lessons in caregiving - minsung (extended oneshot)

lesson two: hold him if he cries

CHAN—

   After three months of guiltily going along with Minho's wishes to keep Jisung completely unaware of what was going on between the two of them, it's safe to say that Chan was incredibly relieved to hear Minho say that Jisung had asked to be his caregiver— and that he'd said yes. So much so that he almost didn't mind the fact that Minho wasn't going to be his little anymore. (Almost.) He no longer felt the need to avoid Jisung, as he'd gotten used to doing the more the guilt weighed on him, and now, the three of them had been hanging out together a little more, which wasn't as awkward as he thought it'd be. 

   Yes, Minho and Jisung were boyfriends, but Chan hardly felt like a third wheel when the three of them hung out because Minho was still more comfortable with Chan than he was with Jisung, and Jisung still didn't know how to handle Little Minho, which clearly made him antsy. Having Chan there put him a little more at ease.

    It'd been a week since it all went down and Jisung found out about Minho's little space, and despite the fact that Jisung now held the title of Minho's caregiver, Minho still hadn't willingly regressed in front of him. Most likely, both of them were still just feeling awkward about it— Chan could sense the tension between them when he saw them together, but there'd been tension there from the start, so he couldn't tell if it was normal or not. It'd probably take some kind of push for them to settle into their new dynamic.

   Sitting together during their lunch break today at college, the three of them worked out a plan to watch a movie at Chan's house— that's why Minho was now showing up at his door.

    "Hey. Where's Ji?" Chan asked, while Minho kicked off his shoes and shed his coat.

    With a quick glance to his phone, Minho answered, "Should be here in a couple minutes. He lives further from here."

    Nodding, Chan headed for the living room while Minho followed behind him. "How are things with you two?"

    Minho shrugged, dropping down onto the couch with a sigh. "I dunno. I told him. He's my... caregiver now. I guess." He paused for a moment, lips twitching down as he hesitated to speak. "It's just embarrassing, hyung. I mean, it's nice to have gotten it off my chest and you know how glad I am that he actually wants to stay with me after this when I thought for sure he wouldn't, but... Whenever I think about slipping near him, I still feel like he'll be weirded out."

   Before Chan could get a word out, the front door swung open. Jisung swept in with a gust of November evening chill, giving a concluding shiver while he pushed the door shut again, his puffy coat doing nothing to keep him from going pink in the ears and cheeks and hands— which were out of his warm pockets because they were holding a paper bag.

   "Hi, Ji," Chan greeted, while Minho shrunk down next to him, embarrassed to see Jisung when he'd just been talking about awkward things that involved him.

   "Hiya. I brought snacks." A cute little smile was plastered on Jisung's face as he held up the bag, heading for the counter to unpack it. Chan glanced over and saw the effect it had on Minho: he'd forgotten to cover up the stupidly whipped-looking grin that was spreading across his face as a direct result of it, probably because he felt hidden behind Chan and thus let his guard down. Teasingly, Chan nudged Minho, and Minho straightened up and wiped the grin off his face. It was funny how much he still acted like Jisung was just his long-time crush, rather than his boyfriend.

   Jisung pulled a jug of apple cider he'd just bought out of the bag, looking back to Chan to ask, "You do have a microwave, right Chan hyung?"