Archive of Our Own ^beta

Ming looks at the phone in his hand. He keeps scrolling through all the photos on his Instagram feed and every other picture shows his friends with their partners. Kit sighs, glancing at Ming. It’s been three months since Kit announced Ming was his boyfriend in the middle of the mall but nothing much has changed. Their dynamics are still the same though frankly, Kit has gotten a little more chill, especially in private. When it comes to public displays of affection he’s still on the edge but he’s trying to get better at it. For Ming. Kit knows that Ming holds back only because he knows Kit wants him to but Kit’s not blind. He knows that sometimes his lack of need to show Ming off bothers the younger guy. Ming would never say that out loud though, of that Kit is sure. Ming has told him several times that he accepts and likes Kit just the way he is, no matter his faults. But still… Ming does so much for him and he feels like it’s only fair if he tries a little harder for the younger one. It’s not like Kit doesn’t want to show Ming off, it’s just that he doesn’t know how to.. he’s clueless with things like these. He was surprised enough when Ming first confessed because why would anyone want to date him? But here they are. So yes, Kit wants to try a little harder. He’s not sure if he’s ever going to allow Ming to do more than hold his hand in public but this is something small. Even after doing this, he doesn’t have to change the way he acts. What does it matter if other people know? It doesn’t, not at all. At least that’s what Kit keeps telling himself in order to stick to his decision.

Kit sighs again. There’s only one problem: he doesn’t have any good pictures with Ming on his phone. He has a few sneaky shots of the guy alone, though Kit would rather die than admit that he has secretly taken picture of his boyfriend, but nothing with both of them. Okay, there are a few weird pictures taken amidst playful wrestling but all of those are shaken and blurry. He has nothing.. proper. Nothing he would like to use as a gateway to introduce his boyfriend. Or as a tool to announce he’s not single anymore. It’s not like he’s going to put up a caption with the word ‘boyfriend’ in it but Kit is pretty sure that even a simple picture will be enough to get the point across. He has several hundred followers, he is fairly well known after all. Just like all the campus Moons are. Kit does find the amount comedic though when considering the fact that he only has four photos uploaded. One of which is a group photo with him, Beam and Phana while all the others are just some random updates complaining about exams or other insignificant stuff. Kit is sure that if he uploads the picture tonight, tomorrow everyone will already be aware of what’s going on. Since there are already all kinds of rumours going around, anything small will do. A simple selfie with the two of them will be a confirmation. Ming doesn’t have Instagram and all their friends are respectful enough to keep their mouths shut so if Kit doesn’t confirm the rumour himself, no one will know for sure. Well, Kit is sure some of the students are aware of the situation even now, but he also knows that most are just guessing.

“Ming?” Kit calls the younger guy. Ming lets out a ’hmh’ as an answer, his eyes still looking at the textbook in front of him. The younger boy is currently lying in Kit’s bed still in his school uniform. Kit stays quiet for a little while, his ears already turning red. He gets up from the chair he was sitting on and walks over to the bed.
“Want to take a picture?” Kit asks. Ming raises his head and meets Kit’s eyes. It takes him a few seconds to register what the older guy said and once he does, he jumps up to sit, his eyes wide and bright.
“What?!” Ming exclaims. Kit has never asked to take a picture with him before. Kit is extremely reluctant even when Ming is the one taking the pictures, which is why there are no proper selfies of them on his phone. In every single photo, Kit is covering his face one way or another. And now the guy himself is suggesting this? Ming is very much in awe.
“Why?” he can’t stop himself from asking. Kit turns his head away, his ears bright red. He’s so fucking embarrassed!
“Just.. Instagram”, Kit mumbles quietly. Ming leans closer, not catching his words.
“What?” he asks again. Kit closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
“Instagram!” he almost shouts the word. Ming sits on the bed, frozen. Alarmed by the silence, Kit peaks at him. Ming’s face slowly melts into a smile. He’s beaming at Kit with the same smile he always has. The same smile that makes all the butterflies in Kit’s stomach suicidal.
“Ah P-” Ming exclaims but cuts himself off. Slowly his smile fades as he stares at Kit. He frowns, deep in thought. Kit stands still, confused.
“Why?” Ming asks again, this time his voice quieter and calmer. Kit doesn’t understand the question. He gives Ming a confused look.
“Why do you want to upload a picture of us online?” Ming clarifies, still with the same tone. Kit raises his eyebrows in surprise. He thought Ming would be happy. Kit shrugs.
“Just because”, he gives a simple answer. Ming’s frown deepens and he gets up from the bed, walking over to the other side where Kit stands.
“Are you doing this because of me? If you are, I don’t want you to. I already told you I’m fine keeping this”, Ming motions at the short distance between the two boys: “quiet.”
“Or are you pressured because everyone else is uploading pictures as well? Don’t be. It doesn’t matter if people don’t know about us! The people we care about know and isn’t that the most important thing? You don’t need to show this off just because other people are”, Ming is staring into Kit’s eyes, his tone calm and steady. Kit is taken aback. This is not the reaction he was expecting.
“I’m fine even without going public. I mean it. I really am. You don’t need to do this for me”, Ming continues, desperate to get his point across.

Kit closes his eyes and sighs. He sits down on the edge of the bed. Ming sits next to him close enough for their arms to touch.
“Fine. I’m doing this for you”, Kit opens his eyes.
“But not for the reasons you think”, he continues, turning to look at his partner. Kit doesn’t need to do this. He knows that. He’s not doing it because someone is pressuring him, or because Ming wants him to. He’s doing it because he wants to. Frankly, it might be for Ming, but it’s still something Kit himself wants to do.
“I just… I know that you are fine with what my limits are, but that’s not fair. I want you to have more than that. Every day you’re adjusting your behaviour to respect my words and I just want to do something in return”, Kit starts explaining. Ming opens his mouth to argue but Kit stops him.
“Just, let me talk. I know that I don’t have to do this. I know. But I want to. For you. This is something I want to give you”, Kit pauses and this time Ming stays quiet, allowing him to continue.
“I know that I’m not an easy guy to like or be with.. And I know that I’m sometimes very selfish with my demands… And yet you always respect those demands. Despite being a little shit here and there..” Kit hits his elbow into Ming’s ribs gently and the younger guy chuckles, catching his hand. Ming intertwines their fingers, scared to speak in case Kit stops talking.
“..you still do what I ask. And I think this is something small I can do for you. And I want to. I want to do this for you”, Kit finishes, looking at Ming with a serious expression forcing himself to keep still even though he wants to hide in embarrassment. Ming can feel his heart swelling. He swears it’s about to burst out of his chest. Ming can’t help it. He leans in and captures Kit’s lips with his own ones, one of his hands cupping Kit’s cheek. The kiss is sweet and brief, too brief to Ming’s liking and he leans in again.
“And I also want to repel all the desperate girls swarming around you”, Kit mumbles into the kiss and he feels Ming’s smile against his lips. Ming pulls away.
“Is that so?” he questions with a raised eyebrow, barely a centimeter away from Kit’s lips.
“Yup”, Kit whispers, not backing away. Ming chuckles and leans in again.

After a few more kisses, Ming pulls away again, this time properly.
“Let’s go then!” he beams at Kit, rubbing his hands together in comedic motion. Kit snorts and rolls his eyes. He takes out his phone and switches the camera to selfie mode. Ming moves to sit behind Kit, his arms sneaking around Kit’s waist, pulling Kit in for a back hug. Kit rolls his eyes again but lets the younger one set his chin on Kit’s shoulder nevertheless. Ming smiles with his teeth showing. Kit looks at Ming’s smile through the phone screen and can’t help the smile climbing up to his lips as well. He takes a few pictures like that and moves his arm a little further away. Kit manages to take two pictures when he suddenly feels Ming’s lips on his cheek.
“Ming!” he turns around to scream at the boy and Ming leans back his laughter filling the room. Kit squints his eyes at him and turns to look at the photos. As soon as he opens the gallery he almost laughs as well. The first six pictures turned out good but then comes the picture where Ming’s head moves as he turns to kiss Kit. Another picture and this time Ming’s lips are on Kit’s cheek. Kit stops on the picture, looking at it with a little smile. He’s still wearing the same happy smile from earlier pictures and Ming’s lips are on his cheek. The photo is clear and even he admits that it looks… cute. The next picture, however, makes Kit chuckle. He’s no longer wearing a smile, instead, his eyes are wide with shock and his mouth is open. He’s looking at laughing Ming looking offended. The next photo is a little shakier due to him turning his head, his mouth already yelling the younger guy’s name and the one after that is just pure movement. Kit turns to glare at Ming but the boy is still smiling happily, checking on the pictures over Kit’s shoulder.
“So, which one are you gonna upload?” Ming asks all innocent as he leans back to lie on the bed. Kit ignores him and gets up, going back to his desk. He sits down, scrolling through the photos. He deletes a few of them and marks two down with a star.
“Can you send them to me?” Ming whines from the bed and Kit turns to raise his eyebrows at him.
“C'mon! I don’t have any pictures either!” Ming whines with a pout. Kit rolls his eyes, this time with a smile. Soon Ming’s phone vibrates and his mouth spreads into a smile. Immediately he sets the cheek kiss picture as his background and screen-lock photo. Kit will probably scold him once he sees it but that’s a problem for another day.

It eventually takes Kit an hour to gather the courage to actually upload the pictures. He ended up choosing one of the first three pictures and the one with the cheek kiss. The latter being the main reason for Kit’s hesitance. Kit knows he doesn’t need to upload anything that extreme to get the point across, but then he thought ‘fuck it’. He’s already doing it so why not make it clear once and for all? Kit puts a random '🔮’ emoji as the caption and hits upload before he can overthink the whole thing any further. Immediately the comments and likes start flowing in. Kit raises his eyebrows in surprise. Did someone actually turn his post notifications on or are people just that actively online? Kit’s truly not sure. In a few minutes, his post has already gained dozens of likes and comments where people are mostly freaking out. Kit smiles at the comments in amusement. Ming appears behind him and wraps his arms around Kit, kissing his neck.
“What’s the reaction?” Ming asks and Kit raises the phone to his eye-level. Ming reads through a few of the comments and bursts out laughing.
“Wow, we really stirred the pot huh?” Ming asks leaning back in to hug Kit.
“To be honest, it’s exactly what I thought it would be”, Kit comments with a smile. Ming answers with a ’mhm’ and kisses Kit’s neck again. Kit leans back, melting into the kiss for a few seconds before he snaps out of it.
“Ya! Don’t leave any marks!” he yells at Ming and the younger one immediately steps back, his body shaking with laughter. Kit curses at Ming and gets up from the chair. Ming screams and runs away, Kit right behind him.
“But they already know! What does it matter?!” Ming yells at Kit as he jumps on the bed and runs over it to the other side. Kit curses and chases after him, only to meet Ming in the middle of the bed. Ming falls down and pulls Kit with him, pressing their lips together. Kit struggles and pulls away and starts hitting Ming with a pillow, his cheeks already hurting from laughing. After a short pillow fight, Ming pulls the older guy in for another kiss and by the end of the night, neither ones’ neck is left without bruises.