[crow]

"No, actually, this was my backup plan in case you wouldn't take me back. I was going to win you over with the world's cutest girl group dance medley," Chan-ho said. He laughed to cover up his embarrassment as Young-soo kissed his hand. "I could ask you the same thing though--- how come you're such a natural player now? You haven't gone off and dated other guys behind my back, have you?" His tone was light and teasing, but in truth, he was surprised by how Young-soo seemed so at ease now, when he had been so awkward before.

Chan-ho had the sense to go to the bathroom before they left, so his eyes cut to the snack shops as they got out of the car. "Sure," he said. "Want me to get you anything?" There were plenty of options, from coffee to hotteok to burgers and pizza. There were even a few places serving noodles and stews, not to mention the convenience store.

[zapdragon555]

Young-soo's expression lit up at Chan-ho's words, before it softened into an easy smile. "Nahh, don't you worry about that," he chuckled, pulling into the rest stop. "And... honestly, I think I just got used to the idea. You're easy to be around." He said it with such an earnest, matter-of-factness that it seemed stark in contrast to the goofiness they'd been throwing back and forth previously.

Young-soo got out and stretched, pocketing the key and peering at the shops. "Mmm... I'll have what you're having. Anything sounds good right now," he said, fishing into his pocket for his wallet and taking out a decent sum of snack money, handing it off to Chan-ho. "But I definitely want a smoothie, if you can find it. Strawberry'd be great." He smiled, and set off towards the bathroom once the money was passed off.

[crow]

"Oh." Chan-ho wasn't sure what to say to that. He grinned, lop-sided and almost nervous, a slight flush creeping across his features. "Uh. Thanks. I always have fun when I'm with you too," he said, finding a little more of his footing as he spoke. Truth be told though, he still didn't know what to do with Young-soo's newfound earnestness, when he had been so used to joking around with Young-soo before.

He took the money, sighing exaggeratedly. "Since you're the one taking me out, I'll let you pay this time," he said. He grinned and waved a little as Young-soo walked off, then began browsing the shops. He got the smoothie first from an Angel-in-us, though he realized afterwards that that might have been a mistake, since it was going to melt. Oh well, Young-soo wasn't going to be gone that long, right?

After that it was straight to the snack booths for tteokbokki and fish cakes, and four whole hotteok. He deliberated for a moment, then went for two cheeseburgers to boot, and an Americano for himself. He found a seat in the eating area to lay out his spoils, then fiddled with his phone, browsing Instagram half-heartedly as he waited for Young-soo to find him.

[zapdragon555]

After a few exchanged 'where are you?' texts, Young-soo located Chan-ho at a booth and ran over, his eyes widening at the food. "Holy shit, man! You got a feast," he snorted, obviously delighted by this as he sat down in the booth next to Chan-ho, though it probably would've made more sense to sit across from him. Impulse, that's all. Perhaps he'd grown used to their car seating arrangement already.

He reached for one of the hotteok, sneakily biting into it with a grin as cinnamon flooded his senses. "Mmm..." he sighed, leaning back in the booth, his shoulder barely brushing Chan-ho's. He leaned in a fraction of an amount, then blinked when he spotted the smoothie and reached for it. "Aw yesss. Thanks for grabbing all this. This way we can probably grab dinner late... there's this one restaurant that has a view of this pond out the window, and the fountains on the pond have these lights... I wonder if they're still there..." Young-soo trailed off, blinking over at Chan-ho, his face warming slightly as he hurriedly stuffed the hotteok back in his mouth. He felt embarrassed for rambling. Perhaps he was more nervous than he was letting on, but it seemed to be manifesting in friendliness, which was new for him. Better than clocking people over the head and scowling, at least. He only hoped he wasn't coming on too strong... he hadn't really dated in... awhile, really. Even so, he relaxed his shoulders, brushing Chan-ho's once again with his own as he just took a moment to enjoy the food.

[crow]

Chan-ho grinned when Young-soo came into sight, sliding down a little to make more room beside himself. He had no reservations with leaning against Young-soo, though only subtly, since they were in public now. Picking up a burger, Chan-ho took a big bite out of it, wiping the sauce from the corner of his mouth with a thumb and licking it off. "Yeah, I figured if it was going to be a cheat day, we might as well go all out. I don't know about you, but I'm sick of chicken breast." The burger was pretty good for a rest stop, reasonably juicy and well-balanced taste-wise.

When Young-soo trailed off, Chan-ho glanced at him, and caught him glancing away and flushing. Laughing softly, Chan-ho said, "What? Are you falling for me again after looking at my face?" He cupped his hands, joined at the wrist, beneath his chin and batted his eyelashes at Young-soo. Dropping the act, however, he nudged Young-soo's shoulder with his own. "I'm looking forward to it," he said. "Really."

[zapdragon555]

Feeling Chan-ho lean against him, Young-soo felt a small ache of anxious happiness in his chest. It wasn't the easiness of joking around in the car, but he welcomed it all the same. "Mmm, me too. I need real food," he whined, reaching for the second burger that Chan-ho had grabbed, wanting something savory after the hotteok.

Young-soo snorted at Chan-ho's question, looking over at the boy with a grinning smirk. It... admittedly was difficult not to lean in and kiss the other boy on the mouth right then and there, but luckily instinct won out and kept him from doing anything even remotely close to that. He bit down on the burger and rolled his eyes, chewing quietly and sobering slightly when Chan-ho nudged him. He swallowed, expression softening as he looked down at the food, then quietly, subtly placed his right hand on Chan-ho's left thigh, rubbing a thumb gently against it. Nothing sexual--nothing but quiet, intimate acknowledgement. "Thanks," he murmured after a moment, face pink, wanting to express how much that meant to him. That his idea of an outing wasn't lame to Chan-ho. "I'm glad you're here."

The moment passed after awhile, when he began to properly tear into his food. In not too long of a time, they'd put a proper dent in the feast that Chan-ho had brought to the table. "I'm guessing we can take the rest with us," he mused, nudging the last two hotteok into the little bag they came in. The remaining tteokbokki would be a little more dangerous to carry in the car, but as long as they were careful... "You about ready to head on?"

[crow]

The corner of Chan-ho's mouth quirked up as he felt Young-soo's hand on his thigh. He had a coy quip ready--- something about how they were in public, maybe--- as he waited for that hand to slide higher, but he faltered slightly when it... didn't. "Oh," he said. "Yeah, of course I'm here. Where else would I be?" His quick recovery was the result years of experience handling variety shows and interviews; there was only a slight blink to hint that he had ever faltered, missing a step in the strange, uneven rhythm that was whatever he and Young-soo had become. But it unsettled him all the same, another reminder that this was new, that this was different. He was in uncharted territory now, and his old instincts couldn't be trusted anymore.

He smiled and and chatted, but he didn't eat much more. The food had turned into a lump in his throat, and his appetite had deserted him.

By the time Young-soo packed up the hotteok, Chan-ho was glad to be leaving. "Mhm," he said, rising from his seat and stretching. "How much further did you say this place was?"

[zapdragon555]

Young-soo made a noise at Chan-ho's response to his words. That... hadn't quite been what he meant, though he realized he hadn't spoken quite what he meant. Maybe what he meant was too heavy for the situation in general. No, he was glad Chan-ho was there, with him, period. Glad to have his friend back. He missed that, more than anything... getting to kiss him now and then was an added bonus, for sure.

Some part of him could tell something was still off, though. The moment passed, and so he left his comment at that, just giving Chan-ho a warm smile and a shrug.

When Chan-ho stood, so did he, twisting his back slightly to pop it. "Not much further. 'Bout an hour... but if you fall sleep in the car, I'm waking you up with the loudest metal music I can find." He grinned, nudging Chan-ho's hip with his own as he started towards the car, waving for the other to follow him.

[crow]

Chan-ho pouted. "Is that how you treat your date?" he said, falling into step beside Young-soo as they made their way back to the car. "You're the reason I'm losing sleep anyway, so shouldn't you be making it up to me?" He nudged Young-soo back, winking at him with a smile.

Still, as he settled himself in the passenger seat and buckled the seat-belt, that uneasy, restless feeling welled up again. There wasn't really a reason for it, beyond maybe the fact that they were on their way to their destination again. Or maybe it was the lack of distractions, the lack of movement. It was always easier for Chan-ho to get away from his thoughts when his body was occupied, which was why he liked dancing as much as he did... and, he was realizing now, why his proclivities ran the way they did in other things.

Without really paying attention to what he was doing, Chan-ho gazed out the window, bouncing his leg and drumming his fingers on the top of the dashboard. He wanted to make small talk, but it was like he couldn't find the words... or that he didn't trust himself not to say something stupid if he opened his mouth just then.

[zapdragon555]

Young-soo hummed, a grin cracking across his face at Chan-ho's retort. "I'll gladly be the reason you lose sleep," Young-soo murmured, low, as they exited the main rest stop area and moved towards the car. "We can sleep as long as we want, tonight, though I admit I had plans..."

It was a quiet, unspoken promise, heavily implied with the flash of a smirk that Young-soo gave the other boy as he slipped into the car.

As he drove on, taking quiet note of Chan-ho's restlessness, he finally let out a kind of sigh-hum that filled the silence of the car. "Anything on your mind, man?" he asked, his voice light and open. "Or just been in the car too long?" He offered a smile, glancing over at the other boy, and after a moment of observing the open stretch of road with few cars, he reached one hand over to rest firm but gentle over Chan-ho's bouncing thigh, rubbing gently, but just a little bit errant. He knew better than to get into anything, though--he needed to watch the road, but he also wanted to put Chan-ho at ease, be that physically or mentally. "We're almost there, I promise," he added with a small chuckle.

[crow]

"Hmm?" Chan-ho smiled reflexively at Young-soo's touch, though paradoxically, despite having wanted for distraction, he found it hard to focus on what Young-soo was saying at first. The warmth of the hand on his thigh grounded him a little, but it also made that feeling in his gut roil more agitatedly.

Something on his mind... Was there a good way to answer that question?

"Yeah," he said, latching onto the out that Young-soo had given him. His smile turned rueful, a little self-deprecating. "Maybe I shouldn't have had the coffee." He knew that it wasn't the Americano though. Chan-ho was good with coffee. It usually took more than one to wind him up.

[zapdragon555]

Young-soo's expression softened with a smile as Chan-ho answered, glancing at the other boy's sheepish look out the corner of his eye. His hand stayed, rubbing slow circles, fingers slipping closer to Chan-ho's inner thigh until he finally squeezed the flesh there and drew his hand away, back to the steering wheel. He needed to keep it cool. Even if there weren't many other cars around. Still a bad driving practice, feeling someone up in the passenger seat.

"Maybe not," he hummed, validating Chan-ho's thought without insinuating anything. Chan-ho seemed off. Young-soo could tell, but he couldn't tell enough to ask about it. He offered a smile, looking back over at Chan-ho. "Wanna put some more music on? Pick something good for the final stretch of the road," he chuckled. It would be another half hour or so before they reached their destination, but it was as final as any piece of road, stretching long and almost empty ahead of them.

[crow]

Chan-ho was running through his playlist half-heartedly, trying to think of something that might be a good distraction, but whatever he was about to say in reply died in his throat as he felt Young-soo's hand wander up his thigh.

He had to remind himself that this wasn't going where he thought it was going. He'd already made that mistake once at the rest stop, the memory still vivid in his mind. But then Young-soo's hand inched just a little higher and squeezed... Chan-ho closed his eyes briefly, taking a breath. Young-soo had pulled away, but it was too late. The hot restless hornets that had made their home in the pit of Chan-ho's gut had transmuted into something else. That was a reflex too. He hated himself a little for it.

He couldn't keep doing this.

Chan-ho's hand came to rest lightly on Young-soo's thigh. He let it ghost gradually higher, letting it stop just short of dangerous territory before he braced his weight onto it so he could lean in, just slow enough so the seat belt wouldn't lock and pull taut. "You know, it's not nice to tease people," he whispered, his lips brushing Young-soo's ear.

It wasn't entirely sultry; there was just enough of an edge to his voice to suggest a threat too. Chan-ho knew Young-soo wasn't really about to jack him off in a car in the middle of the highway... Young-soo just didn't know what he was dealing with, was all. But that being the case, Chan-ho had to warn him before he invited something he hadn't intended.

[zapdragon555]

The breath that Chan-ho had emitted stung Young-soo's ears with warmth, but he tried to ignore it, knowing that they really couldn't do much of anything in the car until they got to their destination and got a hotel room... right?

Young-soo's body tensed when he felt Chan-ho's hand on his thigh, felt it snake upward. An eye for an eye, then...? But it seemed to inch further and further, and Young-soo's hands tightened on the wheel, eyes darting around to try to look for any cars around them--there weren't. He exhaled, heavy and hot, tapping his fingertips against the wheel and swallowing a complaint when Chan-ho stopped.

Then suddenly his boyfriend's voice--and he still had trouble sometimes wrapping his mind around that word, happy as it made him--was curling in the shell of his ear. "Fuck," he whispered eloquently, warmth snaking up his neck to where he felt Chan-ho's breath and lips brush. "It... I didn't think about it..." he mumbled, then realized that was a stupid thing to say. Like shit he didn't mean to do it--impulse or not, habit or not, of course he'd felt a bit bothered ever since the rest stop. Like there was unfinished business.

He trailed off, hot under the collar, staring at the open stretch of road. He took one hand off, experimentally, then flicked his eyes to Chan-ho's lap, his predicament, his own hand. Silently, without saying anything, he returned his hand to the other boy's thigh, then moved higher to feel around for a zipper. "If we have a wreck, don't you dare fuckin' tell the others why it happened," he whispered, a warmth in his voice that left little room for actual threatening or danger. He got the zipper free, somehow, and slipped his hand inside, palming at warmth, his own face flushing with heat as he forced his eyes to stay on the road.

[crow]

Chan-ho had the satisfaction of seeing Young-soo's breathing turn heavy, the flush creeping up his neck, but it felt like a hollow victory when he knew that they would both be frustrated until... Well, he didn't know when, really. He didn't think Young-soo was taking him on a road trip just to end up in another love hotel. He was already easing up, sliding back into his own seat, as Young-soo muttered his reply. Guilt tugged at him as Young-soo confirmed his suspicions, and he sighed, the rueful smile returning. "Well, now you---"

His words cut abruptly off as Young-soo reached out and began fumbling at his zipper. For a moment, Chan-ho was stunned enough to let him do it, eyes wide as they stared at Young-soo's face. Then he felt Young-soo's fingers brush him, and his eyes winced shut again. His breath hitched. "H-Hey," he said, and was dismayed to hear the strength ebbing from his voice. He wasn't usually so easy to rile up, but...

This was really happening, then? They were really just going to do this.

He opened his mouth to speak, but didn't even manage to get a coherent word out before he had to bite down on his lip, stifling a groan. "What---" He cleared his throat, and placed a staying hand on Young-soo's wrist. "What are you doing?"