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Returning home without fanfare and having snacked on the way, Yunho headed straight to his room and stripped off his clothes. Soaked with both sweat and rain they squelched wetly onto the floor of his bathroom. About to step into the shower he recalled needing to replace the conditioner his bleached and color treated hair required. Tomorrow he would need to remember to buy more but for tonight he knew where to find some. Pulling a towel around his waist he walked over to Yeosang’s bedroom where he heard the shower running. As the guys freely did with each other he pushed into the bathroom past the closed door.
Sliding the curtain aside, momentum carried his hand into the shower reaching for the conditioner while asking to borrow it already knowing Yeosang’s answer would be yes. Before his mind could catch up with his mouth he changed the question to “Why do these look like my clothes on the counter?” He then noticed a second set on the floor. Your clothes. The split attention led him to not register that the opaque curtain had earlier obscured a single body both shorter and wider than Yeosang’s. The yelp of surprise he heard quickly pulled his attention around to the revelation of your naked body before him.
In the kitchen the dance party continued blissfully unaware of what was going on behind the adjoining wall. Jongho asked if anybody heard some noise over the music. “Do you think she’s okay or needs something from us?”
Seonghwa reassured him, “I’m sure she’s fine. I’m not gonna go in there to ask. Unless I hear a body slip and fall I’m not risking it.”
Inside the shower you’d been pumping hard for a while, tiring of the vigorous activity. You thought to yourself, “come on, come on, come on, just give me a little something,” then thrilled when you finally got an amount of fluid out. Coming into your hand with a forceful splurt, your palm was now laden with a long, viscous streak and you felt powerful at the conquest.
It really wasn’t that big a deal but it felt like one to you. The salon sized shampoo bottle had seemed almost empty but you had hoped to find enough to get the chicken grease smell out of your hair without having to unscrew the pump top and shake water around the bottle. The nozzle had probably been caked up with solidified shampoo causing you to put forth so much effort. Distracted by your victory you had not clearly grasped the situation when Yunho flung the bathroom door open and began his question.
Seeing a large hand intrude into the shower accompanied by his distinct voice, you thrust your own hands out in a ‘stop’ gesture and a yell of surprise. Time froze and so did your bodies as you stared at each other trying to comprehend what was going on.
Yunho watched the clearish, whitish streak on one palm ooze casually down toward your wrist. Shaking the stupor off, but without the judgment that this conversation could happen at a better time, he asked, “What are you doing here?” Arriving at a seemingly reasonable conclusion he confidently offered with a knowing look, “Oh! Is Yeosang in there with you?” Yunho began to tilt his head into the shower looking for your expected companion.
Coming to the the realization that he was playing around like you were just one of the guys he blanched. “That’s absolutely none of my business, I’ll leave you two alone.” With a clearer mind he would have figured out this was the point to tactfully make an exit. Instead, shaking his head at how inappropriately he had behaved, he remained fixed to the spot and began to apologize profusely to both people he thought were present.
“Hold on. Thank you, but don’t worry, I am in here alone.” As his eyes remained on your streaked hand questioningly you reassured him that there was no way he could’ve known you were going to be there due to the storm. Offering the coated palm you encouraged him to sniff the material in your hand. Warily, still expecting an altogether different scent, you could see it dawn on him that the creamy line was merely the coconut shampoo Yeosang favored.
This steamy conversation was occurring with you casually standing there naked, the curtain half drawn and warm water still hitting your back. Despite the situation you were completely at ease having recently grown fond of hiking trips to hot springs with other friends that culminated in all-gender nude soaks and that’s what you told him. “So you see, my outstretched hands were a quick reaction hoping to spare you embarrassment from the situation.”
You resumed pounding away on the bottle plunger and eked out a little more shampoo. Sudsing your hair the conversation continued with him requesting the conditioner until Yunho noticed you wincing from a shoulder movement.
“I must have overdid it fighting the bottle with my good arm. I’d already been body-slammed today on an earlier delivery and the jarring of the motorbike didn’t help my shoulder any either. Somebody must’ve been really late for something. I am lucky it was leaving the delivery address instead of with my hands full when I went down.”
With a sympathetic look, Yunho offered assistance, leaning in and getting slightly wet. This close he could see you did have a large bruise coming on at the shoulder. Probably your knees too but his eyes remained firmly at head level.
“Honestly, I would appreciate help a lot. It’s been a long day.”
He retreated back from getting splashed. “You know what? This water from the shower head is going to run straight down me to soak my towel and the tiles. I might as well just get in there too so I don’t flood Yeosang’s floor. I was already on the way into a shower, I only needed the conditioner from this bathroom. If you don’t mind,” he asked while gesturing to the towel, “I will just jump in with you. As a friend. Like at the hot springs,” he added quickly.
“I would be completely fine with that and the help would be really welcomed.”
Removing the towel from his waist he put it on the counter beside the borrowed clothes then stepped into the shower.
You were genuinely touched by his offer and the trust contained within it. Turning to face the water again and leaving him some privacy at your back he began to work his fingers into your soapy hair. Yunho’s gentle touch relaxed you so much that you emitted a long, slow groan of pleasure. “I can do your back too, if you want,” he prompted.
“You are doing what to her where?” San poked his head in the door surprised by the deep voice he had heard and two silhouettes behind the curtain. “We got worried how long she was taking and nobody else was brave enough to check. Looks like you were already being taken care of. I’ll leave you two to it then.”
“It is just nudity between friends like at the hot springs or a sauna,” Yunho called, “not what it looks like.”
“Or what it sounded like?” San countered with a snicker.
“Her shoulder is hurt and I was just helping.”
San’s concern was evident in his change of tone. “I can bring you a pain pill for muscle ache if that would help. It is just over the counter stuff from the pharmacy.”
“Yes, please. I’ll be out in a moment once I rinse off.” You finished quickly after mutually beneficial back scrubs using your unimpaired arm and made sure to voice your gratitude to Yunho for all his help. “Thank you, kind sir.”
“Oh really, Sir is it now? You can call me that.” Then eyes wide open he suddenly became serious. “I overstepped with the joking, didn’t I?”
You stood there naked as the water splashed your back. “You are good with me. I thought it was funny. Playful words are fine. It is joking touching that I am not up for. That would be weird to me. Our hugs are great but please, nothing like a kiss or surprise breast grab to watch me startle. A good guideline is not to touch me anywhere you would not touch your members.”
“You have seen us play Twister, right? But yes, I understand what you mean and agree those are good boundaries for both of us.” Looking down at himself Yunho sheepishly added, “I can’t believe we are having this conversation nude. At first I thought it was an ace thing on your part but I guess everybody is capable of non-sexual nakedness. In our business I forget skin isn’t just for enticement. Then again, we manage to change costumes in front of each other all the time without batting an eye so I should already know it is possible.”
He helped pat you dry and dress in the loaned clothes with careful attention to your shoulder injury. Emerging from Yeosang’s bathroom you gratefully discovered the non-prescription medication and glass of water left on the dresser. As Yunho dashed out only in a towel to change in his own room you wondered how much San had reported back to the others in the dorm. As innocent as it was, being naked with a member alone was not the reputation you wanted among these friends.
Confirming your worry, San came into the kitchen delighted to bring the news. “They might be a while.”
“They?” multiple people questioned.
Mingi was the first to understand. “Like new pronouns, they? I knew our delivery girl, er, person now is agender but went by she and her but that must have changed.”
“New pronoun drop!” Wooyoung enthused. “We can roll with it.”
“Oh yeah, good to be reminded about the agender thing but no, that is not why. No pronoun change that I know of.” San excitedly delivered the vital piece of information, “I say ‘they’ because Yunho is home and he is in the shower with her.”
Now everybody present asked, “What?”
“They, the two of them, say it is all innocent like at the hot springs and I have chosen to believe them. Now that I am done starting rumors in my own home I should add that she got a nasty bruise on her shoulder today and he was helping wash her hair. I left some medicine to take but be gentle and lay off the hugging tonight.”