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yuma and jo waved their hands to bid their goodbyes to the crowd full of lunés after yet another successful fansign event for this new era. they even giggled when maki immediately ran back to the stage to return a headband with cat ears that he almost took home from the table in the middle of the stage.
after exiting the venue, yuma suddenly looked at jo intently, as if saying something only with his gaze. jo, even though it took him a moment to realize, stared back at yuma and immediately giggled upon realizing what yuma was about to talk about.
"please believe us, huh?" yuma said, followed by a burst of laughter, which jo responded to with a giggle. "brings back memories, don't you think?" jo says with his usual calm yet deep voice as they continue to exit the premises of the building.
this came up because a luné brought in matching shirts as a prop for them to wear during the fansign. they thought they were just plain white tees with memes or their baby pics printed on the front, but instead, the words *‘we're close, please believe us’* were written on them.
upon reaching the parking lot, the rest of the group immediately went looking for their respective vehicles to head back to their dorms. they're glad that they're going home relatively early today, even after performing on music bank and then heading straight to their fansign event afterward.
jo, with his almighty height, was helping their manager look around for the plate number of their van when yuma suddenly held his wrist tightly. they were walking too fast, and jo wasn’t looking at the pavement they were walking on, and yuma wanted to make sure he'd be alright.
maybe it was a force of habit, or just part of his gentle nature, but it felt natural for jo to slide his hand down against yuma's and intertwine their fingers instead. he immediately looked down, and yuma was smiling ear to ear at him, which he immediately returned with a soft smile. "look where you're going, clumsy."
the statement made jo laugh a bit. it may have sounded like yuma was teasing him, but he knew it was said out of concern. he nodded and continued to look around the parking lot before he suddenly called out to their manager to point at the white van not too far from where they were standing.
jo remembered he and yuma were in different vans this morning on the way to their schedule—just a random arrangement their managers had come up with, since they’re not really assigned to specific members.
he then mentally prepared himself to say goodbye to yuma, but just as he was about to open his mouth and face him, yuma was already looking at him, with the softest expression and a slight pout on his pink lips.
"let me sit beside you on the way home, please? i already exchanged vans with fuma hyung earlier."
jo wouldn't admit it, but the sight almost made his heart drop. he may not say it, but his ears always betray him at times like this. he nodded again and smiled at yuma to assure him before he held his hand tighter and spoke softly. "sure thing, yuma hyung. you can sit beside me."
yuma was about to giggle upon hearing the honorific but managed to hold it in as they slowly entered the vehicle. jo headed in first and was about to sit in the front when yuma tugged his hand and used his head to signal for them to sit in the seat at the very back of the van.
k was there with them and looked at them conspicuously when they suddenly halted as jo changed direction to walk toward the back seat instead. he was about to question the delay—and why yuma was suddenly inside their van—but decided to shrug it off because he just wanted to rest and maybe sleep on the way back.
they managed to get the seats at the back all to themselves as k, maki, harua, and their manager quickly filled up the seats in front and in the middle row of the vehicle. the manager then asked if it would be alright to turn off the lights, which all of them agreed to because they wanted to rest during the trip.
you can't blame them—as the trip back was so tranquil, only the sounds of the van moving and the city lights slightly peeking through the tinted windows could be perceived inside. in the middle of the comforting silence, yuma suddenly spoke up, still holding jo's hand tightly.
"it's funny if you think about it, they think we're still awkward with each other," yuma said in a calm, almost whispering voice. his gaze was fixated on the buildings they were passing, and he smiled upon hearing jo slightly laughing at what he said.
"i think that's on us. we were really awkward during our first year as members, you know?" jo responded and shook his head as he giggled again, reminiscing about the time when he and yuma wouldn’t even talk to each other without a necessary reason.
this made yuma think about those times, too, when even the smallest skinship with jo would bother him because he was afraid they weren’t close enough to do any of that. "now, that's mostly your fault. you're too silent when you're with me," yuma replied, but kept his sullen and calm tone.
"to be fair, i'm silent with everyone. but i tried my best to get to know you, hyung." jo used his thumb to caress the back of yuma's hand as he held it gently and looked at him dearly. the light from the buildings outside was enough for him to catch a glimpse of yuma's pretty face.
he really thinks yuma is pretty—even at first glance, even the moment they first met. but he got to appreciate it more now that he got to know the person beside him personally, even deeply.
admittedly, they were aware they weren’t the best of friends when their team was formed. they had different friends during the show, and when the final lineup was announced, they were just too happy to debut to think about such trivial stuff. it’s not like they hadn’t had any interactions before that, so a part of them felt assured they’d get along, at least.
but now, they’ve grown much closer to each other. no more dead air when talking to each other alone. no more flinching when they accidentally touched. most importantly, no more uncomfortable awkwardness, even if it's just the two of them in a room.
maybe they’ve grown too close—but who cares about that? even the two of them don’t care. getting to know each other more seems like one of the best things they’ve done—not just for the sake of their group, but for themselves, too. so who cares if they are too close?
they don't care now when their arms brush against each other as jo slightly leans toward yuma’s direction.
they don't care now that they are staring right into each other’s eyes after yuma looked back at him.
they don't care that their faces are dangerously close to each other.
lastly, they don't care now that their lips are softly touching.
they both closed their eyes and tightened their hands around each other when the moment came. their hearts felt like fireworks—exploding with different colors and emotions as they felt each other’s lips—while wrapped in comforting silence, with only the bright city lights outside giving them enough vision to see each other.
it was jo who pulled away first, opening his eyes with a smile and a soft expression across his face. yuma followed suit and stared back at jo with the same soft expression, clearly adoring him before whispering,
"i'm glad i get to know you more every day, my jo," he whispered, and jo swore yuma's eyes held the whole universe at that moment. he continued to caress yuma's hand with his thumb as they kept the short gap between their faces.
"thank you for letting me inside your heart, hyung," jo replied, his tone as calming and as sweet as ever—and yuma just fell deeper for it every single day. both of their hearts were thumping loudly, and they felt each other’s hands warming up from what just happened.
yuma was leaning closer for another kiss when they suddenly heard maki coughing loudly. they immediately turned their gaze to his direction but still found him sleeping, which made both of them cackle from their synced reaction. jo shook his head a bit.
"later, yuma hyung. i will give you all the kisses you want... after you convince k hyung and nicholas hyung to switch rooms with you," jo said, a hint of teasing obvious in his tone. he thought convincing both k and nicholas to share a room with taki instead would be the hardest thing to do.
"and what if i say i already did that?"
this made jo widen his eyes a bit in disbelief, which made yuma laugh lowly. "now, you’ll give me the kisses i want, as you promised."
jo nodded and laughed with yuma before pausing as he felt the latter suddenly steal a quick peck on his lips. this made him squeeze yuma’s hand before using his other hand to mess up his hair a bit. "be grateful i'm in love with you."
yuma squeezed jo's hand back as he tried to hold in a louder laugh from jo’s reaction, eventually nodding his head before leaning in to place a soft kiss on his boyfriend’s nose. "i love you too, jojo. i love you a lot."