"your love feels like an army of angels"
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
"I can't believe you tripped into the fountain," Jeongin snorted, bringing up the incident for the twentieth time since it happened. Chan covered his face in embarrassment, the memory making his cheeks burn.
"All those people watching you." Jeongin let out a laugh. "You don't have to try to impress me Channie."
"Who said I was trying to impress you?" Chan grumbled, crossing his arms and shivering from the water dripping through his shirt. Unfortunately for him, the white clothing was quite see-through when wet, and everyone got a nice view of Chan's torso, much to Jeongin's annoyance. He had glared at every girl that dared to spare a glance, unbeknownst to Chan who was too caught up in his own embarrassment.
"Hm, let me think, you. I think you said something like 'Look at what I can do Jeongin!' before taking a little swim with the fishies," Jeongin teased, poking Chan's side. The man shivered again, teeth chattering, nose red, and hair plastered to his forehead. He was a mess, but he was a hot mess, Jeongin noted, and everyone seemed to know it.
Once the stares got too uncontrollable, Jeongin decided to act. He grabbed Chan's hand, intertwining their fingers, and slung the man's arm over his shoulder. His free hand came to rest on Chan's waist and despite the wetness, Jeongin thoroughly enjoyed being snuggled up to Chan. It almost made him forget about how sick he was, about how lonely and how sad, and he loved it.
"Jeongin, what are you-"
"People are looking at you. I don't like it." Was all Jeongin said. Chan just nodded, not fully grasping the information he heard, before letting out a loud gasp.
"You're so jealous."
"Am not."
"Are too."
"Am not."
The two continued to bicker, seeming more like an old married couple than the siblings Chan felt like they were.
"Fine," Jeongin sighed, "Maybe I'm a little jealous. Just hurry up, you dumb elf. You'll freeze to death."
"Aw, Jeongin cares about me," Chan cooed, ruffling the boy's fluffy hair.
"No, I don't," Jeongin shot back.
"Yes, you do."
And that's how the two spent the walk back, completely oblivious to the judgemental stares or lustful glances. Oblivious to the way Jeongin would pull Chan eversocloser when he saw someone staring, or how Chan's loose grip on Jeongin's hand seemed to tighten whenever someone walked by. How both boys would stop arguing just to stare at each other like a cheesy romance movie.
How Chan's grace seemed to turn to a clumsy mess when he was drenched. The water dampened his ethereal glow and made him look so human and normal that it made Jeongin almost fall for him. To him, Chan was his angel, and he had never seen the man look anything but composed. But the more time they spent together, the more Jeongin realized that Chan had his own flaws.
Such as tripping into a water fountain at a public mall while trying to show off.
"Can I borrow a shirt?" Chan asked the second they walked through the front door, wanting nothing more than to remove his saturated clothing. Jeongin nodded and gestured to his bedroom, that both had forgotten was a total mess. Chan examined the floor for anything that he thought could fit him when he came across a hoodie that was too large for Jeongin to wear. He threw it on, not thinking much of it, and walked back to the living room.
Jeongin looked at him with an expression Chan couldn't quite read, and that's when he noticed that the boys' gaze was directed at the hoodie, not him.
"I'm sorry, should I take this off?" Chan asked worriedly, already starting to remove the fabric.
"No, no," Jeongin reassured, "It's fine. You're just so much like him."
"Who's him?" Chan trod carefully, sensing the topic to be a sad one.
"My ex. You know, metal handcuffs." Jeongin laughed a bit, but Chan could feel the tension and hurt behind it.
"You can tell me what happened," he said and took a seat on the couch, placing a tentative arm around Jeongin.
"He was the literal definition of bipolar. When I first met him, he was very sweet and kind to me, so I fell fast and hard. But as we started to get closer, his true side started to be revealed. His sadist side. He would hurt me, cut me, make me bleed, for his pleasure. It was terrifying. I think I've gone to the hospital at least seven times because of his antics. Whether it be choking me to death, stabbing me, starving me. That's his hoodie."
"Jeongin, I'm sorry, I'll definitely take it off-"
Jeongin cut him off with frantic hands pulling the hoodie back down over Chan's frame.
"Don't. I need to replace that sadists memory with an angel." Jeongin gave him a breathtaking smile, one that startled Chan and his feelings.
"You're my angel, Chan. I can feel it. You're here for a reason, and that reason is this, right here. To protect me and care for me like no one else will."
Jeongin buried his head in Chan's shoulder, his lips ghosting the man's neck.
"So, don't leave me."
Tears leaked from both their eyes. The same emotions, different reasons. And as Jeongin drifted to sleep on Chan's shoulder for a much-needed nap, one thought haunted Chan.
"Jeongin, I'm not the one that will be leaving."
