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Halloween.
One of the few days within the year that Jooheon actively dreads and seeks to avoid.
Even as a child Halloween was one of his least favourite holidays, and no amount of candy could ever make up for just how terrifying he found the whole experience. A whole day endorsing scaring the crap out of people?
Why?
Halloween is still a bad experience for him many years later, and it’s only partly because he was a wimpy kid that grew up into an even wimpier adult. It’s mostly because he lives in a part of the city predominantly inhabited by college students which just makes the whole ordeal...decidedly worse. Students take Halloween pranks far too seriously, and seeing a group of drunk frat boys in the middle of the night dressed up as clowns is definitely not an experience he cares to repeat. Ever.
Luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you look at it; Jooheon does question the sanity of it all from time to time), Jooheon now gets to spend every Halloween with one Lee Minhyuk. He blames Changkyun of course, since introducing Minhyuk to the group was his doing. They had met in a mutual college class and 3 days later Changkyun somehow managed to convince a drunken Hyunwoo to let Minhyuk be his new roommate. Jooheon’s pretty sure Hyunwoo still has no idea how it happened.
They all became fast friends and Minhyuk latched onto Jooheon pretty much from the get-go and hasn’t let go since. Hence their yearly Halloween tradition. Jooheon finds Minhyuk’s presence oddly comforting, which he’ll admit is straight up bizarre considering that Minhyuk has never once had an ounce of Chill in his life and somehow manages to make every holiday more Extra than the last. Which is to say, very Extra. Extra with a side of Extra and Extra sprinkled on top. Basically, Halloween with Minhyuk is like watching a kid at Christmas being told they’re going to ride a chocolate unicorn at Disneyland. It’s a whole Thing™.
Jooheon sighs as he trudges up the front steps of the apartment block, still not entirely sure how he’s ended up here, at the home of probably the most eccentric holiday-enthusiast he has ever known, and even less sure how this is his 3rd Halloween in a row doing so.
He pauses once he’s outside Minhyuk’s door to text him and let him know he’s outside, because God Forbid they have a repeat of the previous Halloween in which Minhyuk had answered the door thinking it was Hyunwoo, scaring Jooheon to within an inch of his life when he’d set a witch on a zip-wire flying right into his face (Minhyuk was determined to get a proper scream out of the utterly unflappable Hyunwoo one of these days). Jooheon’s screams had shaken the very foundations of reality itself and had probably been heard throughout the entire city.
He shudders at the memory, hoping as the handle to the door turns that maybe for once in his life Minhyuk will tone down, well, everything.
Jooheon is surprised to find that this is indeed the case. Minhyuk answers the door in jeans and a t-shirt and honestly, it’s almost more terrifying than if he’d worn a costume.
Jooheon balks. “Um.”
“Jooheon!” Minhyuk drops a box he’d been carrying (oh god are those spiders) and launches his whole entire self into Jooheon’s arms. Jooheon manages to catch him around the waist, but only just.
“Um,” he repeats, and Minhyuk pulls away to frown at him.
“What?”
“Is your costume just some reference that I don’t get?”
Minhyuk slips out of Jooheon’s embrace and stares down at himself. “Oh! You caught me in the middle of decorating, I haven’t had time to change yet.”
Jooheon refrains from telling Minhyuk for the millionth time that he doesn’t need to dress up if it’s just the two of them staying at home. He is not having that argument again.
Minhyuk ploughs on before Jooheon can so much as open his mouth anyway. “You’ve got perfect timing by the way! I was just about to get started on your favourite part of our Annual Halloween Extravaganza–” he makes a grand sweeping gesture towards the discarded box on the floor “– bats and spiders!”
“Remind me why I keep subjugating myself to this every year?” Jooheon glares at the box and wonders if he could somehow manage to set it on fire through sheer will-power alone.
“Because you love me,” Minhyuk winks and drags Jooheon inside, picking up the box to shove it into unwilling arms. “And I make the best Halloween brownies known to man. I’m such a catch I’m surprised no-one has come to beg for my hand in marriage yet.”
Jooheon rolls his eyes but doesn’t disagree. Mostly because he’s afraid that Minhyuk will ban him from having any brownies.
“Fine, I’ll help you hang them up; but if you hide them in my shoes and pockets again I swear to god Minhyuk I’m never speaking to you again.”
“You said that last year, and yet here you are.” Minhyuk pinches Jooheon’s cheek and kisses him on the nose. “Honey, I’m irresistible; you can’t stay away.”
Jooheon huffs indignantly. “Just tell me where to hang the goddamn bats.”
Decorating with Minhyuk definitely isn’t as agonizing as Jooheon makes it out to be. Jooheon just likes to be contrary because it only seems to fuel Minhyuk’s enthusiasm and determination to make Jooheon enjoy something about Halloween celebrations, which is kind of cute. Decorating takes twice as long as it should because Minhyuk cranks the volume on his Halloween playlist up to max and keeps making Jooheon sing along and dance with him. Jooheon is reluctant at first and Minhyuk calls him a lost cause on more than one occasion; he’s really just unwilling to admit that he spent the better part of the past few months learning the lyrics off by heart so he could be the one to make Minhyuk smile for once. He eventually gets a whole verse from the Nightmare Before Christmas right and Minhyuk fucking beams at him like it’s the best thing he’s ever seen.
Halfway through a spectacularly over the top rendition of the Monster Mash, Minhyuk declares decorating to be finished. There are definitely too many bats and spiders hanging around and Jooheon is 300% sure that they’re both going to trip at least once over one of Minhyuk’s many, many pumpkins. Seriously, one person does not need this many pumpkins.
There’s not much time for resting though, because before Jooheon knows what’s happening he’s being dragged into the kitchen and a whisk magically makes its way into his hand. This genuinely is one of his favourite parts of their Halloween tradition though (he refuses to call it an extravaganza), and not just because Minhyuk looks downright sexy when he cooks or bakes (what? who said that?). Baking is fun and Jooheon likes trying to get away with eating as much of the batter as he can without Minhyuk noticing and batting his hands away.
“Really Jooheon?” he huffs, strands of his fringe flying up in the process, after Jooheon’s 4th attempt at trying to nick some of the brownie batter. “And you tell me that I act like a child, honestly.”
“It’s like you said; your brownies are irresistible.” Jooheon finds just enough courage within the mess of his otherwise existentially-occupied brain to lean forward and wipe chocolate from the corner of Minhyuk’s mouth with his thumb, letting his hand linger there for just a moment too long. Minhyuk stares at him in a mixture of shock and delight, and it’s just the distraction Jooheon needs to scoop a decent amount of batter from the bowl in Minhyuk’s arms, shoving the spoon in his mouth just as realization dawns and Minhyuk starts to yell at him.
It takes until the gingerbread ghost cookies for Minhyuk to finally kick Jooheon out of the kitchen for “eating half my fucking batter you heathen what is wrong with you”; Jooheon was just trying to get back at Minhyuk for tricking him into sticking his unsuspecting hand into a bowl full of squid.
He throws himself onto Minhyuk’s sofa and turns the tv on, and is unconscious in minutes. So really, it’s his own damn fault for letting his guard down and waking up to a clown figurine staring him right in the face. He shrieks and tosses it as far away as possible, cursing Minhyuk to high-heaven in the process.
Minhyuk strides into the living room. “You called?”
Jooheon’s words shrivel up and die in his throat when he looks up and catches sight of Minhyuk, clad in what can only be described as a sexy black-cat costume. Jooheon is pretty sure that Minhyuk actually owns all the pieces of clothing that he’s wearing, which he tries not to think too hard about, because his outfit consists of some of the tightest black jeans Jooheon has ever seen and a silk shirt that clings to his figure in all the right ways and Jooheon cannot stop staring. Although it’s less terrifying than Minhyuk usually goes for, there’s still a part of Jooheon that is definitely screaming internally.
Minhyuk notices him staring of course, and thrives on the attention. He does a little spin and strikes a pose that should look ridiculous but he somehow manages to pull it off in this costume. “What do you think?”
Jooheon’s eyes travel to Minhyuk’s face. He’s wearing black lacy cat ears and mascara sharper than his own damn wit because of course he is, and–
“Is that glitter?” It’s the only thing Jooheon can focus on, for the sake of his sanity.
“What, you don’t like it?” Minhyuk flutters his eyelashes.
“It’s...distracting.”
“Good!”
“...Good?”
“Well, as long as you’re distracted, you’re not scared.”
It’s hard to argue with that kind of logic. Jooheon tries his best to ignore the fact that, essentially, Minhyuk chose to dress like this for him. It’s both endearing and kind of hot.
“And now it’s your turn!” Minhyuk slides his hand into Jooheon’s and starts leading him towards the bedroom. Jooheon’s brain short-circuits for a hot second before he realizes that Minhyuk means it’s his turn for a costume, and not...other things.
Jooheon digs his heels into the floor and immediately tries to escape from Minhyuk’s clutches, but to no avail. Minhyuk locks the door and pulls his closet open, and the whole situation becomes decidedly un-sexy when he throws a cape and fangs Jooheon’s way.
“No costumes!” Jooheon splutters, putting as much distance between himself and the offending items as possible, tripping and landing ass-first on the edge of Minhyuk’s bed. “I never agreed to costumes Minhyuk come on, don’t do this to me.”
Minhyuk turns back to Jooheon with a pout, casting the two shirts he was holding up aside so that he can kneel in front of him. Jooheon can’t say that he enjoys the fact the sight of Minhyuk in cat ears kneeling in front of him is almost enough to turn him into a fucking furry.
“Just this one time, just for me?” Minhyuk pleads with a pout, and Jooheon’s brain short-circuits for the second time that evening. He refuses to endorse what is sure to be a praise kink of Freudian proportions.
“If you say ‘pwetty pwease’ I will actually run away and pretend like I never met you.”
The glitter on Minhyuk’s face catches the light when he tilts his head back to laugh.
He’s sort of beautiful, Jooheon thinks.
“If I don’t say it, will you at least wear the cape and let me do your make-up?” He reaches forward to thread his fingers through Jooheon’s hair, as he’s accustomed to doing.
That single light touch is Jooheon’s undoing.
He pretends to deliberate for a while because he at least has to act like Minhyuk doesn’t have a complete stranglehold over him and everything he stands for. The words of reluctant agreement are barely out of his mouth before Minhyuk envelopes him in what is probably not the last overly-enthusiastic hug of the night.
Half an hour later, Jooheon emerges from Minhyuk’s room and immediately gets a fright from his own reflection. Minhyuk laughs for about ten minutes straight before regaining enough composure to ask if Jooheon’s okay and immediately starts to coddle him. The effortless switch he makes between teasing and sweet used to give Jooheon whiplash, but he now knows that they’re pretty much one and the same. Teasing is just how Minhyuk shows affection, which generally makes Jooheon feel a lot better about being on the receiving end of it more than most.
“Jooheonie! Let’s take a selfie to send to the others!” Minhyuk comes bounding over to Jooheon’s side a while later, arms laden with Halloween candy to hand out to the trick-or-treaters. “None of them believe that I actually got you into a Halloween costume.”
Jooheon can’t help the lopsided smile that tugs at his mouth. “I swear this costume is more for your benefit than it is for mine.”
“Of course it is. Now come take a selfie with me you sexy vampire.”
Jooheon hopes that Minhyuk has a filter good enough for masking what he’s sure must be a deep crimson blush rising on his cheeks.
They take multiple photos at Minhyuk’s insistence and Jooheon nearly loses what little is left of his sanity when Minhyuk insists that they do a pose in which it looks like Jooheon is biting his neck “because it’ll look cool!” It then unsurprisingly just devolves into Minhyuk’s own personal Halloween photoshoot.
They’re (thankfully) interrupted mid-Minhyuk-trying-to-shove-a-pumpkin-on-his-head by the doorbell ringing. Minhyuk trips over his own two feet in his haste to open it, assuming that it’s the first trick-or-treaters of the evening.
When he finally gets the door open, they’re greeted by Hyungwon, Hoseok and Kihyun dressed in varying degrees of Halloween attire.
“I can’t believe you managed to wrangle Jooheon into a Halloween costume without me,” Kihyun opens without pre-amble. “I can’t believe I missed that.”
They’re each subjugated to a classic Enthusiastic Minhyuk Hug (Kihyun looks like he’s suffocating, Hyungwon nearly topples over, and Hoseok laughs in delight), and then cluster around Jooheon in admiration. He feels a little bit like a caged animal, but for the most part he’s just pleasantly surprised at how happy it seems to make everyone.
Apparently, Minhyuk isn’t the only one that’s really into the holiday spirit this year. Hyungwon has also opted to be a vampire (albeit with significantly less glitter than Jooheon had fallen victim to), Kihyun is dressed rather appropriately as the devil, and Hoseok is dressed as a white bunny and somehow manages to come across as both adorable and hot at the same time. Minhyuk can tell by the way Kihyun keeps sneaking glances at Hoseok that this fact is not lost on him at all.
“What are you guys up to tonight?” Minhyuk asks after emerging from the kitchen with their first batch of brownies, laying them on the table by the sofa. Hoseok finishes one in the time it takes Jooheon to take a single bite.
“Gettin’ turnt,” Hyungwon says around a mouthful of brownie, “The Aura is hosting a Halloween club night with two-for-one themed cocktails.”
“That sounds fun!” Minhyuk’s eyes gleam with excitement, and Jooheon feels momentarily guilty for being the reason Minhyuk isn’t joining them.
“You guys can come along if you want,” Hoseok offers, “Changkyun has gone to hunt down Hyunwoo as well.”
“Oh man, good luck even talking to Hyunwoo right now,” Minhyuk says, bemoaning the fate of his flatmate. “He’s at the library swamped in deadlines. This is exactly why no one should want to study medicine.”
Kihyun gives him a look. “Minhyuk, you’re studying medicine.”
“Yes, but you’re forgetting that I ignore my deadlines with tremendous ease. Hyunwoo actually tries to get them finished in advance because he’s a rare and unnatural breed of college student. Anyway,” Minhyuk cuts through whatever inevitable lecture is on the tip of Kihyun’s tongue, “thanks for the invite but Jooheon and I already have plans.”
“Yes, we know, you’re going to spoon and feed each other brownies like the domestic married couple that you are; but we’re talking about clubbing—” Hoseok grabs Minhyuk by the shoulders “—and ridiculously cheap cocktails.”
“There’s a best-dressed contest,” Hyungwon pipes up, reaching for his second brownie.
Jooheon, quiet up until that point and not entirely sure why they’re apparently just completely by-passing the married couple comment, lays a hand on Minhyuk’s shoulder. “You know you can go if you really want to.”
Minhyuk smiles softly. “And leave you all alone on the only night of our Annual Halloween Extravaganza? I could never.”
“Please tell me you’ve got that printed on a t-shirt somewhere,” Kihyun asks gleefully, and Jooheon glares. “Please tell me you’ve got a photo of you and Jooheon wearing matching t-shirts. It would really make my night.”
“Why do you take so much pleasure from watching me suffer you absolute masochist?”
Kihyun smiles serenely at Jooheon, his devil horns only serving to make the whole thing look at least ten times more unsettling than it already is.
“Matching t-shirts and masochism aside,” Hoseok starts, the only person in the room able to placate Kihyun with a single look, “I think it’s really sweet that you guys have this tradition.”
Minhyuk drapes an arm over Jooheon’s shoulders, unable to resist pinching his cheeks. “I love taking care of this scared little cutie.”
Kihyun rolls his eyes. “Gag me with a spoon.”
“Kihyun!” Hoseok berates him. Kihyun sticks his tongue out stubbornly in response.
Hyungwon observes the exchange in amusement. “Alright kids, it’s getting late. We should probably go find Changkyun before he convinces an entire library to come out clubbing with him.”
Jooheon chuckles. “You joke, but one time in first year he did manage to convince an entire nail salon to close early and come out with us. Even the clients.”
No one bothers to question why Changkyun was at a nail salon in the first place. He just knows a lot of people. Or just enjoys getting his nails done. Probably both.
“With great power comes great responsibility I guess,” Hyungwon says, standing up and wiping brownie crumbs from his shirt. “I’d say thanks for the brownies but—” he glances at Hoseok “—I should probably just apologize for inflicting Hoseok on them.”
Minhyuk waves a dismissive hand. “Don’t worry, I’ve learned to keep a few back-up batches thanks to this glutton,” he teases, nudging Jooheon’s shoulder.
Hoseok follows in Hyungwon’s stead, looking guilty enough that he leaves the last remaining brownie untouched on the plate.
“Thanks for finally granting my wish of seeing how uncomfortable Jooheon looks in a costume,” Kihyun says when he’s at the door. “Call us when you resolve all this...sexual tension, or whatever it is, between you two.”
Minhyuk snorts. “Clearly, you’re the expert on unresolved sexual tension. Want to have Hoseok weigh-in on the subject as well?”
Jooheon isn’t really sure what a glower is supposed to look like, but he reckons Kihyun is doing a pretty spot-on impression. Hyungwon has to forcibly drag Kihyun away before he can start spewing profanities in their very much populated and echoic hallway.
“Now,” Minhyuk claps his hands together once everyone is gone, “let’s get the rest of the brownies going before the trick-or-treaters start to show up.”
Minhyuk has become somewhat of a Halloween celebrity within his apartment complex over the past few years thanks to his popular Halloween treats. Jooheon mostly observes the interactions from a slight distance, content to just watch the joy that Minhyuk brings to people’s lives, and vice versa. He becomes actively involved every now and then when a particularly adorable baby or toddler stops by. On one occasion a family brings their dog by as well, and Jooheon all but has to remind Minhyuk that he can’t keep a family hostage just so he can see their dog. After they leave, Minhyuk is inconsolable for nearly an entire hour.
Jooheon is exhausted by the end of it all, unable to comprehend how Minhyuk can retain so much energy year after year. He collapses across the sofa, ready to fall asleep on the spot, when he feels a soft weight on top of him. He cracks one eye upon to find Minhyuk stretched out over his chest. His cat ears are crooked and his make-up is slightly smudged, but he’s still one of the most beautiful people Jooheon has ever seen.
“Thanks for spending Halloween with me again even though you hate it,” he murmurs with a small and private smile.
Jooheon starts a little in surprise. He reaches out to gently card his fingers through Minhyuk’s fringe. “To be honest, I only hated it before I met you.” He pauses. “I...might even look forward to it now.”
Minhyuk’s eyebrows raise in surprise. “Really? You’re not just saying that?”
“Really,” Jooheon grins. “You’ve managed to convert me.”
“Does this mean you’ll agree to watch a horror movie with me now?”
“You and I both know that I’ll be made to watch it regardless.”
“True...” Minhyuk sighs. “But at least I won’t feel so guilty anymore.”
Which is how Jooheon ends up, once again, cowering in front of the tv with Minhyuk's arms around him.
“If the point of me coming over on Halloween is to be less scared, how come you always insist that we watch a horror film that scares me shitless?” Jooheon asks halfway through the film, already way past feeling embarrassed for seeking Minhyuk’s comfort.
Minhyuk burrows his nose against the warmth of Jooheon’s neck and remains uncharacteristically quiet for a moment. “I like getting to cuddle and protect you when you’re scared,” he says eventually, in a small voice.
Jooheon blinks, softening his grip on their interlocked hands. “I’m not sure whether I should feel more flattered or annoyed.”
“It would honestly make me feel a lot better if you were flattered.”
Jooheon laughs softly, tilting his head to get a better look at Minhyuk’s face. He’s surprised to find a blush where a teasing smile should be. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Minhyuk repeats, confused.
“If I can’t find a costume for Halloween next year, can I just go as your boyfriend?”
Minhyuk stares at him. “I can’t believe that’s the line you’re using to come onto me.”
“Hey!” Jooheon sits up, mildly offended. “It’s a lot better than all the other ones I came up with. They sucked in comparison.”
“If you play your cards right, they’re not the only things that will suck tonight."
“Minhyuk!”
Minhyuk winks. “Now that’s how you come onto someone.”
Jooheon turns away, trying his best to hide his face, and Minhyuk bursts into a fit of giggles.
Somewhere amongst the laughter and the indignant cries, Jooheon finds the courage to tilt his head and lean forward just enough bring their lips gently together. Minhyuk lets out an adorable little noise of surprise that quickly turns into one of delight, kissing Jooheon back with so much enthusiasm that he topples them both over the edge of the sofa. Jooheon has never felt as safe as he does right now in Minhyuk’s arms, smudged all over in glitter, stuffed full of brownies, and laughing like a goddamn fool.
There’s no other place he’d rather be.