Chapter Text
jongin wakes up feeling cold. he stretches his body and reaches his arms to the side. he finds no other person beside him; the sheets messed up and haphazard. jongin sighs and sits up, grabbing the glasses from his bedside table.
the world comes into focus and he stands up, moving his limbs to get them to wake up too. he picks up the longline robe hanging from the bench on the foot of the bed, shrugging it on but leaving it untied over his pajama pants and naked torso. he gets out of his bedroom after he manages to pick up his phone from the floor and heads to the kitchen on the first level of the penthouse.
jongin love-hates living here. on one hand, he is alone and away from the constant chatters of his family on the rare times that they are in the mansion. but on the other hand, being alone is a constant reminder of a space that has to be filled.
the kitchen is modern and state of the art, expensive and fully equipped with everything a chef will need. jongin can barely cook instant ramen so he pulls instant packaged rice from his pantry and prepared it as per the instruction. he hits the timer on the microwave and leans against the counter, watching the numbers trickle past. he debates making a tea but for jongin, tea is more than a drink. it is a whole production, a celebration. he does not want good tea to go to waste into washing the dirt and debauchery from last night.
he has an entire row of refrigerator shelving filled with imported bottles of water so he takes one and uncaps the plastic, taking a swig of the cold drink. it makes him feel marginally human and jongin licks his lip, considering what to eat with the rice. there is nothing in the fridge that could be microwaved so he grabs the jar of kimchi from his maternal grandmother, a hundred-year old recipe that has survived occupations and wars.
“shit,” he curses as he takes out the microwaved rice. he does not bother switching containers, instead fluffing the grains in its original packaging. jongin opens the kimchi jar and dumps a whole lot of the fermented vegetables over the steaming rice.
jongin stirs the mixture with his spoon and feels a wave of disappointment when he can’t find red pepper paste anywhere. he likes his meals a little bit on the spicier side. he finds two small packs of dried and salted seaweed sheets though so he takes it out and rips the plastic, dumping one pack over the rice but keeping the other in the plastic pack. jongin takes one of the sheets and munches as he digs his spoon into his makeshift breakfast. the bottle of water condenses over the marble of the counter top as jongin eats standing up, spoon digging into the microwavable cup of his instant rice.
his grandma’s kimchi masks how shitty the rice is, how sticky and watery it feels like in his mouth. jongin is sure that this instant rice is one step short of being a porridge.
he finishes it though because it’s his fault for being too lazy to grab anything more. he figures he can just get whatever fancy food they will offer him at VIP lounge of his family’s airline. jongin checks his phone and there are several texts from his friends—mostly from sehun, complaining about the modern pop art he has lost to a con woman.
jongin spares sehun no attention aside from a teasing i told you so.
he opens his kakao talk and finds a number 3 beside do kyungsoo’s name and the assigned penguin emoji that jongin has placed after the characters. jongin taps the message and the field loads, clean and minimal, to display a photo of a packed suitcase and two more photos of kyungsoo and baekhyun together. the two of them are still in their pajamas, clearly just having been woken up like jongin.
he shoots a quick reply and a photo of his half finished water bottle. the other man does not reply as jongin continues to check some of the things that he has missed last night, when he has decided to hit some pricey gangnam club owned by a friend of a friend.
there is another message—this time, a text—and he is surprised to see a name he does not recognize. jongin clicks it and his eyebrows raise up to his hairline. that is bold of his partner from last night.
she has put her own number into jongin’s contact details, adding a flirty wink in her name. jongin can admit that he is amused and even her text—let’s do that again, k? in a cutesy manner—should have, except, well.
jongin clicks the contact details as he deletes the woman from his contact list.
it’s not like he remembers much of her. the only thing he probably knows about his one night stand is the fact that her perfume has irritated jongin’s nose a fuck ton.
sehun picks him up from his apartment building with their driver in tow. sehun’s staff places jongin’s goyard carefully in the trunk as another opens the door for him.
“mornin’,” sehun greets him. the taller male is in a pair of oversized douchebag sunglasses so jongin assumes his best friend’s night is wilder than his own.
“good morning,” jongin greets back. he picks his phone inside the gucci bag strapped across his person, tapping the screen. it unlocks to jongin’s kakaotalk application and sehun, who is leaning over him, snorts.
“kyungsoo? isn’t that baekhyun’s best friend?” sehun inquires. jongin can practically hear sehun’s narrow eyes squinting despite the shield of his designer sunglasses.
“yes,” jongin replies curtly, shrugging his shoulder just a bit. “we text.”
“text?” sehun’s voice raise slightly in pitch as the car gets out of its park and streaks into the moderate traffic of seoul. they are heading out of the city, into incheon, for their plane to canada.
“sms—short messaging service. kakaotalk. instagram,” jongin lists flatly. sehun is being ridiculous.
“you don’t just text, kim kai,” sehun accusingly says.
“well, i do,” jongin defends himself. he crosses his leg, right one over the other, his toes pointing towards sehun’s direction. “i’m not always scheming, oh sehun.”
“but when it comes to…” sehun trails off, meaningful. the weight of the last drag of his syllable is heavy in the air.
“it’s fine, oh.” jongin taps on his phone screen, fielding texts. yixing has sent to the group chat that he has also just left his own seoul mansion. chanyeol has kept quiet still, probably still rolling his eyes and grumbling to butler lee.
jongin switches the subject and asks, “how’s chanyeol? yixing said anything?”
sehun raises his sunglasses just a little bit, giving the older man a slightly pressing stare as if he knows what jongin is doing. jongin knows that sehun knows and sehun knows all of that. the con with being friends for two decades is the fact that secrets cannot be kept.
the pro with being friends for two decades is the fact that sehun, as usual, will ignore it if he knows it is not his business to butt into, or there is no business whatsoever.
“still being an idiot,” he replies. “let park chanyeol wallow in self pity in korea. we can enjoy british columbia with baekhyun and kyungsoo.”
“and—” jongin pointedly adds in a playful manner. “—the two other people that conned baekhyun into bringing with us.”
"that, too,” sehun chuckles.
jongin watches the sidewalks of the early morning city streak past, wondering if this trip is going to be different from the rest of the trip they have done before.
he and sehun gets to the airport first and they are being served by the smiling staff with plates of food. jongin gets a cup of tea, knowing that the VIP lounge has the highest quality of leaves—nothing less from his family’s airline, of course. he eats a scone with it and prepares it English with a cube of sugar and a splash of milk. jongin takes a teaspoon, six o’clock, and moves it to twelve, slow and methodical.
sehun orders a bloody mary with his sunglasses still on because he is shameless, even telling them to make it as effective as possible.
lay gets there a few minutes into jongin’s first cup. they exchange lofty greetings before his quiet best friend asks for a cup of coffee—two sugar cubes and no milk. jongin resists the urge to cringe when it gets served; the scent is offending him.
they only have to wait for a little more than ten minutes before two short figures arrive, escorted by a uniformed man working for the airline. jongin uncurls from his lazy position, uncrossing his right leg and placing both his feet on the expensive floors.
it's only the two of them, the two other supposed friends of baekhyun are not present. jongin inwardly sighs, feelings as if a crisis has been averted without them. he sees yixing smile out of the corner his eyes and considers that maybe, the usual innocent lay zhang has been up to something.
“heeey…” sehun drawls. he raises his half finished bloody mary and tilts his chin up. “so glad you two could come, yeah?”
baekhyun snorts as he gives sehun a judgmental stare, from the sunglasses to the obviously post hangover drink.
“glad you could come, oh sehun,” baekhyun snipes back. sehun laughs and yixing laughs too as he pats the seat beside him. jongin shoots yixing a look when his best friend scoots farther away from him leaving a space in the middle for the two new arrivals.
baekhyun walks over in his beige parka and jongin watches as the other man with baekhyun, kyungsoo, also takes a step forward. jongin smiles slightly at the sight; kyungsoo is wearing the new puffy coat he has bought. he looks like a pastel pink caterpillar, the padding reaching a few inches above his ankles and the lower half of the jacket left unbuttons to show loose pants underneath. he smiles inwardly when he notices kyungsoo's bare face, his freckles all for the world to see.
“good morning, kyungsoo,” jongin greets as he moves a little to the side.
kyungsoo takes a seat beside him as baekhyun starts eating the tea sandwiches served over the delicately painted porcelain. the VIP lounge means gourmet food over designer dinner ware despite the fact that one can hear jet engines rumbling from the tarmac.
the older man turns slightly to him, what with baekhyun still in a particularly animated conversation with yixing over music—perhaps?
“good morning,” kyungsoo replies softly.
briefly, jongin wonders if kyungsoo’s soft and quiet nature is an environmental effect, a by product of years growing up, or if he has always been this way since birth, a calm and collected baby.
“tea?” jongin asks, tilting his head to the table. kyungsoo nods and jongin gives another small smile as he reaches over to the tea pot. it’s freshly made, adjusted since the leaves have steeped too long. he holds the pot delicately and he places a strainer over one of the empty cups. jongin pours it gently until there is three-quarters of liquid in the cup. the steam wafts slightly in the air and jongin tilts his body to side, hand gesturing to the prepared drink.
“please,” he says.
kyungsoo chuckles and he reaches over to place three sugar cubes and a whole lot of milk that almost overflows. he takes a teaspoon and repeatedly stirs.
jongin’s eyes widen and his lips pursed. kyungsoo, evidently, sees the reaction and his low chuckles turn into short giggles, eyes disappearing into curls.
he carefully lifts the cup, pinky extended outwards, blowing over the steam before he takes a long sip. he makes a satisfied noise, holding an aahhh a second too long.
jongin wraps one hand over kyungsoo’s and he brings the pinky finger down.
“that’s not proper tea etiquette,” he says, voice neutral but vaguely scolding. “and you shouldn’t have put all those sugar and milk in. stirring it like that was bad too.”
jongin is blunt and he only realizes the blunder when it is too late. it’s something born out of habit, and maybe personality too. he tends to be nit-picky. his best friends has learned to roll with it, taking it as a part of kim jongin that is equal parts annoying and endearing. kyungsoo is probably insulted, what with jongin being a little know-it-all.
kyungsoo stares at jongin and to jongin’s surprise, the other man laughs slightly. he brinks the tea cup down and wiggles his bushy eyebrows.
“that offends your tea expertise, master?” kyungsoo playfully asks.
he expects kyungsoo to look at him with disdain but there is nothing but openness in his expression—from the curved eyes to the big smile on his face, heart-shaped and gummy and slowly growing familiar, taking a root somewhere inside jongin.
oh.
he pauses before raising one eyebrow, as if in challenge.
jongin scoffs playfully, remarking, “not really—i expected nothing less from you, mr. milk tea.”
kyungsoo laughs again and jongin doesn’t quite smile but he reaches over another small plate, and places the sweetest pastry he can find. it’s a small danish topped with butter cream and strawberry compote, and a mini blueberry flavored scone.
“here,” he places it in front of kyungsoo. “you obviously have a sweet tooth.”
“i do!” kyungsoo titters as he places the tea down and lifts the pastry into his mouth. he eats half of the danish in one go and lets out a little tinkling laugh as the strawberry compote spills down his chin.
jongin reaches for a napkin and places it under kyungsoo’s face, catching the piece of strawberry sliding down.
“be careful,” jongin tuts.
kyungsoo blushes a fierce red as he grabs the soft fabric out of jongin’s hand. the dots on kyungsoo's face are stark against the flustered hue. the tip of his index finger brushes against jongin’s knuckles as he grips the napkin and wipes his face with it.
“sorry,” the older male mumbles, swallowing the piece of confection that he has been chewing, as he cleans his chin of the red syrup. he shoves the remaining pastry into his mouth before he wipes his mouth and chin again with the edge of the soft cloth.
“you’re a messy eater,” jongin observes.
he crosses his leg towards kyungsoo’s side and leans his elbow on top of his knee. he cradles the side of his face with the back of his hand, eyes firmly trained on kyungsoo. the other male’s cheeks are bunched up with the amount of pastry he has mercilessly shoved in there and jongin resists the urge to laugh at the other’s face.
“not usually,” kyungsoo protests. or at least, jongin sort of interprets the gurgle out of kyungsoo’s mouth as such. he sees the short man swallow and reach for his tea.
kyungsoo takes a sip that is more dignified but the tips of his ears give him away. the lobes are all red.
“you’re blushing,” jongin says again. kyungsoo refuses to look at him and one corner of his lips quirks up.
“i am embarrassed,” kyungsoo pointedly says. he downs most of the tea in one go and places it back on the low table.
“you don’t have to be,” jongin stresses. he places an emphasis on the don’t. “it’s adorable, really. just don’t spill anything on your new coat.”
kyungsoo nods but his face blooms into a small smile that begins tentatively. the slight flush on his round cheeks look attractive with the baby pink jacket he is wearing. it’s a good match, like the color is seeping through everywhere.
“by the way,” kyungsoo says, looking at jongin’s face. “i haven’t thanked you for this… um… so yeah. thank you.”
“it’s no problem,” jongin replies with a shrug. he picks up his tea and takes a careful sip before adding, “we want you and baekhyun to go have fun with us.”
“still—” kyungsoo pauses before he sighs but the sound is not resigned, a little contented, perhaps. “—it’s both our first time out of korea and… in first class, too. we probably wouldn’t have afforded it on our own so… thank you. again.”
the slight awe bleeds out of kyungsoo voice and jongin preens a little inside, but does not show it outwardly.
“you’re saying thank you a lot,” jongin answers instead. he keeps his tone level but allows a hint of teasing in it, just so kyungsoo does not feel like he is being an asshole or anything like that. jongin is just built more stoic than most.
“because i am, jongin,” kyungsoo gives him another smile. “i know you own the plane and all that but i’m glad you still let us pay, even if we're only supposed to be in economy.”
jongin waves kyungsoo off, lifting one shoulder slightly. “i gave you an upgrade,” he says.
that is true enough because he knows kyungsoo—and baekhyun—won’t stand for jongin paying for everything, despite that fact that he is not really paying for anything. it’s complicated—business ownership and all that. so what he does is get the two charged for economy and he and sehun have both used their flight mileage to get them an upgrade. jongin does not know if that is allowed, exactly, but well, kyungsoo has a point. he (sort of) owns the plane.
“it’s no matter,” jongin adds. “as i’ve said, i want you to have fun in canada too.”
kyungsoo nods with a smile and takes a couple of pastries, placing it over the fine serving china. he brings the plate up between him and jongin and pushes it slightly to the taller man’s direction.
“eat up,” kyungsoo says. jongin takes a small scone and bites into the delicate biscuit, finding it sweeter than usual—but not in a bad way.
the flight to canada is peaceful, with no major turbulent or whatever. jongin is sitting close to the aisle with kyungsoo across him. baekhyun is beside the smaller male and jongin can hear them laughing while peering over kyungsoo’s iPad, probably watching something. jongin spends most of the flight reading and sneaking glances at his neighbors before he falls asleep.
jongin has arranged two private cars to bring them over to chanyeol’s chalet. the five of them opt to stay together in one so the other just brings along their luggage. the car ride through the roads of british columbia is quiet, punctuated with light snores from a still sleeping sehun and yixing. all of them are tired and no one has bothered to start a conversation.
when they get to the chalet, jongin and the others are pleasantly surprised to see—
“park chanyeol!” baekhyun barks. “what are you doing here?”
chanyeol smirks as he takes a sip of his freezing drink. the tim hortons logo is winking at them and jongin rolls his eyes in fondness as his best friend scoffs.
“you’re all late—and what about me being here, baekhyun?” chanyeol remarks. “this is my house. i can visit whenever i want.”
jongin hears sehun snort as kyungsoo whispers to himself, “park chanyeol, huh.” jongin sidles up closer to kyungsoo as yixing walks to the collection of frozen drinks, taking one for himself.
“how did you even get here before us?” jongin asks. he would have known if chanyeol gets a flight earlier than them.
“private plane, dude,” chanyeol replies nonchalantly. “my family may not own fleets of planes yours but i have one on call. i have to, like, wake my pilot up in the middle of the night though. this was pretty impromptu.”
baekhyun gives a disbelieving huff, and jongin peers at the other man to see him rolling his eyes.
“impromptu,” he scoffs. “you said you’re not going to be here!”
“well, byun baekhyun,” chanyeol says. he stresses every word, turning sharp eyes to baekhyun’s direction. he stands up and leans down so he is eye level with the short man. jongin watches in anticipation. finally, his favorite soap opera is back.
chanyeol adds, curling every syllable carefully, “i changed my mind.”
baekhyun laughs in frustration. “changed my mind—my ass!”
chanyeol makes an annoyed face and he is about to open his mouth—jongin hopes he makes a joke about baekhyun’s ass, deviate from the soap opera script a little—when a gentle voice lilts through the din.
“can you two stop flirting?” yixing says, sipping his cold drink.
“who says we’re flirting?!” baekhyun and chanyeol both scream. jongin and sehun exchange a look and a snicker. kyungsoo is still looking half amused and half confused.
“we’re not!” they both add, as if they haven’t proved that they are nothing if not flirting.
“ugh,” baekhyun groans in frustration, shaking his body as well. “let’s go, kyungsoo!”
baekhyun stomps and pulls kyungsoo away from the chaos. the short-haired brunette turns his back and gives all of them a cute wave, baekhyun’s incoherent ranting being drowned as they walk away.
jongin chuckles to himself as he sits down beside yixing. sehun does so too and chanyeol follows. all of them occupy a large space, what with being tall and their habit of careless manspreading. jongin only becomes like this with his friends because with his family, anything less than prim and proper is frowned upon and brought up.
“chanyeol,” he says slyly. “just admit that you want to enjoy this trip with baekhyun, too.”
the tallest of the four scoffs.
“please,” chanyeol rolls his eyes, aggressively grabbing his drink. “i want to enjoy canada with the three of you.”
sehun laughs, smirking. “last year,” he rolls his shoulders and leans into chanyeol’s space. “you said you hated canada and that we should go find a new winter vacation spot.”
“you suggested switzerland, i remember,” yixing adds. “you said we could splurge on a ski resort.”
“shut up!” chanyeol angrily protests, defending himself. jongin chuckles. “you three are being assholes again! go take a shower and sleep, uglies!”
“oh my god,” sehun says. jongin hears the amusement in his best friend’s voice. “fine, yeol. we’re going.”
sehun stands up and jongin follows too. they won’t be sharing a room—this place has enough, but he figures he does need a sleep and a shower. it’s still extremely bright and early, the clock on the wall shows that it is only half an hour into nine in the morning.
“lay?” jongin asks, turning his body back. “coming with us?”
yixing shrugs, lifting the plastic cup. “i’m going to finish this drink first.”
“suit yourself,” jongin replies, walking away from the living area and into the bedrooms upstairs. sehun is already half way through, humming a happy tune that hopefully means that this will be a good trip.
jongin gets out of the shower and the light filters slightly through the window and paints a part of the room with reds and oranges. the sun is setting already and the snow has piled up considerably outside. they have spent yesterday trying to shrug the last clings of jet lag and this day is all about enjoying the cold snow, practically rolling over in their winter gear. he and sehun have gone back to the chalet, offering to escort kyungsoo who is already feeling cold.
chanyeol, baekhyun, and yixing have all stayed outside, continuing to be the best soap opera that jongin has ever known even out of everyone else’s sight. he casts a worried glance to the window as he dries his hair, wearing nothing but a towel on. the sky is slowly getting dark and jongin is worried that the snow fall will intensify.
whistler has always been a prime destination for skiing and snow related activities though so he shakes the slight paranoia off, knowing full well that the area is safe enough, whatever happens.
he dresses warmly in his black and white gingham wool trousers and dark socks. he puts a cotton long sleeved tee and tucks it in before he picks a maroon turtleneck out of the closet where he has unpacked his clothes. the knit turtleneck is tight, clinging to every line of jongin’s body. he carefully tucks it inside his pants too, unbuttoning and unzipping himself to arrange the fabrics tucked into the trouser pair.
jongin places his glasses on and carefully slips a gucci belt through the hoops of his pants, the metal hook and the buckle all clicking and falling into place. he eyes himself in the mirror, hair down and falling over his eyes, before he grabs some product and pushes it away from his face to expose his forehead.
he gives himself a once over and likes what he sees. appearance is always important, despite the fact that the only people in the house are sehun and kyungsoo, aside from him. he leaves the room with his phone and as he heads to the hallway to go downstairs, he runs into sehun.
his best friend is dressed like he is, house slippers on his sock clad feet and a full louis vuitton ensemble.
“want to grab a drink?” sehun asks, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. “you know we have free reign over this chalet’s wine cellar, right?”
“sure,” jongin shrugs.
he is in no capacity an expert but he does know the basics, and has good taste buds honed from years of learning the art of tea. the wine cellar in the basement is in no way big—definitely not as big as the collection that jongin’s paternal grandfather keeps or even the one in sehun’s family. the wines are owned by chanyeol’s sister, yoora, who has given them a free pass to go to town with the liquor.
they head downstairs and in the middle of cutting up fruits and arranging plates of cheese and crackers, footsteps approach the kitchen.
“oh. hi, jongin. hi, sehun.” kyungsoo emerges into the space with a smile. he is dressed down like the both of them in a soft-looking and heavy knit sweater and a pair of loose pants cuffed multiple times. he still looks comfortable and jongin stops a little, still sometimes surprised and drawn to the marks on kyungsoo's face.
“hey, kyungsoo,” sehun greets. jongin gives a short nod as he butchers up cutting the assortment of fruits.
“are you having a snack?” kyungsoo asks. he peers in closely at the bad attempt that jongin is doing at cutting up.
“sort of,” jongin replies. “we’re going to taste some wines in the cellar. want to join us?”
jongin places the cut up fruits on the large plate and sehun finishes putting the cheeses on another, lifting a piece up and offering it to kyungsoo. kyungsoo dutifully opens his mouth as sehun shoots a piece of hard cheddar like it’s a basketball.
the tea expert rolls his eyes at the display as sehun cheers and kyungsoo claps.
“if i won’t be too much of a bother,” kyungsoo replies giddily. his hands have disappeared through the sleeves of his sweater, jongin notices, as the short man places his arms in front of him.
“you won’t be,” sehun replies. he turns to jongin with a crooked grin, adding, “right, jongin? you wouldn’t have invited do kyungsoo is he was, yeah?”
jongin nods and kyungsoo bounds up beside them, grabbing the plate of fruits. sehun grabs the one full of crackers and cheese while jongin cleans the mess and leaves them all in the sink for later.
they head downstairs to the temperature controlled cellar. there is a table in the middle and comfortable seats. sehun and kyungsoo sit down while jongin stands up, perusing the shelves of alcohol. there are no more than 100 bottles here, and some of the drinks are aged far too old for them to even touch just because.
he finds a bottle of red that he wants and he takes it out of the shelf carefully. jongin likes the full bodied ones, better if they are paired with meat. he tilts his head and considers before he calls out, “kyungsoo?”
“yeah?” kyungsoo turns around in his seat, in the middle of talking to sehun about plants.
“are you a wine person?” he asks.
kyungsoo laughs to himself slightly. “if you consider the ones you can get from grocery stores.”
jongin has never—tasted wine bought from the supermarket so he figures kyungsoo’s taste buds are pretty much newbies. he walks towards the other end of the shelving unit and takes a sweeter red. he grabs a white wine too, just so they can have an all-around experience, and tucks the bottle into the curve of his elbow.
he places all of them on top of the table and jongin plugs his phone to the speakers and picks the playlist he usually plays every time he is reading. he lowers the volume down and goes back to the table.
the beginnings of some jazz composition plays and sehun makes a groaning noise, complaining.
“i really hate your music, kim kai.”
“kim kai?” kyungsoo turns to look at them both, to his right and left, as he is stuck in the middle.
“me,” jongin tilts his head slightly in acknowledgment. “some nickname i got when i was a child. only sehun calls me that nowadays.”
“ah,” kyungsoo nods in understanding. he looks at sehun and adds, “but i like jongin’s music. it’s calming.”
“you won’t say that—” sehun starts to uncork one of the bottle of red wines that jongin has handed to him. “—when you hear this type of music play during sex.”
kyungsoo chokes on nothing but air and jongin gives sehun a harsh glare. the intimidating look would have worked on anyone else but this is oh sehun, jongin’s best friend for two decades.
“ignore him, kyungsoo,” jongin says with a roll of his eyes. “he’s just saying that because he listens to shitty EDMs. he and chanyeol both.”
“it’s not shitty!” sehun defends as he hands the bottle back to jongin. he slowly pours a little amount to one glass before he hands it to kyungsoo.
“this one is called a lambrusco,” he says, pronouncing the words carefully, eating the letter r at the end with a curl of his tongue. “it’s semi-sweet so i think you’ll like it.”
the bottle jongin has opened is straight from a vineyard in italy, from a friend of yoora’s. it’s one of the higher quality lambruscos out in the market despite that fact that yoora himself calls this no more than grape juice. jongin is inclined to agree but the father of the friend who has given this to yoora is a luxury sports car manufacturer so the lambrusco earns a space amidst wines that are one hundred years old.
kyungsoo takes a sip and he smiles into the glass, remarking, “i like this one. do you like it too?” he turns to look at both jongin and sehun.
sehun lifts his shoulders with a shrug. “kyungsoo, as long as i get drunk—but i prefer thirty year old whiskies, if you’re wondering. or white wines.” sehun opens the other bottle with relish, pouring a glass for himself.
the obviously flies over kyungsoo’s head as he takes another drink of his wine. sehun uncorks the other red, a cabernet sauvignon that is finely aged.
“this one is my favorite,” jongin says as he pours the wine into his own. “this is a forty year old sauvignon. i have something older in my own wine cellar but this would have to do.” jongin picks wine glass at the stem, holding it close to the base. he takes a small inhale as he sips, rolling the taste over his tongue.
he grabs a piece of hard cheese, eating it afterwards. kyungsoo gives him and the bottle a curious glance. jongin offers his own glass to kyungsoo, “want to try?”
kyungsoo nods and he grips the glass higher, before his free hand reaches to hold the cup. he curls his fingers where the stem meets the glass and jongin, for a moment, wants to correct kyungsoo’s etiquette but he stops and holds himself.
etiquette can wait—kyungsoo looks adorable as he drinks the wine, making an offended face.
“this doesn’t taste good,” he says.
jongin shrugs. “you usually drink that while eating. it’s a table wine, taken with your food. cheese can work too but red meats are better.”
sehun hums and interjects, “kim kai is a wine connoisseur.” jongin rolls his eyes at sehun’s overly exaggerated pronunciation.
“i’m not,” he shakes his head. “chanyeol’s older sister, yoora, told me to maintain this wine cellar so i did. i did it for my grandfather too. he has a bigger collection that this one—and older.”
sehun nods and gripes, “his grandpa from the father side has this wine from, like, the 1900s. he won it in an auction, i think.”
the tallest of the three is right, of course. jongin has seen the wine bottle but it has remained unopened until now. his grandfather often says that he will only drink it with jongin’s future wife first, before his own grandson.
jongin knows it is a subtle reminder that jongin has to settle down and get married before grandpa finally kicks the metaphorical bucket.
they continue to talk about different things. kyungsoo settles for the cheap lambrusco, with jongin occasionally making him drink the cabernet sauvignon. kyungsoo likes it paired with a small cube of aged cheddar.
jongin never notices that he is sharing his own wine glass until sehun’s perfectly maintained eyebrows raise up to his hairline, a soft “huh,” escaping out of him.
he gives the tallest male a glare with pursed lips as kyungsoo abandons the wine completely, opting to snack on the fruits.
“you’re sharing…” sehun nods to the glass that jongin is holding. jongin shakes his head.
“not another word,” he says tightly. kyungsoo turns to look at him with a questioning glance as jongin softens his tone, giving the short man a reply, “it’s nothing, kyungsoo.”
kyungsoo shrugs as he continues to eat the cuts of fruits and cheeses, scrolling through his phone. he and sehun have themselves playing some sort of online game while drinking wine. jongin rolls his shoulders and sits back, watches the other two curse each other.
if he is staring more at kyungsoo than at sehun, then jongin can only ever defend himself. sehun is ugly, anyway. his face is no competition against kyungsoo’s.
the three of them come up from the basement all giggly and happy. sehun is clinging to kyungsoo’s large knitted sweater, fingers fisting the material as he laughs like a kid. jongin goes ahead of the other two and meets yixing removing his warm jacket with the door of the coat closet open.
“yixing,” he says. “you’re back?”
“yeah,” the man answers shortly. his eyes dart around the space, trying to find something. jongin hears sehun and kyungsoo’s footsteps quiet down behind him. yixing adds, “where’s yeol and baekhyun?”
jongin blanches.
“what do you mean? aren’t those two with you?” he has left the three on the ski slopes, going back with sehun and kyungsoo to the house.
“no. we got—we got separated. the snow—” yixing looks outside again, to the large windows of the house close to the living area. jongin’s eyes follow the older man’s gaze, surprised to see that during the time they have spent wine tasting, the snowfall has started rampaging.
“are they…” sehun pipes up, trailing off.
“they were following me, i was sure of it.” yixing looks determined as he steps inside the house. “they were behind me before we got separated.”
“should we wait?” sehun asks.
“we should,” jongin replies tightly. he gazes at the blizzard that is already starting to gain traction outside the warm comforts of the house. “let’s wait for this storm to let out.”
he gets twin nods from yixing and sehun as the other steps into the living room. sehun follows him and kyungsoo stands there, biting his lower lip. he is looking at the front door worriedly.
“kyungsoo,” jongin says. he nudges the small of kyungsoo’s back with his hand, palm flat against the curve of the older man’s spine, over the thick knit of the large sweater. he can see kyungsoo’s right hand twitching from where it is covered completely by the sleeve.
“go to the living room,” jongin adds.
“but baekhyun…”
“is with chanyeol,” jongin continues with resolve. “they’ll be back before we even get too far trying to find them.”
kyungsoo nods, looking up to search jongin’s face. jongin sees the worry clouding kyungsoo’s usually bright eyes and he gives a small smile, hoping that it reassures the short man out of his worries.
“okay," kyungsoo says.
there is dinner already cooked for them—slow roasted lamb and steamed vegetables. there is a warm pot of eggnog for all of them but jongin does not offer anyone dinner, watching their faces in the living room. he sits down beside kyungsoo, sandwiching the small man between him and sehun. yixing is in one armchair, looking at the window.
jongin can notice the dip in the room when the wind howls particularly loud. the windows rattle and sehun pulls the sleeve of his sweater, checking the time.
“it’s been thirty-five minutes,” he says. he sounds worried too as he glances at jongin, helpless. kyungsoo turns his eyes at jongin as well but before he can give them an answer, yixing stands up, heading to the phone to the side table.
he dials something and patiently waits until the call is picked up.
“good evening. this is lay zhang,” he says in perfect english, tone level and practiced. “two of my friends are still not back from their ski trip. we got separated close to the slopes an hour or so ago but i managed to walk back home. my friends are still not here.”
yixing’s face slowly turns grim and jongin’s stomach drops at his best friend’s next words.
“you can’t go out and find them?” there is a tinge of panic in his voice. jongin chances a look at kyungsoo. the short man probably won’t catch the slight worry in yixing’s voice but for him and sehun it is as clear as day.
“i understand. yes, thank you,” yixing replies before finally replaces the phone on the receiver.
“they advised us to stay inside,” the musical prodigy says. “the blizzard won’t calm down until early dawn, at the earliest. they said not to risk it.”
“baekhyun,” kyungsoo whispers to himself before he stands up. he looks ahead and brushes his hands over his sweater. his fingers are trembling. “i’m going to find my best friend.”
jongin stands up as well, quick to hold kyungsoo by the elbow before he can even take a step.
“no," he says tightly. “didn’t you just hear what yixing said? the snow storm is too much, kyungsoo. don’t be stubborn.”
“jongin!” kyungsoo jerks away. “that’s my best friend stuck in the cold right there. he could die.”
kyungsoo’s voice breaks several times as tears start to gather in his eyes. he quickly wipes it off with the sleeve of his sweater.
“fine,” jongin says. it can’t be helped then. kyungsoo looks like a gust of snow will topple him over. “i’ll go with you.”
he hears sehun make an audible protest with a curse.
“are you two stupid?” he says flatly before adding, “i’m going with you too. strength in numbers and shit.”
jongin turns to yixing. “i would go with you three, of course.” his voice is level once more, no hint of anything. jongin can see yixing’s hands balled into tight fists, showing through his real feelings.
“i would like to go out and find them,” he says. “but that’s not the best decision right now. the best thing to do is wait for them and hope that they’re both together.”
jongin tightens his hold on kyungsoo’s elbow. the pads of his fingers dig through the soft material of the sweater.
“lay is right,” jongin says. “kyungsoo, we can’t go out there. if even the patrols are saying they can’t, then surely—”
kyungsoo whimpers lowly but the tension in his shoulders bleed out as it is replaced by defeat. he does not sit down, just slumps with his back bent. jongin hovers over him, wondering how someone can look so—tiny.
"let's have dinner,” yixing says, heading off to the dining area. “and then go to bed quickly. i’ll try and call back the patrol later but for now, we should eat.”
the dread in jongin’s gut protests at the idea of food but he thinks that might have been the wine. he comforts himself at the thought that if anything, chanyeol and baekhyun are both resilient enough for a mere snow storm.
after dinner, all four of them have stayed in the living area for two hours more. in the span of that, yixing has repeatedly called the patrol, asking questions. every single time, he is shot down by the other person on the line. a shake of a head and they are all back to square one. jongin has been sitting quietly, wound up tight.
the last phone call has them all sighing in relief, maybe breathing in the hope that the message has been relayed to them.
“the storm has gone from bad to worse,” yixing has started. “but apparently, there is a small shack close to the slope where i last saw them. hopefully, they are both there. the patrol would check there as soon as possible.”
jongin does not bother asking what yixing has meant, exactly, by the word close. if ‘close’ means a few meters or a few miles. that gets through the rest of the evening, until sehun lets out a yawn and jongin suggests they all go to bed.
kyungsoo still looks hesitant as he sits there on the couch in a small ball.
“let's go, kyungsoo,” jongin stands up, tapping the older man at his narrow shoulder. “to bed.”
kyungsoo nods and he uncurls himself as he heads upstairs, following the three taller men. they part at the top landing, with kyungsoo going on the opposite wing of the house. he stays there with baekhyun, sharing one room, with their bedroom beside chanyeol’s. just yesterday, sehun and jongin have been teasing chanyeol about the arrangements.
but now—
jongin shakes his head, tells himself his two friends are okay. he does everything as usual. he takes a warm shower, dries his hair, and dresses himself up in matching pajamas, navy blue with white pinstripes.
as he gets underneath the warm comforter on top of his bed, jongin does not quite pray but it is a close thing.
he wakes up to darkness.
jongin rolls over and checks the time on his phone. it is past two in the morning and the snow storm has calmed down judging by what he can see from his bedroom window. he gets up and throws on the first thing he can find, a gucci hoodie that is lying around, before he heads out. he wants to get something warm to drink, maybe root around if chanyeol has chamomile tea. hopefully it’s in a bag because jongin is not mood to do anything elaborate. he just wants tea and his grandmother is not here to see him placing a tea bag into the hot water.
jongin does just that and he finishes his tea quickly, not even savoring the taste and just enjoying the warmth. it does nothing to calm his nerves but he cleans his mug and replaces it from where he has found the ceramic before going back upstairs.
he freezes up.
kyungsoo is standing on one of the steps, caught red handed, judging by his wide eyes and the way he is buttoning himself up in his ankle length baby pink padded jacket. it’s a sight for sore eyes and jongin squints, mouth curling.
“where are you going?” he hisses. he takes a step up, and another, and stops below kyungsoo. with the difference from the stairs, the both of them are the same height, or close. jongin sees eye to eye with kyungsoo, who is looking anywhere but.
“i’m going to go find baekhyun and chanyeol,” the older man bites out.
“are you crazy?” jongin can’t help but blurt out. he is tired and sleepy and worried as fuck and here kyungsoo is, adding to all of that with his stupid shenanigans at two in the morning. what would have happened if jongin is not awake?
“i need to find them, jongin,” kyungsoo says.
“you know you can’t,” jongin hisses back. he grips kyungsoo in the forearm, his fingers do not meet this time, what with the thick padding and all. “the storm may have stopped but it’s dark. you don’t know what can happen to you outside.”
kyungsoo shrugs. “i don’t care. i’m going to find them.”
jongin lets out a mirthless laugh. “why are you so stubborn? you want to find them, then fine. wait for me here and i’ll dress up. we’ll find them together.”
kyungsoo’s eyes become even bigger, comically bugging out of their sockets.
“it’s dangerous!” the short man says.
“it is,” jongin lifts one shoulder. “which is why i’m coming with you. if you don’t want me to go outside, then stay here. you yourself know that it’s dangerous, kyungsoo. the last thing anyone needs is you going missing.”
jongin can’t keep the scolding tone out of his voice. he is normally calmer than this, level-headed, but the thought of kyungsoo going out in the darkness scares the shit out of him. it worries jongin to think that kyungsoo can be in danger too.
he sighs and says, “i’m sorry.”
kyungsoo purses his lips but the fight leaves his form as he ducks his head down. “i’m sorry, too. i don’t—i’m not thinking. i can’t—can’t even sleep. i’m worried.”
jongin reaches over to pat kyungsoo in the head. his hair is still short, finally growing out of it’s buzz cut. it’s still not much, kyungsoo has only stopped getting the strands shaved regularly two weeks ago.
jongin runs his fingers through them, the length inconsequential. he thinks fuck it before pulling kyungsoo into a hug. there are too many layers between them as kyungsoo falls into jongin’s embrace. the taller man wraps his arms quickly around kyungsoo’s form, tight as if he won’t let go.
“we all are,” he whispers against kyungsoo’s temple. kyungsoo is still against his body before he slowly leans into jongin’s chest. “but we have to trust them kyungsoo.” he swallows before adding, “stay here. don’t make me worry over you.”
there is a hitch in kyungsoo’s breathing, surprised. jongin, too, is caught off guard by his words, by the transparency and rawness of what he has just said. it’s past two in the morning and here they are, on the stairs, worrying over their idiot friends.
jongin pulls away but he holds kyungsoo close still. a part of him is scared that kyungsoo will disappear or that the other man will bolt and run outside, out in the dark where jongin knows something can hurt kyungsoo.
“i’m sorry,” kyungsoo says again. jongin notices that his eyes are red rimmed, probably crying because of baekhyun. if chanyeol and baekhyun come back alive, jongin is going to kill them himself.
jongin shakes his head, wordlessly brushing kyungsoo’s apology. he does not need an apology—he needs kyungsoo inside the house, safe and warm.
“do you want to go to your room? you’re alone, right?” jongin’s fingers move to grasp kyungsoo’s wrists, telling himself that it is so kyungsoo won’t run away.
kyungsoo pauses before he nods, hesitant at first. jongin pushes the older man up, herding him towards his supposedly shared bedroom. it feels like one crisis has been averted, now that they are at the shorter man’s bedroom.
he closes the door with a resounding click before he turns towards kyungsoo.
“go to sleep,” he says. kyungsoo is shedding his clothes on and jongin does not know whether to laugh or cry as kyungsoo peels his layers off, to reveal that he even has pajamas underneath it all.
this man, he thinks fondly and frustratedly, is reckless and loyal.
they get under the covers quickly—jongin staying in baekhyun’s bed. kyungsoo is the one who turns the lights off and by the time darkness has enveloped them again, jongin can only whisper a soft, “they’re going to be okay, kyungsoo.”
he is sure that kyungsoo has replied. it is maybe something along the lines of i believe you and thank you.
jongin wakes up first, six o’clock on the dot. he turns and sees kyungsoo sleeping peacefully like a baby, despite the fact that he is frowning and his eyes are shut too tight. his fists are curled close to his cheeks and jongin savors the moment, just a little bit, before he stands up and fixes the bed. he grabs the hoodie he has discarded last night as he carefully slips out of the bedroom, careful not to wake kyungsoo up.
he heads to his own room and hits the showers again, staying a little too long to distract himself out of thinking. he hasn’t heard a peep inside the other parts of the house and he leans his head back, savoring the warm spray of the water.
jongin finishes quickly and dresses warmly in a yellow gosha rubchinsky sweater and loose navy blue trousers and a pair of similar colored socks. he opts for his glasses too, feeling too lazy to pop his contacts in. he pushes his hair back and takes his phone, getting outside of his bedroom.
the first thing he sees in the living area is yixing already dressed, picking up the phone. jongin sits down beside him as they wait to call. no one answers at first and at the second try. before yixing can even dial the third time, sehun stumbles down the stairs, dressed and looking sleepy, being followed by kyungsoo too.
kyungsoo looks marginally awake in his light washed jeans and large baby blue turtleneck. there is a beanie perched on his head with a pompom on top.
he sits beside jongin and leans in to whisper, “can we go and find them now, please, jongin?”
kyungsoo sounds like he is half way into begging and jongin sighs, places his hand over kyungsoo’s knee.
“after the call,” he nods towards yixing who is now dialing. a sleepy sehun is drifting on one of lay’s shoulders. “we should see what the patrol would say first.”
yixing finally connects the call and he rushes out the same spiel he has been saying since last night—that he has two male friends who are still outside and haven’t returned since last night after they have gotten separated close the a ski slope.
“yes, really?” yixing perks up. “are you sure, ma’am? yes! you found two men in—yes… yes… thank you so much.”
sehun looks more awake now that the phone call is over as yixing finally breaks out into a soft smile.
“they got radio confirmation that they found two men in a shack close to the slope. they’re going to be given first aid before they could go back here. they said not to worry and everything is under control.”
jongin hears the audible sigh that kyungsoo lets out and he squeezes the older man’s knee in comfort.
“i told you, right?” he says. “it’s going to be fine.”
kyungsoo nods and he beams up at jongin, “you did, jongin.”
jongin, too, breathes a sigh of relief. the knot in his stomach slowly untangles as he watches kyungsoo smile widely, ridiculous beige pompom on top of his head and all that.
chanyeol and baekhyun get home after that and sehun clings to jongin, pretending he is weak and cold. jongin purposely deepens his voice, replying with a “let me get naked and share body heat with you, byun baekhyun, even if that is scientifically unnecessary.”
they get a stomping chanyeol screaming and calling them bastards, looking a little flustered. baekhyun denies it to hell and baekhyun, swearing up and down that they survive because they are survivors and not because of anything that involves getting naked before giving everyone twin middle fingers.
they all agree that he and baekhyun are in good health, considering the fact that they can still act like assholes to everyone.
after dinner time, gathered around the table, jongin is fiddling with the camera on his lap, perusing the photos he has taken. yixing is sitting down on the grand piano a few feet away from him as sehun walks into the room carrying two mugs.
he hands the blue one to kyungsoo and says, “this is mulled wine. the recipe is a secret from my mother and only the oh family can know what is in it.”
jongin snorts. “you put everything you can find in the fridge with a few sticks of cinnamon.”
sehun turns to jongin with a juvenile face as kyungsoo laughs at the exchange, taking the mug from sehun’s hand. he wraps his fingers around the warm ceramic and he brings it up to his face. the steam wafts up as he blows into it, and fogs his round glasses.
kyungsoo makes a soft frustrated noise as he takes the specs off of his face and places the mug down the coffee table. he removes his glasses off as he picks up the mug again, blowing into the spiced wine slightly.
“so kyungsoo,” sehun sidles up to the older man before he plops down beside kyungsoo on the couch. kyungsoo clutches the mug closer to him as he bounces slightly from sehun’s sudden weight dropping on the cushion.
“what?” kyungsoo asks. he takes a careful sip of the drink and smiles slightly. jongin sees kyungsoo look at sehun, sort of, because he has seen how thick kyungsoo’s glasses are. he is probably blind without them.
“did you enjoy the trip?” sehun says cheekily.
jongin plays around with the setting of his camera, sitting on the armchair a little across from sehun and kyungsoo. he lifts up the device and places it on his face, one eye trained on the viewfinder.
he takes a full shot of sehun and kyungsoo facing each other, open and friendly postures showing how much they like each other. jongin pauses with a finger on the shutter as he awaits kyungsoo’s reply.
“i enjoyed it so much. thank you, sehun,” kyungsoo says sincerely. he turns to jongin and the taller male puts the camera down, finger flipping on one lever so the view is displayed on the screen. he glances down and trains it on kyungsoo’s face, zooming.
kyungsoo gives a wide beam that has jongin’s finger stuttering against the shutter.
“thank you, jongin,” he says. it’s the same fucking smile that has jongin pressing down on a button. “for everything.”
kyungsoo probably does not notice the photo being taken, what with his glasses being removed. he turns to sehun again to continue their little chatter as if he hasn’t turned jongin’s hands into a mess. sehun shoots jongin a pointed look that jongin has decided to ignore. it’s nothing, really, jongin is fine.
sehun turns away with a confident smirk as jongin looks down.
he looks at kyungsoo’s face on the tiny screen, wondering how a smile so big can fit inside something so small, so finite. the older man's cheeks are both red and the blush makes his freckles stand out in a pretty way. he wonders to himself again if kyungsoo knows this is how he looks like when he's happy, all flushed and glowing with stars suspended on his skin.
jongin turns the camera off and places it down beside him, feeling like he has stolen something from kyungsoo just as kyungsoo has stolen something from him.