[kevin/benji] possibilities pt.2
Kevin feels a light tap on the shoulder. Jimin’s eyes widen a little, then she grins and Kevin pauses arguing with her for a second to turn around.
“Hi,” says Benji, grinning. Kevin grins back and Jimin laughs, then makes a shitty excuse about going to find Jae. Benji’s grin dims a little, staring at the spot where Jimin just was. Kevin’s heart sinks a little.
“Hey,” he replies finally and tries for a sheepish smile. “Sorry about her, let me just call her back -”
“Actually,” Benji interrupts eyes shifting like he’s nervous. His voice drops a little. “I was looking for you.”
Kevin can feel his previously sunk heart try to find its way into his throat. “Oh?”
“Yeah,” Benji’s voice drops even lower and Kevin unconsciously leans in to hear him - then he realizes just how close he’s leaned in and jumps back. Benji tries and fails to hide a smile. When he speaks again, his voice sounds normal. “I was wondering if we could exchange numbers? You know,” he adds hastily, “making friends and everything. You seem like a nice guy to be friends with.”
“Oh,” Kevin says again and he’s not sure whether to be excited or disappointed. “Sure.” Then, a beat too late he adds, “Thank you. I mean for the friend thi- you know what, nevermind.”
Benji doesn’t try to hide the smile this time, even laughs a little. He hands Kevin his phone.
When Benji calls him so Kevin can save his number, Kevin falters. “Wait, is calling you Benji okay?” He tries to remember the files they had to study before broadcast. He remembers Benji’s Korean name was Jae-something because Jae had made a joke about it but - Jae...wook?
Benji laughs again. “Benji’s fine. I’m used to that more anyway.”
“Oh, okay.” Kevin tries very hard to stop the relief from showing on his face but from Benji’s knowing grin he’s not very successful.
*
Kevin has just locked his door and is taking his shoes off when his phone pings with a new message. He makes a mental note to check it when he leaves his stuff and is home properly, but it gets lost in the minor chores he has to do around the apartment. It takes an hour before he remembers someone texted him. Turns out, it was Benji.
you weren’t very subtle today
Kevin stares at his phone for a few minutes, debating which is bigger - the excitement or the desire to melt into the floor.
In the end, he types back a, sorry
no need, comes Benji’s reply only a few seconds later. it was flattering
Kevin has no idea how to reply to that, so he doesn’t. Seven minutes later (Kevin may or may not have been staring at his phone the whole time), his phone pings again. And again, and again.
sorry, that came out wrong
what i meant was that it was very nice of you
fuck i’m not making this better am i
what i mean is i’m kinda interested but also kinda really scared
cause if i fuck up i’m dragging the others down with me and
shit fuck sorry i didn’t mean
just
can we pretend i never said anything
Kevin has the it’s fine typed out but his finger hovers over the send button. He sighs, erases it, and sends you forget i’ve been in this business a bit longer than you instead. It’s one of the more rude replies he could have come up with but he determinedly pushes down the urge to apologize.
It takes Benji a while to reply. When he does, it’s a simple sorry.
Kevin sighs again.
i didn’t mean to sound condescending
okay maybe i did a little
but i’m not asking for your hand in marriage you know?
i’m not even sure what i’m asking for
but it definitely doesn’t include the demise of your or your bandmates’ careers
and anyway i know how to cover my tracks as good as the next idol
probably better actually for the exact same reasons you so helpfully pointed out
just
it was a mistake, i got it, we can pretend it never happened and i’ll just quietly move into some deep dark hole
Kevin stares at the last message. At all of them, really. They’re all marked as seen and he contemplates chucking his phone across the room but in the end, the poor device did nothing. It was all him.
His phone pings again.
...you probably didn’t mean that as an innuendo
too soon?
too soon fuck
but hey i really don’t want you to move into a deep dark hole
look i didn’t even laugh as i said that
...you can’t actually look
listen how about we go out for a beer and you can teach me all about the sneaky idol ways
and about deep, dark holes
ok how about we pretend that last message doesn’t exist
Kevin stares at his phone. Again. Is this guy for real?
i’m beginning to regret hitting on you on live broadcast
Benji replies with a set of laughing emojis.
And then, we’ll see about that ;)
Kevin does chuck his phone away this time. Not very hard, though - it lands somewhere in the couch cushions by his feet. There’s a giddy feeling bubbling in his chest and he tries to resist the urge to bury his face in a pillow like the dumb teenager he should have outgrown eight years ago.
He almost succeeds.