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It happened on a night like any other.
While going through his bedtime routine, Gyuvin noticed that Ricky was having a hard time unwinding after another busy day of preparing for their debut. Since removing his makeup, he'd just been sitting at the foot of his bed, going down a rabbit hole of infinite scrolling on his phone.
Gyuvin could make an educated guess about what was going on in Ricky’s head for him to have ended up that way. His mind was going in circles, filled with aimless, nagging thoughts that wouldn’t let him relax. But luckily, Gyuvin had a tried-and-true method for helping Ricky out of an endless loop of overthinking. He knew that if he simply bothered Ricky enough, he'd eventually be the only thing left on his mind, and as a natural consequence there wouldn’t be room for anything else.
With that goal in mind, Gyuvin walked over to Ricky and held his palm out. "Let's take a little break from that, yeah?"
Ricky looked up with a start, but his surprised expression gave way to a grateful one as soon as their eyes met.
“Ugh, yeah. You can have it,” Ricky said, handing his phone into Gyuvin’s awaiting hand. He tossed it onto his own bed, out of Ricky’s reach.
“Busy brain?” Gyuvin asked. He wanted to make sure he’d been reading things correctly before jumping into action.
“The usual, nothing of substance,” Ricky replied.
“Well, I happen to have just the cure for you,” Gyuvin said, unable to hold back his grin as he prepared to launch his plan.
Gyuvin caught a glimpse of a dawning look of realisation on Ricky’s face right before he tackled him into bed, although careful not to land onto him with his full weight. Ricky fell back with a soft yelp, but when Gyuvin sat up straight – still on top of Ricky – his eyes were already crinkling into a fond smile.
Not wasting any time, Gyuvin moved on to the main phase of his plan: tickling Ricky.
Ricky's smile only widened as he began deflecting Gyuvin's hands before they could ever touch him, making cute little disgruntled noises with his every move. Though as usual, Ricky’s attempts at defence were clearly not serious, and turned even more half-hearted as their grappling settled into a familiar rhythm. It was easy for Gyuvin to find an opening after that, and so, it didn’t take long for uncontainable giggles to be streaming out of Ricky’s mouth as he was squirming beneath Gyuvin, hardly bothering to go after his hands anymore.
Seeing how pink Ricky’s face was starting to turn as he was gasping for air between bursts of laughter, Gyuvin paused his tickles to give him a moment to breathe freely. But Ricky had seemingly been waiting for him to lower his guard, so that he could overturn the situation. Gyuvin had barely even realised what was happening when Ricky had already managed to wrestle his way on top instead, grinning as he straddled Gyuvin's waist and started retaliating with his own gentle tickle attacks.
Having been taken by surprise, Gyuvin was completely useless at deflecting Ricky, always hopelessly late to wherever his hands had travelled to. In no time, he was left wriggling on the bed, breathless from uncontrollable laughter as Ricky's fingers continuously found their way to all of his most ticklish spots.
It didn’t feel like much of a loss to Gyuvin, though. When it came to Ricky, there never really was one.
There was, however, a limit to how much tickling Gyuvin could take.
"Okay, okay!" he squawked out, when the constant barrage of affectionate touches was starting to approach the line between enjoyable skinship and overwhelming stimulation.
Ricky’s attacks ceased immediately, his expression softening as his hands came to a stop on Gyuvin's rib cage. While Gyuvin was still catching his breath, Ricky watched him in silence, slowly caressing his palms over some of the same spots where he’d just been tickling him. Ricky had a gentle look in his eyes, one that Gyuvin had started noticing around the time they'd moved into their new dorm, but hadn’t quite been able to decipher what the emotion behind it could be.
"I... really needed this," Ricky murmured.
“I know,” Gyuvin replied, smiling up at him. Once again, his method had been successful.
Returning the smile, Ricky cupped Gyuvin’s face and leaned down to meet him in an unhurried kiss. Gyuvin was happy to reciprocate, matching Ricky's languid pace as he wrapped his arms around him. Feeling Ricky brush his cheeks with his thumbs, Gyuvin practically melted from the tender gesture, sinking further into the mattress.
"Mmh… We should sleep, yuānjia," Ricky mumbled against Gyuvin’s lips, planting one more kiss on them before starting to withdraw.
Gyuvin nodded in agreement, letting go of Ricky so he could straighten up again. That was when the unfamiliar word caught his attention.
"Yuān...jia?" Gyuvin questioned, sounding out the two halves. The way Ricky had said it had made it seem like a term of endearment, but Gyuvin couldn't figure out if it actually was one or not. "What's that?"
"It's... kind of an old-fashioned pet name, but I think it's really cute, for us," Ricky replied, averting his gaze like he was suddenly feeling embarrassed about it.
"Okay, gotcha... So what does it mean?" Gyuvin asked. Ricky's shyness had certainly made him even more curious.
"It has a double meaning," Ricky began. He was starting to seem uncharacteristically nervous, especially for the casual conversation they were having. "Depending on the context, yuānjia can mean 'enemy' or 'foe'..."
Gyuvin huffed out a surprised laugh. "Oh, it's definitely made for us, then. Cute already."
"Right?" Ricky replied, looking happy.
Gyuvin figured that must have been why Ricky had gotten so strange about translating the word. He'd just been worried about potentially hurting his feelings, even if their relationship dynamic and boundaries were very clear to both of them after years of push, pull and communication.
But no.
Even after a positive response, Ricky still wouldn't quite maintain eye contact. His gaze kept flitting around Gyuvin's face like they were back to being trainees, dancing around their hidden feelings.
"...What's the other meaning?" Gyuvin asked carefully, stroking Ricky’s thighs to try and help him feel more at ease. He couldn't even begin to imagine what the second half of the translation might be, if it was causing Ricky to act so shy.
Ricky inhaled slowly and closed his eyes, clearly preparing for something. Seeing that, Gyuvin could feel himself starting to get vicariously nervous, too.
Then Ricky spoke, opening his eyes to meet Gyuvin's without a trace of his earlier hesitation. "Yuānjia can also mean 'sweetheart', and 'one's destined love'."
Gyuvin's breath caught in his lungs as he processed the unexpected, indirect confession.
"You- Are you saying what I think you're saying…?" he asked. It came out airy, almost nothing but a whisper.
"What do you think I'm saying?" Ricky asked in return, though it looked like he definitely knew what the answer to his question was.
"That you're in love with me," Gyuvin replied regardless, his heart leaping in his chest.
"Of course I am," Ricky said softly. "I love you, Shim Gyuvin."
Tears were welling up in Gyuvin's eyes before he’d even gotten his reply out, brows contorting with emotion. "I- I love you too, Kim Ricky."
With a small smile, Ricky began wiping Gyuvin's tears away with his sleeve. Gyuvin noticed the gentle look in his eyes again, except this time he had no doubts as to what feeling it was reflecting.
"Love you so much," Ricky hummed. "Love how you feel so strongly and let me see all of it. Love how you always know to bother me when I need a distraction. Love how you care so much about everyone around you, how you-"
"Sto-stop it, you're gonna make me cry even more," Gyuvin protested weakly. "I don’t wanna be all puffy in the morning."
"...you have such a big heart," Ricky finished, still smiling even as his own eyes began to grow glossy with unshed tears. "I'm just speaking truths, yuānjia."
Hearing the term of endearment again, Gyuvin couldn’t help but think about how Ricky must have been carrying it in his heart for some time already. Privately calling Gyuvin by it in his head to test it out, just for himself to hear. Solidifying its significance every single time, while waiting for the right moment to speak it out loud.
"How long has it been?" Gyuvin murmured. Only after the words had left his mouth did he realise that Ricky hadn’t been privy to his exact train of thought.
"I'm not sure," Ricky responded, his expression taking on a hint of sadness. "I feel like I didn't really... allow myself to think about the true depth of my feelings until we were set to debut together. Everything was so chaotic and uncertain during all those months before it."
"It... would've hurt a lot more to acknowledge the truth of it, and then get separated after that, yeah," Gyuvin replied quietly. Even just the thought of it had him blinking back a fresh wave of tears.
"But we made it. Together," Ricky said, bringing Gyuvin back into the present moment. "And that finally allowed me to notice."
"I know what you mean. Things feel so much more stable now," Gyuvin replied. "Like it's safe to love you this much, and finally let it be part of who I am."
Ricky nodded in response, his lips trembling and twisting minutely before tears started falling from his eyes, quickly soaking through the front of Gyuvin's shirt.
Like they were one mind, Gyuvin wrapped Ricky in his embrace again, just as he dove down to bury his face in the crook of Gyuvin's neck. He was shaking just a little, sniffling next to Gyuvin's ear.
"I love you so much," Gyuvin said softly, tightening his hold on Ricky. He responded with a quiet, incoherent sob, nodding against Gyuvin's shoulder.
"I know," Gyuvin hummed, stroking Ricky's back. "I know."
Holding him close, Gyuvin could feel the tension leaving Ricky's body as his sniffles quietened down, slowly but surely replaced by calm, steady breaths.
"I guess we're both gonna be looking puffy tomorrow..." Ricky mumbled, sounding sleepy.
"Couple look," Gyuvin said, smiling when he heard a quiet chuckle from Ricky. It felt suspiciously like he was wiping his nose on Gyuvin’s shirt, but he really couldn’t bring himself to care about something so trivial.
"Wanna sleep in the same bed tonight?" Gyuvin asked.
"Mm-hmm. I was just about to ask you," Ricky replied. "But let's get a bit more comfy first, though."
"Of course," Gyuvin agreed. Their feet were dangling off the edge of the bed, and Ricky's comforter had bunched up beneath them during their tickle fight.
It didn't take long to sort out though, Gyuvin joining Ricky under the covers after grabbing a pillow for himself.
Ricky wrapped him up in his arms, wordlessly inviting Gyuvin to snuggle into his chest. And Gyuvin did, curling up against Ricky as he brought one of his thighs between Gyuvin’s knees, slotting their legs together. It was always a bit cramped in a single bed with how tall they both were, but some nights just couldn't be spent apart.
"Good night, Qubing," Ricky said quietly, pressing a kiss to his hair.
"Sweet dreams," Gyuvin replied. "My yuānjia.”