Running to You | Park Han + JL + Steven | Haneulz + Stejay AU

Chapter 23.5: Steven's POV

Steven stood right before the half-open kitchen door, frozen.

He had been balancing three bottles of soda, one under each arm, a third nestled in his elbow.  He hadn't meant to walk in on anything. Not really. He'd just come back from the convenience store, the one along the campus periphery he always passed by on his runs. JL had said earlier he wanted something fizzy for dinner, and Steven had tucked that away, the way he'd started to do with most things JL said. Half out of habit now...and half because it was becoming impossible not to think about the damn things JL said.

But there they were.

From the kitchen, JL stood in front of a bowl on the counter, face focused. Han was behind him, just slightly to the left, closer than Steven thought anyone should stand in a room that size. His hand was braced casually on the counter next to JL's, his voice low and even, like he was reciting instructions or whispering something that wasn't entirely about cooking. JL's shoulders were lifted just slightly. He looked flustered.

Steven stared.

It wasn't even just this moment. It was the other one -- weeks ago now, but still burned into the backs of his eyes. He remembered stepping back onto the courtyard that night, coffee in hand, just in time to see Han reach for JL's shoulder under the lights. They hadn't seen him. Han had tucked a piece of JL's hair behind his ear and said something quiet, something that made JL bite his lip and look like a deer in headlights. Steven had turned around.

He had told the others he got held up with something and couldn't come back for the cleanup.

Now he stood here again, unseen, watching something that made his stomach twist. It wasn't that he didn't know Han had a softer side. He did. But Han was careful with who saw it. Reserved. Stoic. So watching him like this -- off-guard and, dare he say it, tender -- it wasn't easy to brush off. Especially not when that softness was directed at JL.

JL tilted his head and laughed -- soft, intimate, the kind of laugh you didn't make unless you felt safe. Comfortable. Maybe even something more.

Steven felt his throat tighten.

Steven found himself blinking too fast. The lights in the hallway blurred for a second, and then sharpened again. He could've walked in. Could've said something about the drinks or cracked a joke about them looking like newlyweds playing cooking show. But he didn't. Instead, he turned around. Just like he had the first time.

He walked to the dorm lounge instead. Set the drinks on the table and didn't bother announcing them. Someone else would take them eventually, and in a few moments he knew the entire team would come crashing in for dinner.

Inside, JL and Han were probably still talking.

Maybe it didn't mean anything. Maybe it was just a cooking lesson.

But the way JL had leaned back, just slightly, into Han's space -- the way Han didn't move, like he'd expected it -- it sure as hell didn't feel like nothing.

Steven sat on the couch, elbows on knees, eyes on the muted television. It was playing an old drama rerun, some scene with two leads arguing in the rain. He wasn't really watching. His fingers dug into the edge of the cushion, restless.

He'd liked JL first. Quietly. In a way that didn't feel like anything at first. JL had just been... interesting. Strange in a way Steven wanted to figure out, especially after his spectacular entrance at the time trials.  He hadn't expected him to be so... sweet in a way that made it hard to look away. But Steven had thought he had time.

He hadn't expected Han to step in like this. So suddenly. So clearly.

Now, all he could think about was how it had felt to watch JL smile like that -- unguarded, a little breathless -- and know it wasn't for him.

Steven leaned back, threw one arm over his eyes, and let the TV play on.

It wasn't a competition.

But damn if it didn't feel like losing.