Man Overboard-Minsung AU

Part 4

"How did y'all's photoshoot go?" Jisung asked Seungmin. "It was good, we got some nice shots but it was kind of embarrassing posing in front of the other couples waiting in line..." Seungmin replied. "Yeah it felt like they were staring a hole through us..." Hyunjin said. "I'm sure they were just jealous that they weren't as beautiful of a couple as you two. Really you two look great together." Jisung said. Jisung wasn't one to give out compliments lightly, sure calling someone hot or when flirting he did but genuine compliments were rare. Seungmin and Hyunjin didn't know him well enough yet but they were getting a different side of Jisung that he didn't often show. He was in an inexplicably good mood and felt comfortable putting aside his own ego for a moment. "You... don't think we look mixed matched?... Hyunjin with a guy like me?..." Seungmin asked, showing a bit of insecurity. Usually Jisung would go straight to teasing, joking to someone like Seungmin that Hyunjin was totally out of his league but for some reason this time he didn't. He felt like he should reassure Seungmin. "I said what I said, you two look great together." Jisung said firmly but ending it with a smile. Was this the effect of spending time with Minho? Was he in some way humbling Jisung? Seungmin smiled and looked at Hyunjin lovingly. "So you really didn't feel sexual attraction before Hyunjin?" Jisung asked kind of randomly.

Seungmin looked a bit taken aback by the sudden question but answered anyway "I don't know... sexual attraction just wasn't really a thing for me... I know that sounds weird and I definitely tried but I just didn't feel or think that way often..." "I mean it sounds kind of weird to me only because I am horny like 25/8 but I understand that everyone's different. Sexuality is a spectrum." Jisung said. "Exactly. Labeling myself has proven difficult but I guess you could call me a late bloomer or demisexual but I wasn't immediately attracted to Hyunjin either. It wasn't like I saw him at work and had an instant boner for the first time in my life. We were friends first and then he became my roommate and it just kind of gradually happened where I started to see him differently." Seungmin said looking at Hyunjin with those same soft eyes from before. "And what about you Hyunjin?" Jisung asked. "Oh I'm gay all the way. Haha but I wasn't initially attracted to Seungmin either. I thought he was cute but he wasn't my usual type so I kind of friend zoned him at first before gradually becoming more attracted to him." Hyunjin said. "For me it really became clear one day when we were watching a kdrama and we accidentally brushed hands, it was like a switch flipped. I suddenly longed for more physical contact and time with him." Seungmin said. "I found myself constantly thinking about him even at times it didn't make sense. That's when I knew I had fallen in love." Hyunjin replied as he laced his fingers with Seungmin's and brought their intertwined hands up to his lips, kissing the back of his hand softly. Seungmin looked embarrassed by the simple gesture of affection, clearly not a PDA kind of guy but still he squeezed Hyunjin's hand back as he blushed. 'Wow. I feel painfully single right now.' Jisung thought.

After talking with Seungmin and Hyunjin for a while longer Jisung found himself roaming around the ship. He didn't know what to do or try by himself so he just peeked in to different classes and activities going on but didn't join any. Suddenly he saw Minho from across the ship. He began subconsciously matching his pace with Minho, walking in the same direction but hundreds of feet away. As far as he could see, Minho had not noticed him yet so he just kept walking. The open area of the deck they were on happened to be towards one of the ends of the ship so it curved into a semi circle like shape. As Jisung kept walking, following the curvature of the wall of the ship, he lost sight of Minho. After just continuing to walk forward through the crowds of people wandering around he eventually met eyes with Minho who had kept walking along the semi circle too. "What are you doing over here?" Jisung asked. "I'm about to go to this class. What are you doing?" Minho said, pointing to the room next to them. "I... uh came for the class too." Jisung answered quickly without thinking. He didn't even know what the class was but he didn't want to seem like a loser wandering the boat alone. "Really?" Minho asked surprised as he and Jisung walked towards the door. As they stepped in Jisung could finally see what kind of class it was, a cooking class. "So you like cooking?" Minho asked. "Uh yeah totally, my friends call me Master Chef." Jisung said, talking out his ass. 'Why did I say that? I don't know how to cook at all...' Jisung thought nervously.

Minho and Jisung stood in front of stations next to each other and looked to the front of the class waiting for further instructions. The chef then said "As we sail towards Mexico we will be cooking a dish from the Mexican culture, called Enchiladas Rojas." Minho tied the given apron around his waist and immediately began following the many instructions given by the chef and Jisung was already a few steps behind having been distracted watching Minho set up his materials. He rushed to try and catch up, not having heard pivotal instructions at the beginning. He began heating up his chili powder but got distracted again as he watched Minho move smoothly about the small cooking space. He seemed to be in his element and Jisung couldn't take his eyes off of him. Jisung roasted it for a little too long but quickly took it out of the pan and put it aside. He prepared his other ingredients messily, fumbling with pretty much everything along the way. After they were done preparing the enchiladas and cooking them in the oven, it was time to taste them. Even at first glance you could tell that Jisung's dish looked off. Minho looked over to Jisung's enchiladas and raised an eyebrow before looking back up to Jisung's face. "Hey it doesn't have to look perfect, as long as it tastes good." Jisung said as he took a bite. But it did not taste good and Jisung fought every muscle in his face to try and mask his disgusted reaction.

"How is it?" Minho asked with a knowing grin on his face. "It's so..." Jisung said weakly before he started coughing. "Good..." Jisung finally said unconvincingly. "Oh really? Can I try some?" Minho asked, reaching a fork towards Jisung's dish. "No!" Jisung practically yelled. Minho smirked and asked "Why not?" "Okay, it's not good. Is that what you want to hear? It's terrible! I don't even know what I did wrong, it's just so bitter..." Jisung said. "You heated the chili powder for too long, you burned it. That's what causes that bitter taste." Minho said simply. "What the hell? If you knew I was doing something wrong that could ruin my whole dish why didn't you say anything?" Jisung asked. "I figured the Master Chef must know something I don't. I didn't want to interrupt your process." Minho said teasing. Jisung's face turned into a frown and he huffed as he began cleaning up his station. "Want to try mine, Master Chef?" Minho asked with a smirk. Jisung rolled his eyes and continued cleaning. Minho took a bite of his enchiladas, watching Jisung as he added "Mmm pretty good." "Okay, I get it, you can stop rubbing it in." Jisung said annoyed. "Where's the fun in that?" Minho asked, taking another bite dramatically. Jisung was getting more and more angry and picked up a fork and went for Minho's dish. He got a piece and took a bite, not reacting at first. After a few seconds he just started walking towards the door. "Hey! Where are you going? How was it?" Minho said, following after him.

Jisung stopped in the doorway and turned around to Minho, saying in a defeated tone "Those were the best damn enchiladas I have ever tasted." Minho laughed but Jisung's expression remained serious. He looked deep in thought for a second before pushing past Minho and back into the room. He grabbed the container of Minho's enchiladas and headed for the door saying "I'm mad but I can't let this go to waste." He was then stopped by the chef, who yelled out "Sir, you can't take the container!" Jisung stopped right before the door and turned around embarrassed as he had to walk back and set the container on the counter. As he walked back towards the exit, he tripped on a cord that was plugged into a hot plate. He fell to his knees and the appliance came crashing to the floor loudly after him. The whole class looked in his direction and he laughed nervously as he stood up and put the hot plate back where it came from. "Geez, what else is going to happen? Are my pants going to fall down in front of everyone?" Jisung asked mostly to himself as he continued nervously laughing. "No but your fly is down." Minho said bluntly. "What?!" Jisung asked terrified as he quickly looked down to his pants zipper. Jisung's face grew hot with anger and embarrassment as he saw that his fly was not down and he had just fallen for one of the oldest tricks in the book. Minho laughed out loud to himself as he walked away.

Jisung ran after him saying "You are just going to leave me there alone after I embarrassed the crap out of myself?" "Well I don't want to be seen with you." Minho said, chuckling. Jisung furrowed his brow as he said under his breath "Some boyfriend you are." "Well it's a good thing we aren't actually dating then." Minho said. "Keep your voice down, someone will hear you." Jisung said, looking around. "No one cares that we are here for the couples cruise package and aren't actually a couple Jisung. This isn't some kind of undercover mission." Minho said. "That Tim guy definitely cares..." Jisung said. "Yeah but even if he finds out we aren't actually together, it's not like he can do anything about it." Minho said. "I guess..." Jisung said trailing off. "But if you really want me to act like your boyfriend, all you have to do is ask." Minho said, smirking as he brushed his hand against Jisung's and slowly intertwined their fingers. Jisung blushed and pulled his hand away saying "As if! You're right, the only times we need to pretend to be a couple are during the couples activities, because that's part of the bet. Other than that, we don't even need to see each other." "Fine with me." Minho said before they parted ways.