inches : j&d

14

the sun was beginning to set as aou, boom, dunk, and joong met up at their favorite café near campus. the four of them had gathered for their usual hangout, but today there was an undercurrent of excitement in the air—something had shifted. the tension of keeping their relationships under wraps was finally starting to feel like too much. 

as they sat down at a table, dunk and joong exchanged a quiet glance, both knowing exactly what they were about to do. 

“so,” aou started, stirring his coffee with a smile. he’d been acting a little more playful than usual, but it was clear he was trying to build up to something. “there’s something we should talk about.” 

boom raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair. “oh? this sounds serious. what’s up?” 

dunk shot a quick look at joong, who just gave him a small nod. it was time. 

“we’re dating,” dunk blurted out, his voice nonchalant as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. 

aou let out a short laugh, barely looking up from his coffee. “yeah, no kidding.” 

boom blinked, his eyes wide in surprise, but then his lips curled into a smirk. “wait, really? i thought that was obvious. you guys have been practically attached at the hip.” 

joong’s lips twitched into a small smile, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “yeah, we weren’t exactly subtle.” 

aou leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand. “honestly, i thought you two were already a couple from the moment i saw you two together. especially after you stopped denying it.” 

“yeah, i know,” dunk said with a laugh, looking at joong. “we really were bad at hiding it.” 

boom chuckled, shaking his head. “i swear, you guys are the most dramatic people ever. i kept waiting for the ‘we’re secretly dating’ reveal, and here you are, just saying it like it’s no big deal.” 

“well, it wasn’t a big deal,” dunk said with a shrug. “we just didn’t want to make it awkward for everyone else.” 

“awkward?” aou raised an eyebrow. “please, the awkwardness was *not* on us. you two were the ones acting like you couldn’t stand each other half the time, and now you’re making us pretend we didn’t notice the long stares and the random touches?” 

joong laughed under his breath. “i think we’re the last to realize how obvious we were.” 

boom nodded, still smirking. “it was painfully clear, honestly. you guys have that whole ‘can’t stop looking at each other’ vibe. and dunk, you’re practically glowing whenever joong’s around.” 

“i’m not glowing,” dunk protested, his face turning red. 

“you totally are,” aou teased, grinning widely. “honestly, i don’t think anyone was fooled. even my friend at the café last week asked me if you two were a thing. she thought it was cute.” 

“seriously?” dunk asked, feeling embarrassed now. 

“yep,” aou said, sipping his coffee with a grin. “so much for keeping it a secret.” 

joong chuckled, his arm casually resting on the back of dunk’s chair. “we’ve never been good at secrets.” 

“and the same goes for you two,” boom said, turning his gaze to aou and himself. “we might as well get this out of the way too—are you two dating, or are we still pretending you’re just ‘friends’?” 

aou’s expression softened, and he glanced over at boom, his smile widening. “we’ve been dating for a while now,” he admitted, his voice light. 

boom rolled his eyes but smiled warmly. “i swear, you’re the worst at keeping anything quiet, aou.” 

“hey, i wasn’t the one who started all this ‘we’re not dating’ act,” aou teased, laughing. 

“it’s honestly hilarious how much we’ve been avoiding saying the obvious,” dunk said, still smiling. “it was like we were all waiting for the right moment, but in the end, it just felt so natural to be together that we didn’t need a big reveal.” 

joong nodded, his gaze soft as he looked at dunk. “yeah. it just feels right. so there’s no point in pretending.” 

“and now we can finally stop acting like we’re not completely in love with each other,” dunk said with a grin, leaning into joong’s side. 

joong wrapped his arm around him, pulling him closer with a smile. “finally.” 

boom raised his cup. “cheers to that.” 

aou laughed, clinking his cup with boom’s. “cheers.” 

“so, we’re all out in the open now,” dunk said, looking at his friends with a grin. “guess we don’t have to hide anymore.” 

“yep,” aou said, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “now everyone can stop pretending they didn’t already know.”