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Heeseung & Aiko
Heeseung stirred awake to the sound of stifled giggling. His mind was still foggy, and his neck ached from sleeping on the hard floor. Squinting against the morning light streaming in through the window, he saw a bunch of blurry figures standing by the door, barely holding back their laughter. It took him a second to fully register that it was the group—Jake, Sunghoon, Jay, and the others—all staring at him with shit-eating grins on their faces.
"What the fuck are you all doing here?" Heeseung groaned, rubbing his eyes as he tried to shake off the grogginess.
"Uh, dude?" Jungwon said, pointing at something next to him, still snickering. "You might wanna look to your right."
Heeseung blinked and turned his head, his breath catching when he realized what they were all laughing at. Aiko was peacefully asleep beside him, her head resting on his shoulder, her face relaxed and soft in a way he'd never seen before.
"Ah, fuck," he muttered under his breath. "Of course this happens."
The sudden movement caused Aiko to stir awake too, blinking blearily as she took in her surroundings. Her eyes fluttered open slowly, adjusting to the light, before she realized where her head was resting.
"Oh, hell no," she mumbled, jerking upright, nearly knocking Heeseung's chin in the process. "This is so fucking awkward."
"Morning, lovebirds!" Jake teased, leaning against the doorframe with a smug grin. "Sleep well?"
"Shut the fuck up, Jake," Aiko snapped, her face flushing as she ran a hand through her messy hair.
Heeseung scowled at his friends. "You guys seriously have nothing better to do than spy on us?"
"Oh, we have plenty to do," Sunoo chimed in, barely holding back his laughter. "But this is way more entertaining."
"You two were all snuggled up like some cheesy rom-com," Jay added, his grin widening. "Honestly, it's nice to see you not tearing each other's heads off for once."
Aiko groaned in frustration, shooting a glare at Heeseung as if this was somehow his fault. "This doesn't mean anything. We just fell asleep. Can we all move on and stop making this weird?"
"Yeah, for real. It's not what it looks like," Heeseung agreed, though even he couldn't deny it was pretty funny in hindsight.
Yuna smirked, clearly enjoying the show. "Sure, sure. Whatever you two say. But honestly, we're just glad you didn't murder each other."
Aiko rolled her eyes. "You guys are so fucking annoying."
"Right back at ya," Sunghoon quipped, giving her a wink.
Despite the teasing, there was something different in the air. The tension between Aiko and Heeseung was still there, but it was lighter, less hostile. It was like the fight had drained all the bitterness out, leaving them with some weird sense of understanding. Of course, that didn't mean they were suddenly best friends or anything. If anything, the bickering picked up almost immediately.
"I still can't believe you're this messy," Aiko grumbled as she stood up and stretched. "It's like you live in a fucking pigsty."
"Says the girl who can't even keep her side of the room clean," Heeseung shot back, brushing off his pants.
"Excuse me? My mess is organized chaos. Yours is just chaos."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, princess."
"Dickhead."
"Drama queen."
Their friends watched the back-and-forth with amused smiles, clearly enjoying the show. Despite the sharp words, there was a new undertone of banter in their arguments—like they were more playing than actually fighting.
Sunghoon leaned over to Yuna and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, "At this rate, they'll be dating by next month."
Aiko whipped around, glaring daggers at Sunghoon. "Over my dead fucking body."
Heeseung snorted. "You wish."
"See? This is why we had to lock you two up together," Jake said, shaking his head with mock disappointment. "It's like watching kids on a playground who don't know how to say they like each other, so they just push each other in the dirt."
"Don't be ridiculous. That's not what this is at all," Heeseung grumbled, but even he could tell his words lacked bite.
"Sure, whatever you say, Mr. Denial," Sunoo said with a wink. "Anyway, since you two are getting along so well now, maybe you can start by helping each other clean up the rest of the base."
"Oh, hell no," Aiko said immediately. "I'm not spending another minute cleaning shit with him."
"Good, because I'm not asking for your help either," Heeseung added, crossing his arms. "I can handle it on my own, unlike some people."
"Here we go again," Jungwon sighed dramatically. "And just when we thought they'd figured their shit out."
Despite all the jabs, there was a collective sense of relief among the group. They'd managed to crack through the thick ice between Aiko and Heeseung, even if just a little. And while it wasn't a miracle cure, it was a damn good start.
For now, everyone seemed content with letting the banter continue, knowing that beneath all the swearing and insults, something had changed between the two. Whether that change would lead to more peace or even more chaos, only time would tell.
But for now, they were all in this together—swearing, fighting, laughing, and all.
