Chapter Text
"Where do you want this box?" Hyojin called from the hallway.
Yuto peeked his head past the door frame. "Oh, that one needs to go upstairs, just leave it on the stack and we'll take it up later."
"That should be everything, then," Seungjun remarked, wandering over to Yuto.
"I'm pretty sure, yeah," Minkyun answered instead when he dropped another moving box in the rather empty living room.
The room only had Minkyun's old couch and TV in it so they had some furniture to live on.
"Do you all want something to eat?" Yuto offered. "I bought soup before."
"Yeah, sure," Changyun called from the kitchen as he was just done loading in the fridge. The others agreed to the meal as well and finished the tasks they were doing.
"Alright." Yuto went to the stove to figure out how it worked and found the moving box with pots to get one out of. His old apartment had a gas stove, but this one was electrical so Yuto stared at the buttons on the plate.
Minkyun did his best to arrange some chairs around a table for everyone to sit on. When he also got to the kitchen, Yuto was still staring at the counter and sometimes beeps were heard as he pressed a finger on symbols on the glass. Minkyun chuckled and settled behind Yuto, a hand on his hip while the other reached over to press and hold the lock icon long enough until the stove lights jumped up.
"Oh," Yuto murmured and found the buttons that got the right pit heated. He tried to get everything in the pot while Minkyun clung onto him from behind.
"Go put snacks on the table," Yuto ordered but Minkyun just squeezed him tighter and buried his nose into Yuto's hair.
"Kyun," Yuto giggled and turned himself around, "go take care of the guests."
"Let me hug you for a bit," Minkyun bargained, pulling Yuto against his chest.
Agreeing with the deal, Yuto wrapped his arms around Minkyun's torso.
"I love you," Minkyun breathed.
Yuto looked up to give him a short peck. "I love you too, now go take care of the others," he repeated.
"Yes, yes."
Minkyun found bowls and cutlery to fill the table with, and snacks that the others could nibble on until the soup was done.
Nearly two years had passed since their weird trip to the US. And while it seemed to have gone by fast, they had taken their time getting settled into their relationship.
Minkyun had promised himself to make better thought out decisions this time around, but he had quickly noticed that it just still felt right with Yuto. There was no constant arguing or useless miscommunication. When Minkyun had something come up at the last minute which was out of his control, Yuto would say nothing condescending about it and simply helped shuffle any plans around. In return, if something for the other went unexpected, like Yuto had to work overtime, Minkyun would just wait a few extra hours to heat their dinner so they could still eat together.
The respect for each others' time and mistakes was relaxing. Minkyun cherished every second spent together from the simple lazy evenings on the couch to the elaborate dates.
He hadn't thought a relationship could be effortless, or at least, wouldn't drain his energy. He put the effort into making Yuto happy, but it was never a chore to do so, it all went naturally.
After a while, they spent nearly every day together and decided to buy a house together, as Yuto had wanted to move out of his apartment anyway.
Yuto was more one to keep it simple and practical, while Minkyun enjoyed little knick-knacks and was larger in his plans. They often settled on a middle road.
The same went for the house they decided on.
The garden was simple but already filled with nature. The house itself was nothing out of the ordinary, the interior was modern but cosy and it had a few large rooms which Minkyun couldn’t wait to turn into an animal paradise, as Yuto was alright with adopting pets the other had always wanted to own.
"Did everything else arrive already, by the way?" Hyojin asked.
"Yeah," Minkyun answered and took a seat next to Jaeyoung, "like the couch—the bed, large closets and dressers were moved here yesterday. Only the cat is still at my parents’ until it's a little less chaotic, hopefully we can pick him up in a day or two."
“Cat?”
“Yepp,” Yuto confirmed when he walked up to the table. He put the steaming pot in the middle of the group. “Minkyun found a stray kitten a few days ago.”
“Oh, the lost one you asked us about?” Changyun wondered.
Minkyun hummed a confirmation. “We haven’t found the owners so we’re taking him in, the vet said he was fully healthy.”
“Aw,” Seungjun swooned. “What are you going to name him?”
Minkyun smiled. “Gr—”
“Again, we are not naming him that,” Yuto interrupted.
“Let me name him Gregor,” the other asked, seemingly having had this exchange before.
“Don’t name your cat after a cockroach…” Yuto sighed, making soft chuckles rise up from the table as the guests knew the story.
“He is small and brown!” Minkyun countered.
“Cockroaches are hideous, he is cute.”
“It’s also just a name.”
“I know—”
“So I can name him that, then,” Minkyun stated with a grin.
“You really are impossible…”
“Are you sure you didn’t get married back then?” Changyun chimed in. “You sound like a wedded couple.”
“No official document said so,” Minkyun confirmed, having checked around even after Seungjun told him the marriage couldn’t have been legal.
After their lunch, the group spent the remaining time transporting the boxes to the correct rooms. You always only find out how much things you actually own once you have to store it all in a limited amount of cardboard.
They hadn’t even started unpacking the particular boxes yet when new hunger set in and the sun had nearly disappeared.
With everyone getting too tired to sift through all the possessions, it was decided to leave the rest for Minkyun and Yuto to sort out in their own time.
"Thank you so much for your help," Minkyun quickly said when everyone made their way onto the porch.
"Don't mention it," Seungjun waved the statement away. "Just throw us a housewarming party once everything is placed properly."
“Of course,” Yuto nodded with a smile. “Thanks again, drive safe!”
They waited until the cars had left before they stepped back into their house. It wasn’t the first time they had been here, with the viewings and the previous days of moving, they had already grown a little accustomed to the place, but it just felt a little different now that all their belongings were also here.
It really felt like their place now
“Let’s start on these boxes,” Minkyun sighed.
“Better idea,” Yuto called, “let’s make food.”
“Wonderful idea, but ‘make’?” Minkyun side-eyed Yuto. “Do you feel like cooking?”
“No, and from the question I figure you don’t feel like it either.”
“Absolutely not.”
With a sluggish thud, Minkyun sank into the couch and Yuto let himself fall next to him, laying his head on the other’s lap while getting his phone out of his pocket.
A feeling of contentment fell over Minkyun. His own house, together with Yuto. The thought alone forced his lips to curl up.
While playing through the other’s hair, he felt grateful, there was something cathartic in the domestic nature of sharing a house.
“What are you feeling like?” Yuto asked, the front page of a delivery site not sparking his inspiration.
“I don’t mind really…”
“Are you sure?”
“Anything is fine, as long as I’m with you,” Minkyun grinned and Yuto arched an eyebrow.
“We are just talking about food here…”
“So? Can’t I just be happy that I’m with you?” Minkyun asked, amused.
“Sure thing,” Yuto smiled, staring at his phone and tapping a random restaurant to order from, “I’m happy too.”