i'll melt you down
group: iKON
pairing: jinhwan/junhwe (junhwan)
rating: pg
genre: lame fluff
word count: ~3k
warnings: i'm still really bad at writing fluff
a/n: happy (belated) birthday, jinhwan. i honestly have no idea what the hell this fic is supposed to be, honestly. so have some weird random jinhwan birthday fic?? title is from hyuna's ice cream for no other reason than the fact that there's ice cream in the fic lol. it's 3am, forgive me.
If there’s one thing Junhoe’s bad at, it’s interpersonal relationships.
He knows full well he’s often abrasive and insensitive, but he can’t help it - doing anything remotely cheesy sends shivers up his spine and renders him utterly useless. He prefers simple, low-maintenance relationships with people, because then he doesn’t have to worry much about screwing up.
Unfortunately, even the lowest-maintenance of relationships often involve giving gifts.
To be specific to the current situation, birthday gifts.
Junhoe has encountered the passing of everyone’s birthdays at least once during his trainee days, but he’s gotten no better at choosing gifts.
He’s never bought or done much for most of the members. Although Bobby and Hanbin are easy enough to buy things for, Junhoe thinks they have enough and doesn’t feel the need to use up his money on them. He usually buys Yunhyeong and Donghyuk food, because he’s not too sure what kind of material goods they’re interested in, even after living with them for over two years. For Chanwoo’s first birthday with the group, he’d just piggybacked on the rest of the group’s gift of assorted brand-name clothes, despite not having actually given any monetary contribution.
But Jinhwan…
This is the second of Jinhwan’s birthdays that Junhoe will encounter, and to put it simply, he’s got no idea what to do - other than to make it a lot better than the first, during which Junhoe tripped over one of Hanbin’s snapbacks and sent the cake flying into Jinhwan’s face.
(Junhoe is still offended that Hanbin went to check on the snapback and Jinhwan before checking on him, but anyways.)
Junhoe’s got other motivations for wanting to make this a little more special for Jinhwan, too.
It’s no secret among the group that Junhoe and Jinhwan have some sort of weird bond - Jinhwan is the only member of the group that Junhoe truly, wholeheartedly likes (Donghyuk is a close second, but is still far too much of a smartass for Junhoe’s tastes), and the only member that Junhoe will actually instigate skinship with on a regular basis.
What they don’t know, though, is the reason why Junhoe struck a deal with Donghyuk to switch rooms, or why if you look closely, Jinhwan’s hands sometimes linger just a little bit longer than necessary on Junhoe’s thigh.
They don’t know that Junhoe and Jinhwan don’t actually sleep in their own bunks most nights, instead preferring to lie together in the slightly-too-small bottom bunk, Junhoe’s arms wrapped around Jinhwan’s smaller body, Jinhwan’s back pressed to his chest as their fingers tangle together, the soft puffs of their breaths in tandem.
They don’t know that Junhoe loves Jinhwan, and Jinhwan loves Junhoe.
(They suspect, probably, because neither of them are particularly subtle, but the longer Bobby refrains from teasing them, the better.)
And that is why Junhoe has absolutely no idea what to do for Jinhwan’s birthday.
It’s Jinhwan’s first since they became “official,” or as official as they could get, and Junhoe will do anything it takes to make it Jinhwan’s best birthday ever.
…is what he wanted, but that was before Bobby and Hanbin decided to monopolize Jinhwan for the entire day, dragging him out of the dorm to do who-knows-what heinous things while Junhoe sulks in bed on his iPad.
(To be accurate, it’s Jinhwan’s bed, because Junhoe can’t be bothered to go all the way up to the top bunk, and the blankets smell like Jinhwan. But details, really.)
“Mother fuckers,” Junhoe mutters as he angrily swipes away at his screen, cursing when the stupid little Disney characters just wouldn’t fucking line up.
“Junhoe, are you yelling at the Tsum Tsum game again?” Donghyuk rolls his eyes as he sticks his head in. “You do realize that the angrier you get, the more inaccurate you usually get?”
“Go away, nerd,” Junhoe grumbles, pushing his tablet to the side and rolling over so he doesn’t face the door.
He hears Donghyuk chuckle. “Are you mad that Jinhwan-hyung’s not here?”
“I’m mad that you’re here.”
Donghyuk laughs again. “You know, you’re not nearly as subtle as you think you are.”
Junhoe tenses, turning over slowly and giving Donghyuk the evil eye. “Do you have something you want to say, or are you just here to antagonize me?”
“Neither, I guess. Just that they’ll probably all be back around seven, and after we have our group celebration, we’ll all probably be pretty tired.”
Junhoe’s starting to get the gist of what Donghyuk’s trying to say, but before he can ask any more questions, Donghyuk winks and slides out of the room.
Unhelpful little git. Junhoe rolls over again, pulling Jinhwan’s blanket over his head, and wills himself to sleep. He’s needed to catch up on a lot of rest, anyway.
*
When he wakes up, the dorm is significantly darker, and the LED light on his phone is blinking.
Junhoe pulls it closer to him from its spot by his pillow and checks his notifications - to his delight, there are a string of Snapchat messages from Jinhwan.
save me
bobby actually contemplated going to a strip club
it’s 2pm none of them are even open
someone stop him
hanbins not helping
june-yah do you miss me
june-yah…
…answer your messages
Each of these are accompanied by an increasingly disgruntled and despondent looking selca - except for the last one, which looks like it was taken in a bathroom stall and Jinhwan’s making a facial expression that’s entirely too indecent.
Junhoe snaps a quick picture of his shocked face, and sends it with the caption HYUNG before opening Kakao.
mat-hyung: june-yah I thought you’d never answer
koojune: sorry I was sleeping
mat-hyung: heol
mat-hyung: that makes sense tho
koojune: will you be back soon
mat-hyung: hopefully, before the strip clubs actually do open
koojune: HYUNG
mat-hyung: it’s not my fault omg
koojune: I wanted to do something special with you
mat-hyung: like what? ;)
koojune: HYUNG
mat-hyung: calm down, june.
mat-hyung: probably in about half an hour
mat-hyung: bobby wants to buy a cake.
koojune: more sugar, just what he needs
mat-hyung: be nice, even if he’s stupid, he’s your hyung
koojune: I try. it’s difficult.
mat-hyung: bobby’s looking at me funny, I gotta go. see you later
koojune: love you hyung
mat-hyung: love you too
Junhoe puts his phone aside with a sigh as he checks the time on his phone. It’s a little after six, which means the others are probably starting to prepare Jinhwan’s birthday dinner.
Which means Yunhyeong is probably sitting by the stove, eating chips while directing Chanwoo how to cook the meat.
Junhoe’s always up for a little bit of watching the maknae get riled up, so he rolls out of bed and makes his way over to the kitchen. Chanwoo is, in fact, cooking the meat, while Donghyuk cuts the vegetables and Yunhyeong directs the whole affair, wooden spoon in hand.
“Junhoe!” Yunhyeong says once he catches sight of him, whipping around and nearly hitting Donghyuk on the head with the spoon. “You can cook the rice.”
“You haven’t started that yet?” Junhoe rolls his eyes, because the rice is going to take a lot longer to cook than the meat, but he scoops out an obscene amount from the fifty-pound bag into the rice cooker and washes it three times before putting the whole thing in.
Yunhyeong nods approvingly at him before brandishing the spoon again. “Go set the table.”
“Why are we setting the table,” Junhoe grumbles, “we’re just gonna end up sitting around the TV again.”
“We’re setting it up for me, tomorrow,” Yunhyeong says, “I fully expect the king experience.”
“Shut up,” Junhoe replies, only to get a whack to the head.
“Chop chop, maknae number two! We’ve got to get a move on.”
Junhoe seriously contemplates stabbing Yunhyeong (gently) with a pair of chopsticks, but decides it’s not worth the effort, setting down the plates and utensils down noisily on the table in the living room, arranging it somewhat decently before giving up and turning on the television to kill some time before the “three Kims” came back.
*
He hears them before he sees them, the door banging open some twenty minutes later with a loud whoop from a voice that’s unmistakably Bobby’s.
“Shut up,” he hears Hanbin say, and Junhoe silently adds a tally mark to the running list of how many times Hanbin’s actually done something to stop Bobby’s stupidity.
“Go to the living room,” he hears Yunhyeong tell them, and he switches off the television when he hears the thuds of three pairs of footsteps.
“Koo Junhoe! What a pleasure it is!” Bobby crows, immediately sidling up to him on the couch. Junhoe cringes, eyes immediately flicking up to Jinhwan to save him. Jinhwan chuckles, rolling his eyes at Bobby as he settles down on the other side of Junhoe.
“Go antagonize Donghyuk or something,” Jinhwan says, as Hanbin breathes a sigh of relief and Bobby gets a horrible glint in his eye before running off to the kitchen.
Hanbin stands awkwardly at the side of the table for a bit, eyes darting between Junhoe and Jinhwan before he clears his throat and excuses himself, muttering something about helping to carry dishes out.
Once he’s out of sight, Junhoe breathes a sigh of relief, sinking into Jinhwan’s side as the older rests his head on Junhoe’s shoulder.
“Missed me?” Jinhwan teases, nuzzling his cheek on the fabric of Junhoe’s t-shirt. Junhoe pokes Jinhwan in the ribs, pouting when he springs up to glare at the younger.
“All day,” he sighs in mock-exasperation, “how could you do that to me?”
Jinhwan scoots closer, close enough to press a soft kiss to Junhoe’s jawline. “It’s kind of hard to do anything else when two crazy teenagers bodily drag you out of a building.”
“True.” Junhoe presses a kiss to Jinhwan’s forehead, stilling for a moment before jerking back. He’s still not good with tender displays of affection, and he wills the redness to subside from his face before the others come back. Jinhwan merely pats his thigh with an amused smile on his face as Chanwoo brings in the first plate of meat, a pink candle stuck in the middle of it - Bobby’s work, certainly.
The others file in, each bringing food, and they settle around the table as Bobby makes a spectacle of lighting candles that he’d put in all the food.
“You are aware we’re having a cake, too?” Chanwoo asks, once Bobby’s finished, and Donghyuk laughs.
“Just let him have his fun,” Donghyuk says, as Bobby puts the lighter to the side and tells Jinhwan to make his first wish. “He’s a weird kid.”
“You don’t say,” Chanwoo says mildly, as Bobby starts pulling on Jinhwan’s shirt until the oldest finally rolls his eyes and blows them out while they all applaud.
“You’re finally legal to drink in America!” Bobby crows, patting Jinhwan on the back. “But no matter. Now, we feast.”
Dinner, as usual, is a relatively silent affair, all of them too invested in eating to bother carrying on any sort of conversation. Junhoe is far too aware of Jinhwan’s thigh pressing right next to his, burning through the black sweats.
“Jinhwan, say ah,” Bobby says, breaking the silence, holding out a lettuce wrap towards Jinhwan. Junhoe tries very hard not to stab the rapper with his chopsticks.
Jinhwan humors him, opening his mouth, and Bobby pushes the ssam in, nodding contently to himself. He turns to Junhoe next, and Junhoe glares so intently he’s amazed there isn’t a hole burned straight through Bobby’s forehead as he laughs and moves on to Hanbin.
Junhoe will never understand Bobby’s obsession with feeding people, really.
Chanwoo and Donghyuk clear away the dishes once they’re done, and Bobby kicks Junhoe under the table.
“Go get the cake,” he says, jerking his head towards the kitchen. Junhoe sighs, but gets up - it’s somehow become an odd tradition in their group that Junhoe brings out cake for special occasions.
He pulls out the blue Paris Baguette box from the fridge and opens it, revealing a surprisingly tactful white cream-frosted cake with strawberries around the outside. The only way anyone would know that Bobby and Hanbin had anything to do with it would be the chocolate sign atop the cake, reading HAPPY BIRTHDAY TINY ONE in electric blue frosting.
Junhoe pulls out a few candles and sticks them in before bringing it out, setting it in the middle of the table as Bobby picks up the lighter again.
For a group of people that are supposed to be singers, they are somehow incredibly bad at singing the birthday song. Bobby’s a terrible singer, Hanbin’s decided to beatbox, and the rest of them have no idea what key they’re supposed to go for, but it serves its purpose just fine. Junhoe lets out a little adlib at the end, just to be obnoxious, and Jinhwan squeezes his thigh before closing his eyes and blowing out the candles.
Jinhwan cuts the cake and hands out the slices (Junhoe notices that Bobby’s is somewhat smaller than the rest - he figures that the less sugar the guy has in his system, the better).
Once they’ve all finished the cake, Bobby jumps to his feet and runs to the bedrooms, screaming “PRESENTS!” as he goes. He comes back a few minutes later, arms laden with the most atrociously-wrapped gifts that Junhoe’s ever seen in his life (and Junhoe would have wondered what had happened, if not for the fact that such gifts have made appearances at every single occasion before).
“Open mine and Hanbin’s first,” Bobby says, pushing a brightly-wrapped lump towards Jinhwan, who accepts it with a raised eyebrow. He unwraps it to reveal a black and red snapback, tags proudly attached.
“Don’t even think about cutting them off!” Bobby chirps as Hanbin puts it on Jinhwan’s head, tags falling over one eye.
Donghyuk gifts Jinhwan with a Toy Story figurine, Yunhyeong with lip balm, and Chanwoo with a voucher for “any gift under $20, because I don’t know what to buy,” which earns him a round of berating from the other members.
“What about you, Junhoe?” Donghyuk asks, and Junhoe clears his throat, because shit, he actually didn’t get Jinhwan anything.
“It’s a secret,” he says, voice carefully laid over with smugness as he reaches for Jinhwan’s hand under the table. “Not for you to know.”
“It’s totally sex,” Bobby deadpans. Junhoe kicks him under the table, and Jinhwan declares the impromptu party dismissed.
*
“Is it sex?” Jinhwan asks, voice a teasing lilt as Junhoe lies in the bottom bunk, scrolling through assorted news articles.
Junhoe sighs, setting his iPad to the side. “Do you want it to be? Because I honestly had no idea what to get you.”
Jinhwan settles in beside him, Junhoe’s arms coming up to pull him close, a perfect fit. “You don’t have to get me anything, you poor emotionally-stunted boy.”
“I am not emotionally stunted,” Junhoe huffs, and Jinhwan laughs, kissing the corner of Junhoe’s mouth.
“You are. But it’s okay, I still love you,” Jinhwan teases. Junhoe, unsatisfied, pulls Jinhwan into a deeper kiss, the kind that makes everything in his mind vanish except the sensation of Jinhwan’s lips soft on his and the pounding of his heart, too fast, and the rush of breath that floods his lungs as he pulls away.
“How about,” Jinhwan pants, lips swollen, “we go out?”
“What?” Junhoe asks, mind still fuzzy. Jinhwan pats him on the cheek and leans against him.
“I could go for some ice cream or something. Your treat.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Junhoe says, but Jinhwan’s got that look in his eyes that says he’s not.
And before he knows it, Junhoe’s fully dressed with a snapback and a face mask on and tiptoeing out of the door behind Jinhwan.
Under the cover of night, Jinhwan laces his fingers between Junhoe’s and swings their hands between them - for now, they’re not Jinhwan and Junhoe, YG trainees, but Jinhwan and Junhoe, stupid kids in love.
“This way,” Jinhwan says, and Junhoe follows, feet tracing the familiar path to the nearby convenience store.
The ahjussi running the counter looks a bit surprised to see them looking at the ice cream this late at night, but they figure he’s seen worse things as he wordlessly rings up Junhoe’s fish ice cream sandwich and Jinhwan’s melona, handing it to them with a simple “good night” after Junhoe pays.
They walk back to the dorm the same way they came, this time with ice cream in their hands not occupied with each other’s. It’s not really the best weather to be doing this, Junhoe thinks as he bites the head off the fish, but he doesn’t feel the cold much, not when Jinhwan’s smiling beside him like he’s got everything he wants in the world.
All too soon, they’re back at the dorm, ice cream finished and wrappers disposed of. They stand in front of the door, and Junhoe feels very oddly like he’s at the end of a first date, bringing Jinhwan back home for the night.
“That was nice,” Jinhwan says, hands running down Junhoe’s chest, tugging at his jacket and adjusting the collar so he’ll have something to do with his hands. Junhoe can’t say he dislikes the feeling.
“Yeah,” Junhoe replies, voice faint. He’s really got no idea what to say - he doesn’t want to go inside, but there isn’t really anything for them to do out here, either.
Jinhwan tiptoes, pressing so close to Junhoe that he can feel the older’s heartbeat.
“This is the part where you kiss me goodnight,” Jinhwan whispers, breath tickling Junhoe’s ear.
So Junhoe does just that, Jinhwan’s back pressed to the wall as Junhoe crowds him, as close as they can be. It thrills him, just a little, that they’re just out in the open like this, and anyone could poke their head out the door and see them, but Junhoe doesn’t care.
Neither does Jinhwan, apparently, as they part to breathe, pink spots on his cheeks and euphoria in his eyes.
“Happy birthday, hyung,” Junhoe says, and Jinhwan punches him.
“Wish me a happy birthday when you’re finished with your gift.”
“What gift?”
Jinhwan just smiles, punches in the passcode, and pulls Junhoe inside.
and then they do the thing thing idek anymore i'm out LOL