fluid: haobin

28

hanbin's new hobby was watching hao. not in a stalker kind of way, but in the way where someone would keep whispering "cute" to themselves every time the other person would do anything.

in this case, it was hao happily eating a kimbap they had bought from the reststop. the two were the only ones in the bus because everyone else was still gone for their snacks or for a stretch.

"is it good?" the younger asks and the other looks up with his cheeks filled. hao just nods and finishes chewing his food before talking.

"i don't know why i've never had cheese in my kimbap before but this is something i need to try making at home."

"can you cook?" hanbin never knew this fact about the older.

"only chinese and really simple korean dishes. anything else, i gotta learn the recipe like 10 times before it turns out good. aren't you good in the kitchen as well? your mom owns a cafe and you help out."

"i can do drinks but not food. i can't use kitchen appliances too well," the instructor rubs his neck sheepishly. "funny story, i accidentally served someone cold injeolmi toast cause instead of microwaving it for 2 minutes, i only did it for 20 seconds and then gave it to them."

"how do you get that mixed up?" hao starts laughing at the mishap.

"it's not my fault! the cafe was so busy that i didn't even have the mind to check if put in an extra 0!"

"alright, alright fine, i guess i can understand that," but the chinese still gives a teasing look while going back to eating his lunch.

"meanie," hanbin rolls his eyes and leans back in his chair. "by the way, how are your ears?"

"they're fine, why?" hao subconsciously reaches up to touch his hearing aids.

"just remembered about the morning and wanted to make sure you're comfortable. and also to make sure the new tips aren't irritating."

"oh," the manager can feel his cheeks blush. "no pain or anything. i gotta break them in but it's not bothering me so that's a good thing."

"ok."

the bus goes back to the awkward silence from before as the older finishes up his food and gets up to throw the trash away. however, because he's sitting at the window seat, it meant he had to go over hanbin to get out to the aisle.

"hanbin, i need to go out," he says as he motions to the other to let him go. the younger just moves his legs closer to him and as the other tries to inch past him, of course, something has to happen.

it turns out hao's backpack hadn't been tucked all the way under his seat and the strap was out, letting the manager's ankle get trapped and making him lose his balance and let gravity do it's thing.

hanbin immediately stands up and puts his arms out, catching his waist and pulling hao closer to him as the foil ball falls on the ground. the older takes both his arms and grabs on to hanbin's forearms as he feels himself go down and in the span of a second, everything stops.

"hyung, are you ok?"

"y-yeah," hao just stays in place, his hands still gripping hanbin's hoodie sleeve and staring at the ground, trying to process what just happened. "thanks."

he looks up but instead of pulling away, they maintain eye contact. neither makes the effort to look away and hanbin could feel his heart start beating faster and faster at how innocent hao looked with his eyes still widened and mouth slightly opened. he was hoping that the other couldn't feel his heartbeats in close proximity.

"hyungs, we're back-" gyuvin gets on the bus but immediately stops when seeing the two still in the same position. "never mind, i have to use the bathroom all of a sudden."

.

.

.

"those two are so dense," ricky stares at the two adults sitting in the front row, both clearly trying their best not to look at the other and trying to stay occupied with their own business.

"i know, it's so suffocating to watch," gyuvin nods with his friend. "they looked pretty cozy when i entered the bus."

"look at hanbin hyung," the blonde points to the teacher, who was trying his best not to take up the armrest and leave some space for the manager. "does he not realize that hao ge is sleeping against the window? he's gonna have no reason to put his arm there."

"oh my god, these two are so...ugh," gyuvin groans at how childish the sight is.

hao closes his eyes as he feels the tiredness settle in and leans his head against the window, his hood up to cover his face. however, a couple minutes later, he unknowingly moves his body in the other direction, snuggling up against his right side.

meaning that hanbin now had a sleeping raccoon on his left shoulder and his body stiffened.

does he let hao stay there?

what if he panics when waking up?

should he move him back to his original position?

his answer comes from how the older softly grabs his arms and hugs them a bit.

"xigua," hao mumbles out and snuggles his head into his shoulders again.

"huh?" hanbin questions at the foreign word, wondering what the other was dreaming about or what it had to do.

"hyung, take a picture, quick!" yujin taps gunwook's shoulder, and the two take out their phones, making sure to get some shots so they could show the adults later.

"you know, lets make a bet," gunwook says to his friends, and gyuvin and ricky move in closer to listen.

"for what?" his cousin asks.

"if hanbin and hao hyung get together during the trip, losers have to pay for winners' snacks for a week during school," yujin puts a hand in. "i say they do."

"same here," ricky puts his own on top.

"no offense but neither of them are that brave. if they get together after the trip, then you two have to pay for our pc bang fees for a week," gyuvin adds his hand on the pile, same with gunwook.

"so you two are betting they get together during the next 2 days and we bet it won't happen?" gunwook makes sure he got the deals sorted out. everyone nods and he completes the mix.

"deal."