flower boy | seungjin

20

"Try it!"

"I'm fucking scared!"

"What's the worst that could happen?"

"I don't know, I break my neck or somethi-ING!!" Just as he speaks, Hyunjin's foot slips and he flounders, losing his balance and toppling over. Thankfully he falls backwards, landing with a thud on his arse whilst his skateboard careens down the ramp.

Seungmin grimaces, helping the older up, "Okay. Maybe drop-ins can wait."

He runs his hand through Hyunjin's hair and fixes it. "You okay?"

Hyunjin nods. Jumping off the ramp, he runs to pick up his board before it gets in anyone's way. He runs back up to find Seungmin waiting at the edge, one foot on his board and his lips between his teeth. His eyes are unsure and flittering from side to side in speculation. He waits for Hyunjin to stand up again, gives him a fleeting glance and says, "I'm definitely gonna regret this."

Not even two minutes later, and Seungmin's knee is split open widely, leaving a gaping gash with crimson blood pooling around it. He sighs. 

"These jeans were new." Along with his knee, there's also a new impressive rip in his trouser leg, the fabric dangling down pathetically. Hyunjin crouches beside him, wincing at the bloody sight but forcing himself to suck it up, and he waves his hands around aimlessly trying to think of something to do. "There's a first aid kit in my bag," Seungmin offers, watching Hyunjin not even hesitate before sprinting back to where their stuff is. He grabs the rucksack, peers inside it momentarily and runs back. 

His hands tremble as he digs out the first aid kit. 

"Are you okay?" He asks as he holds a cloth against the wound to minimise the bleeding.

"Besides the hole in my knee?" Seungmin jokes, "I'm perfect."

As Hyunjin disinfects the cut and secures a large plaster over it, his eyes meet Seungmin's. "Do you want to come back to mine? It's closer than your dorm."

"Yours?" Seungmin's eyes widen. "Don't you live with a load of people?"

"Yeah but they won't care," while that's true for the most part, the only reason Hyunjin suggests the idea in the first place is because he knows Jeno left this morning, and won't be back until tomorrow evening. He's sure he said something about visiting a family member, leaving Hyunjin with the perfect opportunity to avoid him and not worry about his demands. Hyunjin gazes at Seungmin - lost in thought - as the younger packs up, content with the idea that for one night, he can pretend things are normal, and there was never a stupid dare that had to come and interfere with everything, and that maybe he and Seungmin had actually met by chance and could have a happy future.

But of his own feelings, his own past, what will eventually happen, and of Jeno, Hyunjin is scared. 

"You might have to help me walk."

He jumps to his feet. "S-sure."

Thankfully Seungmin didn't do any more than cut his knee, so he's still able to hold his own weight relatively well. He slings his arm round Hyunjin's shoulder, and both of them carry their skateboards in opposite hands as they trundle towards the skatepark exit, then carry on to Hyunjin's apartment. 

When they walk in, only Chenle is home. His eyes widen slightly upon seeing the boy limping in Hyunjin's arms but he composes himself after a stern look from the oldest, waving a simple hello to them. Hyunjin leads Seungmin to his room, only pausing to glance through Mark's door to see if he's there. He's not.

"My room isn't as nice as yours," Hyunjin says when he opens the door. He helps Seungmin sit down, stretching his leg out along the floor.

"It's cosy," Seungmin objects, immediately leaning his head into Hyunjin's shoulder when he takes a seat beside him.

Hyunjin cards a soft hand through his hair, "You can stay over if you want." He kicks his shoes off. Seungmin nods, humming an agreement as his eyes shut. "Does your knee still hurt?"

"Not really," he replies, "Not anymore. It probably will if I move it though." Without a word, Hyunjin pulls some jogging bottoms from a drawer and passes them to him. The next few seconds are filled with Seungmin tentatively starting to take off his trousers; Hyunjin panicking and shuffling to face away; and a quiet plea for help from the younger, who realises he can't put them on without smearing blood all over them and paining himself in the process.

"I don't mind if they get dirty, they're really soft so they hopefully won't irritate you," Hyunjin says, after Seungmin debates this with him and as he helps him change.

The two lie side by side, covers drawn up to their waists. The only part of them making contact is the place underneath Seungmin's head, where Hyunjin's arm is splayed out across the mattress. On the floor beside them sits an empty glass of water and a packet of painkillers, which are one of the things allowing Seungmin's eyes to be fluttering shut as his knee finally lets him be at rest.

He slowly drifts off to sleep.

Hyunjin peeks over at him ten minutes later, a soft smile appearing when he sees Seungmin fast asleep, his lips jutting out in a small pout as he dreams the night away. He shuffles closer, just until he can feel their legs brushing against each other. Hyunjin sighs contentedly, eyes trained on the ceiling above him until fatigue finally takes over and they close, leaving him vulnerable to the darkness surrounding him, but feeling no longer intimidated by it.

---

a/n: I started school again ew
but loads of material from my exams has been cut cuz of lockdown... i literally have half the original amount of music coursework and an entire exam has been cut on history so that's really nice. I still have two full exams though for history so no they're not letting us off that easily lmao

thoughts? x