stunning ° hyunho ✓

hyunjin's ideal type

minho let himself be dragged to the large group of staff members. he suspected that whatever jisung was planning would probably end badly, but he would be lying if he told he was not desperate for a way to end the uncertainty and akward tension between hyunjin and himself.

"noonas?" said jisung, his face the epitome of innocence. "can i submit a question too?"

one of the staff members frowned. "no, the whole point of today's game is for you to answer fan questions."

jisung elbowed minho in the rib cage. minho interpretted it as a sign that he should turn on his charm. he smiled his most charming smile at the staff member. "please?"

she appeared dazzled for a few seconds. then she rolled her eyes. "fine. what's the question you're so desperate to add?"

minho gave jisung a questioning look. the rapper grinned mischievously. "what're hyunjin and minho's ideal types?"

minho gaped at him. this was definitely going to end badly. 

the staff member scoffed. "seriously? terribly unoriginal, han."

jisunh shrugged, ignoring minho's accusing gaze. "i have my reasons."

she shook her head, but wrote the question down. "done. any other requests?"

"don't tell hyunjin about this," minho said before jisung dragged him away. 

as they walked to their seats, minho could feel someone's gaze on himself. it was seungmin eyeing him suspiciously, of course. this boy was too smart for his own good – or rather for minho's good. although if he had to be honest with himself, jisung's plan was so obvious that everyone but hyunjin, the king of obliviousness, was bound to catch on at some point.

minho took his place behind chan, right next to hyunjin. their legs touched. hyunjin did not move his away.

"you asked the staff to add an embarrassing question for me, right?" seungmin turned to jisung, his voice accusing.

seizing the opportunity, jisung stuck his tongue at him. "yes."

seungmin slapped him, while minho let out a quiet sigh of relief. maybe seungmin had not caught on.

"are you nervous?" minho heard hyunjin ask.

surprised, he turned to look at the younger. hyunjin initiating a conversation with him was rare. 

"nah," he replied and gave hyunjin a small, reassuring smile. "are you?"

"a little," hyunjin confessed. he was always like that – confident when it came to dancing, timid when he had to talk.

minho reached out tentatively and patted hyunjin's hands, which he was clutching nervously in his lap. "look at me," he whispered. 

after a moment of hesitation, hyunjin turned his head. their eyes locked, and minho's breath hitched as per usual. this time he had to fight against his feelings, as hyunjin was looking expectantly at him. "what you say matters," minho said simply.

hyunjin rewarded him with a smile that put the sun to shame and whispered barely audibly: "thank you, hyung."

"... now we have an interesting question," chan said in the hyped-up voice he used during interviews and grinned at the camera. "it is actually for two members only." he turned to minho and hyunjin. "what are lee know's and hwang hyunjin's..." he paused to turn the tension up another notch. "ideal types!"

because their legs were still touching, minho could feel hyunjin tense next to him. up to this moment, he could not decide if jisung's idea was genius or the stupidest shit ever. now he felt like a total jerk because there was one thing he had forgotten to take into account: that hyunjin might feel uncomfortable talking about that on camera. 

"i'll go first," minho volunteered, hoping that this might give hyunjin some time to collect himself.

the members began to coo and laugh. "he's eager!" jisung jibed as if he was not the one who set minho up for this.

minho took a deep breath. he had rehearsed his answer to this question the whole interview – which would probably result in a lot of fan speculations about why he was so distracted, but this was not important now. the important thing was to not miss this chance to indirectly confess. he had to be direct enough for hyunjin the oblivious to catch on but indirect enough for the staff and the fans not to suspect the truth. hell.

"so, my ideal type..." he mumbled. "h– they are great at dancing like me but also clumsy in a funny way, super sweet but also a total pain in the a– i mean, a total tease." he could sense hyunjin piercing him with his gaze. "we don't need to get on well from the beginning. i know that i can be insufferable sometimes." he chuckled nervously. "we will just understand each other in our own way and care for each other, you know... yeah–"

"woah," jisung exclaimed, interrupting minho's tirade, "that was oddly specific." 

as the other members errupted into collective gasps and giggles, minho and hyunjin were the only ones to remain silent. the only reaction the younger betrayed was his trembling leg. was it disgust? minho did not dare look at him. he focused on calming his heart, which was threatening to jump out of his ribcage any moment. 

"hyunjin?" chan said after yelling at the members to shut up. 

"what?" hyunjin snapped out of his trance. 

minho, who finally dared to snap out of his trance, stole a glance at him. the younger looked disoriented.

"what's your ideal type?" minho squeezed the question out of himself. judging by the look the members gave him, he did not sound like he was asking a simple question. he sounded precisely like he felt – desperate to hear the answer and get over with the indirect rejection he was going to receive.

hyunjin abruptly turned to face him. "my ideal type?" he said, his voice uncharacteristically firm. his eyes sparkled with something that minho could interpret as a mixture of annoyance and stubbornness. "my ideal type, minho," he repeated, emphasizing every word, "is a blonde, blue-eyed, sweet girl who is younger than me!" the last word was half-yelled, as he continued to maintain the intense eyecontact between them.

minho blinked. hyunjin's ideal type was literally minho's complete opposite. this had to be a joke, right?

except that hyunjin looked dead serious. minho's heart shattered.

a/n: 

i am back. i apologize for the delayed update. stay safe