Everyone knew that Justin Huang was kind of clingy in his own way.
A hand on the hip here, an arm around the shoulder there- he'd always find a way to express his affection even through the subtlest of actions, often using the 'I'm the youngest' card on his geges as an excuse.
The other trainees often found Justin adorable. Naturally, they'd tease him and occasionally baby him, in which Justin admittedly enjoys- 'being the youngest does have its perks,' he'd often think to humself.
"I'm not even kidding," Ding Zeren said one day, eating with a few other trainees in the cafeteria. "Justin climbed into my bed last night, complaining that it was too cold. The boy ended up cuddling me to sleep- what a fucking baby."
"And we're supposed to be surprised? At this point, we all know Justin is just a sad five year old in a sixteen year old's body," Zhu Zhengting snorted, causing the others to chuckle in agreement.
"I'm not a sad five year old!" The childish Justin whined, crossing his arms. "You guys just don't know how to appreciate my love."
Everyone laughed at this, including Justin himself. They all know to themselves that they do love their precious didi, and Justin knew it. Or rather, he was proud of it.
Needless to say, it is a well known fact that Justin Huang is naturally a touchy person, which left a certain Fan Chengcheng thinking.
"Zhengting-ge," Chengcheng addressed Zhengting one day as they headed back to their dorm room after a long day of training. "Is there anything wrong with me?"
Zhengting's brows furrowed in confusion. "Why do you ask?"
The two entered the Yuehua dorm room, Chengcheng throwing himself face-flat on his bed the moment they stepped inside. "Fan Chengcheng! At least change your shirt first, you're still sweaty," Zhengting scolded him like the mother hen he was, but his words fell on deaf ears.
"Do you think Justin has a problem with me?"
Zhengting choked on the water he was drinking upon hearing this.
"What are you talking about?" he stated incredulously as he twisted the cap of his water bottle shut, setting it on the table. "Why on Earth would he have a problem with you? Isn't he your best friend? Did you two have some sort of fight? You two seemed alright earlier."
"No, it's—"
"Get your face out of that pillow first, you're filthy," Zhengting interrupted, knowing very well that it was rude to cut people off when they spoke, but he couldn't really stand the sight of the younger spoiling the clean bed sheets with his sweat any longer. "Go change!"
Chengcheng groaned, sluggishly getting up and grabbing a fresh shirt from the closet (not before splashing some water on his sweaty face). "He treats me a lot differently from the others, haven't you noticed?"
Zhengting just looked at the younger in confusion, forehead slightly creased in concern. "No? How different are you talking about?"
Chengcheng sat on the foot of his bed after changing into a new shirt, clasping his hands awkwardly as Zhengting continued to give him worried glances.
"I just think he isn't..."
"Isn't?"
Chengcheng winced slightly, not entirely sure on how to tell his most trusted gege about, whatever this was. Zhengting's probably thinking something serious happened. Sorry, ge. I'm just a mess.
"Justin isn't that... attached to me as he is with the others," Chengcheng began cautiously, eyes trained on Zhengting's reaction. "Don't you think it's kind of weird, ge?"
The elder blinked, holding a neutral expression, but eventually gave up and snorted as he bit back a chuckle.
"Chengcheng, don't you think you're overthinking?"
Chengcheng raised an eyebrow at the other and crossed his arms. "But I'm not!" he insisted. He looked so visually frustrated and it fueled Zhengting's amusement to no end.
At that moment, Chengcheng swore Zhengting knew something he didn't, just by the look on the older's face. If he's hiding something, he's doing a terrible job.
"He's always so comfortable around the other geges. To everyone! I'm literally the only person who he doesn't treat that way, ge."
"Maybe it's because he sees you more like his friend than an older figure," Zhengting tried to help, doing a terrible job at biting back a smile. It seems like Justin isn't the only baby around here.
"But how? He treats Linong like that too, and I'm older than him! He and Xukun-ge just met a few months ago, and they're already that close. I've known him for years and he's never treated me that way!" Chengcheng expressed exasperatedly, flopping himself back onto the bed as he (unpleasantly) groaned.
"Fan Chengcheng, why is this such a big deal to you in the first place?" Zhengting asked him, brushing Chengcheng's fringe away from his eyes, trying his best to keep his calm composure. "It's just Justin. He's a kid, he shouldn't be taken seriously. We all know he loves you as much as everyone else."
Having no other option, Chengcheng just sighed in defeat. "So... I'm overthinking, huh?"
Just before Zhengting could reply, a loud and rather rude disturbance flung their dorm room open, revealing Justin, Zeren, Zhenghao, Xingjie and Yanchen entering the room noisily.
"Hey, Zhengting-ge!" the talk of the town, Justin, beamed, swinging an arm around Zhengting but the latter just shoved him off. "Get off me, you smell like sweat and have popsicle juice all over your mouth! Get changed!"
"Hey," Yanchen said, handing Chengcheng and Zhengting a popsicle each. "We worked hard today. Have a popsicle!"
"Hey, Chengcheng! Huba-ge might have payed for all of that but I picked your favorite flavor," Justin told Chengcheng, hopping on the spot next to him on the bed- not before noticing the sharp glare Xingjie directed at him after the mention of the infamous nickname.
"Get off my bed, you have your own," Chengcheng whined, attempting to shoo Justin away with his (oh-so-threatening) cold strawberry popsicle.
"Don't wave that thing around, ew, the popsicle juice is dripping all over," Justin whined back, shoving Chengcheng's arm away from him, the latter snickering in response.
"We really shouldn't be eating in here, let's head out," Zhengting told the others, who proceeded to walk out of the room as they noisily chatted.
"Cheng, you coming?" Justin asked, noticing that his best friend was unmoving from his spot on the bed.
Chengcheng simply nodded, Justin replying with a blinding smile before he skipped outside, looping his arm with Zhenghao's as he happily consumed his popsicle.
"I'm probably just overthinking," Chengcheng told no one in particular once the dorm room was empty of the other members. He sighed for the nth time that day and and followed the others outside, choosing to enjoy his popsicle instead of thinking too much.
Justin eventually caught sight of him, giving him a small smile, Chengcheng giving back a smile just as sincere.
Maybe Zhengting is right, he concluded as he walked beside Zeren. Overthinking. Yeah, that's what it is.
However, Chengcheng failed to notice Zhengting give Justin a subtle wink, the latter giving his gege the stink-eye in response.
————
At this point, all Chengcheng could do was overthink.
It was nearly three in the morning, and he was left restless thanks to the thoughts that couldn't seem to leave him alone.
He and his fellow Nine Percent members had a trip to Shanghai for a fan meeting several hours from then so he knew had to rest up- but he just couldn't seem to fall asleep.
During that day, they were practicing for their upcoming fan meeting performances. Practice was tiring but nevertheless, it was fun as always- but he couldn't seem to focus properly knowing that his co-member-slash-supposed-best-friend was blatanly ignoring him.
"Chengcheng, you good?" Xukun, being the responsible leader he was, went up and checked on him after they were done with one round of the dance.
"I'm alright, ge. Just tired," He half-heartedly lied, giving him a smile.
"You sure?"
"Yeah, positive."
Xukun handed him a bottle of water and a pat on the back before he walked off, and Chengcheng's eyes wandered to where Justin was. The two had painfully awkward eye contact before Justin cleared his throat and broke his gaze away, starting a conversation with Ziyi who happened to be beside him.
Chengcheng groaned at the awkward memory, uncomfortably shifting and turning under the covers of his bed. He hopelssly racked his brains for any other possible reason to why Justin started shutting him out, but unfortunately, nothing came to mind.
They were both fine during their first week in the Nine Percent dorms. But days passed, and Chengcheng started hear various reasons from Justin as to why they couldn't hang out, or even see each other. "Sorry, I had to go with Zhengting-gege to the grocery store." "Not today Cheng, I promised Linong that we'd watch this movie today." "Maybe next time, Yanjun-ge and I are gonna-"
Chengcheng got sick of it. Eventually, Justin stopped interacting with him altogether. He probably thought it would be easier to avoid me than to keep bullshitting his way out of meeting me.
Sometimes, Zhangjing would ask him if he and Justin were alright. Sometimes Xukun would too, or even Yanjun who couldn't really care less about some petty teenage fight. But Chengcheng would always smile through his lies as he assured his geges that everything was fine, just like the good didi he was.
"You're thinking too loud."
The voice of Chengcheng's roommate suddenly broke his train of thought, snapping him back into the present.
It was currently dark inside he and Linkai's room, considering the fact that it was nearly three in the morning.
"You're awake?" Chengcheng groggily asked.
"With all the shuffling you've been doing in that bed, how the hell do you expect me to stay awake?" Linkai replied calmly, despite the hostility of his words.
"You've been pretty out of it lately, Chengcheng. A penny for thoughts? Come on, roommate to roommate. Tell a bro what's going through that head of yours."
Chengcheng rolled his eyes. "I'd rather not," he scoffed. "Knowing you, you'd probably laugh."
Linkai gasped, feigning hurt. "I'm not that bad!" He dramatically replied, drawing a slight chuckle out of Chengcheng. "You promise you won't laugh?"
"Just get on with it. I promise," the other replied. Chengcheng breathed in.
"It's Justin."
"What, you finally decided to confess?" Linkai replied unamusedly.
"Confess? Linkai- I don't even like him that way," Chengcheng responded, not at all liking at how unsure those words sounded. "You didn't even let me finish!"
"Oh, so that's not what this is about?"
"Obviously!"
"Well," Linkai replied, and Chengcheng could literally hear the smirk from his voice. "Go on, then."
"As I was saying," Chengcheng continued, "I kind of have this problem with Justin. He's been acting as if I didn't exist, and only God knows why. It's been frustrating me for weeks on end."
And that, my friends, is when Linkai broke his promise.
"Oh, he is?" Linkai tried to say between his boisterous laughter- wait, why is he even laughing in the first place? Chengcheng thought, clearly confused.
"He wouldn't laugh, he said. He promised, he said," Chengcheng deadpanned, crossing his arms.
"I'm sorry, I just-" Linkai wiped a single tear, "Justin. Justin, Justin, Justin. He's such a fucking coward."
"What? I don't get it, are you and Zhengting in cahoots or something? Because he's been acting weird around me all week," Chengcheng accused his roommate. "What do you two know that I don't?"
"That isn't my place to tell," Linkai simply responded. "Anyway, Cheng, we better hit the hay. Wouldn't wanna be all bag-eyed and sleep-deprived during our fan meet, now wouldn't we? Night!"
"Hey, you can't just leave me hanging like that!" The younger whined, but he only got the sound of Linkai's loud, fake snores in reply.
"Impossible. You're impossible," Chengcheng stated as he lazily got off his bed, blindly reaching for the door knob amidst the darkness of the room. "I'm getting a glass of water. Sweet dreams, fucker."
————
Chengcheng proceeded to the dorm's kitchen, pretending not to notice You Zhangjing sneakily slither away from the refrigerator and back to his and Lin Yanjun's room with an armful of snacks.
After pouring himself a glass of water and having a drink, he almost proceeded to walk back to where his room was, until he caught sight of something- no, someone else inside the kitchen.
"Justin."
Said boy jumped in surprise, dropping the bag of potato chips he stole from one of the cupboards. "You're up early," Chengcheng stated after absorbing the younger's shocked expression.
He barely even noticed Justin's presence in the kitchen, not until he turned around and saw him snatching a bag of chips, which he recalled, (after glancing at them briefly) belonged to Zhengting.
"Chengcheng," Justin replied with an awkward chuckle as he twiddled with the hem of his shirt, the pack of potato chips long forgotten on the kitchen's cold floor. "Hi."
"Hi," Chengcheng replied, almost sarcastically, setting his empty glass on the kitchen counter. "Long time no see."
"What are you talking about? We live together," was Justin's reply, trying his best to remain unaffected.
Chengcheng raised an eyebrow. "Sure doesn't feel like it, since you've been avoiding me like the plague for weeks."
Justin gulped as he wiped his sweaty palms on his pajama pants. "We both have to get going, you know. It's really late."
"What, so you can get back to avoiding me the next day? What's up with that?" Chengcheng scoffed.
"No! You've got it all wrong," Justin blurted, slapping a hand over his mouth immediately. He then heaved a sigh and ruffled his own hair in frustration. "I'm fucking sleepy, Chengcheng. Can't we deal with this tomorrow?"
Chengcheng started to grow irritated. The nerve-
"You're not going anywhere. You and I both aren't leaving this kitchen until I don't get an explanation, and that's final," Chengcheng told the younger as he watched him look more uncomfortable as the seconds passed.
Justin felt the heat spread across his face as Chengcheng continued to stare him down, Justin settling to glare holes into the kitchen floor's patterned tiles instead.
"I don't really think t-this is the right time and place to tell y-"
"Just get it over with, Stin. I'm sick of feeling guilty over something I didn't know I did, because who the hell knows the reason you're avoiding me for, right?" Chengcheng stated sarcastically, and that's when Justin knew he had enough.
"Alright, fine," Justin stated, his lips pressed into a thin line. "You wanna know? You wanna know why I'm avoiding you so badly? It's because I can't stand you. I might not be able to control myself I stayed near you any longer."
Chengcheng stared back at the younger dumbly, trying to process what he just heard. "You... what? I don't get it."
Despite the kitchen's dim lighting, Justin's continuously reddening face was more than visible. "This is getting harder to say! Stop looking at me like that!"
"Looking at you like what?" Chengcheng responded, starting to get genuinely confused.
"Fuck it, I like you! I really, really like you," Justin said in one breath, eyes darting in every direction.
"I- I panic around you a lot, okay? I always do! Ever since we first met back in Korea! This is why I don't really..." Justin trailed off, his voice becoming even softer. "I don't really cling to you as much as I cling to the other geges. If I did, I would've just let myself go and would've probably kissed you ages ago."
Chengcheng blinked dumbly, processing the information he had just received.
So... he doesn't hate me.
Justin continued, "You're probably thinking that you've done something wrong. S-sorry for making you go through all that, Chengcheng. Let's just skip the part where you painfully reject me since that's already bound to happen."
Chengcheng wordlessly blinked several times again, and then cleared his throat.
"Okay."
"Is that really all you have to say? Okay?" Justin stated incredulously, groaning. "After everything I just s-"
The next thing Chengcheng found himself doing was pushing Justin against the wooden wall of the kitchen, trapping him between the two arms that he held against the wall. He had no idea what on Earth possessed him to do so, but it just felt right.
"What did you say you'd do if you lost control of yourself around me?"
Justin's eyes widened, the heat on his face spreading like wildfire, his heart literally banging against his ribcage.
"I..." He gulped, "I said I would've ki-"
Justin was interrupted by a pair of warm lips pressed against his own.
His mind short circuited at that very moment as his heartbeat accelerated, still absorbing the moment as he tried to fully process that Chengcheng was indeed kissing him.
Their kiss was everything soft; it was warm and brought butterflies to Justin's stomach. Chengcheng pulled away, his lips forming a cheeky smile.
"Now you have a free pass to cling to me whenever you want to. Sound good?"
Justin just blinked in response, wordlessly watching Chengcheng walk out of the kitchen and into the hallway, back to were the rooms were.
Justin, who was still in a state of shock, brushed a finger against his lips.
That happened, he thought to himself.
That really happened.
————
It was seven in the morning, and Chengcheng was surpisingly up early.
"What's for breakfast?" he asked, taking a seat between Justin and Linkai at the table.
"Cheng!" Justin beamed as he engulfed Chengcheng into a tight hug, earning strange looks from their other members. "Zhengting-ge and Xukun-ge are still making breakfast. They'll probably be done soon, though."
"Uh," Yanjun decided to speak up as he looked at Justin's sudden actions, fully aware that the two weren't on the best terms. "What's all that?"
"What's all what?" Justin replied cluelessly, resting his head on Chengcheng's shoulder, the elder leaning into Justin's figure.
Zhangjing coughed awkwardly, looking at the two. "Never mind," he replied for Yanjun.
"Isn't Justin just naturally a clingy person?" Linkai chimed in as he gave Chengcheng a wink. "He's always like this."
A smirk formed on Justin's lips, cuddling further into the crook of Chengcheng's neck. "Yeah, I am. I'm in a great mood; nice dorm, nice members, nice boyfriend. Right, Cheng?"
Ziyi choked on his coffee at the mention of the word boyfriend, while Linkai and Justin proceeded to cackle loudly at everyone's mortified reactions.
"Yeah," Chengcheng agreed, intertwining he and Justin's hands under the dining table.
"Right."
————
( "Finally grew some balls, eh, Stin-ah?"
"Shut the fuck up, Jungjung."
"That's hyung to you, brat."
Xukun groaned. "I don't understand a word you two are saying but you better not be talking shit about me behind my back." )