“Am I sleeping here now?” (Sekai, PG Fluff, Brief)

Jul 14, 2012 00:48

Thanks to Kimri. This wad of sweaty tissues is dedicated to you.


“Dude, you’re gross”

Sehun’s grimace appeared behind Jongin’s lids without the necessity of facing it.

So he didn’t.

“Just cause I sweat?” Kai sighed. Everybody sweats, geez… His eyes opened to the beige towel a backstage assisstant had been dabbing along his forehead.

It was sopping.

“You don’t just sweat man, your skin CRIES.” Sehun jeered, replacing the assisstant’s position as she scurried away. “We always need more than one towel for you.” And back came the assisstant with a fresh, rather large towel to pat down Kai’s neck.

“Sign of my hardwork.” Kai rebuffed, but Sehun just scoffed. “I dance, too, you know.” Dainty little fairy fuck. Since when was Sehun such a germaphobe anyway? Admittedly, he’d never seemed like the gritty type, but he’d seen him grind on the floor just as hard (albeit not quite as well) as himself. Maybe Luhan’s lavender candles were getting to his head. Regardless, Kai didn’t appreciate being mocked for something he couldn’t control.

“Look, it’s not my problem that you have a problem.” Kai dismissed. He tilted his head in thanks to the assisstant and flipped his hair from his eyes with a smirk. “Maybe one day you’ll get lucky and grow up to have big boy problems you can worry about yourself.” And with a ruffle of his hair, a tap under the chin, and some finger guns for good measure, Kai left Sehun to believe that was the end of that.

It wasn’t. Cleaning up that night, Kai found himself using a bit more deoderant than normal. In the morning he put on a clean shirt. Strangest of all, he began pausing before reaching out to do anything; stretching, grabbing a cup, hugging a band mate, he stopped briefly every time to check his saturation status. And it only became worse once he became aware. Suddenly his shirt clung to his back; he could feel each drop of sweat careen through his hairs, driving him insane. And after a few days, he was. He found himself obsessively checking, desperate for that trip to Europe so he could restock on antiperspirant he never use to use (shit gets white streaks everywhere,) but it was becoming a routine before every show: over applying, discreet sniffs, only getting sweatier from nerves as he anticipated their turn. It was time he gained some peace of mind. A quick bitch at Sehun should satiate him.

However, Sehun lacked the desire to be on the receiving end of dickery before a music show, off slinging his limbs around anyone and everything. It probably wasn’t the greatest time for an argument anyway, Kai figured, so he settled for turning to the man to his left.

“Hey Kyungsoo, we’re buds right?” DO looked over from the monitor with those wide attentive eyes that made Kai’s ego burst with joy. The look alone eased him so effectively that Kai’s attention was lost, and he became distracted with the screen as Kyungsoo’s affirmation blew past.

“Yeah, of course.”

Kai nodded absentmindedly, staying hooked on the newest competition until a tap on the shoulder reengaged him. “Hmm?” He bounced softly in his shoes as his focus returned. What was he doing? “Ah! Right, so,” Kai drew back his jacket sleeve casually and scanned the area, then leaned in to whisper,

“Could you sniff me?”

“Dude, your head on straight?” Chanyeol suddenly gained presence with a low chuckle. Of course Kai missed the tallest member, of course. And though said in kind jest, Chanyeol’s "deep man voice" jammed Jongin’s insecurity button a bit too hard. He didn’t really need that right now.

“Never mind” Kai sighed, flipping his jacket back up defensively and sulking off. At least the damn thing might hold in some stink.

Chanyeol and DO watched after him. “You think he’s okay?” Chanyeol wondered. He received a sharp backhand to the stomach. “No!” DO hissed. “Why else would have he come to me?”

“Cause you’re nearby?”

Kyungsoo adopted a glower. “We’re close, okay? CLOSE.” He insisted, but the sentiment was lost.

As confrontational as Kai was, his confidence had been out of order for some time now and striking out for closure became harder and harder as the days went on. He knew he’d seem stupid for not letting go of something so trivial, but at the same time, he knew he had to face this. It took multiple shirtless sessions in the mirror chanting “I’m older, I’m older,” to replenish Kai’s dignity to a point where he could take action against his offender. And he was going to do it right; Tête-à-tête f you will. A real bro talk with Sehun about how his feelings were hurt, and then all would be cool.

Maybe. The ‘feelings’ thing kinda had Kai biting his lip as he rocked on the edge of his bed, fully clothed from his last outing and unwilling to tackle any issues. It wasn’t till two in the morning he decided rummaging through Sehun’s shampoos to see what kept him so damn fresh and sweatless he had the nerve to saddle his old spice horse and deem jongin ‘gross’ appeared as a much better plan. But the Kai executing this plan was a 2 AM Kai, a much less rational, much less stealthy Kai. He shouldn’t have looked so surprised when he heard,

“What are you doing? Connecting with your inner rat?”

Sehun’s dark figure loomed over him, not quite visible since Kai’s eyes had been trained on the torch he was using to illuminate Sehun’s unmentionables.

And then it started. The sweating.

Panic struck. What if Sehun could smell him like a dog smells fear? But his perspiration proliferated at the thought. Damn it, Kai! Quick thinking, quick thinking. What do you do?

His eyes locked on Sehun for a moment, then took a glimpse at the door. Close enough. Kai sprung from the bags into a sprint.

The tiny room, however, wasn’t suited for his track and field stunt. From his stooped position, Kai’s legs had barely extended before he was tripping into the door. Sehun caught his fall, but not his smash, and Kai was sure from the sudden rushing throbs, his nose was busted into oblivion.

His beautiful nose…

Sehun wrenched his arm away before he could thoroughly check the damage and flicked on the light. Both their eyes stung, but Sehun’s weak bags squinted a little longer, leaving Jongin a funny face to gain some comic relief from.

“You aren’t bleeding, so don’t cry on me or anything.” Sehun joked. It made Kai recall how his skin was already ‘crying.’ He jerked his head back and grunted. “Oh, big boy can take care of himself?” Sehun mocked, dropping his hands. “Just sit on the bed and let me get you some ice.”

Kai remained reluctant.

“Dude,”

And Kai figured he couldn’t win at this point, you know, with the whole ‘I just caught you digging through my shit’ card in Sehun’s deck, so he squatted on the thin mattress and Sehun set out, but Kai made sure to groan obnoxiously before he left earshot.

Kai wouldn’t admit it, but he sniffed the sheets while waiting. They weren’t frilly flowery like he’d expected. They had their own man stink of sorts, but not necessarily reminiscent of being shoved into dirty gym socks. He then took a coy whiff of his own pit and recoiled. SHIT, Sehun’s BO was way better than his. But why?

Cruel unjust world.

And when Sehun came lumbering back, shriveled by the light and blatantly exhausted, Kai felt bad for stinking up the place. What if Sehun couldn’t sleep with the stench? Kai could offer his bed. Wait, no, that didn’t work.

Ice shaped Kai’s nose, his face scrunching, but Sehun’s hand secured his head from behind. The sting dissipated slowly, and eventually the squint of pain left Jongin’s eyes. He glanced down over the towel wrapped plastic bag and watched Sehun eyeing the damage of his late night escapade, still lit by his forgotten torch.

“Why were you digging through my stuff?”

Kai’s fingers coiled around the bottom of the bed as that hand behind him suddenly became much more threatening.

“I, needed deodorant.”

“And you couldn’t just ask someone in your room?”

“No.”

Kai’s lie could’ve been better, but he still hoped Sehun would buy it.

He didn’t. Frugal bitch.

“Is this cause I called you sweaty? Do you have some sort of complex?”

Kai pressed his forearms into his knees. “Sort of.”

Sehun grinned, only part way, but that was all you ever got out of Sehun. “Everyone sweats.”

“Yeah, but I sweat bad.”

“Some people think that’s hot.”

Kai peered up suspiciously from his well wrung hands. “Not when it reeks like rotten eggs.”

Sehun merely laughed at the nerves Kai publicized. “So you shower a bit. It’s just hormones.”

“Hormones?”

“Did you sleep through school?”

“Like, once or twice.”

Sehun dragged a hand down his face to smooth out the exasperation. With a brief chuckle he explained, “Listne, when you get with someone, she’ll like your stink. It's like how bodily fluids taste good when you’re compatible and…” Kai’s squint bordered on pure agony, so Sehun summarized, “It’s science shit.”

“Informative Sehun, thanks.” Kai snorted, returning his attention to how hard his leg was shaking. He just couldn’t stop twiddling his thumbs.

“It’s true!” Sehun avowed.

Two stink bugs rolled across Kai’s imagination. Nasty. But then again, hadn’t he liked Sehun’s smell? He shot the rocket ship sheets a side glance. No no no, wait, he never said he liked it, it was just better than his. And maybe he kind of wanted to sniff it again, but strictly for data purposes.

Sehun caught onto this inner turmoil and released the ice from Kai’s nose. “If it makes you feel any better, I like the way you sweat.”

Whoa, what?

“I’m just saying,” Sehun allayed, hands gesturing innocence. “You don’t reek, you just sweat a lot. But lots of sweat is kinda hot, so don’t get worked up over it or anything.”

Was that supposed to comfort him? Either way, it did, in a tingly strange way Kai didn’t approve of. His hands clapped Sehun’s cheeks, squishing his lips vertically. He looked better without that apathetic frown. Kai proceeded to roll the baby fat between his palms, spacing out into a flush as he dwelled on Sehun’s words.

Sehun stared befuddled. “Dude, stop.”

And Kai did, returning from gazing over Sehun’s head to look him directly in the eyes.

“You think I’m hot.”

“What?” Sehun recoiled, but Kai retrieved his torch to flash it over his face incriminatingly.

“You sneaky little bastard, you planned that whole thing to make me insecure cause you’re jealous I get more girls, didn't you?”

Sehun’s arm lowered from shielding his baggy eyes. “You’re joking, right?”

But Kai was restored to full arrogance now, and nothing could stop him. “Aw man, that’s cute.” He guffawed, slapping his thigh as Sehun stared coldly. “You wanted to one-up me, huh?”

“You really think I’m jealous of you?” Sehun deadpanned, flabbergasted at the stupid train railing toward him. Kai kept rolling.

“Think about it,” He smirked, leaning forward to present his flawless*:・゚✧ thesis. “If we were sitting in a coffee shop, who would get asked for more autographs?” He delivered a spry chop to Sehun’s head before leaning back for a hardy laugh. Suddenly balance was restored, and Kai felt relieved to stretch his arms and not worry about the nasty odor wafting from them.

“Jongin,” Sehun directed.

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

And Kai conceded. Or rather, he melted, because Sehun’s mouth was on his and that didn’t give him much of a choice. When he pulled away, his neck was stiff, giving him hideous double chins, and his lips flapped open and closed multiple times before he licked them involuntarily. Had he just closed his eyes? Yeah, that happened. And within a second, Sehun had Kai feeling clueless and shattered all over again.

“You can be a real dickhead sometimes,” Sehun snorted, and shifted to the middle of the room to distance himself from the occurrence. As if nothing happened. But it happened. That definitely just happened and Kai wasn’t about to go to bed just so he could wake up and question if it had. He rose after him, intimidation tactics taking over as he cornered Sehun, spine lengthening, but he didn’t intend to be threatening. His head tilted sideways as he tempted Sehun’s adverted eyes.

“You like me?”

Sehun’s eyes darted up, but immediately shot back down as he shoved Jongin away. “You stink.” He dodged.

“You like me.” Kai repeated, sure now. He could see the blush on Sehun’s cheeks. It made him swell with joy. “You like me!”

“I think we established that! Could you shut up now?”

He’d caught Sehun’s eyes. They glared, then soften in confusion, finally casting away in defeat. They were so full of feelings, mixed ones, of exhaustion, mortification, and aggravation, Kai couldn’t name them all, but they were there, and he’d put them there. Kai took pride in that.

“So it’s not just my sweat that’s hot?” He asked, mostly as a joke, but he hoped Sehun would answer.

“Go back to bed.”

“No.”

Sehun blinked a few times over the refusal. It was uncharacteristically serious, and truthfully, a little alarming. “You’ve got more?”

“I think your sweat’s hot, too.”

Sehun barely upheld his snappy attitude in his fluster. “Is that a confession?”

The air couldn’t get more awkward, so Kai figured he had nothing to lose. “Yeah.” It seemed like the right answer. Especially when Sehun smiled. He intended for it to be a half-assed lopsided smile but couldn’t seem to keep it that way.

“You’re weird.” Sehun teased.

“You kissing me was weird.” Kai mimicked. It even felt weird to say, but it made him want to say it more.

Sehun shoved the melting ice against Jongin’s stomach. “You just didn’t like it cause you aren’t a good kisser.” He sneered, and somehow the juvenile quips disguised the awkward feelings into something normal enough for the both of them. One way or another, the unrelenting shots to Jongin’s ego kept Sehun’s illusion of control, and even as he melted at Jongin’s feet, he got him to rest back on the bed, close his eyes, and accept his kiss.

exo, fluff, sekai

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