Male Kpop smut

Manual love-Jihoon treasure 🩹💖

"I can't debut," he says, his fists clenched tightly at his side. Without a word, you hug him, and for the first time since his short stint as an actor, Jihoon lets someone else see him cry, ugly sobs wracking his body as he pulls you close. The smell of your cucumber melon shampoo is comforting, and later, when he calms down, you hold his face in your hands.

"Not yet, you hear? 'Can't debut' yet," you say, looking into his eyes.

After that, something changes between you two, a subtle shift he can't really identify. Your friendship becomes more tactile, you leaning on him whenever you're on his bed watching choreography videos on your laptop, him resting his chin on your shoulder when you're catching him up on what he's missed.

It's after a good day for both of you—he's just signed with Maroo Entertainment, and you've gotten shortlisted as a trainee at two companies—that you decide to go out. You're both done with your homework for the next day, and the guards are fond of you and unlikely to rat you out. You leave during study period right after lunch, and both of you rent out bikes for the afternoon, a welcome break from the tedium of school and work life.

You're at a field near the school, the sun about to set, when you look over at him with a grin. "I'm grateful for the excellent chicken at lunch, the scenery we just saw, the companies who might be willing to accept my talents, and you," you say, stretching your hands in the air. "What are you thankful for, Jihoonie?"

He considers for a moment before responding. "For Maroo and the chicken, yeah." You push him playfully. "And you, I guess," he says, smirking. As you bike back to school, Jihoon feels like he could fly.

It becomes a ritual for the two of you, and you end every night with a short list of what you're grateful for. Not every day is as pleasant—both companies ultimately reject you, and you grow frustrated at having to start the search all over again. Jihoon's fate is still in limbo at Maroo, as they're unable to find a group that fits him. Somehow, though, saying thank you for something every day keeps him positive. Jihoon tells himself you're only marginally to do with it, but he can't help how much space you've carved for yourself in his heart.

Soon it's your second year, and Jihoon begins to have a reputation at school, rejecting confessions left and right with a polite smile. With you, he expresses his frustration that they all see him as this perfect prince. You shrug, saying, "You're building that image and it comes with it, Jihoonie. Only I know how much of a bastard you really are."

You laugh and he groans, but he feels pleasantly warm. Jihoon takes comfort in that, that there's someone who remembers he's still a teenager, someone who'll let him be awkward, who'll critique him when he's trying to come up with a memorable concept for himself and laugh in his face when he says something cringe-worthy. He almost dreads the day you'll have less time for him, selfishly wanting to keep you to himself.

Jihoon thinks he's jinxed it because soon you're coming to him with a bright grin on your face, talking a mile a minute about how you've been signed at a hip-hop company like you've dreamed. They've made you sign a non-disclosure agreement about the details, but he can tell it's a company that'll take care of you. You're out more often, and Jihoon sees you less and less because you're always at trainings.

You come back with stories about the other trainees. "They're really so amazing," you say breathlessly, "like I've never seen so much talent condensed in so little space." There's a light in your eyes as you describe a particular one. "He was really shy at first, but he's hilarious and so, so talented, especially when he dances!"

And Jihoon knows that look; it's the same one you'd shot at him right before you confessed to him, hopeful and sweet. He can't help but feel jealous, and it's ridiculous because you're much better friends now. He's deeply involved in your life, as you are in his, and he knows he's your best friend, the one who rejected your feelings at the beginning of it all.