SECRET EMBRACE | Jeonghan X Joshua | JiHan

SEVENTEEN

Joshua

The two of them sat in the aftermath of the meal for a few moments, the silence comfortable for once. But then Jeonghan's phone buzzed again, breaking the peace. He glanced at the screen, saw the notification, and his mood shifted subtly.

Jeonghan was reading some documents on his phone, probably, some notes. Or whatever. Joshua saw him, jeonghan was so hot whenever he was focusing. He was dangerously attractive.

Joshua found himself, again, he was staring at jeonghan.

It was weird, Joshua thought. How much Jeonghan seemed to focus on other things like work or teasing him, yet here they were-having this strange, quiet dinner together.

Even though Joshua kept insisting to himself that this was just about the presentation, something about it felt like more.

He snapped out of his thoughts when Jeonghan stood up, suddenly stretching.

"Alright," Jeonghan said, looking at Joshua with that usual smirk, "Let's finish this. We still have editing to do, right?"

Joshua nodded, standing up too and collecting the empty bowls. "I'll clean up. You can start"

Jeonghan, with his usual flair, rolled his eyes. "Don't treat me like a child. I'll help. We're a team, remember?"

"Yeah, sure," Joshua said with a dry laugh, passing him his bowl. "I'll believe it when I see it?? "

The two of them worked together to clean up, with Jeonghan doing surprisingly well in drying the dishes and placing them away. It was odd, Joshua thought.

Jeonghan didn't seem like the type to clean up, and yet he didn't complain.

Maybe it was the mood, or just the fact that they'd both been through a lot today.

Whatever it was, it felt... okay.

Once the kitchen was clean, they moved back to the floor. Jeonghan opened his laptop, already diving back into the presentation. "Alright," he said, glancing at Joshua, "let's finish this."

Joshua sat, opening his laptop again, but this time there was no tension between them. The task felt less like a chore and more like a shared effort.

They didn't talk much as they edited, but their teamwork was smooth-syncing together as if they'd done this a thousand times before.

Something has shifted.

At one point, Jeonghan leaned over to point at the screen. His shoulder brushed against Joshua's, and for a moment, there was an odd tension in the air, like the space between them had just become smaller.

Neither of them said anything about it, but both of them felt it.

"Could you add a bit more color here?" Jeonghan asked, his voice low.

"Yeah," Joshua replied, nodding, his focus sharp. "And what do you think about this font?"

Jeonghan looked at it, tapping his chin in thought. "It's fine, but... maybe something a bit bolder."

The conversation went back to the presentation, but there was a subtle shift.

The ease of earlier-the comfort of eating and working together-lingered. Joshua could feel it, but he didn't want to overthink it.

By the time they were wrapping up the final edits, the clock on Joshua's laptop read 4:30 PM.

"Is that it?" Jeonghan asked, leaning against the couch and stretching again.