out of place in your travel sweats and beat-up sneakers. Even looking at the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling made you feel like you didn’t belong. You knew the Hans had a reservation under their names, you knew that you were being paid for, but you still felt like you could get kicked out for loitering at any minute.

“First things first we need to find a currency exchange place and then we can grab a bite to eat,” Dom explained. You tried not to wince as his voice echoed around the room. You were still getting used to these ‘family meetings’. “Are you guys hungry?”

There was a collective nod and then you all followed Mr. Han out of the hotel onto the bustling street. He used his phone’s GPS to navigate through the twists and turns of the city. Jisung grabbed your hand instinctively, rubbing his thumb over your knuckles like he always did.

Guilt bubbled up in your chest as soon as the warmth from his palm spread to yours. You hated the way you couldn’t even enjoy a simple gesture, something that was so commonplace for your friendship, without feeling like your stomach was turning itself inside out.

Jisung noticed, of course he did, your hand tensed as soon as he took it and even if it was barely perceptible he was too observant, too in tune with you to miss it.

“You okay?” he asked, eyebrows creasing together in worry.

“Just feeling a little sick is all,” you replied. It wasn’t a lie, you did feel nauseous. You just hoped Jisung couldn’t tell there was something else you were holding back.

“Do you need to sit? We can stop for a bit and meet the others later.”

“No, I’ll be fine,” you assured him. “I don’t want to get lost.”

“We have our phones, we won’t lose them,” he pressed.

“I probably just need something to eat, and we’re stopping for lunch soon. I’m ok, I promise.”

He looked like he didn’t quite believe you, but dropped it anyway.

You waited in line behind the rest of Jisung’s family at the currency exchange place where you traded your yen for yuan. You didn’t have much on you, since most travel sites warned against carrying a lot of cash on your person when in a new place. The Hans always insisted on paying for you too so it wasn’t like you needed it either.

After everyone had gone through the queue, you stopped for lunch in a square with about a dozen street vendors peddling different kinds of food. They were all swamped with customers, businessmen and women dressed in suits waiting to get their meals before inevitably having to return to the office. There were families wandering around too. Mothers struggled to wrangle their small children in strollers or their arms as they stood in line at the various stalls, calling for the older kids who were playing in the fountain.

You and Jisung chose a kabob cart to try while the other members of his family split off to get their own thing. You let your best friend order for the both of you as always while you scouted a spot to sit. The square was full of tables and benches scattered about. Some were shaded by trees, others offered unobstructed views of the skyline across the water. You opted for one that was surrounded by a couple of other close tables so everyone could sit somewhat together.

“Thanks for finding a place to sit, y/n!” Dom exclaimed as he approached you with Minho right on his heels. “Perfect amount of shade and sun.”

“I had to fight off some pigeons for it,” you joked, earning a laugh from the older man.

“I commend you for your bravery, pigeons can be quite brutal.”

“Especially city pigeons,” Minho added, coughing awkwardly when you made eye contact with him.

“Minho was attacked by pigeons once,” Dom said suddenly. You didn’t have time to ask any further questions before Jisung was returning with your food, giving you an apologetic look. 

“You weren’t boring her, were you?” He shot an accusatory glance at his father.

“No more than you usually do,” Minho answered smugly.

“Minho, please don’t start. We just got here, and since we’ll all be staying together I’d rather not have to listen to the three of you bickering all week.”

“What do you mean we’ll be staying together?” your best friend asked worriedly, voicing exactly what you were thinking. “Did you mess up the reservations again?”

Minho’s smile had also fallen and he was wearing an expression of concern similar to his brother’s. Dom sighed, running a hand across his forehead.

“I was going to wait until your mother returned with Felix to explain, but no. We’re all staying together in the penthouse of the hotel for the week. You all will get your own rooms and such, but we figured that since we’re on a family vacation we should spend time together as a family. We can have meals together, we can cook- or rather, Jisung can cook for us, and we’ll all be sleeping under the same roof.”

The two boys nodded in understanding, though neither looked thrilled. You knew that if Felix were around he’d have some smart comment to make, but since he wasn’t, there was just silence.

“Don’t look so thrilled,” Dom chided. “Minho, you’ll get your own room and so will Felix. That should be exciting to you at the very least.”

“Wait, really?” he asked, eyes much brighter than they had been a moment earlier.

His father nodded with a hum, just as Felix walked back up to your group with Nikki trailing a few paces behind him. Both of them had their hands full of food that they dumped on one of the empty tables and started dividing between each other.

Felix looked up when he noticed the silence and tilted his head in confusion. “What’d I miss?”

-

After lunch, you traveled together to the Oriental Pearl Tower. The number of fucking landmark towers in the world was… too goddamn many in your opinion. There seemed to be one in every city you’d been to, and you thought it was a little excessive.

You debated going to the top of this one just so you wouldn’t be a downer, but both Jisung and Minho were quick to shut it down.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Minho grumbled under his breath, still loud enough for everyone to hear.

“He’s right,” Jisung agreed. “It’s not worth it to make yourself miserable. I’ll stay down here with you, baby.”

You pouted, but didn’t put up much of a fight. You knew Jisung didn’t give a fuck about the tower so you let him keep you company at the bottom.

“We should stay in tonight,” he suggested, twirling a strand of your hair around his finger. “Since you’re not feeling well and everything. I can cook you dinner back at the apartment and we can watch a movie or something.”

“Do we not have plans tonight?”

“Do you ever look at the itinerary?”

“I think you already know the answer to that,” you replied, rolling your eyes.

Jisung just chuckled. “Brat. But no, we don’t really have plans. They’re kind of up in the air. Everyone can do their own thing if they want to. I think I heard Felix and Minho talk about going out, but I don’t think we should.”

“If you want to, you should!” you urged. “Don’t stay in because of me.”

“How many times do I have to tell you that I’d much rather spend time with you than those idiots?”

You crossed your arms over your chest. “Ji...”

“I’m just being honest! We can go out with them tomorrow night, or the night after that! I just don’t want you to overdo it. Especially since we’re going to be out all day tomorrow.”

“Fine, you win,” you gave in. “Promise you’re not just staying in because you feel like you have to?”

“I promise.” He held out his pinky as if to seal it. You looped your own pinky with his despite the gesture being a dramatic formality and grinned. “I don’t really feel like being a wingman anyway.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Oh, they’re trying to pick up girls tonight?”

“Emphasis on the word ‘trying’,” Jisung scoffed.

“Come on, they’re handsome guys,” you said, though you didn’t quite know why you were defending them.

“Sure, but it’s their personalities that are their downfalls.”

“You’re so mean!”

“You’ve met them!”

You opened your mouth to respond but came up short. Jisung smirked knowingly and you both burst into laughter.

“Well, what are your parents doing tonight?” you asked once you caught your breath. “Are they also going out on the town?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I can cook dinner for the four of us if they decide to stay in.”

“That sounds nice,” you mused, leaning to rest your head on his shoulder.

“It could be… my mom would love the opportunity to get us alone. I’m sure she has loads of questions for you.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing!”

“It is a bad thing! It’s embarrassing.”

“No, it’s not. My mom would do the same thing if the roles were switched.”

“Okay, but that’d be easy. Your mum already knows me and she loves me.”

“She wouldn’t if we were dating.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because she knows you’re a whore.”

“What the fuck? No, I’m not.” You gave him a look. “Okay, well does she know her own daughter is a whore too? Arguably a bigger one than me.”

“Weird way to say I get more bitches than you, but alright.” Jisung rolled his eyes at you and gave you the finger, but you just laughed. “I don’t think she knows that I’m a little slutty-”

“A little!?”

You ignored him. “But even if she did, she still wouldn’t like me dating you. She’s very protective of me.”

Your best friend stuck his bottom lip out in a pout. “I feel kind of betrayed. I thought your mom and I were pals.”

“You are. As long as you keep it in your pants around me.”

-

The penthouse at the hotel you were staying at was even bigger than you imagined it would be. There were four bedrooms, the primary and three guest rooms on the other side of the apartment. Your luggage was already waiting for you in the foyer along with some toiletries and towels.

“Y/n and Jisung should have to stay in the middle room,” Felix had exclaimed as he claimed the room at the very end of the hallway.

“What, why?” Jisung demanded.

“Because it wouldn’t be fair if only one of us had to share a wall with the two of you, that’s why.”

Jisung clenched his jaw and took a deep breath. His parents were right across the living room and they could probably hear every word. Not for the first time, you were mortified by Felix’s inability to keep his mouth shut.

“What the fuck, bro,” Jisung muttered.

“You asked.”

You and Jisung did end up taking the middle room. It turned out to be the biggest of the three so you lucked out. You’d still have to share a bathroom between the four of you, but it was nice to have your own space to get away. It wouldn’t be like Tokyo where you could never let your guard down.

Jisung took you with him to the market to shop for ingredients for dinner. The market was overwhelming but beautiful. It was full of life and vibrant color. The stalls were pushed so closely together under an array of tents that it was difficult to tell who was selling what, but somehow Jisung figured it out. He led you by the hand through the crowd, being sure not to lose you. Watching him speak to the vendors, asking questions about the cuts of the meats and getting advice on what was in season… watching his fingers linger over the different fruits and vegetables, trying to gauge which was the ripest and best for the dish he was planning in his head. It was refreshing to see your best friend in his element. He hadn’t had the chance to cook in forever, and you could tell he was excited to.

It was a chance to show off in front of his parents too, you realized. You could tell he wanted to impress them. He’d cooked for you at least a hundred times, but this was an opportunity to show his parents everything he’d learned in school and prove to them that the degree they were paying for was worth it.

By the time you got back to the hotel, Minho and Felix had already gone out for the night. You had no idea when they’d be back, but that was the least of your worries right now. You were much more concerned about the questions from Nikki that Jisung had warned you about.

Should you study? You still had the stack of flashcards in your backpack. You might be able to squeeze in some last-minute cramming before dinner.

“She’s not going to quiz you,” Jisung said in the elevator on the way up to the room as if he could read your mind.

“How’d you-”

“You’re biting your lip like you do when you get nervous.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? You don’t have anything to apologize for.”

You shrugged. “I just don’t want you to be worrying about me when you’re trying to focus on dinner.”

“I always worry about you,” he said casually. “But I know how to multitask.”

You helped Jisung carry the groceries inside and put them away. He’d gotten a lot of food for the rest of the week in addition to what he needed for the night.

“Do you need help cooking?” you asked, suppressing a smile.

Jisung whipped his head in your direction, panic in his eyes, before realizing you were joking. “Hilarious.”

“Who said I wasn’t serious? I could be your sous chef!”

Aware of his parents in the next room over, Jisung smiled weakly and shook his head at you. “You’re very cute, but we both know you’d set this kitchen on fire.”

“Whatever, I’ll just sit over here and watch.”

You seated yourself at one of the barstools tucked underneath the island and rested your head in your palms, watching Jisung do his thing.

He finished sorting the groceries and then washed his hands before searching the kitchen for a cutting board and various cooking utensils that he’d need. Back at home, your best friend had a collection of ridiculous aprons that he’d don as he cooked. Your favorite was one that you’d gotten him for his birthday one year. It had your face on it and said “she loves my meat”. One of his roommates had spit his drink all over their rug when Jisung opened it at his party, and you considered that a job well done. It was the apron Jisung wore the most, and you knew it was secretly his favorite, even though he’d never admit it.

He hadn’t packed any aprons for this trip, though, so he was stuck with the t-shirt he was wearing with nothing to protect it- not that he’d need one. He wasn’t very messy in the kitchen. The aprons were more for show than anything else.

Jisung filled a pot with water and set it on the stove to boil while he chopped vegetables. He was so fast that you could barely see the blade moving.

He’d whipped up a meal in under an hour and served it to you and his parents like you were in a restaurant. He circled the table with a bottle of wine, offering it to each of you as if he were your server.

“How about a nice red for you, miss,” he suggested, holding the bottle out to you so that you could read the label.

You giggled. “Do you recommend it?”

“I’ve never had it,” he admitted, not breaking character. “But the chef says that it pairs perfectly with beef.”

“The chef that looks just like you?”

Jisung winked. “That’s the one.”

“Well, in that case, I trust his judgment. I’ll take a glass.”

“Excellent choice.”

“I’ll have what she’s having,” Nikki said once he’d poured you a glass. She was smiling warmly at her son, completely enamored with you and Jisung’s little display. Your heart swelled with pride at the realization. Maybe you weren’t so bad at acting.

“Excellent choice,” Jisung repeated as he filled his mother’s glass. “And for you, sir?” he asked, addressing his father.

“Do you have whiskey?”

“I believe I do,” he answered thoughtfully. “Let me go check.”

You already knew he did. He’d stopped in a liquor store on the way back to pick some bourbons that he thought his dad and brother would like.

You watched him disappear back into the kitchen and went back to your meal, smiling to yourself in satisfaction.

“I know I’ve mentioned this before,” Nikki whispered quietly, “but I’m so glad you were able to join us on this trip. It’s been so lovely to get to  know you, and I’ve never seen Jisung so happy.”

Your cheeks grew warm at her comment. The feeling of pride in your chest threatened to be replaced with guilt as it bubbled up in your stomach, but you pushed it down.

“Thank you for inviting me,” was all you could muster.

“We’re happy to have you,” she assured you, grabbing your hand firmly.

“What are we talking about?” Jisung asked loudly as he reentered the room, handing his father a glass of whiskey, neat.

He shot you a look that asked if you were ok and you nodded minutely.

“We were just talking about your wonderful girlfriend,” Nikki explained, “and how happy we are to have her with us on vacation!”

“Mom,” Jisung groaned.

“She didn’t embarrass you entirely,” Dom interjected, coming to the defense of his wife. “She didn’t even mention airplane stickers!”

“Wha- airplane stickers?” You looked to your best friend for an explanation, but he had his head in his hands.

“I cook you all a nice dinner and this is how you repay me!” he cried.

“I’m sorry, I’m confused. What are airplane stickers?”

“They’re what Jisung thought menstrual pads were when he was little.” Dom clapped his son on the back affectionately as Jisung groaned even louder.

You brought your hand to your mouth. “You didn’t.”

“I’d never seen one before!”

“We came home and there were ‘airplane stickers’ all over our windows,” his father continued.

“Aw, babe,” you rubbed his thigh comfortingly, but you knew he didn’t miss the devilish glint in your eye that told him you’d never be letting this go. “That’s kind of cute.”

“It’s kind of humiliating,” he corrected you.

“That too, but you didn’t know any better. I’m sure lots of kids do that.”

Jisung ignored you and stood from the table, collecting your plate along with his. “Anyway, I’m going to start the dishes. Does anyone have any for me to take?”

-

Jisung’s parents invited you to watch a movie with them after dinner, but you politely declined, retiring to your bedroom instead. Jisung flopped on the bed as soon as the door was shut behind you and screamed into a pillow.

You chuckled as you unclipped your bra and pulled it off from beneath your shirt, joining him on the bed moments later.

“And they wonder why I never bring anyone home!” he hissed.

You rubbed his back soothingly. “It could’ve been worse.”

“How?”

You paused. “I don’t know.”

“Oh my god.”

“Come on, it’s not so bad. I could’ve told one of my stories about you.”

“Half of those are illegal.”

“Exactly.”

You managed to coax your fake boyfriend out of sulking and took turns getting ready for bed and showering in the bathroom before settling in your room together for the night. You flipped through channels on the tv together, but nothing good was on, so you decided to spend time reading your books instead.

You didn’t even realize how late it had gotten until you heard the front door open, signaling Minho and Felix’s return. You traded looks with Jisung who then checked the time on his phone and showed you that it was past one a.m.

His parents had likely gone to bed hours ago, but you could still hear them talking like everyone wasn’t trying to sleep.

They’re drunk, you and Jisung mouthed at each other at the same time. He rolled his eyes but you just smirked.

“That’s gonna bite them in the ass come morning.”

“Yeah, and we’re going to have to be the ones to deal with it,” he muttered.

He had a point. You hadn’t thought about that. And you didn’t think a hungover Minho or Felix would be pleasant to deal with.

You tried going back to the page you were on in your book, but were distracted again when you heard their voices approaching. They were in the hallway now, saying goodnight to each other.

Then, you finally thought it had gone quiet when you heard a third voice. A female voice. You couldn’t make out what she was saying but you could tell immediately who responded.

“Yeah, this is my room.”

It was Minho. He’d brought a girl home with him.

“No fucking way,” Jisung whispered, verbalizing what you both had to be thinking. “He actually did it.”

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I GASPED. I SCRUMPT. IM DRY HEAVING. IMG HVHEHEHDZRoaejfo

KA ILI WHATBRHE FUCK !!,! This made me drop my tablet holt fuck. I started hyperventilating and now I feel dizzy 😭😭😭😭😭

OMFG MINHOOOOOOOOO!!!, YONTHIS MAKES ME WANT TO PAY FOR UR KOFI OMFG I NEED TO GET PAID WTFFFFFFF

instead of you [part twenty-five] || l.mh

pairing: [best friend’s brother] lee minho x college!reader ft. han jisung

summary: you didn’t expect to spend your summer pretending to be your best friend’s girlfriend- then again, you didn’t expect to fall for your best friend’s brother, either. 

warnings: swearing, angst, mentions of sex (mdni)

word count: 5.7k

a/n: revamped my tom holland series from my main blog ( @wazzupmrstark ) to try and motivate myself to finish it!!

series masterlist | early access to the next chapter on ko-fi

Your cheeks were hot with embarrassment, but you nodded in understanding even though you didn’t want to have this conversation. You were ashamed enough already, you didn’t need to be reminded of what a shitty best friend you were. You wondered what Minho must think of you. How could he still be attracted to you when you were practically throwing yourself at your boyfriend’s brother? How could you be attracted to him when he was willing to fuck his brother’s girlfriend- well, almost fuck his brother’s girlfriend. Minho was clearly the better person here, because he was the one who’d stopped it from going any further. Not only that, but he was the single one here. Being a homewrecker wasn’t great, but at least he wasn’t the one cheating on his significant other. 

Of course, you weren’t actually cheating, but he didn’t know that. What you were doing was breaking a whole bunch of rules you’d agreed to with Jisung and going behind his back and breaking his trust-

“I won’t tell him if you won’t,” Minho suggested, putting your spiral on pause. 

You sighed and crossed your arms over your chest. “We can’t keep doing this.”

“I know.”

“I’m surprised you still…” you trailed off. What were you supposed to fill in the blank with? I’m surprised you still want to fuck me? Talk to me? Acknowledge my existence? You settled for “want to be around me” and left it at that. 

“Why?”

“You must think I’m a horrible person.”

“We’ve already been over this,” he pointed out. “If you’re a horrible person, I’m a horrible person.”

“Yeah, but, I just feel like it’s worse on my side.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know if I can explain it in a way you’ll understand.” You must have made a face because he was quick to backtrack. “Not in that way! Like, I don’t think you’re dumb or anything, it’s just that- god, I’m a fucking idiot. I don’t know how to explain-” he was fumbling, but you weren’t sure how to help. You weren’t sure if you wanted to help. “I thought that if we- if we, just once, then I’d get it out of my system, but I don’t think I can do that.”

You didn’t have any idea as to what he was talking about, but you had a feeling it wasn’t just about his brother anymore. “I thought you said this was about Jisung.”

His lip twitched, eyes widening in thinly veiled panic. “It is! That’s why-”

“What do you mean by ‘getting it out of your system’, then?” you pushed. 

Minho winced. “I don’t- uh, they’re probably wondering where we are by now.”

He was right, but you weren’t about to let him off the hook that easily. 

“Fine, but this isn’t over. We need to have this conversation.”

“I thought we were keeping our distance from each other,” he tried. 

“Yeah, and look where that fucking got us!” you hissed, leaning toward him. “We’re clearly not very good at avoiding each other so it’d be better to just talk about it, right?”

Minho didn’t look convinced, but he nodded anyway. “I guess. But not right now.”

“Yeah, whatever,” you huffed. 

You knew he could tell that you weren’t happy about the compromise, but you didn’t care. It was obvious that he was running away from confrontation, though you didn’t understand the reasoning behind it. Sure, it was going to be an awkward conversation to have, but you both already knew you were attracted to each other seeing as you had almost just fucked in the bathroom of a bar. It may have been more than just stupid hormones for you, but you weren’t about to tell him that. 

“You go back to join them,” you said, smoothing your dress. “I-I can’t see Jisung right now.” Minho nodded in understanding. “Tell them that you ran into me back here and that I’m going back to the room. Just make something up, but don’t say that I’m feeling sick or Jisung will want to come up to take care of me.”

“Okay,” he agreed. “I can do that.”

You both took another moment to freshen up, checking your reflections in the dim light. You wiped the smudged lipgloss from the corners of your mouth, not missing the way that Minho tucked his dick into the waistband of his slacks before heading for the door. 

“Wait, shit, I don’t have a key,” you muttered to yourself. “Jisung brought his for both of us.”

“Take mine,” Minho offered. He turned back around and reached into his pocket, fishing out the plastic card and handing it to you. 

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

You waited for a beat after Minho left the bathroom to follow, not wanting to get caught leaving together. Still, it felt like everyone knew. You felt like everyone was watching you as you made your way through the bar’s lobby to the elevators. 

You didn’t have time to dwell, too paranoid to even check if your suspicions were correct. 

The penthouse was thankfully empty when you returned. The main area was empty, at the very least. Nikki and Dom were either still out or had already gone to bed. Either way, you were relieved to be alone. You weren’t sure how long it would be until the boys got back so you took advantage of the solitude and jumped in the shower. 

It was nice not to have to worry about taking too long, or someone waiting to go after you. Sharing a bathroom with three men was more of a hassle than you had expected, but maybe that was because they were all high maintenance. 

You washed your hair and your body, but you didn’t focus too much on it. You knew there was no amount of scrubbing that could make the dirty feeling on your skin go away. It was ridiculous, how far you’d let this get. You didn’t know what was wrong with you, what had made you lose all sense of control and boundaries when you were around him. 

It was like you didn’t care about throwing your friendship with Jisung away, but you did. It made you sick to your stomach to think about the damage this might do to your relationship. You knew he’d be furious if he found out, and you knew he might never forgive you. So why couldn’t you stop?

The mirror was completely fogged up by the time you got out of the shower. You weren’t sure how much time had passed, but your fingers were all wrinkly, which told you it had been a hot minute. 

You hadn’t brought a change of clothes with you again so you were forced to retreat to your room in nothing but a towel. Minho, Jisung, and Felix were clustered in the hallway having a conversation because of course they were, and all three of them turned their attention to you when they heard the door to the bathroom open. 

“Sorry,” you squeaked, and scurried off to your room, but not before catching Minho’s eye and Jisung's smirk. 

Jisung was right behind you, leaving the two other boys in the hallway as he followed you into the bedroom. 

“Sorry,” you repeated to just him. “I didn’t know you guys were back already.”

“It’s okay. You always forget to bring your pajamas with you when you shower anyway.”

“I know! Why do I do that?”

He shrugged and took a seat on the edge of the bed. “You don’t like having to put your clothes on while you’re still in the bathroom because you’re all wet and the air is sticky.”

“Yeah, but I usually just suck it up when I’m with other people.”

“It’s not a big deal. I mean one of my brothers has already seen you naked.”

You scoffed, burying yourself in the task of pulling clean pajamas from your suitcase. “Please don’t remind me.”

“You missed a great Meg cover,” he said, taking your request to heart. 

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, they were a cute couple. They did that one song with SZA. You would’ve liked it.”

“Oh, bummer.”

Jisung laid back on the bed, training his eyes on the ceiling as you changed. It was a force of habit, something he still tended to do even though you had changed in front of each other and seen each other naked countless times. Honestly, it was an improvement from when he had used to fully turn away from you every time you started to strip, so you tried not to make too much fun of him for it. 

“Of course, no one beat our performance.”

“Of course not. We were naturals up there,” you agreed, jumping into bed next to him once you were dressed. 

“We hit every note. The track was off, not us.”

“The microphones warped our voices.”

“The speakers were broken.”

Jisung chuckled and propped himself up on his elbows. “Hey, we should probably have sex tonight.”

“Why, did one of your brothers say something?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” he assured you. “Just for consistency’s sake… unless you aren’t feeling up to it?”

“No, yeah, we can totally do it,” you answered quickly. Stupidly.

You zoned out while Jisung gave you a hickey on your neck, trying not to think about how Minho’s mouth had felt in that exact spot just a few hours ago. You moaned softer than you usually did, telling yourself that it was because you were sharing a space with Jisung’s parents, but you weren’t fooling anyone. 

You knew Minho would be able to hear you anyway, the walls had already proven to be awfully thin, and he’d see the hickey tomorrow regardless. There was no way around it. He’d know that you’d run to Jisung when you weren’t able to have him- except that wasn’t the case at all. But what would he think? Why did you care so much? 

You wished you could just tell him the truth, but then what would that solve? The whole reason you were on this stupid trip anyway was to convince Jisung’s family that he was in a relationship- Minho included. 

-

He managed to avoid you almost entirely the following day. You spent the afternoon with all of the Hans at The Bund, Shanghai’s most well-known attraction. It was a mile of skyline nestled against the Huangpu River with dozens of shops, museums, and galleries interspersed among the buildings. 

Jisung geeked out over the architecture, rambling about how there were over fifty-two styles of it present in the area. You listened intently, while his brothers pretended to fall asleep. You knew they were secretly interested, but they couldn’t let him know that. 

The day was warm, a bit uncomfortably hot if you stood in direct sunlight, but it was manageable in the shade. Dom bought everyone popsicles from a cart parked on the promenade to cool down. 

You shared with Jisung, trading your ice pops every few minutes. He’d gotten blue raspberry and you chose cherry, making both of your tongues turn purple. 

“This is how they invented the bisexual pride flag,” you said, licking a drop of juice from your hand. 

“You’re full of shit,” Jisung sighed and shook his head. 

“Fine, it wasn’t exactly like this. The inventor was at a party and they made out with a girl eating a blue popsicle and a boy eating a red one, and then when they saw that their mouth turned purple they had a eureka moment-”

“There isn’t even red on the bi flag!” your best friend pointed out. “It’s pink.”

“Fuck.”

“You forgot what your own flag looks like?”

“Would you have believed me if I said it was a pink popsicle?” you asked, ignoring his question. 

“No! It was a ridiculous story.”

“Damn.”

You stayed at The Bund until sunset, deciding to find a place to eat dinner when the sun kissed the horizon. 

You tried to enjoy the sights, but Minho was making it difficult. Every time you tried to corner him, get him alone to talk to him about the night before, he managed to change the subject or slip away. Most of the time, he’d just call one of the twins over to join your conversation, eliminating any chance you had of bringing up the incident. You wondered if the giant hickey on your neck had anything to do with it. It was clear that he hadn’t wanted to talk to you about it even before he thought you slept with his brother last night, but maybe that had made him even more hesitant. 

You eventually gave up trying to get him alone, not wanting to raise any red flags. Minho seemed to relax once he realized you’d laid off. He was much more conversational at dinner and even cracked a few jokes with his parents, who seemed oblivious to any tension. 

You didn’t even bother trying to talk to him the next morning. It was too early for that shit and you wanted to have a good time at the aquarium without worrying about your best friend’s brother. 

He said good morning to you in the kitchen as everyone was grabbing breakfast to go, but you ignored him. If he wanted to act immature, then you would too. It honestly seemed to be a better arrangement than whatever horny nonsense had been going on for the past few weeks. 

The aquarium was beautiful. This one in particular was known for its underwater tunnels with moving sidewalks. They stretched on for what felt like miles, taking you through all the different sea life enclosures. 

It was one of the more quiet activities, which you appreciated, and since it was so early it wasn’t too crowded either. The only time the silence was broken was when either you or Jisung would point out a funny-looking fish to one another. 

At first, Jisung had made jokes about spotting different kinds of fish that he’d cooked before, but that upset you so he stopped pretty much immediately. 

To your surprise, Minho pulled you aside in the aquarium gift shop. You were looking at shark stuffies while Jisung was over in the book aisle so you assumed that he was finally ready to talk about that night, but you were wrong. Instead, he grabbed one of the sharks off the shelf and pretended to look it over before turning to you and giving you a very serious look. 

“What?” you asked in annoyance, frustrated that you had to drag whatever it was out of him even now. 

“Do you still have the postcard?”

“The one you gave me in Italy?” you asked, cocking your head to the side. Minho nodded, rocking back on his heels awkwardly. “Yeah, why?”

“I… kind of need it back.”

You blinked, honestly taken aback at his sudden key change. “What? I thought you said I could keep it even after we called it even.”

“I know, I just- changed my mind.”

“Is this about Jisung, because he knew you gave me-”

“No, it isn’t about Jisung,” he cut you off and looked away as if he was paranoid about someone listening in on your conversation. “I don’t really want to get into it right now-”

“Okay, fine, whatever. I don’t have it here, though. It’s in my backpack back at the hotel so you can have it when we get back.” You folded your arms across your chest as you spoke, tone icy. 

Minho winced at your reaction. “I’m sorry, it’s just-”

“Don’t be. It’s whatever.”

Instinctively, you turned to search for Jisung, seeking comfort in his presence like you had done so many times before. You could see the top of his head over the aisles so you made your way over to him, abandoning Minho amongst the stuffies before he could respond. 

Jisung was still looking at books, seemingly trying to decide between a marine biology guide and a novel about a shipwreck based on the covers. He perked up when he felt you approach and turned around to face you, holding both of the books out. 

“Which one should I get?”

“I feel like I’m biased because I hate survival stories, and a survival story at sea sounds even worse.”

He sighed, turning the hardback over in his hand. “Yeah, you’re the hopeless romantic out of the two of us. Always reading love stories with the same tropes.”

“I wouldn’t say I’m hopeless,” you argued. “I found you, didn’t I?”

“I don’t think that’s a great point for your case.”

You rolled your eyes. “Shut up, you’re a great boyfriend.”

“Well, I’m glad you think so.”

“And for what it’s worth, I don’t only read romance.”

“Oh yeah, you also read a lot of smut.”

“Ji!”

“What? You do!”

“Yeah, but can you not advertise that so publicly?”

He laughed and nudged your shoulder playfully. “There’s no one around to hear.”

“If no one’s around, then why was I just hyping you up as a great boyfriend?”

“Because I am one.”

“You’re annoying, is what you are,” you huffed. 

“You say that, and yet continue to spend time with me.”

“Because I have no one else.”

He grinned at you before gazing down at your hands. “That’s cute. Are you going to get it?”

You looked down to see what he was talking about and realized you were holding a stuffed shark from the plushies section. You hadn’t even noticed that you brought it with you when you walked away from Minho. You’d been gripping it so hard that it was a little deflated and a couple of its felt teeth were turned inward. 

“Oh, um, I don’t know. Do you think I should?”

“Yeah,” Jisung answered with a shrug, “Why not?”

He grabbed it from you and placed it on top of the marine biology book in the crook of his elbow, sliding the novel back onto the shelf. 

“What are you doing?” you asked, following him through the store up to the register.

“Buying you the shark,” he said as if it should have been obvious.

“What, no! You don’t have to do that!” you protested. 

“Y/n, how many times have we been over this? I dragged you all the way across the world, the least I could do is buy you a stuffed shark.”

“You use that excuse with everything you buy for me!”

“Yeah, because it’s true. And as your boyfriend, it’s my job to do nice things for you. It’s literally, what, a hundred yuan? That’s like fifteen dollars.”

You knew you couldn’t argue with him about it in the store, seeing as the only valid point you could make was that he wasn’t actually your boyfriend.

“Fine,” you muttered. You could Venmo him for the stupid shark when you got back to the hotel. 

He smiled victoriously and placed both items on the counter for the cashier to scan. 

“What do you want to name it?”

“I don’t know. Do you have any ideas, since you’re the one buying it?”

He tilted his head back in thought, humming. “What about Shang? Because we’re in Shanghai? And Shang is also your favorite Disney prince.”

You bit your lip in embarrassment, suddenly wishing you had asked the question after purchasing the animal. Not only was his suggestion the most touristy thing you’d ever heard, but it was also exposing your crush on a fucking cartoon character in front of this stranger. 

“Well, they’re pronounced differently,” you pointed out quietly. 

“Yeah, you’d have to pick one and just know he represents both.”

You kept Shang tucked under your arm on the ride back to the hotel, letting Felix hold him when he asked how soft he was. It was a pain to hail a cab big enough for all six of you so Nikki made the executive decision to take two separate taxis. She and Dom would take the first, and then the four of you would squeeze into the next one. 

You sat squished in between the twins while Minho took the passenger seat. You were surprised that he remembered enough Mandarin from tours years ago to exchange pleasantries with the driver. The driver was impressed too and laughed heartily at something Minho said. 

“Butcher it that bad, huh?” Jisung joked, earning a glare from his older brother. 

“No, it was a joke. He was supposed to laugh.”

Jisung smirked and nodded like he was unconvinced. You almost scolded him for giving Minho a hard time, but then you remembered you were still mad at him so you held your tongue. 

“What’s for dinner?” you asked instead. 

“I don’t know,” Jisung replied. “We’re either going to try and find a place to get xiaolongbao or I’m gonna cook. Do you have a preference?”

“I am feeling a little tired, but I also have your food all the time. We should go out and get something while we’re here, right?”

“If that’s what you want to do, then absolutely.”

-

Once back, you set Shang at the head of your and Jisung’s bed, fluffing him gently so that he’d hopefully plump up again.

“It’s his bed now,” you’d announced to your best friend. 

“As it should be,” he agreed. “He is a benevolent ruler and reigns over his kingdom of the bedroom with a gentle hand.”

“How noble of him.”

Jisung nodded and yawned, stretching his arms over his head. “What do you want to do until dinner?” 

“How long do we have?”

“Few hours, probably.”

“Wanna check out the pool?”

“Yeah, I’ll ask Felix and Minho if they want to join us.”

“Actually,” you reached out to stop him, “can it just be the two of us?”

He seemed surprised by your request but was quick to reciprocate. “Sure, let’s go.”

-

Your hair was still wet by the time you were seated in the restaurant for dinner. You tried not to let it drip down the back of your chair, but that was proving to be difficult. Jisung’s hair had dried significantly more than yours had. It was damp, but only barely, and curling up at the ends. Each time he ran a hand through it, you’d be flicked with water droplets. 

“Was the pool any fun?” his mother asked, sipping from her cocktail glass.  

“It was nice,” Jisung answered for both of you. “It was really quiet because we were the only people there, but that was kind of a bonus.”

“Thanks for the invite,” Felix muttered, making you feel a little guilty for specifically not wanting them to join.

“I wanted to spend some time alone with my girlfriend, sue me!” Jisung shot back. 

You were thankful he didn’t throw you under the bus, even though you knew he wouldn’t anyway. 

“You get alone time with her every night, asshole,” his twin brother pointed out. 

Your hand shot up to your neck, suddenly feeling self-conscious about the hickey Jisung had given you the night before. Next to you, he clenched his jaw but didn’t say anything. Whether or not Felix had intended to make the innuendo was unclear, but knowing him it was easy to guess. 

“What should we order, Jisung?” Dom asked, expertly changing the subject like he had so many times before. 

You had noticed that anywhere you went, Jisung’s parents were always asking his opinion on what to eat. They assumed that because he was a culinary student he knew everything there was to know about food, and therefore knew what everyone would like. It was partly true, which was one of the reasons you always let him order for you. You were guilty of making the assumption too, but even though he acted annoyed by it you knew that he secretly liked being asked for his opinion. 

“We should get at least one order of the traditional xiaolongbao,” he suggested. “They’re pork dumplings full of soup, which is what Shanghai is famous for.”

“Sounds good, anything else?”

You tuned out as Jisung listed off a few other dishes to get, watching Minho out of the corner of your eye. He wasn’t paying attention either. He was scrolling on his phone, looking incredibly bored. 

You nearly scoffed. He could at least pretend to be interested in what Jisung was saying. You knew Jisung had done the same for him God knows how many times. 

You cleared your throat unsubtly, getting his attention immediately. Men were so easy. But you had also gotten everyone else’s attention, stopping the conversation altogether. 

“Yes, dear?” Jisung asked, leaning in your direction.

“Nothing, sorry,” you sputtered, still eyeing Minho. He held eye contact with you, eyebrows raised in question. “Swallowed wrong.”

Of course, you had to use the word swallow while staring down the guy you wanted to fuck. If he caught it, he didn’t show it. 

Jisung rubbed your back soothingly. “Oh, you alright, baby?”

“Fine, thanks.”

The conversation picked back up and you were able to fade into the background again. Minho contributed this time, presumably adding his thoughts on the food to the collective ordering process. 

“Does that sound good, baby?” Jisung’s voice snapped you out of your train of thought, and you realized you were still glaring at his brother. 

 “Hm? Oh, sure. You know I trust your judgment on food.”

“I know. Half the time we go out you don’t even open the menu.”

“I like to be surprised!”

He chuckled, the hand that was still on your back making familiar circular motions. “I know, I know. I just wanted to check to make sure there wasn’t anything in particular you wanted.”

“I’m ok. You’re very sweet, though.” You punctuated the statement with a kiss to his cheek. 

“I know.”

“Jesus Christ, I take it back.”

“Too late!”

“You’re impossible.”

“Thank you.”

-

After dinner, the Hans decided to attempt taking the metro back to the hotel rather than a cab. It took an hour longer because Felix misread the map and had all of you get on the wrong train at first, but eventually, you made it back to the square you all recognized and walked the rest of the way from there. 

Jisung jumped in the shower first, and you followed him, washing all of the chlorine from the pool out of your hair and off of your body. You remembered to bring your change of clothes with you this time and threw your wet hair up in your towel so that you wouldn’t drip everywhere as you had at the restaurant. 

Shang was sitting on Jisung’s lap when you joined him in the bedroom. He was absorbed in the book you’d lent him, highlighter balanced between his teeth as he jotted something down in the margins with a ballpoint pen. 

“Shang better not end up in your room instead of mine when we go home,” you warned. 

“Be prepared for him to go missing,” he mumbled. 

“I’ll just take him back!”

“You won’t be able to find him. And you’ll never be able to prove it was me.”

“We’ll see about that.”

You were about to crawl into bed next to him when Nikki calling for the boys stopped you. You weren’t included in the roll call, but Jisung dragged you out into the living room anyway to see what was going on. 

Felix had beat you there and was standing behind the couch where his parents were gathered around an iPad. 

“It’s your cousin!” Nikki exclaimed. “Come say hi!”

The twins rounded the sofa and sat on either side of their parents, leaning into the frame so that the boys on the other side of the screen could see them. 

“Jeongin, Yoon! How are you?”

“Good! It’s hot here!” the older one, presumably Jeongin, answered.

“Where’s’here’?” Felix asked. 

“Florida!” the younger one exclaimed. 

“We’re in the States for vacation,” Jeongin explained. “I dunno how you lived here for so long, Jisung.”

“To be fair, I was a little further north than you are, but yeah, summers are brutal. Oh, by the way, this is my girlfriend!”

You were still standing behind the couch, not wanting to encroach on their family discussion, but when Jisung mentioned you he motioned for you to bend down into the frame and introduce yourself. 

You waved, hoping he could see you. “Hi! Nice to meet you, I’m y/n.”

Jeongin shot you a polite hello before addressing Jisung again. “I honestly thought you were lying when you said you had a girlfriend.”

Felix burst out laughing from the other side of the couch. “I miss you guys. It’s not as fun to make fun of Ji without you. Minho’s been lacking!”

“Oi, at least I have a girlfriend,” Jisung butt in. “I reckon you four will be single for the rest of your lives.”

“I bet Jeongin’s found himself a summer crush,” Felix reasoned. “He’s always had the most game out of all of us.”

The youngest boy scoffed. “Yeah, okay. One of us is a famous K-pop dancer, but I’m definitely the one with the most game.”

“Talent doesn’t equal game,” Jisung added despite being roasted within an inch of his life seconds earlier. 

“Where is Minho?” Nikki asked the twins suddenly, looking around the room for her eldest son.

“He’s at the bar we went to the other night,” Felix answered. “The one on the roof.”

“Can one of you go grab him? He needs to say hello to the boys.”

“I can do it,” you volunteered automatically without thinking. You didn’t want either of the boys to give up time talking with Jeongin and Yoon, but you hadn’t considered that you would have to see Minho and be alone with him if you were going to take their place. 

“Are you sure?” Jisung asked. 

“Yeah, totally,” you replied, trying to control the shakiness in your voice. “You guys stay here. I’ll go get him.”

You kissed Jisung before you could change your mind as if the decision had been sealed by your lips. 

You ran back by your room to slip on some shoes and took your hair out of the towel it had been drying in, hanging it on one of the hangers in the bedroom closet. 

The bar was only a few floors above the one you were staying at, but you decided to take the elevator anyway, not wanting to get sweaty after having just showered. You tried convincing yourself that being alone with Minho would be no big deal, even after what happened last time you were at this bar. Maybe you would finally be able to have that conversation you had been trying to have with him. 

Doubtful. He’d been acting weird all day. Certainly, he’d find another reason to blow you off and you’d be right back where you started. 

As soon as the elevator dinged at the floor you were headed to your heart dropped into your stomach. You told yourself that the nerves were because of the height. It was a rooftop bar after all. But you had been perfectly fine the last time you were here, so you couldn’t even attribute your anxiety to that. No, you knew exactly what it was. You just didn’t want to admit it.    

Even though the bar was dark, it wasn’t hard to find Minho. The place was practically empty. He was seated on one of the plush velvet couches facing the windows, looking down at something that was in his hands. As you got closer, you recognized something beside him. It was a bag. More specifically-

“Is that my backpack?” you demanded, making him jump up in surprise. 

All of the nervous energy dissipated instantly, quickly replaced by anger and confusion. Minho clutched what he was holding to his chest. His eyes were wide with panic and his cheeks were already turning pink. 

“What the fuck, Minho?” you hissed, continuing when he didn’t say anything. “Care to explain yourself?”

Suddenly, the shocked expression on his face fell into one of… what you thought might be anger, only confusing you further. 

“I should be asking you the same thing,” he spat.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I know I shouldn’t have taken your stuff without asking-”

“Yeah, you shouldn’t have.”

“Let me finish,” he grumbled. 

You rolled your eyes, honestly in disbelief that someone who was snooping through your things could have the audacity to be upset with you. 

“I just went to get the postcard I gave you.”

The postcard. You had forgotten that he asked for it back. Still, that didn’t give him any right to-

“You said it was in your backpack so once we got back to the hotel I was just going to grab it from your room. I didn’t want to have to ask you again since you were clearly upset about it, so I thought that I’d find it myself. That was all I was going to do, I swear, but you had a lot of things in your backpack that looked like postcards, and some of them mentioned me so… I took the bag with me so that I could look at them all later, after dinner. I didn’t know what I was looking at, at first…” he trailed off. 

A slight shift in his hands revealed what he was actually holding. Flashcards. The flashcards. Fuck. The room began to spin and you genuinely thought you might be sick. You wanted the ground to open up and swallow you whole. You wanted to break one of the bar’s windows and leap out of it, even if it meant facing your greatest fear. But you couldn’t move. Your mind screamed at you to do something, say something to explain yourself, but you were frozen in place, unable to say a word, let alone string an entire sentence together.

“What are these, y/n?” he asked, taking a step toward you. 

It was a rhetorical question. He obviously knew what they were. “Dates, fun facts, stories about you and Jisung... either you have a really shitty memory, or you’re not actually dating my brother.” His tone was taunting, he was smirking, but the way he was looking at you, the way he clenched his jaw, told you that he wasn’t amused in the slightest. 

“I-”

“Are you really in love with Jisung?”

“I love Jisung,” you whispered quietly, desperately. You couldn’t even look Minho in the eye. 

“Are you in love with him?” he repeated. “Don’t fucking lie to me.”

You sucked in a breath, forcing yourself to meet Minho’s gaze. 

“No.”

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