Chapter Text
Till’s eyes slowly open after a hearty sleep, unsure of what the figure before him was as his eyes were half open and he himself was half awake.
“Oh? You’re awake?” He hears the deep but honey-sweet familiar voice talking to him, making him fully wake up as he opens his eyes wider at the realization of last night’s events.
He slept with Ivan.
Ivan .
Dumbstruck, he stares at Ivan’s captivating void raven eyes and his disheveled hair along with the soft and subtly sleepy smile he had on his face. He seemed to be awake for a while, as if he was just staring at Till the whole time. “D’you sleep well?” Till mumbles out while asking.
Ivan nods, his eyes still glued onto Till as they continue to make eye contact with one another. “Yes, and you?”
“I kinda feel like shit.” Till sleepily chuckles.
“Why is that?” Ivan asks him, concerned.
“I’m just… not really used to, er, sleeping in your bed…” Till awkwardly explains.
This makes Ivan pause before he starts laughing at Till, garnering a scowl from the latter. “What?” The white-haired man asks with a frown.
“You should start getting used to it.” Ivan teasingly winks at him as an attempt to jokingly flirt, getting a groan from Till as he slams his palm onto Ivan’s face to cover his shit-eating grin and gremlin laughter.
“Fucking lame-ass.” The white-haired man remarks while scoffing.
Ivan calms down from all the laughter before coming to the realization that he hadn’t changed into cleaner clothes. He looked down to examine his clothes from last night, moving the collar of his black turtleneck closer to his nose to sniff for any reek of alcohol, and sure enough, there was a faint smell of samgyeopsal and soju, and God did he hate it.
“You alright?” Till asks as he notices Ivan’s sudden change in behavior and sour facial expression, “why the hell did you suddenly start sniffing your clothes?”
“Do I… reek of alcohol?” Ivan asks with uncertainty and embarrassment.
Till snorts, making Ivan’s cheeks flush a subtle pink from embarrassment. “Obviously you do, it fucking stinks.” Out of embarrassment, Ivan whines and turns around the other side to hide himself from Till, startling the latter as Till bursts out laughing at Ivan’s bashfulness. “I was joking, loser!”
“Hmph.” Ivan grunts, making Till laugh even more as Ivan turns back to face Till once more and to giggle along with him, their laughter echoing throughout Ivan’s room.
When the doorbell rings, both their laughs are silenced as Till sits up from the bed and tells Ivan he will check it out himself, while Ivan nods in agreement as Ivan excuses himself to clean himself up. He exits the bedroom and leaves Ivan as he goes to the main door. He looks through the peephole, noticing the familiar black-bob-haired lady wearing the same baby blue dress she had on last night holding a big pot steaming hot air.
He unlocks the door, letting the lady in the home. “Sua, good morning,” He greets her as Sua softly smiles at him, “I’ll get this for you.” He takes the pot in her hands carefully, enduring the heat of it as Sua remains with a soft smile at him. He takes the pot over to the counter and leaves it there to chat with Sua.
“Thank you, Till, good morning too,” she greets him, scanning the room, noticing Ivan’s absence, “is Ivan in the room?”
“Bathroom, he’s cleaning up.” Till replies, “where’s Mizi?”
“At home. I came to drop off the pot of hangover soup for Ivan, you should have some too.” Sua says.
“Will do, thanks.” Till replies with a polite smile.
Sua cheekily grins, the polite smile Till had on suddenly fading as he knows what that look is telling him. “So…” Sua teases, “does Ivan snore?”
“Pfft, no he doesn’t.”
“Well that’s unfair,” Sua jokingly pouts, “he snores as if he’s aiming to cause an earthquake when I’m around.” she teases Ivan, making Till snort at her brutal honesty. From what he remembered, Ivan didn’t seem to snore the entire night they slept together, but maybe that was just with him.
“That’s rich coming from you.” They both divert their attention to the black-haired man walking up to them in new and clean clothes, a black shirt and gray jogging pants.
Sua chuckles at Ivan’s teasing while Ivan walks over to Till and stands next to him, glancing over at the big pot on the counter before turning back to Sua and Till. “Is that your hangover soup?” Ivan asks.
The lady nods in response. “I made it for you and Mizi, let Till have some too.” Sua tells him.
“It’s not like I was planning to starve Till.” Ivan deadpans.
“I was just reminding you, in case you forget to feed him.” Sua jests as she walks over to the door, leaving Ivan and Till a little baffled. “Well, I’ll be taking my leave. Mizi isn’t feeling well and I have to be there for her, I’ll let you two have your alone time together.” she chuckles out as the two boys’ faces explode a bright red out of embarrassment.
“We’re not-”
“Bye!” She interjects Till’s farewells before closing the door behind her and leaving. Ivan walks to the door to lock it before turning back at Till, his cheeks also blushing a bright pink out of fluster. Till felt his heart beat faster, the silence between him and Ivan overthrown by the sound of their heartbeats in one room.
As much as Till’s heartbeat was roaring, so was Ivan’s.
“Um, sorry for Sua,” Ivan awkwardly smiles at him, “bullying me in the morning is one of her favorite ways to start the day.”
Till snorts. “Are there other ways she starts her day?”
“What do you think? Obviously swooning over her girlfriend and whining about how much she misses her.” he quips in sarcasm, rolling his eyes before lightly giggling along with Till. Till’s laughter fades into just a simple smile as he walks over to the kitchen and opens the pot up, the herby and delicious aroma of the soup filling the entirety of the room.
Truly, Sua was an amazing cook. “Woah, this hangover soup looks tasty as fuck.” Till internally felt his mouth drool at the sight and smell of the soup; a hearty beef broth with meat, vegetables and napa cabbage.
Suddenly, as Till was about to walk to the cupboard to grab bowls for the both of them, he is stopped by arms wrapping around his waist while a face nuzzles into his shoulder, making him yelp as he tries to break free from the sudden restraints. “Wha- Ivan, what the fuck?!” he shrieks as he was on the verge of muttering out more curse words until he lowers his voice hearing Ivan’s tender voice by his shoulder.
“I feel like hugging you.” Ivan mumbles, making all the curse words escape Till’s mouth as he is left dumbfounded by his words. Seriously, what was up with Ivan today? Anymore of this, and Till would be seeing the gates of heaven at this point. “You’re very warm.”
“And you’re cold as fuck.” Till deadpans at him. It was true, in contrast to Till’s naturally warm body temperature, Ivan was as cold as ice. He didn’t really mind it though, and in a way, Ivan’s hugs felt… oddly comforting.
“So Till…”
“What?” the white-haired man groans.
“Do you like me?” Till pauses after hearing those words.
What the hell?
How could Ivan just hug him so tenderly and bomb him with that sudden question? Was Till making it too obvious to the point where Ivan finally found out, the very person he was trying to hide this from? Till had a hunch Ivan would know even the small gist of it, he wasn’t an idiot, but to ask him that so suddenly? What is wrong with him?
“Are you drunk?” Till nervously scoffs.
“I asked first.” replied Ivan, as if he was seriously asking for an answer, his serious gaze onto Till’s face piercing through him.
Till nervously gulps to himself, his hands getting all fidgety and jittery out of nervousness. He was an actor, a professional actor that is. He’s been in the industry ever since he left his mother’s womb, he’s gone through a lot throughout his entire acting career. From relationships, heartbreaks, he’s gone through all that, so this shouldn’t phase him any single bit.
But this was Ivan .
This was the man that made his time in Alien Stage a hundred times more fun, the first person who talked to him in the auditioning and even in the show set, the man that even just by knowing him for a year, everything feels just so right with him. He was never bored with Ivan, he let himself feel vulnerable with him. With Ivan, he could talk about anything, and Ivan listened just as much as he talked. He was the man he let himself fall for so deeply he couldn’t get back up.
Till has never been set in a situation like this, and of course out of all people, it had to be Ivan . Oh Ivan, being the charming but also somewhat blunt and straightforward man he fell for.
“How did you… how’d you realize that?” Till asks, his cheeks flushing a deep red while Ivan slowly lets go of his arms on Till’s waist, the white-haired man slowly walking away from Ivan while trying to avoid his gaze.
“I just thought about it for a while,” Ivan starts explaining, “I didn’t want to ask you because I… thought I was just getting the wrong idea.” He says.
“Why now ?” Till asks, staring down at the ground, a heavy suffocating feeling rising from his stomach. For once, he wasn’t the one looking intently at Ivan. Now, it was Ivan looking at Till, probably hoping that Till would just look at him and face him directly.
“I don’t know…” Ivan mumbles unsurely.
Fuck this. Fuck it all. Stupid fucking idiot. Stupid Ivan. “Listen, I don’t give a fuck if you’ll hate me for this or whatever,” he states, looking up from the ground and attempting to gaze over at Ivan and make eye contact, “okay, you were right, I do like you, it’s probably not that hard to connect the dots when literally the entire cast knows shit about this too–”
“They know–?”
“Let me finish!” Till argues, a frown spreading across his face as his face turns into a bright red tomato out of embarrassment, “sorry– the point is, I do like you. I’ve always had. You’re a really great person, ‘kay? Fuck, I was probably the one misunderstanding shit because you treat me so well and you’re funny, sweet, gentle, God anyone would want you as a boyfriend, you’re practically perfect!” He pauses, taking a deep breath before finally facing Ivan and making eye contact with him.
“Yeah, I have feelings for you. I like you . I like you a lot, I probably like you more than Ivan loves Till. So?” He says with a breath of relief at the end.
Ivan’s jaw drops at first, leaving him dumbstruck by everything that just transpired. “Sorry, fuck,” Till mutters out, the surge of guilt rising in him once again, “you probably hate me after this, don’t you–” Till is stopped all of a sudden by Ivan as they lock lips, Ivan’s soft lips planting a kiss onto Till’s lips as the room suddenly drowns in the serenity of the moment.
It felt like the shooting of Round 6 all over again, but in another universe, a happier one. Ivan’s lips were soft and tender, and Till could drown in them. Till returns the gesture, the kiss deepening as Ivan caresses Till’s cheek and Till holds Ivan’s right arm. After a few seconds, they both let go, breathless, but fondly smiling at one another.
“Bastard,” Till scoffs, “what are you doing? Recreating Round 6?”
“Pfft!” Ivan bursts into laughter as Till fondly smiles at him. “I’m not dead, am I?” He jests, and Till rolls his eyes before his smile fades away.
Ivan, noticing the white-haired man’s unsure looks, stops laughing. “I do feel the same way, Till.”
Pause.
“Wha– what?!” Till gasps, his distant look straight up turning back to Ivan in shock as he practically bursts into flames. It’s a miracle he didn’t die of shock and heart attack at that moment.
Ivan warmly and giddly smiles. “I’ve always liked you, did you not notice it?” He asks, with Till shaking his head in response, “oh, I was trying to be obvious with it so that you would notice…”
“How was that obvious? Isn’t that how you treat literally everyone else?” Till deadpans as Ivan shakes his head in response.
“I don’t think I stay up late thinking about anyone else who isn’t you.” Ivan thinks out loud to himself.
“How the fuck was I supposed to know that?” Till asks before his eyes widen at the realization. “Wait… when you were joking that you couldn’t sleep because you were thinking of me, you meant that?!”
“I wasn’t joking though…?” Ivan dejectedly replies, making Till grab the phone he remembered he put in the pockets of his pants before exiting the room to backread their old chats and revisit that part.
…
Ivan:
Can’t sleep.
The espresso is doing its job too well.
Till:
Who’s fault was it to drink espresso in the first place?
Ivan:
:(
I can’t sleep.
Till:
What do you want me to do about it?
/j
Seriously though, why?
Ivan:
Busy thinking of you, I fear.
Till:
That’s lame as fuck.
Funny though.
…
“You were serious?!” Till gasps, and Ivan nods, confused on Till’s sudden reactions.
While Till keeps scrolling upwards through he and Ivan’s chats, Ivan suddenly grabs the phone from him, placing it onto the counter as he grabs Till’s hands to hold them, leaving Till dumbfounded at the sudden gesture. “I’m not pressuring you into anything, but how does a date sound tonight?” Ivan asks.
Taking in the warmth of Ivan’s hands, Till rolls his eyes at him before grinning brightly at everything that just happened. It wasn’t a fancy confession, nothing extraordinary, and everything unfolded at a really normal and simple pace, and that was fine. Till was content with that. He didn’t need anything else really, just the fact that Ivan felt the same way for him was enough to make Till smile. “Sure. I haven’t even taken a shower yet, I probably stink,” he jokes, “pfft, to think you even kissed me when I probably smell like shit.”
“You could smell like the most disgusting thing on this planet and I’d still kiss you.” Ivan coos.
“Gross!” Till bursts out laughing while playfully punching Ivan’s shoulder as a reaction.
…
[ 5:00 pm ]
Ivan:
I’m outside your door already. :)
Till:
Wtf
Why are you so fast
Bruh
I’m not even done picking out a jacket to wear.
Hold on.
I’m gonna open up the door.
Ivan:
Can I come in?
Till:
Obviously?
Why the fuck can you not?????
Ivan:
Okay
Wait
Don’t open your door yet.
Till:
Huh
Why????
Ivan:
There’s a cat
I will picture it first
Till:
Ofc it’s a cat
LMAOOO
That’s so cute
Ivan:
Me?
Or the cat?
Till:
Whatever
I’m leaving the door open, js come in when ur done picturing the cat.
…
@ itsjust_till
( picture of the two boys at a cafe together with boba drinks, Till having a matcha boba and Ivan having a winter melon boba drink on the table. The two are seen smiling in the photo, with Ivan playfully sticking his tongue out )
Outing with Ivan. 🤍
@ miziiii_su
YO WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT HEART EMOJI MEAN????
@ suaaaa_mi
Oh?
@ the_no1_hyunaa
I woke up w a headache but what the fuck is this a dating announcement???? Congrats ig???
@ no1ivantillfan
OMG THE CAPTION???? WTFLIP????
ISNT THAT A POPULAR DATE SPOT TOO???
@ alnst_supremacy
Nice photos, boys~♡
@ wbdia0p9
We know what you guys are.
@ lukanightfvr_alnst
The fans are expecting an apology with tears rn, btw.
@ itsjust_till
Fuck you
@ yourfavorite_ivan
Yes, this photo is a dating announcement. We’re dating, by the way.🤍
@ itsjust_till
BABE YOU CAN’T JUST SAY THAT PR TEAM WILL KILL US
@ yourfavorite_ivan
Please wish us luck, everyone
@ itsjust_till
STOPSTOPSMXNJDNNWNAASNXN
@ suaaaa_mi
Congrats on dating.
And for making Till.exe malfunction.
@ miziiii_su
HEUWHEHEH CUTIES CONGRATSSSS🫶
@ itsjust_till
Omfg @yourfavorite_ivan you are toast later
@ yourfavorite_ivan
I love you too🤍
@ itsjust_till
Die.
🤍