Best of You [ChanCheol] ✔

12

They hurry out of the apartment together; Chan is half stumbling down the steps as he tries to keep up with Seungcheol without the latter slowing down. Somehow, they overslept. Minghao was the one to wake them, informing them of the time and leading them to this rush. He offered to drop them off but Chan assured him it was alright.

"I'm so sorry," Chan groans as they reach the bus stop with a minute to spare. He sucks in deep breaths while Seungcheol watches in amusement while trying to catch his own breath. Lifting his head, he shoots a glare. "It's not all that funny," he says between breaths and Seungcheol is ready to argue with him when the bus pulls up. They get on together, taking a two seater near the front.

"Did you sleep alright at least?" Chan questions softly, leaning his shoulder into the window and turning his attention onto Seungcheol who was somehow still smiling. He watches in surprise; he never noticed how almost all the time, Seungcheol's smile would show off his gums. Even when he laughed. He has no excuse for how he hadn't noticed it sooner, but he had to admit that he found it cute. Adorable, even.

Seungcheol meets his gaze and offers a slight smile. Even with as small a smile as Chan was being given, his gums peaked out a little. "I slept well," Seungcheol affirms in a formal tone that comes out of nowhere, catching Chan off guard. Trying to appear as if he hadn't noticed, Chan nods.

"That's good." He looks out of the window and the silence that follows envelops them gently. It's not awkward, but rather, Chan feels at ease with Seungcheol by his side. They don't say anything for the whole ride up to Chan's stop, where they exchange goodbyes and he hurries along. He's half up the steps when he notices Ungjae and Leedo waiting outside. Joining them, he takes a seat on the wall.

When Hyunjin finally joins them, they head to the dance room together. The dancing is as intense as ever, but they're getting somewhere which pleases all of them; you don't need to ask them to be able to know that. It was something in the way they danced up until the last verse; they rarely made mistakes and anyone could tell there was a sort of pride that weaved itself into their dance. Chan would look into the mirror and catch everyone else doing the same, and they would smile. They've finished up the choreography, so from now, it would be a matter of practice.

Grabbing his things, he notices the missed calls; two at least. Without waiting for any of the others, he bids them a goodbye and steps out, pressing the call button beside the contact name. It rings twice before there is an answer.

"Done with practice?" There's a genuineness to his voice that has Chan rolling his eyes. As if he didn't know the time Chan would be finishing. In their rush to get done and before Jihoon disappeared out the door, they confirmed the little supper outing; Chan was meeting him at his work so he gave Jihoon a rough estimate of when he should be done. Minghao would be meeting them there.

"Who wants to know?" he teases, stepping out of the doors.

"Me," Seungcheol whines; Chan can almost picture him pouting. "So I have a confession—"

"You're kidding," he whispers into the speaker, arm lowering to his side as he stares down the steps. Right at the bottom, there stood Seungcheol in all his glory with his gummy smile pulling across his face as soon as their gazes met. How was this possible? How on earth?

Chan speaks first, descending the steps as he asks, "You're planning on telling me your confession now right?" A pause hangs in the air and he narrows his eyes. "Unless this is it?"

Seungcheol laughs and wow—wow because it catches him off guard; the gums are on full display and eyes resemble little crescent moons. He's leaning against the wall for support. A thick jacket has replaced his denim jacket from this morning and he's got on a beanie. "Your brother invited me to join you guys this evening," he explains. "So, I thought I'd meet up with you and we could head there together."

"He invited you," Chan repeats, taking a step down. "So, why didn't you say anything this morning!" he practically scolds and the way Seungcheol's eyes widen, he thinks it's worth it. It's certainly adorable. He stretches out an arm and the next thing he knows, he's hooking it with Seungcheol's arm and starts tugging him along. "You should have said something sooner."

"I thought you'd be mad," he admits suddenly, quietly as if the words would trigger whatever anger Seungcheol feared possessed Chan. He spares a few glances as he waits for a response.

"Why would you think that?"

"You looked mad."

"I was surprised."

"But—"

"Cheol, you're fun to have around. I definitely don't mind it," Chan murmurs in interruption. When the bus pulls up, the conversation comes to a halt as Seungcheol gets on first and Chan follows a moment after, paying for the both of them. He's already in a two seater near the front when Chan joins him. They're quiet again for most of the ride, but neither mind it. It's the sort of silence one would welcome with open arms. Sometimes he wished he could just say something, but then he'd catch the look on Seungcheol's face. A sort of peaceful look that only came with silences much like the ones they were often in, and he told himself it was okay. If he spoke any more than he did, the expression would shift and the moment would be ruined.

"You should start coming inside if you're going to wait outside for me all the time," Chan suggests as he gets up. Obediently, Seungcheol follows him off and they walk to the building together.

"What, like when you practice?" He asks, looking at Chan as though it had never crossed his mind to do it nevermind so much as ask. Chan replies with a nod of his head and then he's pulling out his phone.

"It's cold and we don't want you getting sick—" He's interrupted as his brother answers. Turning a little, he looks up at the building as he speaks. "Jihoon hyung? Yeah. Yeah, we're outside. Okay, see you in a bit." Chan turns back to Seungcheol and he smiles. "He'll be down shortly."

"Okay."

When Jihoon joins them, he asks if Seungcheol would be fine walking or if he'd prefer a cab which quickly earns a sound of disapproval from Seungcheol who, with more enthusiasm than any of them expected, claims he'd be fine walking. So they do.

Jihoon talks with Seungcheol the whole way and it's sort of sweet. Their main topic is music and occasionally there's a mention of movies in which Chan gets pulled into the conversation.

When they get to the little restaurant, Jihoon has already disappeared ahead of them after spotting Minghao.

As they walk in and take their seats, Chan just hopes the evening goes well.