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Dec. 25th, 2013 01:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
coley_merrinVarious winter/holiday prompts for Super Junior and EXO. In progress! Will be updated with more throughout the day.
Prompt: Kris/Suho- intricate and long skype session on Christmas Eve because one is in a different country during the holidays because of work.
***
It was a virtual tour. Some of the places they went, they had been together, but not that day. The air was cold, really too cold, but Joonmyun started the call on the exact same bench where they had gone from friends to something more. That awkward moment when Kris had stumbled over asking Joonmyun for coffee just as Joonmyun was opening his mouth to ask the same thing.
“My butt is cold,” Joonmyun said, starting off with the most charming thing in his head. But it wasn’t his fault that the painted wood was cold, even if Kris did laugh at him, only about a third of his face viewable on Joonmyun’s screen as he lolled.
It hadn’t been winter that night, not like it was then. Kris was thousands of miles away just before a day they’d hoped to spend together. The next best thing had been spending Christmas eve together, letting the day after be for the other people in their lives.
Kris was in a park too, something full of pine trees and little water features. Joonmyun could hear the gurgle of it as Kris walked, even through the little bluetooth earpiece that Kris wore.
“It’s not as cold here,” Kris said, and he was teasing. “Though would you be cold if I was there…?”
“Maybe I’d use your legs for a seat instead,” Joonmyun retorted, though the thought wasn’t a bad one for either of them.
It was impossible for them to touch, but he had Kris’s laughter in his ear as he caught a taxi and complained about the cold. And that laughter hadn’t gone away by the time he’d settled in a favorite cafe, one they went to weekly, his chilled fingers finally wrapped around a hot cup of chocolate mixed with weak coffee.
Though that time it was because Joonmyun kept propping the phone up against a napkin holder, where it inevitably slid down.
“I miss that ceiling,” Kris lamented, until Joonmyun propped the phone back up again.
“Do you miss me more?” Joonmyun asked, resting his chin on the plastic top of his cup, and pouting.
Kris stopped walking down the street he was on, on the way to somewhere secret.
“What do you think?”
It was silly that he got bashful in front of his phone.
But it wasn’t like he was the only one with the camera pointed weirdly. Kris ducked into a store, trying on different hats and leaving his phone pointed at various racks and the wall before easing in front of it with blinding smiles. Some of the hats made him want to laugh, but others most certainly did not.
“You can bring that one home with you,” Joonmyun said as Kris tipped the dark hat a little lower over his eyes.
“You want me or the hat?”
Joonmyun just sniffed at him.
Together they nibbled on snacks, comfortable and not alone, which had been half their concern. Just being able to talk together, rehashing the trip, things they wanted to do when Kris got back, places they would go.
Kris’s eyes were drooping by the time it was midnight for Joonmyun.
“Five…four…three…two…one,” Joonmyun counted down softly.
And he smiled to watch Kris’s lips fill his screen, laughing helplessly at the loud smooching sound Kris made.
“I’ll kiss you for every day we missed when you get back,” Joonmyun promised, before pressing his lips to the little lens.
“Only one per day?”
Joonmyun smiled, because there would sure be more than that. “Merry Christmas. Ah. Kriiiis-mas. Get it?”
Kris groaned, but he was smiling all the while.
***
Prompt: zhou mi, a time traveling prince from the ming dynasty (a la "queen in hyeon's man") who got into a spot of bother while in joseon and travelled between joseon and modern day seoul and met q... anyway. his and kyuhyun's romantic christmas. <3
***
Zhou Mi was hundreds of years away from his own time, away from his own country even. He had been a visitor in the country that Kyuhyun inhabited in present day, and how he had gone from his time to Kyuhyun’s had been a trick of fate - nearly ending in his death.
But Zhou Mi hadn’t died. He’d just landed in the same place, different time. And he’d found Kyuhyun. Or rather, they’d found each other.
Though it hadn’t helped that the first thing that Zhou Mi had asked him had been if he was a eunuch. It hadn’t been his choice to dress up in that outfit as a joke.
Everything was in perfect working order. Zhou Mi was aware of that, even. Though, sometimes he thought Zhou Mi was more in awe of the coffee pot and the electric razor. Functional men had been around in his time, too.
“You’re going to tell me there’s something special about this “Christmas” where you have to kiss.”
Kyuhyun blinked, the tiniest shred of guilt in the back of his mind even as he nearly started laughing.
“Actually…There is,” he said slowly, and Zhou Mi smirked in a way that told Kyuhyun that he wasn’t being believed. “No, really. I can show you.”
Or the internet could. If Zhou MI wouldn’t believe him, then Kyuhyun could show him.
“I thought you said I couldn’t believe everything on the internet,” Zhou Mi said, poking Kyuhyun in the side.
“I also said you were smart enough to tell the difference. Look. You can see how many pages there are explaining. I didn’t make it up.”
Kyuhyun watched Zhou Mi read, examining the blunted ends of his newly-cut hair. He’d looked good with it long, and he’d looked good in clothes from the past. But he also looked cozy in one of Kyuhyun’s overly-large sweaters, like he needed to be aggressively snuggled in front of some wildly decorated tree and be fed cookies.
He thought that perhaps that was a reflection of what he was wanting as well, but there was no reason they couldn’t share it.
“Interesting,” Zhou Mi said after a few minutes of reading. “Do you have any of this…mistletoe?”
“No, I don’t.” Much to his regret. It wasn’t exactly as though he needed an excuse to kiss Zhou Mi, though enlightening Zhou Mi to all the excuses was— “Oh! I have an idea.”
He nearly hip checked Zhou Mi to get him away from the computer. He found the nicest picture of mistletoe that he could find, and with a few mouse clicks, heard his aging printer begin to rattle.
“Don’t look,” he said, as Zhou Mi peered at him. There were still little miracles he could show Zhou Mi. As soon as the printer spit out the paper, Kyuhyun folded it. It had a few ink smears on it, but it was otherwise recognizable and a heck of a lot easier than holding his laptop over their heads. Belatedly he realized he could’ve used his phone, but watching Zhou Mi touch the paper was the best part.
Almost the best part.
When Kyuhyun gripped Zhou Mi’s wrist, he stood, and Kyuhyun lifted the paper over their heads.
“We can pretend,” Kyuhyun said, and Zhou Mi’s lips began to curl.
Sometimes it felt like meeting Zhou Mi had been his gift, even when Zhou Mi disappeared and Kyuhyun was left with nothing but the worry that they would never see each other again.
Zhou Mi touched his face, and he felt the warmth of Zhou Mi’s lips against his, enveloped by the thick sweater and Zhou Mi’s arm.
They could pretend for as many kisses as they could. And they could pretend that their time together would be without end.
***
Prompt: Long-distance relationship HenWook and Ryeowook thinks that Henry isn't going to be able to come home for Christmas but Henry surprises him? Bonus points if QMi are in on the surprise
***
“It’s too bad that Henry isn’t here,” Kyuhyun said, just as Zhou Mi slid into the booth again with drinks in both hands.
Ryeowook sighed a bit inside. Yes, he knew. He also knew that Kyuhyun was trying to be sympathetic, and it was the first time that Kyuhyun had brought it up that night. But still even hearing it when Ryeowook was remembering all the plans he and Henry had made was a painful little poke. Those plans were having to be put off to another year, until Henry could be there. Henry was stuck on another continent, surrounded by friends and family. Ryeowook had that, too. Though, seeing Zhou Mi and Kyuhyun across from him, Zhou Mi’s arm around Kyuhyun’s shoulders, was a reminder in itself.
It was just informal, the three of them getting together in the cafe. It was one of the last times before the actual holiday got into full swing, really, and they would be caught up with each other and Kyuhyun’s family traditions. Ryeowook had tiny visions of taking Henry home to his family, puling him into the kitchen for quick little kisses as they got more to drink for his parents.
“That’s not something that can be changed,” Ryeowook said.
And he frowned, because Zhou Mi was sliding one of the drinks he’d bought across the table like there was some invisible fourth person sitting there. He knew he hadn’t drank much of his own drink, but he couldn’t imagine why Zhou Mi would have bought him something different.
“What—“
“You have room for one more?”
Ryeowook’s eyes when wide, his glance like lightning from Kyuhyun’s sudden grin, to the side, and up.
Henry was grinning, wet on his jacket from the drizzle outside, a terribly ugly red knit cap on his head. And Ryeowook couldn’t have cared less, nearly knocking over both drinks in his haste to get standing, to get his arms around Henry’s neck and be pulled against Henry’s fluffy coat.
But it wasn’t until he really inhaled, really smelled Henry, that he really accepted that he was there.
“You!” he said, pushing back far so he could see Henry’s sheepish grin. “And you!”
Zhou Mi was hie enough to at least look a little apologetic, but Kyuhyun was out and out grinning.
“They helped me,” Henry said. “I almost told you about a dozen times yesterday.”
“How long did you know?”
“Less than a week. Kyuhyun found a flight deal that made it happen.”
Ryeowook didn’t have to look to know Kyuhyun was smug then instead, but Ryeowook was too busy watching Henry talk and breathe. He was right there.
“You might as well take your drinks and go if you’re just going to stare at each other,” Kyuhyun said.
Henry lifted his eyebrows and Ryeowook nodded. So Ryeowook turned, keeping a hand on Henry’s arm like he would disappear, and handed Henry his cup and picked up his own.
“Thank you,” Ryeowook said, and Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi just waved at them.
“Are you mad?” Henry asked, after they’d gotten out onto the sidewalk.
“I understand why. And I’m glad you’re here.”
When they got a little further, they stopped, leaning into each other. Henry’s lips against his hair made him smile, and he felt for the first time that it was finally something that felt like Christmas.
***
Prompt: Lay comes to pick up Chen for their first date on a snowy day, unfortunately before Chen gets to the car he slips on a patch of ice and ends up injuring himself pretty bad so they stay at his apartment for their date and Lay cooks for him. At the end of the date Lay isn't able to leave because of the bad weather and Chen insists that he stays the night.
***
The first inkling Yixing had that something was wrong was his phone ringing at four in the afternoon, a full hour before their date. When he saw that it was Jongdae, he Knew that Jongdae wouldn’t be calling for just anything. Mostly they communicated by text and emails.
Jongdae had asked him out over the phone. There had been that.
Yixing’s first thought was that Jongdae was calling to cancel.
His second was concern for Jongdae’s tired voice.
“I fell down the stairs,” Jongdae said, and continued as Yixing inhaled. “I hit a patch of ice and got my ankle all twisted under me. It’s not broken, but… I’m sorry.”
They’d meant to go exploring, spending time together and trying little cafes they saw.
“No, don’t be sorry. Are you at home?” Yixing asked.
“I’m at the hospital. I just got my crutches, and a taxi is on the way.
“Could you use some help? I could meet you there, help you up the stairs, or…” Yixing felt only partly guilty for Jongdae’s pain. It wasn’t as though he had made the weather freezing, or pushed Jongdae down the stairs. Maybe Jongdae would have left to run errands.
“That’s not any kind of date,” Jongdae said. “But I’d like to see you.”
“Maybe I just want to get my hands on you helping you?” Yixing mused, and got what he hoped when Jongdae laughed.
***
Jongdae was pretty good on his crutches, but Yixing thought they were both relieved that he was there at least for a steadying hand as Jongdae made his way up the outer stairs. There was an elevator, a point of luck.
“I’d have the world’s most toned arms if I have to crutch up five flights of stairs,” Jongdae said, breathing hard as they rode up.
“I wonder how long you’d have to start in advance to get anywhere?”
Jongdae groaned.
The keys were warm from Jongdae’s pocket, and Yixing let them into the apartment. With Jongdae settled at the table, Yixing had only a couple of things on his mind.
“Have you eaten?”
“I had a little snack at the hospital so they could give me pain medication,” Jongdae said, squinting at his kitchen. “I could call out…”
Yixing had a choice, and he opted to go with the second: opening Jongdae’s fridge without asking and seeing if he owned any food. He found a package of chicken and some vegetables stuck away in the bottom, and a quick look into the cupboard revealed packets of ramen.
“I can make something for us,” Yixing said. When he turned around Jongdae had his cheek propped on his hand, watching Yixing. “I’d like to, if you want.”
Being able to make food instead of ordering it would make him feel as though he was doing something good for Jongdae.
“That’d be nice…” Jongdae started. “I wish I could help.”
Maybe when he wasn’t going to fall over.
“Next time,” Yixing said.
“I’ll entertain you, then?”
Yixing laughed at the bag of carrots.
Though he had no doubt of that. It seemed less than wise to give a man on painkillers a knife, but it was quick work, and work that he enjoyed slicing the carrots into thin strips and starting them to cook as he put the chicken in a different pan.
“My neighbor helped me into the cab to get to the hospital,” Jongdae sighed, playing with the glass of water that Yixing had brought for him. “I really didn’t mean for you to work on our date.”
“I’m glad I can be here rather than home or worried,” Yixing said.
When he glanced back, Jongdae was smiling and he looked back to the food in front of him. Yeah. He was glad he was there, too.
“Hey, come look at this,” Jongdae said from his living room window after they’d eaten. What had been ice before, and the gentle snow they had both gone through to get to Jongdae’s apartment, had turned into swirling snow and more piling up on the sidewalks down below them.
“Oh.”
Jongdae turned. “You have a particular need to get home tonight? I can probably stand to have you around a while longer. I’ll even buy you breakfast tomorrow.”
Yixing couldn’t help the twitch of his lips, probably not any more than Jongdae could help the little laugh.
“I don’t have anywhere to be,” Yixing said, grinning a little harder.
They huddled together on the couch with Jongdae’s ankle propped up, not worried about the snow outside or things that needed to be done. All that mattered was Jongdae’s hand on his arm, and knowing they both were safe. He wished Jongdae hadn’t been hurt, but he would have been happy for that date to go on forever.
***
Prompt: "The first winter Junmyeon wakes up feeling truly cold is when he wakes to the ghost of Jongdae's smile, of Jongdae's warmth against his side." I don't want Gramps to be sad, though... uh.. maybe SuKai? (with puppies!)
***
The first winter Junmyeon wakes up feeling truly cold is when he wakes to the ghost of Jongdae's smile, of Jongdae's warmth against his side. He’d spent time gathering Jongdae’s things and sorting them. Jongdae had been good about taking most of his things, but there was always inevitably something left. There was a book, and Junmyeon hesitated whether to keep or send it. He couldn’t remember which of them had bought it, but it made him think of Jongdae, so he put it in the box of things that included a cookbook Jongdae had brought once, a vial of aftershave that had gotten poked into a drawer. Logic told him he should’ve trashed all of it, but it had been a nasty little surprise every time he’d come across something else. He had JOngdae’s new address, of course he did. Maybe they were still friendly, but he couldn’t really call them friends. They hadn’t broken up because of cheating, or anything like that.
But it still hurt. It was too easy to remember and to wonder, and think of the things they’d have been doing together, and knowing he wouldn’t have been cold.
Junmyeon bundled up and slid his hands into gloves, and headed out. Even though everything in his apartment was his, it felt a little lonely, like it was poking at him for being there by himself. It was something he’d get used to. No, it was something he was used to. It just was that every new moment like waking alone made him remember and reevaluate.
He had double layers everywhere but his face, huffing into his scarf as he walked past trees and rock formations in the park near his building. He’d gone there with Jongdae, too, but that was not something he’d give up, not even for Jongdae.
Junmyeon’s first indication that something was wrong was a ginger bolt out of the corner of his eye. Then, there was a dog not even as tall of his knee dancing in front of him.
“Hey, grab that leash!”
Junmyeon’s foot shot out, putting his full weight on the dog’s leash, who was totally unconcerned and looking for affection that Junmyeon wasn’t sure he should give.
“Sorry. Sorry,” the man puffed, his breath white in the cold. “I got distracted by these other two rascals and he ripped away. Thanks for catching him. He won’t move at home, but he can run for miles.”
“No problem. He did all the work, I think,” Junmyeon said, easing off the leash as the dog’s rightful owner got ahold of him. “Is it okay to pet him?”
“Oh, yeah. He doesn’t bite.”
Junmyeon and the dog went for each other at the same time - but Junmyeon’s hand almost missed the dog’s head, which planted firmly in his crotch.
It took a firm hand, but Junmyeon got the dog back on the ground so he could really pet the fuzzy head.
“He’s really cute,” Junmyeon said as the dog licked his hand.
“Trouble,” the man corrected. “I should’ve named him that.”
The thing was, Trouble’s owner was pretty cute, too. It had Junmyeon reaching up and tugging down his scarf in reflex. Partly out of politeness, and partly nerves.
“I’m Ju—“ And his vocal cords froze in the air. “Junmyeon.”
For just a second, Junmyeon got that grin turned on him instead. “Jongin. No! Stupid dog.”
Junmyeon laughed as Trouble first rolled and then did some elaborate figure eight that meant if Junmyeon took a step, he was going to fall over. Trying to step out with Jongin holding the leash just made it worse.
“I’m so sorry,” Jongin said, sounding horrified at his dog’s antics.
But with the leash in his own hand, Junmyeon was able to untangle himself while Trouble waggled.
“One day I’ll learn not to take them all by myself.”
He had the leash still in his hands. “Do you need some help getting them back?”
Jongin blinked at him, and had his ears and cheeks not already been red from the cold, he was pretty sure they would’ve turned that way. Yeah, he’d just mostly invited himself home with a stranger who had cute dogs.
“If you don’t have anything better to do.”
With leash firmly in hand, the dogs might’ve slowed them down a little, but it was them talking that did most of it. Even if he was cold to the skin by the time they reached Jongin’s building, he was warmer than he could remember being in a while. He waited in the warm lobby, smiling at the floor as Jongin and the dogs went up. Jongin had promised him a cup of tea for his help.
When the elevator doors opened, Jongin’s smile was a bit bashful, and Junmyeon wondered if the cold had just been leading him to something he needed very much.
***
Prompt: SMTOWN Christmas party... and some prankster spiked the punch. What goes down when your boss, coworkers, best friends and/or secret crush are all more than slightly tipsy together, nobody knows the right words to the Christmas carols, and there's mistletoe involved somewhere. :)
***
The punch hadn’t tasted quite right.
Granted, Kyuhyun knew that before he got to the point he was falling over, but maybe that was because other people were falling over for him. Siwon was laughing so hard that Yunho had to keep him upright, and Shindong and Yoona looked to be in a very spirited debate while Sooyoung dangled precariously close to tipping right over Chanyeol’s shoulder.
Ryeowook he didn’t even look at, because he’d been holed up with Kyungsoo and even if they drank the whole bowl, they’d probably be sober.
Though Kyuhyun did stop and laugh to see Zhou Mi and Krystal imitating one of some girl group’s dances off in a corner.
It was a big room, granted, because there were a lot of them. He made faces at Changmin, but the only person who made faces back at him was Sunny. Joonmyun on the other hand was half drunk, desperately giggling against Jonghyun.
There was a manager stationed, probably to keep everything from descending into some kind of orgy (to which he could delicately say ew), but even he was pretty well on his way to tipsy so what help he was going to be…
The person who brought the mistletoe probably should’ve been ejected immediately, and Kyuhyun suspected Key, even though Jessica and Luna had started cracking up the second someone had kicked it out from under the couch.
“Its not supposed to be used as a soccer ball,” Donghae said, trying to keep people from actually punting it out of the room. And instead of people sitting around and having a good time and eating, suddenly everyone was staring at each other in suspicion.
“What’s everyone afraid of, anyway?” Eunhyuk asked, picking it up and descending on his most unwitting victim. One smacking kiss to the cheek later, Donghae was first doubled over in laughter and then chasing Eunhyuk around the room. No one saw where the mistletoe ended up, though Kyuhyun was keeping an eye out.
Taemin and Kai had Onew trapped between them. Maybe reminiscing, maybe teasing, he wasn’t sure since Onew was smacking each arm in turn.
Jessica wandered by and he thought she was being innocent until she put an antler headband on him.
“Thanks, really,” he said, and she just stuck out her tongue and kept going. But after she’d gone, Zhou Mi appeared beside him, taking a seat on the little chair.
“Do you know where the mistletoe went?” Kyuhyun asked, a little louder than the whisper he’d intended. Okay, maybe he’d had too much punch himself.
“Yeah,” Zhou Mi said, almost the exact same way. And sure enough, secreted there in Zhou Mi’s palm was the offending little sprig of plastic.
“Oh, huh.”
“Merry Christmas, Kyuhyun,” Zhou Mi said, and Kyuhyun felt a flush go through him unrelated to the alcohol when Zhou Mi pressed his lips to Kyuhyun’s cheek.
There were people around them who were friends, and people that despite knowing each other for years were still getting to know each other. And there were people who, even if they didn’t know it yet, were more even than that.
He leaned into Zhou Mi’s shoulder and adjusted the antlers a little more firmly on his head so they could laugh at everyone together.
***
Prompt: Xiumin not knowing what to get Lu Han as a present and really stressing out over it? And then one day before Christmas confessing that he still hasn't found something and Lu Han telling him that Xiumin is the best present he could ever have?
***
Shopping for Lu Han was entirely unfair because Lu Han had a habit of buying stuff Minseok had planned to buy for ages - right before Minseok did. That great hat? Lu Han bought it. A jacket? Lu Han. Box sets of TV shows and CDs and shoes, right down the snacks Lu Han liked. Industrial sized bags full. Getting his thunder stolen made him think he was going to have to start stealing the boxes of Lu Han’s purchases back and wrapping them with money inside and a note that read, “so sorry you already got what was in here, have some cash instead.”
He hadn’t yet resorted to that, but it was a close thing. Because of all that, it didn’t matter how far in advance he planned. He had lists started on his phone and over the months leading up to Christmas, he started deleting them as Lu Han bought them. Telling Lu Han not to snap up that watch he wanted would’ve only caused suspicion. Telling Lu Han to stop buying anything outright would’ve gotten him strange looks.
Lu Han didn’t understand. Minseok was trying to be conscientious which was why Lu Han easily picked out gifts Minseok wanted, wrapped and presented them.
Though that year, Minseok granted it was on him. For once, Lu Han wasn’t buying up everything, busy and a bit distracted. The problem was Minseok’s list wasn’t as long as he’d have liked, and it was their fourth Christmas as a couple which meant the gift had to be better than some candied pineapple slices and some movies.
He huffed, and time went on, and he started staring at Lu Han as though it would make something appear. He went shopping on his off hours, wandering through a dozen clothing stores and buying a sweater for Lu Han and some gloves, and knowing he’d like both. And it still didn’t feel enough, or not even that. Not quite right. Lu Han had plenty of electronics, needed nothing for their room - how exciting a new pair of sheets would’ve been! Buying a kitchen appliance would’ve gotten him kicked, and their TV was great. DVDs were things they could share, but they weren’t super personal, and he about had a panic attack looking at jewelry options. He fingered little pendants and thick bracelets and imagined Lu Han wearing them, and was caught in indecision.
And then it was Christmas Eve and he hadn’t made his decision, and presents from Lu Han had shown up in their little present corner while his little gifts were still in a bag, unwrapped, stashed in a closet.
“I haven’t figured out what to get you,” Minseok blurted, Lu Han dressed in a really ugly sweater with frolicking polar bears on it. Polar bears with glowing red noses?
How Lu Han had such an easy time of it when he was struggling seemed unfair. He felt inadequate, like he should’ve somehow been able to know what was best. He’d always been able to, no matter what challenges Lu Han threw at him. He didn’t—
His brain stopped up as Lu Han gripped his hips for a moment, fingers a bit chilly as they slipped up under the edge of his sweater to settle on his bare skin. He was being examined, like some kind of specimens, and there was something belligerent rising in him if Lu Han was going to crow, until Lu Han smiled instead.
“I already got my best gift,” Lu Han said, squeezing him. “So everything else is extra.”
To his credit, Lu Han didn’t shrivel under sappiness of it, and all Minseok could really do was wrap his arms around Lu Han’s neck and chuckle with him.
“You’re terrible,” he said, and Lu Han nipped his neck.
When Minseok closed his eyes, he saw the store with the glittering cases. There had been one he hadn’t looked in. And he thought he knew, finally, what he was going to buy. And for once, Lu Han had told him exactly what it was, since both their best gifts had been each other.
***
Prompt: "Unpacking" Xiumin and sex under the Christmas Tree smut
***
It was hard waiting, and he was hard waiting, Minseok sighed. He wiggled, and waited and squirmed, until finally he heard a door in the lock. That was when he idly hoped the tree hadn’t shed on him after he’d crawled under it. It took a minute, since Minseok generally called a greeting, before Lu Han located him in the apartment.
“Did someone give me a hot dog for Christmas?” Lu Han asked, poking Minseok’s side with his foot. “What, did you fall?”
Yes, he fell and conveniently rolled under the tree under a blanket. He just barely kept himself from sticking his tongue out at Lu Han. Maybe he looked like a long lump covered in a thin blanket, but he didn’t think Lu Han would think that much longer.
He was on his stomach for a reason.
“Or maybe you’re my gift?” Lu Han guessed, touching the red bow that Minseok had cursed at trying to get it to stick to his hair, just above his forehead on one side.
They always stuck if they weren’t wanted, and never when they were.
“Maybe you should find out,” Minseok said, and watched Lu Han’s lips part.
A bare shoulder wasn’t anything. He resisted the urge to shiver as Lu Han tugged a little further. The blanket slid over his back, a whisper and a slide, and there was the tiniest sound of surprise that had Minseok’s lips curving.
A little more— His lower back, the dip of it, and then a little further. He tried not to shiver because it tickled, the blanket, at least until Lu Han made him jump by yanking the blanket off the rest of the way.
Lu Han wasn’t the type to take each piece of tape carefully off the wrapping.
“Oh,” Lu Han said, and Minseok was just about to mock him when he continued, “Do you have a bow anywhere else?”
Minseok didn’t have to see the leer to know it was there, especially when it was Lu Han’s most suggestive tone.
“I thought it would just get in the way and take time,” Minseok said, rolling over. No more half humping the ground and cursing Lu Han for taking so long. But that time he did see the way that Lu Han’s eyes went a bit wider, his throat clutching as he swallowed. It certainly wasn’t because he’d never seen a naked man before. “Here’s another bow if you want it.”
He didn’t wrap up his body, but there was a tiny little bow attached to the condom packet, and Lu Han guffawed. But his thighs opened a little wider and Lu Han knelt there, teeth solid in his lower lip as he met Minseok’s eyes, opening his pants and shoving at his underwear. For a moment they stroked their cocks in unison, grins spreading, and his more so at the flush on Lu Han’s face.
“Lube?” Lu Han asked.
He had some more stashed in the branches of the tree in case, but—
“Got that taken care of,” Minseok said, wiggling in invitation.
The little bow on the condom was abandoned, and Lu Han wasted no time opening it. For a moment all Minseok knew was the luxurious slide of their cocks together until Lu Han moaned and gripped Minseok’s hips and slid into him, slow and steady.
“How long have you been keeping yourself hard?” Lu Han asked, his thumb stroking Minseok’s cock as he bent low over Minseok’s body.
“Too long,” Minseok said. But with Lu Han finally in him, it’d take little effort going forward. When Lu Han urged Minseok into a kiss, it wasn’t apology for the wait, but glee in knowing Minseok had been hard for him. Like that didn’t happen every day.
He could feel Lu Han’s pants against the backs of his thighs, shirt dropping against his belly as Lu Han’s tongue teased his. The press of cloth against bare skin was decadent, a contradiction, a confirmation of how eager they were.
“Can I come home and find you naked under the tree every day?” Lu Han asked, voice wavering at the lifting of Minseok’s hips.
“Wouldn’t that get boring?” Though he had to wonder when Lu Han wiggled his hips up just a little bit further and made Minseok’s breath catch. “Or maybe you’d just like me to kneel— Oh. Kneel by the door and wait for you. Lu Han.”
As Lu Han’s teeth scraped at his neck, his hips began to roll, setting off a throbbing that would not stop. His breath shortened as Lu Han began to stroke him in time with his hips, hearing the little chuckle at the mewling sound that Minseok made. And that was when the clothes got in the way because he was used to the expanse of Lu Han’s back to grip, every touch from him urging Lu Han on. He didn’t like it any more, the cloth a tease against his chest and armor again his hands. But he found Lu Han’s neck and nearly as Lu Han kissed him. The bow was still on his hair, clinging to strands and flopping with every thrust Lu Han took. He kept Lu Han close, sucking at his lips, his tongue, and moaned as Lu Han stroked him faster.
Lu Han’s hair was thick, just at the edge of too long, just the way he liked it. And it was Lu Han’s hair he pulled as his hips lifted, and he came to the smell of evergreen sap and Lu Han’s muttered, “Come on, come.” He hadn’t even stopped coming when Lu Han stilled, his cry twice as loud as Minseok’s had bee. Minseok knew all of Lu Han’s orgasm faces, the ones that ranged from nearly pained to almost ugly to glorious rapture. That one was a combination, Lu Han’s eyes closed as he came, and Minseok reached down and got his hand under loose cloth so he could pat Lu Han’s bare ass.
He was pleasantly used up, and Lu Han was still puffing like a freight engine into Minseok’s collarbone.
“Good gift?” Minseok asked, and Lu Han snorted before lifting his head. His hair was wild from Minseok’s fingers, and that was something that pleased him.
“You realize that when everyone comes over tomorrow, I’m going to think of this every time we get presents out from under here.”
Minseok grinned at the ceiling. Or at the ceiling of tree branches at least.
“I’m okay with that.”
“You think they’d be okay knowing what’d happened here?”
Lu Han maybe had a little too much glee in his voice, and Minseok poked him. And yet…
“If they don’t think we did, then they’re underestimating us,” he said, and felt Lu Han nod against his head.
Though they were drawing the line at actually sleeping under the tree. The bed was so much nicer.
***
Prompt: patissier!Zhou Mi, Calvin/Mi
***
The glossy cakes were all lined up, various confections and treats perfectly lined up to go with a nice warm cup of coffee or tea, or to be carried out to a place of the purchaser’s choosing. There were pretty cookies, and tiny tarts, and puffy eclairs just waiting to be bitten into. Zhou Mi was up before the sun rose each day to make sure there as a never-ending supply of goodness. The cantankerous espresso machine wasn’t his forte, but he could use it well enough. He had a couple of boys who came in afternoons to help sell as Zhou Mi unwound from his morning of decoration and arranging.
At least, usually he could relax until school ate up all of his usual employees.
Zhou Mi was the only one in the store, and he enjoyed the eager faces and dreamy looks that the food he made brought people. There were so many possibilities that it was hard sometimes for people to choose, and he wrapped up purchases and put lids on to-go drinks, and greeted everyone with a smile, even as the line grew longer and the espresso machine fought him each step of the way.
“Steam,” he told the machine, as though that would make it work, as though it was somehow voice controlled and Zhou Mi didn’t have fifteen people snaking around his shop waiting.
“Did you need help with that?”
A man had broken out of line to stand beside the lady ordering a very simple latte, and Zhou Mi felt his face coloring since he couldn’t work the machine in his own shop.
“Do you know how…?”
Without waiting for permission, the man skirted the counter and took the pitcher from him. Zhou Mi watched for fifteen seconds as the man did…something. The machine hissed and gurgled, and thunked, and somehow did as the man asked.
The customer was happy, thanking him, and the next customer wanted a latte, too, and maybe… Maybe it was something in Zhou Mi’s wild eyes that had the man smiling and reaching for a cup.
It left Zhou Mi free to package up a few tarts, and process the transaction, and by the time he had, a cup was waiting.
“I’ve worked with a machine like this. My name’s Calvin,” he said.
“Zhou Mi.” And the shook hands. “I’m so sorry that you—“
“I’ll help you through this rush for a free coffee and one of those cookies?”
“You can have two,” Zhou Mi swore, and turned back to take the next order.
It was a good twenty minutes before the rush really settled, including some of the customers who had snagged tables coming back up for another drink or a slice of a different cake.
“Did you make all of this?” Calvin asked, sipping the drink he’d made himself and staring at the case full of desserts.
“It makes me happy. I remember baking cookies with my mother and how fun that was. People get a lot of enjoyment out of them, so there’s always the need to do my best.”
Calvin hummed, and decided to try a tart filled with precisely cut fruit and cream. “I’ve been in here a few times, but I’ve never seen you.”
“Usually I leave the front to more capable hands,” Zhou Mi laughed, fiddling with the edge of a towel out of nervous habit.
Calvin glanced at his hands, and considered. “I don’t think so. But if it gives you time off so you can make these, it’s worth it. You gave everyone a smile today, twice over.”
He’d never thought of it that way.
“There would’ve been a lot of frowns if it hadn’t been for you.”
Maybe Zhou Mi would have gotten the machine going, but it would’ve taken longer.
While Calvin was finishing his dessert, Zhou Mi packed up a little box for him to take, mostly of extras he’d kept behind in the kitchen. It was well worth it.
“If you need someone to make it behave, or…” Calvin said, smiling as he handed Zhou Mi his card.
“If you come in again, ask for me,” Zhou Mi said.
And Calvin’s smile said he would.
***
Prompt: bandfic: Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi are happy, but it's a secret that it is necessary for them to keep. One day Kyuhyun goes over at Changmin’s for one of their boys nights with food and wine and he really thinks about just talking about it to someone, and who better than his best friend? But Changmin has a secret of his own.
***
It was not strictly a secret, at least not a secret between the two of them. Fingertips agains the back of a hand, the curve of a grin, lips brushing ears with whispers and hands on shoulders. Those things felt like they were shouting at the world that it was anything but innocent. They were mimics of touches performed in private, the slide of palms together, the touch of cheeks, smiles that melted into kisses.
Those were the things that were only for them, no matter how close they were to anyone. When everyone spoke of dating, people they liked, people they wished they could date, Kyuhyun wanted to stand up and say none of them could hold a candle to Zhou Mi’s patience, and giving heart, or the way the stolen moments made him happy.
The others knew, sort of. Maybe sometimes he was urged to date, and he spoke of believing in knowing when he’d found the one. The truth was, he had, and he’d let go of fanciful nations that would have kept him from truly being happy with Zhou Mi. It had been impossible to lie to everyone, to keep those lies together. He suspected some of them thought he and Zhou Mi just enjoyed each other as friends. The others left it alone, despite some quiet warnings. Of all of them, he and Zhou Mi were the most aware of the potential consequences. But they also knew they only had one life, and finite years. He went out one door scoffing, to find Zhou Mi standing and welcoming him in another.
As Kyuhyun poured himself a glass of wine, sitting in Changmin’s bedroom and prepared for a night of fun and relaxation, he thought of the ridiculous kiss that Zhou Mi had blown him during their video chat.
“Have fun,” Zhou Mi had admonished, as though it was possible not to. Kyuhyun’s feelings for Changmin had been steady since they had grown closer. Maybe there had been a little period when friendship and crush and sort of blurred, but it had settled comfortably out - and Zhou Mi had been there. So there was no jealousy, no wondering in Zhou Mi’s eyes. Missing him, yes. But that was a facet of their relationship that they faced every day.
Changmin made a sound of approval when he sampled the wine.
It was so normal, them and their computers, complaining about schedules and sore limbs and excitement. And, just the bliss of not having to move, to enjoy good wine, and to curse each other out because of gaming.
“Is your mom making noises that you ought to settle down?” Changmin asked, picking up his wine and smelling it.
“I think my families in denial. I think they think I’m still three. Which is good, because I wouldn’t want to have to fight them back.”
“Yeah,” Changmin said. “It sucks. Though they know why I can’t. They just think it should be easier.”
“Everyone does if they’re not in our position.”
Plus, it would help if he wasn’t already involved. He could exactly walk out of the dorms holding Zhou Mi’s arm and telling everyone to back off. No, he didn’t want that actresses number because he had someone he actually loved.
“Do you miss dating?”
Changmin was silent several moments before he replied. “Being able to be open about it, I guess. You’re going to find your dream guy. This won’t stop that.”
Changmin knew that. Changmin knew so much. But not the most important part, the part where he had Zhou Mi’s picture on his phone and he wanted to show off how good he’d looked that day, and that Zhou Mi had actually bought the bottle of wine they were drinking, and—
It seethed in him.
“No one could beat Zhou Mi,” Kyuhyun said, and the words were quiet. He felt bold, exposed, eager, scared, all of those blending in him as Changmin processed that.
“You have a crush on Zhou Mi?”
There was a click in Kyuhyun’s throat as he stared at the wall. “I’m dating him.”
“You and…”
“Yeah.”
Changmin’s jaw finally closed. “Wow. Wow. How long…?”
“A year and a half? Almost two. But it’d been coming on before that.”
A crush. Touches. Wistfulness. There had been too many things holding them back, making them afraid. The truth was, the timing might’ve been perfect. They’d both been in a place where it made sense.
“No one knows,” Kyuhyun said quickly, because Changmin had begun to frown. “Some of the guys know, or mostly know, because it’s impossible to hide everywhere, but— I’ve never told anyone. It takes one person telling someone else, a rumor, scrutiny.”
Changmin nodded slowly. “Secrecy would be the best way to protect each other.”
“Yeah,” Kyuhyun said, and for a moment felt deflated. He had volumes and essays stored up on the ridiculous things Zhou Mi did, the way Zhou Mi made him laugh, the way he was frustrating, and cute, and funny and sexy at the same time. “He… Yeah.”
“So it’s serious then. Love serious.” Changmin would see it. Changmin would know. “You could’ve told me.”
How many times he almost had.
“I’d be really disappointed in you not telling me,” Changmin said, and Kyuhyun’s stomach took a twist, even though Changmin was pouring them both more wine. “But I don’t want to be a hypocrite today.”
Of all the things he’d expected, the lectures on it being so unwise, or Changmin trying to pump him for information, that wasn’t it. Unless he was dating someone, too, but Kyuhyun had the wild thought that he would’ve known. Except, Changmin hadn’t known, and Kyuhyun had been so wrapped up in his feelings.
“What?” Kyuhyun asked, and it came out more aggressively than he’d have thought.
“We promised not to tell anyone, but.” Changmin paused, jerked one shoulder. “At least you’re not involved with your leader, and the only bandmate you have left.”
Kyuhyun nearly put his glass down wrong, fumbling with it as he stared at Changmin. He wasn’t sure if Changmin was embarrassed, or— Maybe that was the same expression he’d had on. Hope. And he also had no idea what to think beyond his shock, what to offer. Congratulations? Condolences? He of all people knew how hard it could be.
“So. You— Okay. How…long for you?”
“After we came back, just the two of us. I was so…” Changmin’s breath hissed out. “He kept me from doing a lot of things I would’ve regretted. You did, too, but.”
“He understood exactly where you were,” Kyuhyun said, and watched Changmin’s wry grin.
“Yeah. We slept together - he’s going to hit me when I tell him I told you this - and it kind of went from there.”
“Does it just kill you not to be able to say anything?”
Changmin nodded, inching sideways. “Yes. And worrying, there’s no one besides him to stop you from being stupid. If we started hating each other, I don’t know how long we could last working together. But saying that to him makes it sound like I’m doubting—”
“But you’re just trying to protect both of you!”
“Right? And it’s too late to just back out now. It would’ve been smarter to leave it alone to begin with.”
Kyuhyun grinned. “But it makes you happy, and having someone who’s special, different, to share stuff with—“
Changmin laughed, flopping back against the the wall. “Yes. We’re fucked.”
“Not every time,” Kyuhyun muttered, and kicked Changmin when he almost fell off the bed. But they got set, like they were sharing war secrets, their laptops ignored as they stared at each other.
“Something you wished you could tell someone,” Changmin said.
“About him or about dating?”
“Either. Both.”
Kyuhyun curled his hand around his laptop screen and thought. “Sentimental, when he’s happy. His smile. But he has nice hands. Listens. Makes me laugh.”
“Frustrates me. He’s almost too steady, and I didn’t know I needed that,” Changmin said, picking up seamlessly. “He’s more clinging/touchy than I thought, too, and I didn’t think I’d like that, either.”
Kyuhyun could only nod. Some applied, some didn’t, but If touchy applied to anyone, Zhou Mi was it.
“He’s really proud,” Changmin said, as though he really didn’t know how to process it. “Sometimes I wonder how he keeps it a secret.”
“Maybe because everyone thinks we’re pretending for fans?” Kyuhyun shook his head. “Still, respects your boundaries when you need?”
“And knows too many little quirks,” Changmin complained. “Sometimes good, sometimes a pain in the ass.”
“I worry about how long the secret can be kept, or if we’ll have to keep it forever.”
The words hung out there, unabsorbed, unanswered. There was nothing about them they could change, except to know that they had to take it day by day.
And they didn’t have to do that alone. Changmin held out his little finger and Kyuhyun took it. Without words, they knew what they were promising. To keep each other’s secrets, to be there when they were needed. It was not less important than their relationships with Yunho or Zhou Mi. He knew it had made him stronger even without Changmin knowing, and maybe it’d jet make them both stronger still.
“I’m probably not a good relationship counselor,” Kyuhyun warned.
“We could double date,” Changmin said, head turning closer. “Is that weird?”
Kyuhyun shook his head. “I don’t think so. Is Yunho hyung going to miss you tonight?”
Changmin snuffled a laugh. “It’s good for him to get away sometimes. Besides he knows I’m tipsy so I won’t sleep. You?”
Kyuhyun gave Changmin a measuring stare. “Zhou Mi is more of a social butterfly than I am.”
“You’re still going to text him a sappy goodnight, aren’t you?”
“Get me more wine, jerk.”
Things had changed, they had changed, but things hadn’t changed for them. Their elbows smacked together, laptops humming away, and secrets for a while just a bit lighter.
***
Prompt: Kris/Suho- intricate and long skype session on Christmas Eve because one is in a different country during the holidays because of work.
***
It was a virtual tour. Some of the places they went, they had been together, but not that day. The air was cold, really too cold, but Joonmyun started the call on the exact same bench where they had gone from friends to something more. That awkward moment when Kris had stumbled over asking Joonmyun for coffee just as Joonmyun was opening his mouth to ask the same thing.
“My butt is cold,” Joonmyun said, starting off with the most charming thing in his head. But it wasn’t his fault that the painted wood was cold, even if Kris did laugh at him, only about a third of his face viewable on Joonmyun’s screen as he lolled.
It hadn’t been winter that night, not like it was then. Kris was thousands of miles away just before a day they’d hoped to spend together. The next best thing had been spending Christmas eve together, letting the day after be for the other people in their lives.
Kris was in a park too, something full of pine trees and little water features. Joonmyun could hear the gurgle of it as Kris walked, even through the little bluetooth earpiece that Kris wore.
“It’s not as cold here,” Kris said, and he was teasing. “Though would you be cold if I was there…?”
“Maybe I’d use your legs for a seat instead,” Joonmyun retorted, though the thought wasn’t a bad one for either of them.
It was impossible for them to touch, but he had Kris’s laughter in his ear as he caught a taxi and complained about the cold. And that laughter hadn’t gone away by the time he’d settled in a favorite cafe, one they went to weekly, his chilled fingers finally wrapped around a hot cup of chocolate mixed with weak coffee.
Though that time it was because Joonmyun kept propping the phone up against a napkin holder, where it inevitably slid down.
“I miss that ceiling,” Kris lamented, until Joonmyun propped the phone back up again.
“Do you miss me more?” Joonmyun asked, resting his chin on the plastic top of his cup, and pouting.
Kris stopped walking down the street he was on, on the way to somewhere secret.
“What do you think?”
It was silly that he got bashful in front of his phone.
But it wasn’t like he was the only one with the camera pointed weirdly. Kris ducked into a store, trying on different hats and leaving his phone pointed at various racks and the wall before easing in front of it with blinding smiles. Some of the hats made him want to laugh, but others most certainly did not.
“You can bring that one home with you,” Joonmyun said as Kris tipped the dark hat a little lower over his eyes.
“You want me or the hat?”
Joonmyun just sniffed at him.
Together they nibbled on snacks, comfortable and not alone, which had been half their concern. Just being able to talk together, rehashing the trip, things they wanted to do when Kris got back, places they would go.
Kris’s eyes were drooping by the time it was midnight for Joonmyun.
“Five…four…three…two…one,” Joonmyun counted down softly.
And he smiled to watch Kris’s lips fill his screen, laughing helplessly at the loud smooching sound Kris made.
“I’ll kiss you for every day we missed when you get back,” Joonmyun promised, before pressing his lips to the little lens.
“Only one per day?”
Joonmyun smiled, because there would sure be more than that. “Merry Christmas. Ah. Kriiiis-mas. Get it?”
Kris groaned, but he was smiling all the while.
***
Prompt: zhou mi, a time traveling prince from the ming dynasty (a la "queen in hyeon's man") who got into a spot of bother while in joseon and travelled between joseon and modern day seoul and met q... anyway. his and kyuhyun's romantic christmas. <3
***
Zhou Mi was hundreds of years away from his own time, away from his own country even. He had been a visitor in the country that Kyuhyun inhabited in present day, and how he had gone from his time to Kyuhyun’s had been a trick of fate - nearly ending in his death.
But Zhou Mi hadn’t died. He’d just landed in the same place, different time. And he’d found Kyuhyun. Or rather, they’d found each other.
Though it hadn’t helped that the first thing that Zhou Mi had asked him had been if he was a eunuch. It hadn’t been his choice to dress up in that outfit as a joke.
Everything was in perfect working order. Zhou Mi was aware of that, even. Though, sometimes he thought Zhou Mi was more in awe of the coffee pot and the electric razor. Functional men had been around in his time, too.
“You’re going to tell me there’s something special about this “Christmas” where you have to kiss.”
Kyuhyun blinked, the tiniest shred of guilt in the back of his mind even as he nearly started laughing.
“Actually…There is,” he said slowly, and Zhou Mi smirked in a way that told Kyuhyun that he wasn’t being believed. “No, really. I can show you.”
Or the internet could. If Zhou MI wouldn’t believe him, then Kyuhyun could show him.
“I thought you said I couldn’t believe everything on the internet,” Zhou Mi said, poking Kyuhyun in the side.
“I also said you were smart enough to tell the difference. Look. You can see how many pages there are explaining. I didn’t make it up.”
Kyuhyun watched Zhou Mi read, examining the blunted ends of his newly-cut hair. He’d looked good with it long, and he’d looked good in clothes from the past. But he also looked cozy in one of Kyuhyun’s overly-large sweaters, like he needed to be aggressively snuggled in front of some wildly decorated tree and be fed cookies.
He thought that perhaps that was a reflection of what he was wanting as well, but there was no reason they couldn’t share it.
“Interesting,” Zhou Mi said after a few minutes of reading. “Do you have any of this…mistletoe?”
“No, I don’t.” Much to his regret. It wasn’t exactly as though he needed an excuse to kiss Zhou Mi, though enlightening Zhou Mi to all the excuses was— “Oh! I have an idea.”
He nearly hip checked Zhou Mi to get him away from the computer. He found the nicest picture of mistletoe that he could find, and with a few mouse clicks, heard his aging printer begin to rattle.
“Don’t look,” he said, as Zhou Mi peered at him. There were still little miracles he could show Zhou Mi. As soon as the printer spit out the paper, Kyuhyun folded it. It had a few ink smears on it, but it was otherwise recognizable and a heck of a lot easier than holding his laptop over their heads. Belatedly he realized he could’ve used his phone, but watching Zhou Mi touch the paper was the best part.
Almost the best part.
When Kyuhyun gripped Zhou Mi’s wrist, he stood, and Kyuhyun lifted the paper over their heads.
“We can pretend,” Kyuhyun said, and Zhou Mi’s lips began to curl.
Sometimes it felt like meeting Zhou Mi had been his gift, even when Zhou Mi disappeared and Kyuhyun was left with nothing but the worry that they would never see each other again.
Zhou Mi touched his face, and he felt the warmth of Zhou Mi’s lips against his, enveloped by the thick sweater and Zhou Mi’s arm.
They could pretend for as many kisses as they could. And they could pretend that their time together would be without end.
***
Prompt: Long-distance relationship HenWook and Ryeowook thinks that Henry isn't going to be able to come home for Christmas but Henry surprises him? Bonus points if QMi are in on the surprise
***
“It’s too bad that Henry isn’t here,” Kyuhyun said, just as Zhou Mi slid into the booth again with drinks in both hands.
Ryeowook sighed a bit inside. Yes, he knew. He also knew that Kyuhyun was trying to be sympathetic, and it was the first time that Kyuhyun had brought it up that night. But still even hearing it when Ryeowook was remembering all the plans he and Henry had made was a painful little poke. Those plans were having to be put off to another year, until Henry could be there. Henry was stuck on another continent, surrounded by friends and family. Ryeowook had that, too. Though, seeing Zhou Mi and Kyuhyun across from him, Zhou Mi’s arm around Kyuhyun’s shoulders, was a reminder in itself.
It was just informal, the three of them getting together in the cafe. It was one of the last times before the actual holiday got into full swing, really, and they would be caught up with each other and Kyuhyun’s family traditions. Ryeowook had tiny visions of taking Henry home to his family, puling him into the kitchen for quick little kisses as they got more to drink for his parents.
“That’s not something that can be changed,” Ryeowook said.
And he frowned, because Zhou Mi was sliding one of the drinks he’d bought across the table like there was some invisible fourth person sitting there. He knew he hadn’t drank much of his own drink, but he couldn’t imagine why Zhou Mi would have bought him something different.
“What—“
“You have room for one more?”
Ryeowook’s eyes when wide, his glance like lightning from Kyuhyun’s sudden grin, to the side, and up.
Henry was grinning, wet on his jacket from the drizzle outside, a terribly ugly red knit cap on his head. And Ryeowook couldn’t have cared less, nearly knocking over both drinks in his haste to get standing, to get his arms around Henry’s neck and be pulled against Henry’s fluffy coat.
But it wasn’t until he really inhaled, really smelled Henry, that he really accepted that he was there.
“You!” he said, pushing back far so he could see Henry’s sheepish grin. “And you!”
Zhou Mi was hie enough to at least look a little apologetic, but Kyuhyun was out and out grinning.
“They helped me,” Henry said. “I almost told you about a dozen times yesterday.”
“How long did you know?”
“Less than a week. Kyuhyun found a flight deal that made it happen.”
Ryeowook didn’t have to look to know Kyuhyun was smug then instead, but Ryeowook was too busy watching Henry talk and breathe. He was right there.
“You might as well take your drinks and go if you’re just going to stare at each other,” Kyuhyun said.
Henry lifted his eyebrows and Ryeowook nodded. So Ryeowook turned, keeping a hand on Henry’s arm like he would disappear, and handed Henry his cup and picked up his own.
“Thank you,” Ryeowook said, and Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi just waved at them.
“Are you mad?” Henry asked, after they’d gotten out onto the sidewalk.
“I understand why. And I’m glad you’re here.”
When they got a little further, they stopped, leaning into each other. Henry’s lips against his hair made him smile, and he felt for the first time that it was finally something that felt like Christmas.
***
Prompt: Lay comes to pick up Chen for their first date on a snowy day, unfortunately before Chen gets to the car he slips on a patch of ice and ends up injuring himself pretty bad so they stay at his apartment for their date and Lay cooks for him. At the end of the date Lay isn't able to leave because of the bad weather and Chen insists that he stays the night.
***
The first inkling Yixing had that something was wrong was his phone ringing at four in the afternoon, a full hour before their date. When he saw that it was Jongdae, he Knew that Jongdae wouldn’t be calling for just anything. Mostly they communicated by text and emails.
Jongdae had asked him out over the phone. There had been that.
Yixing’s first thought was that Jongdae was calling to cancel.
His second was concern for Jongdae’s tired voice.
“I fell down the stairs,” Jongdae said, and continued as Yixing inhaled. “I hit a patch of ice and got my ankle all twisted under me. It’s not broken, but… I’m sorry.”
They’d meant to go exploring, spending time together and trying little cafes they saw.
“No, don’t be sorry. Are you at home?” Yixing asked.
“I’m at the hospital. I just got my crutches, and a taxi is on the way.
“Could you use some help? I could meet you there, help you up the stairs, or…” Yixing felt only partly guilty for Jongdae’s pain. It wasn’t as though he had made the weather freezing, or pushed Jongdae down the stairs. Maybe Jongdae would have left to run errands.
“That’s not any kind of date,” Jongdae said. “But I’d like to see you.”
“Maybe I just want to get my hands on you helping you?” Yixing mused, and got what he hoped when Jongdae laughed.
***
Jongdae was pretty good on his crutches, but Yixing thought they were both relieved that he was there at least for a steadying hand as Jongdae made his way up the outer stairs. There was an elevator, a point of luck.
“I’d have the world’s most toned arms if I have to crutch up five flights of stairs,” Jongdae said, breathing hard as they rode up.
“I wonder how long you’d have to start in advance to get anywhere?”
Jongdae groaned.
The keys were warm from Jongdae’s pocket, and Yixing let them into the apartment. With Jongdae settled at the table, Yixing had only a couple of things on his mind.
“Have you eaten?”
“I had a little snack at the hospital so they could give me pain medication,” Jongdae said, squinting at his kitchen. “I could call out…”
Yixing had a choice, and he opted to go with the second: opening Jongdae’s fridge without asking and seeing if he owned any food. He found a package of chicken and some vegetables stuck away in the bottom, and a quick look into the cupboard revealed packets of ramen.
“I can make something for us,” Yixing said. When he turned around Jongdae had his cheek propped on his hand, watching Yixing. “I’d like to, if you want.”
Being able to make food instead of ordering it would make him feel as though he was doing something good for Jongdae.
“That’d be nice…” Jongdae started. “I wish I could help.”
Maybe when he wasn’t going to fall over.
“Next time,” Yixing said.
“I’ll entertain you, then?”
Yixing laughed at the bag of carrots.
Though he had no doubt of that. It seemed less than wise to give a man on painkillers a knife, but it was quick work, and work that he enjoyed slicing the carrots into thin strips and starting them to cook as he put the chicken in a different pan.
“My neighbor helped me into the cab to get to the hospital,” Jongdae sighed, playing with the glass of water that Yixing had brought for him. “I really didn’t mean for you to work on our date.”
“I’m glad I can be here rather than home or worried,” Yixing said.
When he glanced back, Jongdae was smiling and he looked back to the food in front of him. Yeah. He was glad he was there, too.
“Hey, come look at this,” Jongdae said from his living room window after they’d eaten. What had been ice before, and the gentle snow they had both gone through to get to Jongdae’s apartment, had turned into swirling snow and more piling up on the sidewalks down below them.
“Oh.”
Jongdae turned. “You have a particular need to get home tonight? I can probably stand to have you around a while longer. I’ll even buy you breakfast tomorrow.”
Yixing couldn’t help the twitch of his lips, probably not any more than Jongdae could help the little laugh.
“I don’t have anywhere to be,” Yixing said, grinning a little harder.
They huddled together on the couch with Jongdae’s ankle propped up, not worried about the snow outside or things that needed to be done. All that mattered was Jongdae’s hand on his arm, and knowing they both were safe. He wished Jongdae hadn’t been hurt, but he would have been happy for that date to go on forever.
***
Prompt: "The first winter Junmyeon wakes up feeling truly cold is when he wakes to the ghost of Jongdae's smile, of Jongdae's warmth against his side." I don't want Gramps to be sad, though... uh.. maybe SuKai? (with puppies!)
***
The first winter Junmyeon wakes up feeling truly cold is when he wakes to the ghost of Jongdae's smile, of Jongdae's warmth against his side. He’d spent time gathering Jongdae’s things and sorting them. Jongdae had been good about taking most of his things, but there was always inevitably something left. There was a book, and Junmyeon hesitated whether to keep or send it. He couldn’t remember which of them had bought it, but it made him think of Jongdae, so he put it in the box of things that included a cookbook Jongdae had brought once, a vial of aftershave that had gotten poked into a drawer. Logic told him he should’ve trashed all of it, but it had been a nasty little surprise every time he’d come across something else. He had JOngdae’s new address, of course he did. Maybe they were still friendly, but he couldn’t really call them friends. They hadn’t broken up because of cheating, or anything like that.
But it still hurt. It was too easy to remember and to wonder, and think of the things they’d have been doing together, and knowing he wouldn’t have been cold.
Junmyeon bundled up and slid his hands into gloves, and headed out. Even though everything in his apartment was his, it felt a little lonely, like it was poking at him for being there by himself. It was something he’d get used to. No, it was something he was used to. It just was that every new moment like waking alone made him remember and reevaluate.
He had double layers everywhere but his face, huffing into his scarf as he walked past trees and rock formations in the park near his building. He’d gone there with Jongdae, too, but that was not something he’d give up, not even for Jongdae.
Junmyeon’s first indication that something was wrong was a ginger bolt out of the corner of his eye. Then, there was a dog not even as tall of his knee dancing in front of him.
“Hey, grab that leash!”
Junmyeon’s foot shot out, putting his full weight on the dog’s leash, who was totally unconcerned and looking for affection that Junmyeon wasn’t sure he should give.
“Sorry. Sorry,” the man puffed, his breath white in the cold. “I got distracted by these other two rascals and he ripped away. Thanks for catching him. He won’t move at home, but he can run for miles.”
“No problem. He did all the work, I think,” Junmyeon said, easing off the leash as the dog’s rightful owner got ahold of him. “Is it okay to pet him?”
“Oh, yeah. He doesn’t bite.”
Junmyeon and the dog went for each other at the same time - but Junmyeon’s hand almost missed the dog’s head, which planted firmly in his crotch.
It took a firm hand, but Junmyeon got the dog back on the ground so he could really pet the fuzzy head.
“He’s really cute,” Junmyeon said as the dog licked his hand.
“Trouble,” the man corrected. “I should’ve named him that.”
The thing was, Trouble’s owner was pretty cute, too. It had Junmyeon reaching up and tugging down his scarf in reflex. Partly out of politeness, and partly nerves.
“I’m Ju—“ And his vocal cords froze in the air. “Junmyeon.”
For just a second, Junmyeon got that grin turned on him instead. “Jongin. No! Stupid dog.”
Junmyeon laughed as Trouble first rolled and then did some elaborate figure eight that meant if Junmyeon took a step, he was going to fall over. Trying to step out with Jongin holding the leash just made it worse.
“I’m so sorry,” Jongin said, sounding horrified at his dog’s antics.
But with the leash in his own hand, Junmyeon was able to untangle himself while Trouble waggled.
“One day I’ll learn not to take them all by myself.”
He had the leash still in his hands. “Do you need some help getting them back?”
Jongin blinked at him, and had his ears and cheeks not already been red from the cold, he was pretty sure they would’ve turned that way. Yeah, he’d just mostly invited himself home with a stranger who had cute dogs.
“If you don’t have anything better to do.”
With leash firmly in hand, the dogs might’ve slowed them down a little, but it was them talking that did most of it. Even if he was cold to the skin by the time they reached Jongin’s building, he was warmer than he could remember being in a while. He waited in the warm lobby, smiling at the floor as Jongin and the dogs went up. Jongin had promised him a cup of tea for his help.
When the elevator doors opened, Jongin’s smile was a bit bashful, and Junmyeon wondered if the cold had just been leading him to something he needed very much.
***
Prompt: SMTOWN Christmas party... and some prankster spiked the punch. What goes down when your boss, coworkers, best friends and/or secret crush are all more than slightly tipsy together, nobody knows the right words to the Christmas carols, and there's mistletoe involved somewhere. :)
***
The punch hadn’t tasted quite right.
Granted, Kyuhyun knew that before he got to the point he was falling over, but maybe that was because other people were falling over for him. Siwon was laughing so hard that Yunho had to keep him upright, and Shindong and Yoona looked to be in a very spirited debate while Sooyoung dangled precariously close to tipping right over Chanyeol’s shoulder.
Ryeowook he didn’t even look at, because he’d been holed up with Kyungsoo and even if they drank the whole bowl, they’d probably be sober.
Though Kyuhyun did stop and laugh to see Zhou Mi and Krystal imitating one of some girl group’s dances off in a corner.
It was a big room, granted, because there were a lot of them. He made faces at Changmin, but the only person who made faces back at him was Sunny. Joonmyun on the other hand was half drunk, desperately giggling against Jonghyun.
There was a manager stationed, probably to keep everything from descending into some kind of orgy (to which he could delicately say ew), but even he was pretty well on his way to tipsy so what help he was going to be…
The person who brought the mistletoe probably should’ve been ejected immediately, and Kyuhyun suspected Key, even though Jessica and Luna had started cracking up the second someone had kicked it out from under the couch.
“Its not supposed to be used as a soccer ball,” Donghae said, trying to keep people from actually punting it out of the room. And instead of people sitting around and having a good time and eating, suddenly everyone was staring at each other in suspicion.
“What’s everyone afraid of, anyway?” Eunhyuk asked, picking it up and descending on his most unwitting victim. One smacking kiss to the cheek later, Donghae was first doubled over in laughter and then chasing Eunhyuk around the room. No one saw where the mistletoe ended up, though Kyuhyun was keeping an eye out.
Taemin and Kai had Onew trapped between them. Maybe reminiscing, maybe teasing, he wasn’t sure since Onew was smacking each arm in turn.
Jessica wandered by and he thought she was being innocent until she put an antler headband on him.
“Thanks, really,” he said, and she just stuck out her tongue and kept going. But after she’d gone, Zhou Mi appeared beside him, taking a seat on the little chair.
“Do you know where the mistletoe went?” Kyuhyun asked, a little louder than the whisper he’d intended. Okay, maybe he’d had too much punch himself.
“Yeah,” Zhou Mi said, almost the exact same way. And sure enough, secreted there in Zhou Mi’s palm was the offending little sprig of plastic.
“Oh, huh.”
“Merry Christmas, Kyuhyun,” Zhou Mi said, and Kyuhyun felt a flush go through him unrelated to the alcohol when Zhou Mi pressed his lips to Kyuhyun’s cheek.
There were people around them who were friends, and people that despite knowing each other for years were still getting to know each other. And there were people who, even if they didn’t know it yet, were more even than that.
He leaned into Zhou Mi’s shoulder and adjusted the antlers a little more firmly on his head so they could laugh at everyone together.
***
Prompt: Xiumin not knowing what to get Lu Han as a present and really stressing out over it? And then one day before Christmas confessing that he still hasn't found something and Lu Han telling him that Xiumin is the best present he could ever have?
***
Shopping for Lu Han was entirely unfair because Lu Han had a habit of buying stuff Minseok had planned to buy for ages - right before Minseok did. That great hat? Lu Han bought it. A jacket? Lu Han. Box sets of TV shows and CDs and shoes, right down the snacks Lu Han liked. Industrial sized bags full. Getting his thunder stolen made him think he was going to have to start stealing the boxes of Lu Han’s purchases back and wrapping them with money inside and a note that read, “so sorry you already got what was in here, have some cash instead.”
He hadn’t yet resorted to that, but it was a close thing. Because of all that, it didn’t matter how far in advance he planned. He had lists started on his phone and over the months leading up to Christmas, he started deleting them as Lu Han bought them. Telling Lu Han not to snap up that watch he wanted would’ve only caused suspicion. Telling Lu Han to stop buying anything outright would’ve gotten him strange looks.
Lu Han didn’t understand. Minseok was trying to be conscientious which was why Lu Han easily picked out gifts Minseok wanted, wrapped and presented them.
Though that year, Minseok granted it was on him. For once, Lu Han wasn’t buying up everything, busy and a bit distracted. The problem was Minseok’s list wasn’t as long as he’d have liked, and it was their fourth Christmas as a couple which meant the gift had to be better than some candied pineapple slices and some movies.
He huffed, and time went on, and he started staring at Lu Han as though it would make something appear. He went shopping on his off hours, wandering through a dozen clothing stores and buying a sweater for Lu Han and some gloves, and knowing he’d like both. And it still didn’t feel enough, or not even that. Not quite right. Lu Han had plenty of electronics, needed nothing for their room - how exciting a new pair of sheets would’ve been! Buying a kitchen appliance would’ve gotten him kicked, and their TV was great. DVDs were things they could share, but they weren’t super personal, and he about had a panic attack looking at jewelry options. He fingered little pendants and thick bracelets and imagined Lu Han wearing them, and was caught in indecision.
And then it was Christmas Eve and he hadn’t made his decision, and presents from Lu Han had shown up in their little present corner while his little gifts were still in a bag, unwrapped, stashed in a closet.
“I haven’t figured out what to get you,” Minseok blurted, Lu Han dressed in a really ugly sweater with frolicking polar bears on it. Polar bears with glowing red noses?
How Lu Han had such an easy time of it when he was struggling seemed unfair. He felt inadequate, like he should’ve somehow been able to know what was best. He’d always been able to, no matter what challenges Lu Han threw at him. He didn’t—
His brain stopped up as Lu Han gripped his hips for a moment, fingers a bit chilly as they slipped up under the edge of his sweater to settle on his bare skin. He was being examined, like some kind of specimens, and there was something belligerent rising in him if Lu Han was going to crow, until Lu Han smiled instead.
“I already got my best gift,” Lu Han said, squeezing him. “So everything else is extra.”
To his credit, Lu Han didn’t shrivel under sappiness of it, and all Minseok could really do was wrap his arms around Lu Han’s neck and chuckle with him.
“You’re terrible,” he said, and Lu Han nipped his neck.
When Minseok closed his eyes, he saw the store with the glittering cases. There had been one he hadn’t looked in. And he thought he knew, finally, what he was going to buy. And for once, Lu Han had told him exactly what it was, since both their best gifts had been each other.
***
Prompt: "Unpacking" Xiumin and sex under the Christmas Tree smut
***
It was hard waiting, and he was hard waiting, Minseok sighed. He wiggled, and waited and squirmed, until finally he heard a door in the lock. That was when he idly hoped the tree hadn’t shed on him after he’d crawled under it. It took a minute, since Minseok generally called a greeting, before Lu Han located him in the apartment.
“Did someone give me a hot dog for Christmas?” Lu Han asked, poking Minseok’s side with his foot. “What, did you fall?”
Yes, he fell and conveniently rolled under the tree under a blanket. He just barely kept himself from sticking his tongue out at Lu Han. Maybe he looked like a long lump covered in a thin blanket, but he didn’t think Lu Han would think that much longer.
He was on his stomach for a reason.
“Or maybe you’re my gift?” Lu Han guessed, touching the red bow that Minseok had cursed at trying to get it to stick to his hair, just above his forehead on one side.
They always stuck if they weren’t wanted, and never when they were.
“Maybe you should find out,” Minseok said, and watched Lu Han’s lips part.
A bare shoulder wasn’t anything. He resisted the urge to shiver as Lu Han tugged a little further. The blanket slid over his back, a whisper and a slide, and there was the tiniest sound of surprise that had Minseok’s lips curving.
A little more— His lower back, the dip of it, and then a little further. He tried not to shiver because it tickled, the blanket, at least until Lu Han made him jump by yanking the blanket off the rest of the way.
Lu Han wasn’t the type to take each piece of tape carefully off the wrapping.
“Oh,” Lu Han said, and Minseok was just about to mock him when he continued, “Do you have a bow anywhere else?”
Minseok didn’t have to see the leer to know it was there, especially when it was Lu Han’s most suggestive tone.
“I thought it would just get in the way and take time,” Minseok said, rolling over. No more half humping the ground and cursing Lu Han for taking so long. But that time he did see the way that Lu Han’s eyes went a bit wider, his throat clutching as he swallowed. It certainly wasn’t because he’d never seen a naked man before. “Here’s another bow if you want it.”
He didn’t wrap up his body, but there was a tiny little bow attached to the condom packet, and Lu Han guffawed. But his thighs opened a little wider and Lu Han knelt there, teeth solid in his lower lip as he met Minseok’s eyes, opening his pants and shoving at his underwear. For a moment they stroked their cocks in unison, grins spreading, and his more so at the flush on Lu Han’s face.
“Lube?” Lu Han asked.
He had some more stashed in the branches of the tree in case, but—
“Got that taken care of,” Minseok said, wiggling in invitation.
The little bow on the condom was abandoned, and Lu Han wasted no time opening it. For a moment all Minseok knew was the luxurious slide of their cocks together until Lu Han moaned and gripped Minseok’s hips and slid into him, slow and steady.
“How long have you been keeping yourself hard?” Lu Han asked, his thumb stroking Minseok’s cock as he bent low over Minseok’s body.
“Too long,” Minseok said. But with Lu Han finally in him, it’d take little effort going forward. When Lu Han urged Minseok into a kiss, it wasn’t apology for the wait, but glee in knowing Minseok had been hard for him. Like that didn’t happen every day.
He could feel Lu Han’s pants against the backs of his thighs, shirt dropping against his belly as Lu Han’s tongue teased his. The press of cloth against bare skin was decadent, a contradiction, a confirmation of how eager they were.
“Can I come home and find you naked under the tree every day?” Lu Han asked, voice wavering at the lifting of Minseok’s hips.
“Wouldn’t that get boring?” Though he had to wonder when Lu Han wiggled his hips up just a little bit further and made Minseok’s breath catch. “Or maybe you’d just like me to kneel— Oh. Kneel by the door and wait for you. Lu Han.”
As Lu Han’s teeth scraped at his neck, his hips began to roll, setting off a throbbing that would not stop. His breath shortened as Lu Han began to stroke him in time with his hips, hearing the little chuckle at the mewling sound that Minseok made. And that was when the clothes got in the way because he was used to the expanse of Lu Han’s back to grip, every touch from him urging Lu Han on. He didn’t like it any more, the cloth a tease against his chest and armor again his hands. But he found Lu Han’s neck and nearly as Lu Han kissed him. The bow was still on his hair, clinging to strands and flopping with every thrust Lu Han took. He kept Lu Han close, sucking at his lips, his tongue, and moaned as Lu Han stroked him faster.
Lu Han’s hair was thick, just at the edge of too long, just the way he liked it. And it was Lu Han’s hair he pulled as his hips lifted, and he came to the smell of evergreen sap and Lu Han’s muttered, “Come on, come.” He hadn’t even stopped coming when Lu Han stilled, his cry twice as loud as Minseok’s had bee. Minseok knew all of Lu Han’s orgasm faces, the ones that ranged from nearly pained to almost ugly to glorious rapture. That one was a combination, Lu Han’s eyes closed as he came, and Minseok reached down and got his hand under loose cloth so he could pat Lu Han’s bare ass.
He was pleasantly used up, and Lu Han was still puffing like a freight engine into Minseok’s collarbone.
“Good gift?” Minseok asked, and Lu Han snorted before lifting his head. His hair was wild from Minseok’s fingers, and that was something that pleased him.
“You realize that when everyone comes over tomorrow, I’m going to think of this every time we get presents out from under here.”
Minseok grinned at the ceiling. Or at the ceiling of tree branches at least.
“I’m okay with that.”
“You think they’d be okay knowing what’d happened here?”
Lu Han maybe had a little too much glee in his voice, and Minseok poked him. And yet…
“If they don’t think we did, then they’re underestimating us,” he said, and felt Lu Han nod against his head.
Though they were drawing the line at actually sleeping under the tree. The bed was so much nicer.
***
Prompt: patissier!Zhou Mi, Calvin/Mi
***
The glossy cakes were all lined up, various confections and treats perfectly lined up to go with a nice warm cup of coffee or tea, or to be carried out to a place of the purchaser’s choosing. There were pretty cookies, and tiny tarts, and puffy eclairs just waiting to be bitten into. Zhou Mi was up before the sun rose each day to make sure there as a never-ending supply of goodness. The cantankerous espresso machine wasn’t his forte, but he could use it well enough. He had a couple of boys who came in afternoons to help sell as Zhou Mi unwound from his morning of decoration and arranging.
At least, usually he could relax until school ate up all of his usual employees.
Zhou Mi was the only one in the store, and he enjoyed the eager faces and dreamy looks that the food he made brought people. There were so many possibilities that it was hard sometimes for people to choose, and he wrapped up purchases and put lids on to-go drinks, and greeted everyone with a smile, even as the line grew longer and the espresso machine fought him each step of the way.
“Steam,” he told the machine, as though that would make it work, as though it was somehow voice controlled and Zhou Mi didn’t have fifteen people snaking around his shop waiting.
“Did you need help with that?”
A man had broken out of line to stand beside the lady ordering a very simple latte, and Zhou Mi felt his face coloring since he couldn’t work the machine in his own shop.
“Do you know how…?”
Without waiting for permission, the man skirted the counter and took the pitcher from him. Zhou Mi watched for fifteen seconds as the man did…something. The machine hissed and gurgled, and thunked, and somehow did as the man asked.
The customer was happy, thanking him, and the next customer wanted a latte, too, and maybe… Maybe it was something in Zhou Mi’s wild eyes that had the man smiling and reaching for a cup.
It left Zhou Mi free to package up a few tarts, and process the transaction, and by the time he had, a cup was waiting.
“I’ve worked with a machine like this. My name’s Calvin,” he said.
“Zhou Mi.” And the shook hands. “I’m so sorry that you—“
“I’ll help you through this rush for a free coffee and one of those cookies?”
“You can have two,” Zhou Mi swore, and turned back to take the next order.
It was a good twenty minutes before the rush really settled, including some of the customers who had snagged tables coming back up for another drink or a slice of a different cake.
“Did you make all of this?” Calvin asked, sipping the drink he’d made himself and staring at the case full of desserts.
“It makes me happy. I remember baking cookies with my mother and how fun that was. People get a lot of enjoyment out of them, so there’s always the need to do my best.”
Calvin hummed, and decided to try a tart filled with precisely cut fruit and cream. “I’ve been in here a few times, but I’ve never seen you.”
“Usually I leave the front to more capable hands,” Zhou Mi laughed, fiddling with the edge of a towel out of nervous habit.
Calvin glanced at his hands, and considered. “I don’t think so. But if it gives you time off so you can make these, it’s worth it. You gave everyone a smile today, twice over.”
He’d never thought of it that way.
“There would’ve been a lot of frowns if it hadn’t been for you.”
Maybe Zhou Mi would have gotten the machine going, but it would’ve taken longer.
While Calvin was finishing his dessert, Zhou Mi packed up a little box for him to take, mostly of extras he’d kept behind in the kitchen. It was well worth it.
“If you need someone to make it behave, or…” Calvin said, smiling as he handed Zhou Mi his card.
“If you come in again, ask for me,” Zhou Mi said.
And Calvin’s smile said he would.
***
Prompt: bandfic: Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi are happy, but it's a secret that it is necessary for them to keep. One day Kyuhyun goes over at Changmin’s for one of their boys nights with food and wine and he really thinks about just talking about it to someone, and who better than his best friend? But Changmin has a secret of his own.
***
It was not strictly a secret, at least not a secret between the two of them. Fingertips agains the back of a hand, the curve of a grin, lips brushing ears with whispers and hands on shoulders. Those things felt like they were shouting at the world that it was anything but innocent. They were mimics of touches performed in private, the slide of palms together, the touch of cheeks, smiles that melted into kisses.
Those were the things that were only for them, no matter how close they were to anyone. When everyone spoke of dating, people they liked, people they wished they could date, Kyuhyun wanted to stand up and say none of them could hold a candle to Zhou Mi’s patience, and giving heart, or the way the stolen moments made him happy.
The others knew, sort of. Maybe sometimes he was urged to date, and he spoke of believing in knowing when he’d found the one. The truth was, he had, and he’d let go of fanciful nations that would have kept him from truly being happy with Zhou Mi. It had been impossible to lie to everyone, to keep those lies together. He suspected some of them thought he and Zhou Mi just enjoyed each other as friends. The others left it alone, despite some quiet warnings. Of all of them, he and Zhou Mi were the most aware of the potential consequences. But they also knew they only had one life, and finite years. He went out one door scoffing, to find Zhou Mi standing and welcoming him in another.
As Kyuhyun poured himself a glass of wine, sitting in Changmin’s bedroom and prepared for a night of fun and relaxation, he thought of the ridiculous kiss that Zhou Mi had blown him during their video chat.
“Have fun,” Zhou Mi had admonished, as though it was possible not to. Kyuhyun’s feelings for Changmin had been steady since they had grown closer. Maybe there had been a little period when friendship and crush and sort of blurred, but it had settled comfortably out - and Zhou Mi had been there. So there was no jealousy, no wondering in Zhou Mi’s eyes. Missing him, yes. But that was a facet of their relationship that they faced every day.
Changmin made a sound of approval when he sampled the wine.
It was so normal, them and their computers, complaining about schedules and sore limbs and excitement. And, just the bliss of not having to move, to enjoy good wine, and to curse each other out because of gaming.
“Is your mom making noises that you ought to settle down?” Changmin asked, picking up his wine and smelling it.
“I think my families in denial. I think they think I’m still three. Which is good, because I wouldn’t want to have to fight them back.”
“Yeah,” Changmin said. “It sucks. Though they know why I can’t. They just think it should be easier.”
“Everyone does if they’re not in our position.”
Plus, it would help if he wasn’t already involved. He could exactly walk out of the dorms holding Zhou Mi’s arm and telling everyone to back off. No, he didn’t want that actresses number because he had someone he actually loved.
“Do you miss dating?”
Changmin was silent several moments before he replied. “Being able to be open about it, I guess. You’re going to find your dream guy. This won’t stop that.”
Changmin knew that. Changmin knew so much. But not the most important part, the part where he had Zhou Mi’s picture on his phone and he wanted to show off how good he’d looked that day, and that Zhou Mi had actually bought the bottle of wine they were drinking, and—
It seethed in him.
“No one could beat Zhou Mi,” Kyuhyun said, and the words were quiet. He felt bold, exposed, eager, scared, all of those blending in him as Changmin processed that.
“You have a crush on Zhou Mi?”
There was a click in Kyuhyun’s throat as he stared at the wall. “I’m dating him.”
“You and…”
“Yeah.”
Changmin’s jaw finally closed. “Wow. Wow. How long…?”
“A year and a half? Almost two. But it’d been coming on before that.”
A crush. Touches. Wistfulness. There had been too many things holding them back, making them afraid. The truth was, the timing might’ve been perfect. They’d both been in a place where it made sense.
“No one knows,” Kyuhyun said quickly, because Changmin had begun to frown. “Some of the guys know, or mostly know, because it’s impossible to hide everywhere, but— I’ve never told anyone. It takes one person telling someone else, a rumor, scrutiny.”
Changmin nodded slowly. “Secrecy would be the best way to protect each other.”
“Yeah,” Kyuhyun said, and for a moment felt deflated. He had volumes and essays stored up on the ridiculous things Zhou Mi did, the way Zhou Mi made him laugh, the way he was frustrating, and cute, and funny and sexy at the same time. “He… Yeah.”
“So it’s serious then. Love serious.” Changmin would see it. Changmin would know. “You could’ve told me.”
How many times he almost had.
“I’d be really disappointed in you not telling me,” Changmin said, and Kyuhyun’s stomach took a twist, even though Changmin was pouring them both more wine. “But I don’t want to be a hypocrite today.”
Of all the things he’d expected, the lectures on it being so unwise, or Changmin trying to pump him for information, that wasn’t it. Unless he was dating someone, too, but Kyuhyun had the wild thought that he would’ve known. Except, Changmin hadn’t known, and Kyuhyun had been so wrapped up in his feelings.
“What?” Kyuhyun asked, and it came out more aggressively than he’d have thought.
“We promised not to tell anyone, but.” Changmin paused, jerked one shoulder. “At least you’re not involved with your leader, and the only bandmate you have left.”
Kyuhyun nearly put his glass down wrong, fumbling with it as he stared at Changmin. He wasn’t sure if Changmin was embarrassed, or— Maybe that was the same expression he’d had on. Hope. And he also had no idea what to think beyond his shock, what to offer. Congratulations? Condolences? He of all people knew how hard it could be.
“So. You— Okay. How…long for you?”
“After we came back, just the two of us. I was so…” Changmin’s breath hissed out. “He kept me from doing a lot of things I would’ve regretted. You did, too, but.”
“He understood exactly where you were,” Kyuhyun said, and watched Changmin’s wry grin.
“Yeah. We slept together - he’s going to hit me when I tell him I told you this - and it kind of went from there.”
“Does it just kill you not to be able to say anything?”
Changmin nodded, inching sideways. “Yes. And worrying, there’s no one besides him to stop you from being stupid. If we started hating each other, I don’t know how long we could last working together. But saying that to him makes it sound like I’m doubting—”
“But you’re just trying to protect both of you!”
“Right? And it’s too late to just back out now. It would’ve been smarter to leave it alone to begin with.”
Kyuhyun grinned. “But it makes you happy, and having someone who’s special, different, to share stuff with—“
Changmin laughed, flopping back against the the wall. “Yes. We’re fucked.”
“Not every time,” Kyuhyun muttered, and kicked Changmin when he almost fell off the bed. But they got set, like they were sharing war secrets, their laptops ignored as they stared at each other.
“Something you wished you could tell someone,” Changmin said.
“About him or about dating?”
“Either. Both.”
Kyuhyun curled his hand around his laptop screen and thought. “Sentimental, when he’s happy. His smile. But he has nice hands. Listens. Makes me laugh.”
“Frustrates me. He’s almost too steady, and I didn’t know I needed that,” Changmin said, picking up seamlessly. “He’s more clinging/touchy than I thought, too, and I didn’t think I’d like that, either.”
Kyuhyun could only nod. Some applied, some didn’t, but If touchy applied to anyone, Zhou Mi was it.
“He’s really proud,” Changmin said, as though he really didn’t know how to process it. “Sometimes I wonder how he keeps it a secret.”
“Maybe because everyone thinks we’re pretending for fans?” Kyuhyun shook his head. “Still, respects your boundaries when you need?”
“And knows too many little quirks,” Changmin complained. “Sometimes good, sometimes a pain in the ass.”
“I worry about how long the secret can be kept, or if we’ll have to keep it forever.”
The words hung out there, unabsorbed, unanswered. There was nothing about them they could change, except to know that they had to take it day by day.
And they didn’t have to do that alone. Changmin held out his little finger and Kyuhyun took it. Without words, they knew what they were promising. To keep each other’s secrets, to be there when they were needed. It was not less important than their relationships with Yunho or Zhou Mi. He knew it had made him stronger even without Changmin knowing, and maybe it’d jet make them both stronger still.
“I’m probably not a good relationship counselor,” Kyuhyun warned.
“We could double date,” Changmin said, head turning closer. “Is that weird?”
Kyuhyun shook his head. “I don’t think so. Is Yunho hyung going to miss you tonight?”
Changmin snuffled a laugh. “It’s good for him to get away sometimes. Besides he knows I’m tipsy so I won’t sleep. You?”
Kyuhyun gave Changmin a measuring stare. “Zhou Mi is more of a social butterfly than I am.”
“You’re still going to text him a sappy goodnight, aren’t you?”
“Get me more wine, jerk.”
Things had changed, they had changed, but things hadn’t changed for them. Their elbows smacked together, laptops humming away, and secrets for a while just a bit lighter.
***
