Just This Close

The afternoon sun poured through the windows of the apartment, golden and lazy. Music played softly from Nut’s phone on the table — some slow indie song Hong always pretended not to know but hummed along to anyway.

Nut was sitting on the couch, scrolling absently. He didn’t expect to glance up and forget how to breathe.

Hong walked out of the bedroom wearing a black crop top — tight, short, sleeves rolled just a little — and a pair of soft gray sweatpants that clung low on his hips. His gray hair was tousled from the nap he’d just woken from, and a lazy smirk played on his lips like he knew exactly what he was doing.

“Too much?” Hong asked, stretching both arms up and letting the top ride higher on his stomach, exposing the soft line of his waist, the dip of skin above his hips.

Nut stared. Openly. Shamelessly.

“You’re not serious,” he muttered. His voice was a little rougher than it should be.

Hong walked closer, slow and teasing, barefoot. “What? I was hot.”

“You’re evil.”

“No,” Hong said, kneeling on the couch beside Nut, one knee touching his thigh. “I just know what gets you all... shy.”

Nut looked away, swallowing hard. But Hong could see the pink rising in his cheeks, the tightness in his jaw as he tried not to react.

“You wear that around me and expect me to stay normal?” Nut asked, his voice low now, somewhere between a complaint and a confession.

“I never said I wanted you to stay normal.”

Silence stretched between them, full of possibility. Hong’s hand settled gently on Nut’s shoulder, fingers brushing the curve of his neck. His other hand landed on Nut’s chest, flat, right over his heart.

Nut lifted his gaze slowly, eyes dark and steady. “You’re dangerous like this.”

“You love it,” Hong whispered. He leaned in, their foreheads nearly touching, and smiled like he knew exactly how fast Nut’s heart was beating.

And Nut did nothing to stop him.

He reached out, wrapped an arm around Hong’s waist — his palm flat against the warm skin just under the hem of the crop top. He held him there like he belonged nowhere else.

“I do love it,” Nut said finally. His voice was soft. Honest. “I love you.”

Hong didn’t answer right away. He just leaned in until their noses brushed, until Nut’s breath hitched, until there was no air between them at all.

Then he whispered against Nut’s lips, “Then show me.”