desire builds upon itself
choi soomin
"the light is turning red." i tell minho, waiting for him to slow down for the upcoming red light.
"i see that." his voice laced with slight annoyance.
"are you going to stop?"
"obviously." he groans. i made it a point to annoy him, given that he insisted on taking me home, leaving me with virtually no choice. luckily, it was working.
"i'm just making sure." i reply, feigning defensiveness.
"well, you can stop being a backseat driver." he states.
"i'm actually in the passenger seat-"
"soomin." his tone warning. i couldn't help but giggle slightly. "i know you're doing this on purpose." i gasp dramatically.
"what? i would never! i can't believe you would assume such a thing." minho shakes his head, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. the whole situation feeling very domestic. a vast contrast to our usual tense interactions.
"what's bothering you so much?" he suddenly questions.
"i'm not bothered." i tell him.
"you are. i can tell." he insists.
"what? did you check out a book on soomin-ology? i said i'm not bothered." i retort, crossing my arms over my chest. minho laughs.
"is it because i kissed lia?" he continues to press despite my words.
"i don't care who you kiss. just try to not kiss my brothers girlfriend."
"i didn't know." he defends.
"well now you do, so don't do it again." i lecture.
"yes ma'am." his tone sending shivers down my spine. why was that so hot? "so who can i kiss?" he asks. i scoff.
"that's none of my business. kiss a rock for all i care."
"why are you so bothered?" he asks again.
"i said i'm not." i raise my eyebrows at him in annoyance.
"fine." he shrugs. awkward silence enveloping the two of us.
"what did you mean when you said 'that's a shame.'?" i ask, unable to stand the unbearable silence.
"hm?" he hums, his eyes fixed on the road.
"in the bathroom, you told me 'that's a shame.' after i told you i wouldn't kiss you again." i elaborate.
"i don't know what you're talking about." he glances at me for a moment, brows furrowed.
"you— what do you mean? it happened like an hour ago." i squint my eyes at him.
"did it? i'm not sure i recall." and that's when i heard the sarcasm in his voice.
"why are you suddenly an ass? you were so sweet last night." i pout.
"right, that's why you kissed me." he states. "and i'm not being an ass." he adds.
"yes you are. you kiss my brothers girlfriend-"
"i didn't know."
"and now you're acting like you didn't text me to meet you in the bathroom." i continue, adding some firmness to my tone, warning him to not cut me off again.
"oh? i thought we were both pretending things didn't happen." he smirks.
"what are you even talking about?" i scoff.
"something's clearly bothering you, but you say otherwise. so i thought we were just pretending." he explains.
"you're— whatever..." i trail off, leaning back into my seat, lips pouted, arms crossed. minho glances over at me momentarily before sighing.
"i liked the kiss." he states.
"huh?" i blink a few times, trying to process if i heard him properly.
"i liked the kiss." he repeats.
"you... what?" i was unable to form words, heat rising to my face as my eyes go comically wide.
"it was cute." he says nonchalantly. "that's why it's a shame that it won't be happening again."
"but-"
"now what's bothering you?" i sunk back into my seat at his words, unable to stop the smile that tugged at the corner of my lips. lee minho liked my kiss. i dropped my head slightly, trying to cover it with my hair. i couldn't let him see how much his small sentence effected me. but i knew now that he answered my question, he expected an answer for his question.
i couldn't exactly tell him that i felt jealous watching him kiss another woman. i also couldn't tell him that i was wondering about his whole girlfriend situation. does he really not have one? had he broken up with hwayoung without telling chan? or was he lying to me?
"my brother... he seemed... happy when i told him what lia did." not exactly a lie. soobin's reaction was definitely bothering me.
"interesting." minho nods. the car bouncing slightly as he pull into... his driveway?
"um, why are we at your place?" i furrow my eyebrows as he puts his car in park.
"pit stop." he answers, pulling off his seatbelt, reaching over to click mine off. "come on." he urges.
"i'll wait here." i decline, moving to secure my seatbelt again. minho rolls his eyes before pushing the seatbelt away.
"come on." he repeats, getting out of the car and coming over to my side. he pulls my door open, stepping to the side and motioning me to get out. i look up at him suspiciously, glaring as i slowly step out of the car. he shuts the door behind me and begins walking to the front door of the house, fiddling with the keys on his key ring as he approaches the door.
"why are we here?" i ask, following him into the kitchen.
"chan wants chicken for dinner, so i have to take it out of the freezer now if i want it to be ready in time." he explains calmly, opening the freezer and pulling out the chicken.
"and i needed to come in for that because...?" i question, unable to stop my eyes from trailing over his legs and ass as he moved around to place the chicken in the fridge.
"i like the company." he shrugs.
"okay..." the word came out as a whisper as i silently checked him out. an embarrassing shade of pink coating my cheeks as i notice him turn around, forcing me to trail my eyes upwards to meet his. he was already smirking, likely knowing exactly where i was looking.
"you have a staring problem." he states with a slight chuckle. only if the thing i'm staring at looks as delicious as you.
"whatever. can you take me home now? i have homework." i tell him, spinning on my heels to head out the door.
"don't talk like that, it makes you sound like a child." his voice close behind as he follows me out the door.
"what? because i have homework?" i scoff.
"yes." he replies.
"chan is older than you, and he probably has homework." i retort.
"chan is only physically older than me."
"what does that even mean?" i furrow my eyebrows, climbing back into his car.
"it means i'm more mature than he is." he climbs into the drivers seat.
"don't talk like that, it makes you sound like an old man." i tell him with a smirk. he turns to me, cocking an eyebrow.
"are you always like this?" i could hardly focus on his question, his cocked eyebrow causing his eyes to angle in a way that was incredibly sexy.
"how else am i supposed to distract myself from your-" i cut myself off, tearing my gaze away from him. i couldn't think clearly with him looking at me like that, almost blurting out some lewd words just over his eyes.
"from my what?" his tone laced with amusement as he starts the car back up.
"your huge ego."
"i don't have a huge ego." he retorts. "i'm just confident." he adds, slinging the car into reverse, backing out of his driveway, the whole scene reminding me of last night all too much. i took the opportunity of his focus on driving to bring my gaze back onto his perfectly carved face.
"what's the difference?" i tease, unable to stop myself as i reach over, poking at his firm thigh. fuck, the things i would give to ride one of them. his eyes glance down to where i had poked him, and a small smirk tugged at the corner of his lip before he quickly shook it away. of course i noticed, mostly because i was studying his side profile, like always.
"the difference is that i'm not cocky. i just know how great i am." i couldn't help but snort.
"that's exactly something a cocky person would say." this time, i resist the urge to touch him in some way, tucking my hands under my thighs to keep them still.
"whatever, go inside and do your homework." he chuckles, and only then do i realize he had pulled into my driveway. "just don't forget your back pack this time." he teases.
"i got it." i tell him, grabbing the strap of it as i click off my seatbelt. "thanks for the ride." i mumble, reaching over to open the door, desperately wanting to leave the car before i was overcome with the urge to touch him again.
"soomin." he calls, causing me to turn my head, nearly bashing it against the window as i notice how close his face is to mine.
"can i help you?" i question, trying to maintain a safe distance, but his dark gaze was practically luring me closer. i gasp as i feel his finger touch gently under my chin, our noses just centimeters apart. i could smell the mint of his breath, and it was driving me insane. i couldn't help it when my eyes fell closed, waiting with anticipation. he chuckles, his breath fanning my face before his finger gently turns my head to the side.
my whole body lit up when i felt his smooth lips press against my cheek. lingering there for a moment before pulling away. i found myself leaning in, chasing the feeling of his lips, causing him to chuckle once again. i open my eyes cautiously, turning to look at him, a devilish smirk painted across his face as he looked at my panicked state.
"bye, soomin." he says casually, his tongue gliding over his bottom lip before he pulled it between his teeth. the overwhelming urge to just say 'fuck it', was growing with each passing second. and just before i decided to try my luck, and climb onto his lap in this cramped car, a knock on the window pulls a sharp scream from my throat.
as i look over, the door opens, soobin looking at me with furrowed brows.
"you planning on sitting in here all day?" he asks.
"no! i was just leaving!" i respond way too quickly, not even sparing minho another glance as i practically run out of the car, passed soobin and into the house. i land on the couch with a plop, my fingers ghosting over the cheek that minho kissed moments ago. i was really ready to risk it all for him, just the thought of his lips on other places of my body was enough to send a familiar throbbing sensation right to my core. "fuck! my backpack!" i yell, noting i had once again forgot it.
"relax, i got it for you." soobin's voice sounds from the door. "why did you run away like that?" he asks, dropping the back pack on the floor before plopping next to me on the couch.
"oh no you don't." i shake a finger at him. "you tell me what happened outside of the library earlier." i cock an eyebrow, noticing a light shade of pink dance across his cheeks.
"do you want the long story, or the short story?" he asks, sighing in defeat as he leans into the couch cushion.
"there's a short version?" i question.
"i'm gay." he blurts out.