Work Text:
min9yu_k ✌️
feat.chan 👀
Mingyu’s Insta dump from two hours ago—photos of him that gratuitously display his muscles, out at some kind of bar with God knows who—gleams across Seungkwan’s phone screen.
It’s so obvious he’s single these days. Photos like this came to Seungkwan and Seungkwan only, back when they were together. But what Mingyu uploads on Instagram isn’t really any business of his these days, and Seungkwan can hardly talk about relationships.
What he is looking at is Chan’s username sat underneath the post.
Chronically offline Lee Chan. His roommate Lee Chan who hasn’t replied to Seungkwan’s DMs in four days. Has left a comment looking at Mingyu’s carousel of muscles.
And as well as he knows Mingyu, he knows Lee Chan even better. He knows damn well Lee Chan doesn’t do anything without intent.
“Dinner is here!” Chan’s voice calls from through the apartment, and Seungkwan rolls his eyes to the ceiling, dragging himself from his bed to where Chan is unpacking two bags of delivery from their favourite takeout place, Jaejae’s.
“I thought you were cooking tonight?” he tuts as soon as he’s in the hallway, watching Chan set out a dozen small dishes on their table. “It’s bad for your bank account and both our bodies if you keep ordering food instead. Not to mention your culinary skills. What are you going to do when you have to survive in the big bad world all on your own?”
“Why would I ever have to do that?” Chan says, acting all innocent as if they haven’t had this conversation a million times before. “I’ve never lived on my own, and I don’t plan to.”
“Yes, because you can’t cook!”
“I think you’ll find the chicken exists regardless of the egg,” Chan says, waving Seungkwan over. “Won’t you come and eat while it’s hot instead of whining at me?”
“Chickens have nothing to do with this.”
“Actually, I ordered chicken.”
“So my point that the lack of cooking skills comes before the roommate situation…”
“Eat your food, won’t you?”
Seungkwan sits down heavily beside Chan, looking at him down his nose disapprovingly like the ajumma at the corner store, but not without picking up the disposable chopsticks to start on their meal.
They eat in companionable silence for a little while, both hungry enough to focus on their dishes at first and simply be glad the work week is over.
Chan is the first to break the silence. “Did you blow off Jeonghan’s bachelor party, or did he not invite you?”
Seungkwan chokes on his chicken, sitting up indignantly. “Why do you assume he had a bachelor party that was anything more than him and Doyoung slow dancing in the living room? You know what those two are like, it was hard enough to get them to leave the house for Johnny’s bachelor’s last year.”
Chan shrugs. “I assumed that’s what Mingyu’s photos were of tonight. Jeonghan’s wedding is on Sunday, it makes sense.”
“No. Jeonghan would never invite Mingyu and not me. Also, why are you looking at Mingyu’s photos on Instagram and not answering my messages?”
“We live together, why would I need to answer your messages?”
“It’s just polite! I keep sending you easy recipes, and I know you’re ignoring them, don’t try to deny it.”
“If you wanted home cooked meals that much, you should’ve moved in with Kim Mingyu.”
Chan says it lightly, but it shuts Seungkwan up. His and Mingyu’s differing thoughts on moving in together was what ultimately led to them breaking up, and Chan knows it well. It’s been long enough since then that the reference doesn’t sting any more, but has him raising his eyebrows at Chan’s bravery all the same.
Why is Chan suddenly thinking about Mingyu so much? Last time they all went out together, Chan was all cuddly with him too. If Seungkwan didn’t know better, he’d say Chan has Mingyu on the mind a dangerous amount these days.
They don’t see him much anymore, what with Mingyu being in Anyang, and Chan and Seungkwan among the last of their friends still in Seoul. But with Jeonghan’s wedding on Sunday… they’ll all be in the same place for once. For more than a full day.
And a night.
“Do you think you’ll hook up with him?” Chan asks, and it’s not so light this time. His words are careful, loaded with some meaning that has Seungkwan’s internal alarm bells going off. “Mingyu, this weekend, I mean.”
Seungkwan looks up and meets Chan’s gaze, who averts his eyes. What the hell is up with him?
Chan’s never particularly asked about Seungkwan’s love life before. He didn’t even pass comment when Mingyu and Seungkwan kept on and off sleeping together after they initially broke up, before they called it quits for real.
The sudden interest can surely only have one explanation. It’s been a while since Chan went out or met anyone new. And it’s been an age since he commented suggestively on anyone’s Instagram post.
He opens his mouth to ask the question, but finds his throat stuck up for some reason, like he can’t bear to bring himself to put the idea in Chan’s head. He’s not sure why it would be a problem—Seungkwan and Mingyu haven’t been like that for nearly a year, now. They’re all still friends. Chan can do whatever he wants.
Right?
“Are you okay?” Chan says, voice sounding different now, overtly concerned. “Your eyes…”
He’s levelling Seungkwan with a slightly scared, concerned look.
“…they’re black.”
Seungkwan raises his hand to point at Chan accusingly, because Seungkwan is not the one getting horny over Kim Mingyu between them—
When he sees the claws.
Oh. That’s what Chan means.
The rest of the transformation follows very quickly. The room spins as Seungkwan loses his balance, and slips from the sofa onto the floor, landing on all four paws.
Chan is screaming in alarm, standing up and backing away, chopsticks held out in defence.
That’s fair. Seungkwan is panicking too. The whole bear transformation thing has only happened a few times in his life—four or five at most, and it’s been a few years since the last time. He forgot how disorienting it was—the change in size and shape, in orientation, the instinct to run away from the scene (and from Chan’s meaningless panicked noises) as soon as he hits the ground.
He runs straight into their living room lamp and knocks it over, and he sees Chan has managed to get up on the sofa, still holding out his chopsticks.
Seungkwan’s bear form is the size of a big dog, so he’s not a total obstruction in the living room, but hey, he tends to keep this whole curse thing on a need-to-know business, and Chan never needed to know. Sue him if they’re both a little bit freaked out, now.
Seungkwan tries to make it out of the room to give Chan (and himself) a few minutes to calm down, but he’s still disoriented, and manages to run into the table beside the sofa and knock the whole thing over.
He can vaguely hear Chan shout what the fuck is happening?! before he makes it into his bedroom, nosing the door shut behind him. He lumbers clumsily across the floor, sizing up his bed before taking a leap up onto it, not quite making it, and sliding back onto the floor with a thump.
The sounds from the living room quiet down after that, and he takes another leap onto the bed, this time pulling himself onto it successfully.
He scrabbles to get under his covers. He’s not hiding, it’s just practical to wait out the transformation here, so he can go back into the living room composed and explain his whole deal to Chan once the transformation is over.
Though… fuck, this is going to be hard to explain. The curse is only supposed to strike when he’s falling in love.
Chan is totally going to think he’s still got a thing for Mingyu. He hasn’t—he’s well over it. But for the first time, he doesn’t know who he supposedly is falling for, why he’s been triggered out of nowhere like that.
Stupid fucking curse.
“S—Seungkwan?”
He pokes his head out from under the covers to see Chan standing in his doorway. He looks pale, expression as if he’s just seen a ghost.
He stares for a few seconds, mouth open. Yep, his roommate is still a bear.
“Are… are you okay?”
Seungkwan growls—just a little bit!—and Chan shudders, blinking a few times.
“Oh God, okay, um… I feel like I should do something, but I don’t know what…”
Seungkwan slumps down onto his bed, the covers hanging over his back, and rolls over. There’s nothing to do—this could last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, and they’ve just got to wait it out until then.
Then Seungkwan has to figure out who he’s in love with, or this will keep happening. But for now, he’ll be happy with Chan simply not calling for the zoo to come and pick Seungkwan up, or the psychiatric ward to come and pick Chan up.
“Um… okay… you don’t seem too worried, but… can I stay with you while I take this in?”
Seungkwan rolls over again so that he can get a clear view of Chan across the room. He kicks his leg and lays his head on the bed, hoping Chan will take it as an invitation. It wouldn’t be so bad to have someone with him when he comes back to his usual self—it’s usually just as disorientating as the initial change, at first.
“Okay… okay…”
Chan is still muttering to himself vaguely as he climbs into bed with Seungkwan, tentatively reaching out to pat his head, stroke his coarse brown fur.
No one has done that for him before. It’s pretty relaxing. He could almost… slip off to sleep…
-
He wakes up an unknown amount of time later, naked under the covers, resting in the crook of Chan’s arm in his dimly-lit room.
Chan is still awake, and staring at him.
“Stop being a creep,” Seungkwan mumbles, and pulls his covers further up over his body. This room was warmer with the fur.
“I thought my life had become a real horror movie an hour ago,” Chan says, not looking away. “You can forgive me for looking a bit frenzied.”
He lifts his head and squints at Chan. “It’s not like I was turning into something horrifying.”
Chan’s eyebrows shoot up, and he looks at Seungkwan incredulously. “You are out of your mind if you think it isn’t scary for your best friend to suddenly turn into a wild animal!”
“I barely came up to your knee,” Seungkwan grumbles, cheek squished against Chan’s arm as he speaks.
“That’s kind of worse! You shrunk and grew fur in front of my eyes!”
Seungkwan starts to giggle to himself, high and tired. “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect it, or I would’ve hidden somewhere. It’s not fun for me either.”
“No, no,” Chan says, backtracking hastily. “I—I’m glad I got to stay with you. I was terrified until I realised you were more scared by my shouting than the actual… bear thing.”
“I wasn’t scared by you shouting.”
Chan shoots him a disbelieving look. “Can you please, please tell me what just happened? Now?”
Seungkwan exhales, cracking his eyes open again to look across at Chan. “Yeah. I, um… my family line carries a curse.”
“A curse?”
“Some ancestor… I don’t know who, he got cursed because he was so shy about his feelings. The curse is that, when people in my family are falling in love, they start turning into a bear.”
Chan is speechless. “Everyone? Your whole family?”
“Carries down the male side,” he grumbles. “All Boo men, yes.”
“But… how have I never noticed before?”
“Because I’m good at being honest with my feelings,” Seungkwan says, tilting his chin up proudly. “The curse only affects you before you confess to the person you’re falling for. Once you tell them you love them, you stop turning into a bear until the next time you fall in love. It’s more of a push to go and confess your feelings than anything. It never even happened with Mingyu, because I told him I loved him before the curse even hit me. I’m in-tune with my feelings like that.”
“And you never told me, because…?”
“Because who is going to believe it if they don’t see it? And what good would it do to start blabbing? It’s better to keep it on a need-to-know basis. It hasn’t affected my life much. I’m sorry about earlier—it took me by surprise today. Usually I can manage it.”
There’s a long silence, and Seungkwan wants to sit up properly, but he’s still naked. He’d rather stay cosy, though he’s feeling much more awake now.
“What does it mean right now, then?” Chan asks at last. “Who are you falling in love with?”
The obvious answer hangs between them in the air. Chan had asked him a pointed question before he’d turned.
“Not Kim Mingyu,” he scoffs.
Their breakup had been a shaky thing—neither of them had really believed in it for a little while. When it became clear they weren’t going to mutually commit again, Mingyu had a short stint dating Soonyoung, while Seungkwan had kept on with his work in another city, kept going out with Chan, kept seeing his sisters, and moved on.
They’ve hung out since, and things have been fine. They’re friends, no feelings are left over, he’s sure of it.
But it doesn’t explain the ugly feeling in him when he thinks back to Chan’s interest in Mingyu.
“Then who?” Chan says again, words full of doubt.
“It must be someone else at the wedding,” he says, scrambling for an explanation. “Like, four of my exes will be there, and all of our friends. We were talking about the wedding when it happened.”
“You mean you don’t know?” Chan says, incredulous. “What happened to being in-tune with your feelings?”
“I am! Usually! I told you, this time is an exception to the rule!”
“You can just tell me if it’s Mingyu. You know I’m not going to judge you.”
“It’s not Mingyu! I’m not interested in going there any more, it was too close to being really messy by the end.”
“…and it’s not Jeonghan, right?”
“No!” Jeonghan is, admittedly, another of Seungkwan’s exes. But that was nearly ten years ago, and Jeonghan is now getting married. “God, what do you think of me?”
“You can’t help how you feel about someone! I’m just trying to figure it out! Have you spoken to anyone else about the wedding recently?”
“Just Wonwoo, when he asked me to help him choose a suit. And Vernon, actually, when we made those plans to hang out the day after. And Soonyoung, he asked me where the gift registry link was…”
“You’re not secretly in love with any of them, right? Vernon…”
“When I was a kid!” Seungkwan says furiously. “No, it’s not… I don’t know who it is, okay? God.”
He sits up, despite his earlier apprehensions. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Chan glance at his bare back, then push himself up out of bed too.
“Okay, alright. It doesn’t matter.”
He puts his head in his hands. “No, you’re right. It does matter. If I don’t figure it out, I could turn into a bear in the middle of Jeonghan’s wedding.”
Chan nods his head slowly. “Right. He would never shut up about that.”
“He might even think I’m still in love with him. He knows about the curse thing.”
Chan’s mouth drops open, a little offended. Seungkwan makes a zipping motion—he’s not explaining the need-to-know basis thing again.
“Okay. Fine—we can figure this out. Get dressed, I’ll heat up the food, and… we’ll make a list.”
Seungkwan groans, pushing aside the covers as Chan leaves the room.
They travel to the wedding this time tomorrow. He officially has 24 hours to figure this out.
-
He does not figure it out.
“We did hear that Soobin is coming just a few days ago,” Chan points out as they’re in the car, sat in traffic just outside Seoul. Their suits hang ominously over the car seats behind them, a reminder of the very ceremony happening tomorrow morning that could expose Seungkwan to everyone.
To be honest, he’s not even bothered about his whole curse deal. The problem is that the vast majority of Jeonghan’s guests will be a gay friend or a middle-aged family member, so once they get over the bear thing, the reason for the curse will spread like wildfire. He’ll be the talk of the town, and will need some kind of explanation ready, or people will jump to certain conclusions about Seungkwan’s curse acting up at his ex-boyfriend’s wedding. If that happens, he’ll never be able to show his face in polite society again.
“It’s not Soobin,” he grumbles, head propped up in his palm, elbow against the car door. He’s gazing despondently at the glaring metal of the cars around them, because there’s nothing else to look at but Chan’s face.
The cogs in Chan’s mind have been turning ever since Seungkwan cracked out the paws last night, and it’s bothering Seungkwan for reasons he can’t articulate. But he’d called his sister to moan and complain about it a few hours ago, and she’d been even less helpful, and that had wound him up way more than Chan’s over-eager brainstorming. So he puts up with it.
“Sejeong told me it would hit me at the wedding,” he says, thinking of their conversation again. “That I should just go and dance with everyone and kiss some guys and see what happens.”
“That’s terrible advice,” Chan scoffs. “That method is only bound to lead to the bear thing happening again.”
They sit in silence for a minute as the traffic starts to inch along.
“Lee Donghyuck is also going to be there,” Chan says, and Seungkwan groans loudly.
“Do you think I have a crush on the whole male population of South Korea? I feel like you’ve listed them all by now!”
“I’m just trying to see what causes a reaction! If you change again at someone I mention, then we know it’s them, right?”
“That didn’t work like that the first time, because it’s not Kim Mingyu, so I don’t think that’s true at all.”
“But you said that’s how it usually works, right?”
Seungkwan sniffs. “Usually.”
Chan smacks his teeth emphatically. “We’ll figure it out.”
“It doesn’t help that Jeonghan and Doyoung have the whole gay population of the country coming to their wedding.”
“That’s why I have to list them all!”
“Shut up,” Seungkwan tells him, but he finds a defeated laugh accompanying the words.
The closer they get to Chuncheon, the more dread starts to climb in his chest.
The transformation happening with no reason has scared him more than he’ll admit. That’s never happened before. His first time bear-ifying was scary, but he was prepared, and knew exactly what to do to make it go away. He went and told Vernon he was in love with him, and Vernon looked back at him with a blank expression and said, “Ok.”
Then it didn’t happen again for two years. It was fine. Every time since, he’s recognised the feeling, dealt with it. He’s never had two instances happen close together, because the curse did exactly what it is supposed to—compelled him to confess.
This time is different. He doesn’t have a clue who it is he’s supposed to be confessing to. He’s on edge that he could turn again at any time, and there’s nothing he can do about it.
Plus, the ugly feeling he’s having about seeing Mingyu at the wedding is not going away, and he can’t figure out what it is or why it’s sticking in his stomach, and it’s so annoying. He’s well over Mingyu. Isn’t he?
Yes, he is. So what’s going on with him?
Can the curse misfire? Or is he missing something obvious?
The worst part of it all is that this is Jeonghan’s wedding. Jeonghan is one of the four people in the world, outside of family members, who knows about this curse. Just Chan, Jeonghan, Seokmin and Jihoon. Jeonghan, due to a mishap on what Jeonghan thought was a date, Seungkwan thought was a friendly outing. He took it in stride remarkably quickly, and they dated for a year after that.
Seokmin, because Seungkwan had turned in front of him after procrastinating his confession a few years ago. Jihoon, because he was there at the time—as Seokmin’s boyfriend, who was unexpectedly home when Seungkwan had dropped by, he was the reason Seungkwan had been procrastinating the confession.
And, God. Seokmin and Jihoon will be at the wedding too. Any one of his ex-flames could assume Seungkwan’s beary problem is down to them.
He just can’t have that.
“You need to be my insurance at the wedding,” he blurts.
Chan stops singing along to the Justin Bieber he’s started playing, and turns his head to glance at Seungkwan. “Your what?”
“If my curse hits me in the middle of this wedding, we need to paint a picture. I need a story. I can’t transform in a room full of my exes—they’ll be acting like Sherlock Holmes before you can say ‘Watson’.”
“Okay… what does any of that have to do with me?”
“I’m going to pin it on you, obviously. I’ll just flirt with you for the whole wedding, and all you’ve got to do is take me somewhat seriously, okay? That’s my insurance—if I turn, they’ll safely assume it’s you I’m falling for, and I’ll be spared any uncomfortable gossip.”
Chan is silent for a long moment, and Seungkwan looks over him. His mouth is parted, eyebrows furrowed in disbelief.
“That’s the best plan you could come up with?”
“What? It’s a good plan! It makes total sense—we live together now, they’ll love to conspire about how long this has been going on, and that will take all the attention off my situation. This is just insurance. If I don’t turn, we’ll be fine.”
“No, if you don’t turn, people will gossip about why you’re acting up around me anyway.”
Seungkwan shrugs. Fine by him. “Good for them.”
Chan’s keen interest in Mingyu suddenly flashes through his mind again at Chan’s silence. Right— so this may be a problem on Chan’s end.
“You don’t have to flirt back or anything,” he says, looking down at his hands. “The plan doesn’t need us to be together, just for me to play up like I’m obsessed with you. That’s the whole point—the curse hits in the stage where I like someone, but haven’t confessed yet.”
“I don’t mind playing,” Chan says mildly. “But do you really think anyone will believe it?”
Seungkwan’s head bobs in acquiescence. It’s a good point. He and Chan are famously at each other’s throats for any given reason on any given day.
But they’re also incredibly close, everyone knows that. “It’s not that crazy. We do live like a couple these days.”
There’s a long silence after that, too, and Seungkwan catches Chan looking contemplative, distant.
“Is that a yes?”
Chan blinks out of it. “Sure. Though if you think people will really care more that you’re into me than about the fact that you’re cursed to turn into a bear, you have low standards for our friends.”
“I know them well. The bar is on the floor.”
He relaxes into the passenger seat again, mollified now that he has a plan of sorts.
It doesn’t get him any closer to figuring out who he has to confess to. But it’s something.
-
Around dinner time, they pull up to the huge, fancy hotel Jeonghan and Doyoung are hosting their wedding and reception in, hungry from the trip, and still on edge about Seungkwan’s bear problem.
He’d called Jeonghan for help finding the right road that leads up to the hotel not two minutes ago, so it’s not much of a surprise when Jeonghan steps out of the huge hotel double doors as they’re pulling up to the patiently awaiting butler (!) standing at the bottom of the steps to said doors.
The valet politely takes the keys from Chan as they both step out—then, undeterred by Chan’s little surprised puppy face, neatly drives their car around the corner of the building once the bellboy has all the bags out. This place feels like another planet—Seungkwan half expects Jeonghan to start kissing his cheeks when they hug warmly.
“I was tracking you on Find My Friends once you told me that you left, because Doyoung had just told me the traffic was at a standstill on the main road from Seoul,” he explains, going in to hug Chan next. He looks tired, but so, so happy—as Seungkwan has often found himself thinking over the last few years, settling down has done him a world of good. “Your trip took twice as long as it should’ve.”
“And you didn’t think to warn us once you got that text?” Chan asks, scandalised, though accepting Jeonghan’s hug nonetheless.
Jeonghan giggles like he’s not a thirty-two-year-old man who is about to get married tomorrow. “I was touched by how long you were both willing to bear traffic for me.”
He leads them inside, where they pick up their room keys, and Jeonghan points them to the dining room, gym, bar, and elevator that leads to the rooftop swimming pool.
“Is Doyoung secretly the heir to Samsung, or something?” Chan asks. All their accommodation, meals, and drinks are paid for while staying here for two nights.
Jeonghan only laughs again, and waves them out of the elevator when they get off at their floor.
The room is just as grand as the rest of the hotel, and the butler has somehow managed to get the four bags they have between them neatly parked in their room in the few minutes since arriving.
“It’s not Jeonghan,” Chan says as soon as the door closes behind them.
“Hmm?” Seungkwan is busy peering in at the high ceiling and polished marble of the bathroom. “Hey, isn’t this place absolutely insane? Have you seen this basin?”
“It’s not Jeonghan that you’re in love with,” Chan says, and Seungkwan pulls his head out of the bathroom, affronted.
“You’re still thinking about that? Look around you!”
“It’s just an observation! You greeted him without a problem and acted normal, so it’s not him. Your sister’s advice was to interact with people at the wedding and see what hits you—it’s pretty important to establish it’s not the groom, right?”
“I already knew it wasn’t Jeonghan,” he sniffs, because he hates admitting when Chan is right.
“You’re pretty adamant it’s not anyone at this wedding, but it must be someone!”
“Maybe it was an accident! Maybe it was random that my curse activated, I don’t know.”
Chan levels him with a look. Even he, who has known about this whole situation for barely a day, knows when Seungkwan is lying.
“Jeonghan was one of my top three, so I’d say it’s worth celebrating that it’s not him.”
“Top three? You don’t know me at all! Who are your other two?”
“Mingyu and Seokmin. And I do know you, Mingyu was your most recent long-term relationship, and Seokmin is Seokmin. Those are three perfectly sound picks, you just don’t want to admit which one it is.”
“It’s no one. Do you want to go to the pool?”
“We haven’t eaten dinner, shouldn’t we go to the restaurant-bar…?”
“I know for sure all of Doyoung’s friends will be at the bar, and Johnny will keep passing me drinks, and I absolutely cannot drink before the wedding tomorrow. Being drunk and a bear is a recipe for disaster.”
“Now that would be an entertaining sight…”
“Shut up! We can order food to the pool, I bet you.”
Chan laughs. “Let’s go to the pool. You can face Johnny Suh’s endless drinks tomorrow.”
-
The ceremony is stunning.
They’re in this huge function hall that the hotel has decorated beautifully, pink roses and white silk drapes along the walls, intricate doilies on every surface. The ceremony is as traditional as they come for a couple that can’t be recognised in the eye of the law—they both are walked down the aisle by their mothers, in pristine, tailored suits, Jeonghan’s long blond hair pinned back with subtly glittering accessories.
Lee Donghyuck delivers a rapturing rendition of one of the yearning love songs Doyoung likes, then the couple say their vows, and there’s a kiss so tender it has Seungkwan’s eyes brimming with tears to witness.
They’re perfect together. Seungkwan is so, so happy for them.
Things only start to go sideways after the ceremony itself, when they’re clutching champagne glasses and picking at truffles and mingling with the other guests. It’s their first time seeing any of the other guests since arriving, and once the teary-eyed bit is over, Seungkwan goes on defensive mode.
He’s seen three exes and counting in attendance so far. He has to be on the alert for any potential threats that could trigger his curse.
So he starts to gear up his insurance plan. Clutches Chan’s arm and watches him raptly as they talk with Junhui and Minghao, steadfastly ignoring Minghao’s judgemental, withering stare. Playfully, with a saccharine tone, drags Chan over to talk to Wonwoo when Seungkwan spots him hanging around on his own, laughing at everything Chan says a bit too much.
No bear so far, and he can probably make a polite exit in the next thirty minutes. But before he can make a run for it, none other than test number two comes along.
Seokmin approaches them brightly, Jihoon in tow, all delighted smiles and warm hugs.
“It’s been so long!” he gushes, as Seungkwan steps out of their hug and back into Chan’s space.
He can feel Chan’s eyes on him, now he knows that Chan is watching closely for his so-called ‘top three’ list to trigger a reaction in Seungkwan.
“It’s your fault for moving out to Daegu!” Seungkwan says, determined to prove Chan wrong. He’s no victim to his curse. He can interact with his friends just fine! And he’s not in love with Seokmin! “You should come and visit us more often!”
“Us?” Jihoon says, tilting his head. “Right, you guys moved in together, didn’t you?”
Seungkwan is prepared to open his mouth and explain how they’d fallen into being roommates after Chan’s old apartment was found to be structurally unsafe, but then he sees Seokmin hitting Jihoon’s arm, as if he’d said something revealing.
He surveys the way Seokmin and Jihoon are looking between them. Chan’s gaze is still on Seungkwan.
Seungkwan himself pushes himself into Chan’s side, gripping his arm a little tighter before smiling.
Even without his efforts to look like Chan’s armpiece here today—or maybe because of?—their network of friends are already gossiping about Chan and Seungkwan living together.
Of course they are. He shouldn’t be surprised.
“That’s right,” Seungkwan says, reaching up to put his arms around Chan and rest his head on his shoulder affectionately. “You wouldn’t believe it, but we work really well as roommates. I think we’ll be together for a long time, right, honey?”
Chan splutters into laughter, clearly not expecting the petname. He looks at Seungkwan with bright, if slightly wide eyes, and hits his arm playfully. “It was a surprise to me that you even let me in the door!”
Seokmin laughs loudly, and Jihoon just looks between them, amused and disbelieving.
So that’s how it is. Everyone is already convinced there is something between them—this is perfect for his grand plan.
Seungkwan looks at Chan with honey eyes. “What was I supposed to do? Let you fall through the floor in your condemned flat? At least now you buy me food sometimes, when we have nothing else to eat in the house.”
“Aren’t you the one that’s supposed to buy me food, Hyung?”
“Doesn’t living together mean sharing groceries?” Seokmin asks.
“Only when Chan remembers to buy them!” Seungkwan says, aiming for humoured and landing somewhere closer to disgruntled wife.
“You’re making a really compelling case for us to come and visit,” Jihoon says, and Seokmin giggles at him.
“Then we’ll have to come to you,” Seungkwan says, just to put the icing on the cake of their domestic act here. Travelling together—yes, that’s plenty coupley. “You’re not planning on any babies any time soon, right?”
Surprisingly, that shuts them up. Oh. He meant it as a joke, but maybe he hit a nerve there.
“We’ll be sure to make space for you,” Seokmin says, before catching Seungcheol’s eye and pulling Jihoon into another conversation. “It was good to catch up!”
As they’re leaving the function hall, to freshen up ahead of the reception party, Chan says, “It’s not Seokmin.”
“Yeah, duh,” Seungkwan replies, hitting the button to take the elevator up to their floor. “You need to trust me more, seriously.”
To his surprise, Chan doesn’t respond right away. He turns to look at Seungkwan after a pregnant pause, and when he does, Seungkwan can’t decipher his expression right away.
“You’re putting on a good act.”
“I know. Did you expect any less from me?”
As they exit the elevator, he’s met with another pause before Chan answers.
“How could I ever? But are you going to keep this up all night?”
“Just watch me,” Seungkwan says, blowing him a kiss before pushing open their hotel room door.
-
The final boss of the whole wedding weekend—besides the after party, that will no doubt be taking place at the rooftop pool after this—is the reception.
It’s taking place partially in the huge ballroom this hotel apparently has, and partially on the patio deck and in the gardens outside, as the sun disappears over the horizon.
But it’s easy not to think of it as the scary final boss when he’s so taken with the dinner they’re served and the table they’re seated at, with a bunch of their friends and Seungcheol’s young family. Especially when the place is decorated to the nines, the lights glowing, the families and friends of Jeonghan and Doyoung bringing an energy to the room that’s contagiously lively.
When the lights get lower and the first dance music kicks in, Seungkwan forgets about it entirely, watching Doyoung and Jeonghan giggle at each other and nervously take the first dance with matching pink cheeks.
What they have is so special, it aches in him. He tears up again watching them dance, even when Seungcheol’s youngest toddles over to them in the middle of the dance and Seungcheol has to scoop her up with apologies.
Johnny takes it upon himself to drag Junhui onto the dancefloor once their dance is done, breaking the ice at the same time the proper party music kicks in. Seungkwan hardly hesitates to be among the first to join him on the dancefloor, dragging Chan along too.
Yeah, sure, this is good for his insurance act or whatever, but he mostly just wants to dance with him, and knows Chan will go along with it. It’s been a busy period over the last few months—what with Chan hastily moving in, and Seungkwan doubling down at work—even worrying about the bear thing over the last two days has taken it out of him.
They deserve this—to dance wildly and ridiculously on the dance floor at Jeonghan and Doyoung’s wedding, to enjoy a night with their friends where they drink too much and laugh a lot and don’t sleep until the sun rises.
They’re quickly joined by other people, but Seungkwan stays focused on Chan as he laughs and shimmies into Seungkwan’s space, who laughs too, letting Chan take his hand and twirl him.
It’s been a while since Seungkwan felt this happy and relaxed. Living with Chan the last couple months has been good, don’t get him wrong—but they need to do things like this more together, fun stuff that gets them out the house, spending more time with their friends.
This makes him feel alive. It makes him feel…
Chan leans in, and Seungkwan feels his breath catch, in the half second before he realises Chan is trying to speak into his ear over the music.
“I’m going to get a drink—want one?”
“Sure,” he says, and Chan flashes him a grin as he slips past him. He’s slicked his hair back for the event. He should do it more often.
He bumps hips with Joshua to continue his dancing energy, and Joshua knows how to let loose on a dancefloor. But even that barely takes him out of his own head.
Thinking about how he’d like to do this more often has him feeling some type of way. As happy as he is, his heart is kind of heavy too.
What is up with him lately? Does this have something to do with his curse randomly kicking in again?
What does it all mean?
Just as he turns to go and take his seat again, to try and catch his breath, none other than Kim Mingyu approaches him.
He’s managed to miss Mingyu the whole wedding so far—not to see him, per se, because it’s easy to spot Mingyu’s head above any crowd in South Korea. But they hadn’t managed to catch each other’s eye, have a conversation, be in the same space at all.
Mingyu has clearly decided to put the last of Chan’s list to the test, once and for all.
“Seungkwan!” he beams, leaning in to hug him, full bodied.
The tension that had suddenly climbed into Seungkwan melts away as quickly as it had come. He’s never had to put up a front with Mingyu, not even during their breakup, not as long as Seungkwan can remember knowing him. And he doesn’t have to now.
Seeing Mingyu here, happy to be at the wedding and happy to see Seungkwan, makes Seungkwan feel loved and appreciated and fond of his friend. But he remembers well what it felt like to be in love with Kim Mingyu.
And this isn’t it.
“I can’t believe you took this long to say hi!”
He punches his arm, and Mingyu just laughs and shrinks into himself a little. Perhaps he wasn’t sure if Seungkwan would want to see him, too.
“I know about ninety percent of the people at this wedding, that’s a lot of talking to get through—and you didn’t come up to me either!”
Seungkwan grins and grips his arm, pulling him in to dance properly. Mingyu pulls a face, then does a silly body roll to appease him.
“We have to catch up after this!” he says, appeased, mood boosting again now he’s reassured himself that Mingyu has nothing to do with this.
“Are you going to the after party? The top floor suite has been booked out for it!”
“I have a feeling that isn’t going to be the place for talking…!”
He’s cut off by a new body appearing at their side.
Chan appears, clutching two glasses of champagne, shooting a pointed look at Seungkwan before handing over his glass.
“Chan!” Mingyu exclaims, before coming in to envelop Chan warmly.
Chan laughs as he does, clearly a little surprised, but reciprocates all the same, even tucking his chin into Mingyu’s neck.
And, right. That’s when Seungkwan remembers. Chan’s thing for Mingyu.
How long had Chan been watching them? If he’s seen them interact already, maybe Mingyu’s name is ticked off. He knows Seungkwan isn’t in love with him.
Which means he’s fair game.
Seungkwan shivers. Is it getting cold in here?
He watches Mingyu hold onto Chan’s waist as he pulls back, and Chan look up at him with shining eyes.
Perhaps they’ve been talking already. Perhaps Mingyu had come up to Seungkwan looking for Chan.
And they…
Seungkwan…
He’s jealous. Fine. He’ll admit that.
But there’s a reason he’s been keeping that box firmly closed. Because if he’s not jealous of Chan for flirting with Mingyu…
Then he must be…
“Seungkwan!”
A glass smashes, and he realises it’s his. He’s on the floor before he even realises it this time, scrambling his way out of the shirt and suit that’s crumpled in around him.
Chan is crouching down—to shield him, maybe?—but Seungkwan is panicking, and scrambles to get away from him, to dart through legs on the dancefloor. He’s clumsy, and it’s dark, and the room is full of people—it doesn’t take long before he hears a scream, and people start to clear out of his way, families pulling back children, and Seungkwan doesn’t even know where he’s going until he sees the patio doors.
The sun has gone down outside now, but the lights strung along the walls and around the patio mean the people milling about see him coming. Another handful of screams mark his path. Seungkwan barrels straight past them and into the gardens, which are much quieter, and almost devoid of people.
He runs through the pathways until he reaches the trees at the bottom of the garden, and scrambles up the bark with a haste that surprises even him. He can do this as a bear?
Maybe it’s a panic response—he’s never been so stressed during a transformation… because of how the transformation was brought on.
Because he’s falling in love with Lee Chan.
He scrambles up onto a thick branch, suddenly paralysed. Partially by the fact he’s now got himself stuck in a tree, partially by the fact that he’s falling in love with Lee Chan.
Has God run out of other boys he could fall for? Yes, sure, Seungkwan has dated quite a few of his friends, but why did he have to go and ruin this friendship too?
He and Chan—they’re good, they’re so good. Seungkwan loves him—and yes, apparently like that, but also in all the other ways too. He may not admit it out loud, but Chan is so important to him. They click so easily, they get on each other’s nerves and understand each other in equal measure.
Chan is too important to be another ex. He can’t do this. He doesn’t trust himself enough to do this to Chan.
But he’s got no choice but to admit it to him, or life in a tree will be his foreseeable future.
“Seungkwan?”
The man in question calls out his name from not far away. Apparently, Seungkwan can’t even be left alone to wallow in a tree.
Though, the last thing he wants is to be found naked up a tree he can’t climb back down from. So he scrambles—mostly falls—down the trunk again, darting in between the bushes.
Chan’s no idiot, as much as he may act like it sometimes. As hard as Seungkwan tries to hide himself between the leaves, it doesn’t take long for Chan to find him there.
He growls a little when Chan comes into view, and Chan puts his hands up. Clutched in his left hand is a long coat that looks suspiciously like Mingyu’s.
“It’s just me,” Chan says, because he knows Seungkwan, he knows that people crowding him would be the worst thing right now. But it’s just Chan. “It’s okay. Come here. Let me put this over you, it’s cold out here.”
He doesn’t need the coat, of course, with his fur coat. But he’s going to want it the minute the curse wears off, and he’s squatting naked in the gardens. So he allows Chan to gingerly lay the coat over him, bundling him up so only his head is visible.
“It’s fine. Jeonghan was laughing it off back there as if it wasn’t a problem, and you know how he can convince people. He’s worried about you, though, I could tell.”
He whines a little, without meaning to. Chan hums, reassuring.
“Don’t worry about it. You’ve got your insurance, right? Helps that I came dashing after you. Things will work out how you planned.”
Seungkwan feels like the worst person in the world. Does Chan know how Seungkwan feels? Probably not—neither of them had even considered that Chan could be the cause. Still—using him like that was shitty. He’s not a prop for Seungkwan to use to maintain his lies and secrets.
He’s also so fucking stupid. The answer has been right in front of him this whole damn time.
“I think Mingyu was a bit shocked, but he let me take his coat,” Chan provides, hesitantly, like he’s not sure if mentioning Mingyu is a misstep. Because of course—to Chan, it looks like Seungkwan changed when Mingyu came over, started talking to them.
A wave of nausea overtakes him as he transforms, faster than ever before. The cool air hits him all at once. He slumps forward, on his knees, curled into himself as the coat falls over his body.
“You can still hook up with him,” Seungkwan says hoarsely, tucking his arms into the coat sleeves. He has to confess, but it doesn’t mean Chan has to reciprocate. Seungkwan doesn’t need to ruin his night any more than this. “I’m not in love with him.”
Chan chokes on his next words at first, mouth round as he looks at Seungkwan in bafflement. “What are you talking about?”
“I can see you like him, it’s obvious. It’s fine. I’m not in love with him, so you can shoot your shot.”
“I’m not interested in Mingyu,” Chan says, raising his voice as if he’s insulted or something. “And are you really going to deny this any longer? You have to confess to him or this isn’t going to go away!”
“It’s not him,” he says, and finds himself poking one arm through the coat sleeve so that he can wipe his eyes, almost angrily. “I can’t believe I’m falling in love with you. You! You’ve never even made me dinner, and we’ve lived together for two months. Can you leave me alone?”
Chan chokes again, then falls back onto his ass from where he’s squatting on the grass. “Me? You—me??”
“Shut up! I don’t want to talk about it!”
“I’m pretty sure you have to!”
“I got jealous, seeing you with Mingyu, thinking about you and him!” he bursts. “There, you happy? That’s what triggered me on the dance floor, and it’s what triggered me in our apartment. It’s not Mingyu—it’s cause I don’t want to see you with other people. Alright? I’ve said it now, curse over. Go back to the party, Chan. You’ve done enough for me already.”
When he’s rubbed his eyes clear of furious tears, Chan is still sitting there, watching him sniffle into Mingyu’s coat.
“I was never interested in Mingyu. I was only asking about him because I thought you were still interested.”
Seungkwan raises his head. Chan reaches out to find Seungkwan’s hand amongst the long sleeves of the coat, and takes both of them, draws all Seungkwan’s attention to him.
“I’m lucky you’ve got this dumb curse, because you would never have realised otherwise, would you? And I would never have said a thing about my feelings, either.”
Seungkwan sits there, stunned, shivering. “What?”
Chan nods minutely, looking into Seungkwan’s features imploringly. “We don’t have to do anything about it, not right now at least. But I knew moving in with you would make me worse, and it did. I’ve felt different about you for a long time. I think if I had a curse like yours, I would be a full-time bear by now. I’m sorry I’m not what you expected, or wanted…”
“Shut up,” he says again, clutching Chan’s hand hard. “I’m not upset because it’s you. I’m mad because you’re my best friend, and I don’t have a good track record with making relationships last. I’m really, really scared to mess this up. Also, the food thing. You really need to learn to cook.”
Chan actually smiles at that, brilliant and bright in the dark garden. “I can learn to cook. I can be your best friend and we can give this a shot, too. Maybe I’m the one that can make you stay, hm?”
Seungkwan finally cracks a smile at that, breaking and laughing at Chan’s hopeful, delighted tone, tinged with just a dash of challenge. Chan knows him—he knows Seungkwan won’t be able to let this lie until they do something about it, for better or for worse.
Maybe not tonight. Tonight, he needs to go back to the wedding and collect his clothes and apologise to Jeonghan, then retreat and rest until he’s recovered from the transformation disorientation.
But, he and Chan… they’re going to make it. They’re going to be something.
As much as he wants to be afraid, that thought does nothing but excite him.
Chan reaches out to thumb away the tear running down his cheek, and Seungkwan moves to open up his arms. Chan knows exactly the moment to lean in and wrap his arms around him, and the embrace keeps him warm out here in the cold of the garden.
His heart thumps in his chest and the palpable shift in the air, the way Chan is holding him and what it means for them now.
It’s not uncomfortable. Rather, it’s full of exhilarating potential—it’s just where they were meant to find themselves tonight. He knows that now.
“Seungkwan?”
Jeonghan’s voice calls from down the path, and he and Chan release each other at the same time. Seungkwan intakes a breath, ready to apologise and miserably call back, before Chan starts laughing.
Actually laughing.
“Can you shut up?” Seungkwan asks him, and Jeonghan’s head appears over the bushes to peer at them.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m okay, I’ve fixed it. Jeonghan, I’m so sorry, I was trying everything to avoid that happening in your wedding, it was so stupid, I should’ve just stayed out of the way…”
Jeonghan reaches out a hand to help him stand up, and Seungkwan stands into a warm, comforting Jeonghan hug.
“Don’t apologise, don’t even say anything. You’ve just made this so memorable for everyone. And it’s not ruined anything for me—but do I have to worry about you…?”
“Beyond how I’m going to answer everyone’s questions? No, really, I’m okay.”
Chan stands beside them, brushing soil from his pants. Both Jeonghan and Seungkwan look at him, then back at each other.
“It’s been a long road to end up here,” Jeonghan says, tilting his head towards Chan, and Seungkwan hits him playfully as Jeonghan laughs, smile cheeky.
“Shouldn’t you be getting inside before your husband comes looking?” Chan asks. “Can we sneak around the hotel from here to get Seungkwan back inside? We need some new clothes before we do anything else.”
“You can go around that way. I’ll let everyone know you’re okay. But don’t rush into anything, both of you, alright? Take it easy right now. Poor Seungkwan looks like he’s going to pass out.”
“I don’t know what you think of me,” Chan says, wrapping his arm around Seungkwan’s to support him. Now that Jeonghan has articulated it, he does feel a little bit weak in the knees. “I’m a gentleman.”
“I know. I just see you both as my kids, still. But you’re a lot more grown, now.” He leans in to give Chan a hug too, before gesturing to the gate that will take them around the hotel. “Go and be free!”
Seungkwan laughs as Chan leads them down the path, Jeonghan blowing a giggly kiss to them as they go.
“If we can make this work, Jeonghan will be boasting about that at our wedding, I just know it,” Chan says, shaking his head.
“He just told us to take it slow, and you’re already talking about weddings?”
“I like to plan ahead. In here.”
They sneak in through one of the doors at the side of the building, then run across the reception to the elevators, hoping to keep out of sight of anyone in the ballroom. Stifling laughter that’s a little out of control, they make it to the elevators, staggering like drunk twenty-one-year-olds all the way up to their room.
Chan heads out to sit on their balcony as Seungkwan pulls on some replacement clothes. He doesn’t have anything quite as nice as the suit, but manages a button-up with jeans. It’s too early for him to sleep—he can perk back up with some food, and maybe even re-join the party.
He follows Chan out to the balcony, and sits opposite him. They have a view over the gardens from here—Seungkwan can see the exact spot they just had their confession moment. It’s tranquil out there now, still softly glowing under the lights of the hotel.
“All ok?” Chan asks, looking over at him as he sits down. “Shall we order some food?”
“Yes please,” he murmurs, sagging over the table. “I need something fast and greasy.”
“Jaejae’s?” Chan asks, opening up his phone, the screen lighting up his face.
Seungkwan watches him for a long moment. Thinks about their moment just now, out in the garden. About how Chan has been by his side this whole time, ready to catch him.
How his best friend has felt about Seungkwan all along, yet never wavered in helping Seungkwan protect himself against his curse, enjoy Jeonghan’s wedding, and figure out his feelings.
It’s really been right in front of him all this time. For the first time in his life, Seungkwan can admit his curse has done something for him that he’d be running a mile from otherwise.
Maybe this can work. Maybe he’s not being fair to Chan—or to himself.
He’s got an awful lot of love stored inside him, especially when it comes to his roommate and best friend. It would be a shame to see it all go to waste.
Seungkwan leans forward, and places a kiss on Chan’s mouth. Just a peck. A gesture that means everything—or nothing, if Chan doesn’t want it to mean everything. He’s flexible.
Chan’s expression is stunned. Then his smile blooms onto his face, and he giggles. Alright, it’s cute. Fuck, Lee Chan is so cute.
“Thank you,” Seungkwan says, and hopes Chan will get it, how widely he means it, how grateful he really is.
“Mhh-hmm,” Chan says, tone all too pleased with himself. “Anytime.”
Yeah. He gets it.
“You’re paying, though.”
“It’s your turn to pay!”
“Bears don’t have money. You’re paying.”
“You’re paying, Hyung!”
Seungkwan kisses him again just to shut him up.