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The time Jisung gets to spend with Changbin has always been his favorite, even all the way back in middle school when the two of them first met.
(Detention. Jisung had been planning to graffiti the back wall by the track field for weeks, planning out the perfect piece to put there. Not just a simple spray and go, but an intricate design that he put his heart into. Maybe he was just a dumb kid, but there was something kind of awesome about leaving your mark somewhere even if it would just get painted over.
The problem is an upperclassman seemed to have the same idea and the two of them had argued so long that they both got caught and sentenced to three months of detention. Three months is a lot of time to spend in a classroom after school together and eventually, the two of them had hit it off.
But that’s a different story.)
Flash forward seven years later and things are the exact same. Well, mostly. Jisung still jumps at any opportunity to spend time with Changbin, still considers him his best friend. Still happiest and most comfortable when they’re together. There have been two major changes, admittedly.
The first change: these days Jisung is hopelessly in love with Changbin and is pretty damn confident Changbin is just as in love as he is. So confident, in fact, that the two of them have been going strong for three years. Honestly, it’s a miracle they didn’t start dating sooner— and as they found out shortly after telling their friends, most of them had just assumed they’d been together for years. That had certainly been humbling and humiliating.
The second change: Jisung is more desperate than he’s ever been to spend time with Changbin because for the past four months, Changbin has been studying abroad for his final year in college while Jisung stays halfway across the world juggling work and college— now with the added problem of not being able to crawl into Changbin’s arms and cease to exist for a while, as he’d grown used to doing over the years when the real world stressed him out too much.
So, okay, yeah. Maybe things have changed in the past seven years. Hell, in the past four months things have changed a terrifying and unsettling amount. (Because in the back of his head, Jisung can’t help but worry about if Changbin will still like him now that he’s away, out of their neighborhood and out in the world. He can’t help but worry that Changbin will realize how much better off he is without Jisung dragging him down. He can’t—)
It’s fine, though. It’s fine. Jisung is fine. He’s fine!
Jisung is perfectly fine because he’s found the perfect solution to quiet the nagging fear of losing his connection with his best friend and the insatiable need to spend time with him when they’re oceans apart.
The solution? Minecraft.
“I’ve got diamonds,” Jisung says, grinning as he carefully builds a dirt pile out of the lava-filled cavern he’s spent the past fifteen minutes exploring.
“Are you going to fall in lava again?” Changbin asks and Jisung scoffs.
“That was once!”
“Once tonight you mean, because I know you’re not about to pretend you don’t fall in lava while you’re spelunking down there more often than you get out safely.”
“You’re mean,” Jisung whines, quietly making sure to build a safety net of dirt blocks around his tower so if he does fall, he won’t plummet into lava and make Changbin’s point.
“You love me,” Changbin says sweetly.
“I guess,” Jisung says, rolling his eyes as he safely makes it back to the surface and blocks off the hole he just came out of. “I guess I do.”
“Also I’m right, so it’s not like you can argue with me at all.”
“Fuck you,” Jisung says, but it doesn’t carry a lot of bite.
“You wish,” Changbin says with a cackle.
Well, he does. But the ocean between them instead of the distance from Jisung and Seungmin’s place to Changbin and Minho’s kind of gets in the way of any of Jisung’s wishes.
Jisung shakes his head, pushing that down. Not now. He’s playing video games with his boyfriend, the depressing thoughts can wait.
He finds his way back to their base. Sure enough, Changbin is building a rooftop garden. He doesn’t really care for the thrill of adventuring but it’s okay, he seems to enjoy himself just building onto their house. Jisung smacks Changbin once in greeting as they pass each other, Changbin’s character making the little damage grunt. It’s the closest thing to smacking his boyfriend’s ass that he can get and by God, is Jisung going to take it.
He likes the domesticity of it all. It’s kind of like living together, which is something Jisung has spent a frankly embarrassing amount of time thinking about.
He doesn’t think Changbin would be too shocked if he broached the topic of them moving in together. In fact, Jisung’s kind of had the impression they’ve both been skirting around it for the past year or so. He actually thought about bringing it up a while back, except then Changbin found out he had the opportunity to study abroad for the coming year and that meant it was hardly the time to worry about living arrangements here when he was worrying about things over in the States, and then— well. That’s just how things happen.
Or maybe that’s just a giant excuse Jisung came up with because he’s scared Changbin won’t want to live together. Maybe that’s it. He thinks Changbin is just as interested in moving in together as he is, but there’s the possibility— even the slightest one— that he doesn’t, and that scares the shit out of Jisung.
So in the meantime, Jisung is all too happy to use Minecraft as a surrogate to actually living with his boyfriend.
For now, at least.
It’s not like it’s a bad idea, really. In fact, Jisung kind of thinks it’s what’s kept him sane for the past four months while Changbin’s been away. Felix is a genius for suggesting it in the first place. Jisung likes video games— Changbin not so much— but Minecraft is simple enough for them both to enjoy.
Plus Changbin really likes building onto their house and has been building an increasingly elaborate zoo for the past four months and Jisung thinks that’s adorable.
As for Jisung? Well, if he doesn’t get fondly chastised for getting killed while out exploring somewhere deep in the mines then is it really a Minecraft date?
Okay, so maybe it’s not as good as spending time with Changbin in real life, but Jisung would be lying through his teeth if he said he didn’t get a rush of warmth every time he boots up the game and sees Changbin’s dumb blocky character in the home they’ve spent the past few months building together.
He sorts through his inventory in silence for a while as Changbin builds, going through all their chests one by one and putting things from the caverns away in their specific stacks. The only sound is Changbin’s breathing when his mic occasionally picks it up and the way he counts softly under his breath as he builds.
It’s really nice. Comforting.
Jisung sits back and watches Changbin build for a while, admiring the enthusiasm he has for it. When Changbin plants a tree in the middle of the garden and spams it with bonemeal until it grows into a massive tree, Jisung suddenly has a thought.
“I took the Christmas decorations down from the closet today,” he says excitedly, watching as Changbin’s character climbs up the platform of leaf blocks that now exist.
“Oh really?” Changbin places lanterns across the tree, illuminating the dark leaves and turning it into a shining beacon.
“Yeah!” Jisung glances over at where one of the boxes is sitting in the corner of his bedroom. It’s the one with all of his decorations— the ones his parents let him take from home when he moved out with Seungmin, one ornament for every Christmas he’s been alive. The other boxes are in the living room, as well as the box their mini tree lives in for most of the year in the back of their hallway closet. “I figured I’d get them ready for when you come home and we can put them up together like we always do!”
Jisung watches as Changbin’s character stops in the middle of putting down lanterns, completely freezing almost as if Changbin just suddenly took his hands off the keyboard all together.
Changbin is silent.
“Changbin?” Jisung frowns. “Did you hear me? Is it cutting out?”
Slowly, Changbin replies, “I heard you, Sung.”
“Oh,” Jisung says, blinking. “Well, why are you so quiet then?”
Changbin clears his throat. “Jisung, I can’t come home for the holidays this year.”
“What?” He must be hearing wrong. They always spend Christmas together— Christmas and New Year’s— and they have for as long as they’ve known each other. Why would that change?
A sigh comes from the other end of the line. “I said that I can’t afford to come home this year, Jisung. I’m sorry. I’m so far away this year and flights are expensive.”
“Oh,” Jisung says again. Oh. Okay. Well, what is he supposed to say now? “That’s… uh. That makes sense.”
Changbin laughs. Jisung’s not sure if it’s the distortion of his mic or if it’s actually as off as it sounds to him. “As much as I saved up for this, I just can’t justify flying in for the holidays.”
“Yeah,” Jisung agrees reluctantly, fiddling with his mouse as he flicks through his inventory, not really looking at anything. “I get that.”
“I guess I could ask my parents to pay to fly me in but,” Changbin’s voice crackles with static, “I just… don’t want to be so dependent on them now that I’m an adult, you know?”
“I do,” Jisung says, and he does. He really does. Changbin’s family is well off and there’s no doubt in Jisung’s mind that they would put down the money for him to come home immediately if he asked, but he also knows Changbin’s been trying his hardest to do things on his own.
He so badly wants to beg Changbin to take the bullet just this one time and ask his parents to fly him home, however.
“I’m so sorry, Jisung,” Changbin says, and Jisung immediately shakes his head hard despite knowing his boyfriend can’t see him. “I should’ve brought it up sooner, I just— I’ve been thinking about it for the past couple of weeks and I was trying to think of how to tell you but I didn’t want to upset you. I kind of fucked it up, huh?”
“Stop apologizing.” Jisung leans back in his chair, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. Yeah. Okay, he’s pretty fucking upset actually. This is the time of year he loves to spend with Changbin, the time of year they’ve always been together during. For the first time since they met, they’re going to be apart.
It’s okay though. He’s okay. He’s gotta be. He’s not going to be selfish, right?
Right.
Finally, he says, “Really, it’s okay. You don’t need to apologize to me. I get why you don’t want to rely on your parents and why flying home when you’re overseas right now isn’t a good idea for you financially. There’s literally nothing you need to say sorry to me for, it’s okay.”
Changbin’s voice is soft. “You’re upset though.”
Jisung winces. He really wishes Changbin couldn’t pick up on that even over a bad voice call while he’s actively pretending it’s fine. “I’ll get over it. I’m an adult, you know? I have to get used to the fact that sometimes life gets in the way of tradition and everything can’t always go the way I want it to.”
“I’m s— I’ll make it up to you,” Changbin says, correcting himself quickly. Jisung still frowns at that, his stomach twisting. He doesn’t like that he’s making Changbin feel bad for making a responsible financial decision. “When I come home after the semester I’ll make it up to you, Jisung. Wherever you wanna go, whatever you wanna do—”
“It’s fine,” Jisung interrupts. He winces at how it comes out harsh even to his own ears. “Sorry, that sounded snappy. I just… you don’t have to make anything up to me like you’re doing something wrong here. We’ll just make up for lost time when you do come home, right? Not because you owe me anything, but because we miss each other.”
Changbin inhales slowly before releasing it in a big sigh. “Yeah, yeah alright.” After a long pause, he quietly asks, “Do you want to keep playing? Or did I ruin things tonight?”
Jisung winces again. “You didn’t ruin anything. I was going to tame some more foxes tonight. You can finish the garden while I do that, okay?”
And they do. But it is undeniably much quieter than their dates usually are, even when they’re tired, and this time the silence weighs uncomfortably heavy on the two of them before they eventually say good night— or good morning in Changbin’s case, an unfortunate reminder of just how wide the distance is between them right now.
---
For the next week, Jisung tries his absolute best not to be a downer with his friends.
He… okay. He fails. He tries but he objectively fails. Poor Felix tries his best to convince Jisung to come out with him and Seungmin just to get him out of the house, but frankly, he just doesn’t have the energy or the drive. He kind of just wants to mope around the apartment all day and wallow in his feelings.
It’s a miracle Seungmin puts up with him while sharing the same living space. Honestly, he’s pretty sure Seungmin’s only being this nice because he feels bad.
And Minho— poor Minho. His best friend gets an absolute earful of complaining and whining about the whole situation. Minho takes it in stride at least, listening to Jisung attentively and then distracting him when he needs it. It’s hard when Minho is so busy with work because of the holiday season, so he appreciates the sheer amount of time Minho spends trying to cheer him up.
The thing about Minho is that he’s probably the only other person that knows Jisung as well as Changbin does, so when Minho offers to come over to watch movies on his day off later in the week at Jisung’s apartment instead of trying to drag him out somewhere, Jisung is the happiest he’s been since he found out Changbin won’t be coming home.
Unfortunately, in the way everything seems to be doing for Jisung the past few weeks, things come crashing down two hours before Minho is supposed to come over.
“Hey Sung,” Minho says when Jisung picks up the phone when he sees Minho’s familiar name.
“What’s up?” Jisung raises an eyebrow at the tone of his best friend’s voice, crossing his arms over his chest as he tucks the phone between his ear and shoulder, leaning back against the island that separates the little kitchen from the rest of their main apartment area. He stirs the mug of hot milk he’s holding, the packet of hot chocolate waiting on the counter beside him.
“I’m really sorry to do this on you so last minute when we’ve had this planned for like a week, but I can’t make it tonight.” Jisung’s smile fades. Oh.
“Really?” Jisung keeps his voice as steady as possible, making sure his disappointment doesn’t seep through.
“Yeah, I’m really sorry.” Minho’s voice comes out rushed. “Someone at work called in sick so they asked me to pick up their shift and as much as I’d love to tell them no and watch movies with you instead—”
“No, no,” Jisung interrupts, shaking his head. “I get it, don’t worry Minho. It’s extra money and you want to stay on management’s good side. I get it.”
“I’m sorry,” Minho repeats again. “I promise I’ll make it up to you, alright? We’ll do something next time we both have a free night.”
“You don’t have to make anything up to me dude,” Jisung says, trying his best to push down his disappointment. “We’re adults, life happens. It’s okay.” Yeah, life sure does happen, doesn’t it? It happens way too much. After a moment, he adds, “I do want to watch the movie I had picked out for us next time you come over though. I really think we’ll enjoy it.”
“Is it a good movie or a movie so bad it’s good?”
Jisung can’t help but snort. His best friend knows him too well. “Come on, a bad one of course. What better way to spend a movie night than making fun of a horrible movie?”
“You have a point,” Minho acknowledge. “Anyways, I should probably take a shower and do some things before I have to go in for my shift. Promise me you won’t let it get you down, okay?”
“It’s not like my night is dependent on you, asshole,” Jisung says, making his friend laugh. Okay, maybe it is a little bit, but he also doesn’t want to guilt Minho for making a responsible choice as an adult. “I pulled the Christmas decorations down from the closet a few nights ago but haven’t put them up yet. I’ll probably just do that instead.”
“That’s really, really good, Jisung,” Minho says, and the genuineness in his voice throws Jisung for a moment.
“Um, yeah.” Jisung touches the back of his neck.
“I am sure you’ll have a wonderful night without me,” Minho continues, and Jisung blinks slowly. “Just trust me, okay?”
“Er, okay, weirdo,” Jisung says.
Minho simply laughs again, offering no further explanation for his almost cryptic words and sincerity.
---
The thing is, it turns out that it’s a lot easier to just agree to have a good night with words than it is to actually have a good night.
Jisung would love to have a good night, that’s for sure. He’s been so exhausted the past month or so, he really could use one instead of just an ‘okay’ night or a ‘this is kind of bad actually’ night like it’s been more often than not lately.
As much as Jisung likes doing things by himself— he revels in it sometimes, actually, especially after work or school— he still craves spending time with his friends. He likes being alone, but there’s a difference between being alone and being lonely. The past couple of weeks, he has undeniably been skirting that line.
It’s not anybody’s fault or anything and he wouldn’t ever try to put that on someone else, it’s just… something that’s happened. Seungmin isn’t at their apartment as much these days, mostly because he’s going out with Felix and doing couple stuff during the most romantic time of the year and sleeping over at Felix’s a lot. Jisung certainly can’t blame them. If things were different, he’d be doing the same. A lot of their friends are home for the holidays; Chan even flying home to Australia for once. Minho has kind of been Jisung’s pillar of social interaction lately— even more so than he usually is as his best friend— so him having to call off hanging out tonight stings a little bit more than he’d like. And Changbin…
He said it himself. It just isn’t reasonable for him to come home on his budget— and Jisung agrees, he wants Changbin to spend his money wisely and do what’s best for him, and yet—
And yet.
He loves decorating for the holidays. He should be able to make the best of this situation, right? Even if he has to do this alone, it’s not like it’s bad, right?
“Stupid lights,” Jisung hisses through gritted teeth, desperately twisting them in an effort to untangle them. “How did you even get knotted like that? You’ve been in a box on a shelf for a year.”
Over the past twenty minutes, he has made… minimal progress with the decorations. He managed to unbox the mini tree and get it set up, fixing all the branches that got bent funny when they put it away last year. The fuzzy red and green tablecloth is over the coffee table by the couch, the red tree skirt wrapped neatly around the base of the tree. He started trying to tape tinsel on the wall— started being the keyword. It turns out even just hanging tinsel is a lot more annoying when you’re trying to do it yourself. He abandoned it partway through, deciding to come back to it after he messed with the tree more. At least the tree should be simple.
It should be, except everything seems to be going wrong.
Frustrated, he gives the lights a rough tug— which immediately tightens something that’s wrapped around his ankle, yanking his feet out from under him and making him fall on his ass with a sharp yelp. A flurry of expletives leaves his mouth as he stares down at the string of lights that somehow got tangled around him in his struggle.
This fucking sucks.
He feels so stupid suddenly, so useless. Why is this so hard? Why is this making him so upset? He loves this time of year. He loves decorating. Every year, he’s the first one to pull the decorations out, the one who gets so excited that he makes a thing out of it, invites Changbin over to help him and—
Oh.
Jisung sniffles, his eyes stinging a bit. No way is he going to start crying while decorating for Christmas because he just fully processed how absolutely soul-crushingly lonely he feels without his best friend here with him, absolutely not.
There’s a knock at the door and Jisung whimpers, reaching up to wipe at his eyes with the sleeve of his sweater. God, of course someone comes home when he’s so frustrated with his situation that he’s on the verge of tears.
It’s probably Seungmin, maybe Felix. Minho is busy and everyone else is home. One of them must have forgotten something before they went out on their date. The knocking means— fuck, the knocking means he needs to let them in. They probably left their key or something. And if it’s not them it’s probably a delivery guy who got lost. Either way, it means opening the door when he’s visibly upset.
They knock again.
“God, okay! Hold on! I’ll be there in a second!” Jisung calls. Steeling himself, Jisung untangles himself from the lights and slowly gets to his feet, wiping harder at his eyes and hoping the redness that’s surely there just passes as him having a cold or something.
He stares at the empty mug on the table, drained of all of its hot chocolate. He contemplates picking it up and bringing it with him while he opens the door and making another cup before he sits down again. Then the person knocks again and all he can do is roll his eyes and start walking towards the door.
“Hold on I was busy! I’m coming!” Jeez, if it’s Seungmin or Felix, Jisung’s going to tell them off for being so impatient. And if it’s a lost delivery guy— well, no. Jisung won’t tell them off, he’s not a low enough form of human life to berate a most likely underpaid overworked employee.
But still, the impatient knocking is undeniably annoying as hell.
Honestly, he’s glad that he ends up leaving the coffee mug on the table— mostly because when he finally gets to the door and open it in a huff, on the other side of it is an extremely jetlagged-looking Seo Changbin in an oversized black hoodie and a giant case of luggage in his hand.
Jisung stares at him in disbelief, uncomprehendingly. Like he’s sure he’s not real, like he’s an illusion, an oasis in the desert that he’s still coherent enough to know is a trick.
“I’m home,” Changbin says, an unsure little smile on his face as he tries to gauge Jisung’s reaction, and his voice is so real and so is his smile, and—
Jisung bursts into tears.
Changbin laughs and the sound of that not filtered through his phone or computer for the first time in months only makes Jisung cry harder.
Yeah. He would’ve dropped that mug and broke it without a doubt.
“Shh, it’s okay,” Changbin says, pulling his suitcase into the apartment and shutting the door behind him before reaching out for Jisung. He lets himself be pulled into the other’s arms, burying his face into the fabric of his boyfriend’s shirt. Changbin smells like cinnamon and it occurs to Jisung that it must be the cologne he bought him as a birthday gift before he left and— somehow— he manages to find a way to cry even harder. Changbin laughs again, the sound low and warm as it vibrates through his chest. “Hey, don’t cry— I’m here now, right? Don’t cry.”
“I’m not crying, you asshole,” Jisung says, although it’s not nearly as convincing as he’d like seeing as it comes out half-broken by a sob.
One of Changbin’s hands tangles into the blonde waves at the back of Jisung’s head while the other rubs circles against his back slowly. “You’re right, you’re right.” With the way Jisung’s folded himself into Changbin’s arms, he’s able to press a soft kiss to the top of Jisung’s head. “I’m sorry.”
They hold onto each other for a while, Jisung’s sobs eventually quieting until they’re nothing but little sniffles.
Finally, Jisung manages to ask, “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me you were coming?”
“I wanted to surprise you,” Changbin says, and Jisung lifts his head up from his chest so he can scowl at him as best he can when his eyes are still puffy and red-rimmed. “I thought you’d be happy!”
“I am happy!” Jisung aggressively wipes at his cheeks, trying to get rid of any lingering dampness. “I just made peace with the fact that I couldn’t spend the holidays with you this year and—”
“And you were upset because you love me,” Changbin interjects teasingly.
Jisung smacks his shoulder, making Changbin whine and cover it like he was just grievously injured. “Yeah! I was upset for no reason, you ass!”
His face falls into a pout as he finishes speaking, his bottom lip sticking out. The amused look softens on Changbin’s face as his eyes settle onto Jisung’s mouth. After a moment, he reaches up and brushes a thumb across the protruding lip, making Jisung jump.
“Hey!” Jisung exclaims, and Changbin’s hand slides to cup Jisung’s cheek instead. Then the other joins on the second cheek and Changbin simply holds Jisung’s face in his hands, looking at him with something torn between awe and adoration. It makes something in Jisung’s stomach flutter. “What are you doing?”
Changbin’s voice is unbelievably delicate as he murmurs, “I’m just thinking about how much I missed being able to touch you like this.”
Jisung opens his mouth. Then he closes it, warmth rising to his cheeks— no doubt something Changbin feels under his hands.
Then Changbin clears his throat, blinking a couple times before suddenly his fingers pinch Jisung’s cheeks and pull at them like they’re dough, stretching his face into a fake smile— and then a real one, because Jisung can’t help the way it makes him giggle. “Also I missed your cheeks.”
“Stop!” Jisung bats his hands away, the smile still on his face even after his boyfriend’s hands drop back down to his sides. He shakes his head slowly, turning away from Changbin and walking back to the couch before collapsing on it.
Changbin follows him like a lost puppy, settling down next to him. Jisung leans against the arm of the couch, his feet finding their way into Changbin’s lap instinctually. Changbin places a hand over them, thumb running across the skin of one of Jisung’s ankles where it peeks out between the hem of his pajama pants and the top of his pink fuzzy socks.
It’s easy. It’s natural. It’s like Changbin was only gone a couple of hours, not four months.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” Jisung whispers, knowing he sounds as dazed as he feels.
“Well, you better believe it,” Changbin says, fingers still rubbing feather-soft circles against Jisung’s skin, “because I’m here and I’m not going away for another week and a half.”
“After New Year’s?” Jisung says excitedly, getting a beaming look from Changbin. Then a thought occurs to him, making Jisung frown. “Wait. I thought you said you didn’t feel good about spending that much on flights? Were you making shit up to keep the surprise?”
Changbin’s smile turns a little bit sheepish. “Er, no. I meant that. I really didn’t want to spend that much and I didn’t want to ask my parents to pay for it.”
Jisung’s brow furrows as he looks back at him. “But you’re here anyway?”
Changbin clears his throat. “Yeah, well. Minho called me a couple of days ago and we were talking and he was telling me about how you guys were doing and—”
“Oh my god,” Jisung interrupts, sitting up with a big grin. “Seo Changbin, did you impulse buy a last-minute flight home because Minho told you I was sad?”
Changbin’s cheeks begin to color, staring straight ahead.
“So that’s a yes then,” Jisung says, still grinning as he shifts on the couch. When he pulls his feet out of Changbin’s lap, Changbin’s hand momentarily tightens around Jisung’s ankle as if he doesn’t want to let go before Jisung laughs breathily, tugging away from him before settling his entire bodyweight again Changbin’s side instead. Changbin relaxes instantly when Jisung’s touching him again. “So did Minho know about your impulse plane ticket purchase?”
Changbin lets out a big sigh before he admits, “He may have been on the phone with me still when I bought it.”
Jisung laughs again, much louder this time. “For real? You heard Minho say the words ‘Jisung is upset because you aren’t here’ and you literally opened a site and booked the first flight home?”
“Be quiet, Jisung,” Changbin says. Jisung simply nuzzles closer to him and, despite his words, Changbin raises an arm and lets Jisung tuck himself under it, snuggling against his side like he’s meant to be there.
Jisung does not, in fact, be quiet. Instead, he asks, “And what did Minho say when he found out what you did?”
“I believe he called me a ‘whipped bitch’, to use his exact words,” Changbin says dryly.
“I mean I don’t think you have a leg to stand on when it comes to arguing with him,” Jisung says. “You did book a flight just because you heard I was sad.”
“I never said I disagreed with him.” Changbin gives a shrug.
All Jisung can do is smile at that, twisting in Changbin’s arms so he can steal a kiss.
They sit there for a while, half to warm Changbin up after being out in the cold and half because Jisung is suddenly so aware of how overwhelmingly touch-starved he’s become in the past few months. He thinks if Changbin stops touching him he’ll actually shrivel up and die.
In their time apart, Jisung also apparently forgot how endearingly annoying Changbin is to show affection— namely the way he keeps sliding his cold hands under Jisung’s sweater and making him jump. The things Jisung puts up with for love.
Eventually, Changbin finally seems to take in the state of the apartment— namely the mostly barren Christmas tree, the boxes of ornaments, and the tinsel hanging limply from the wall where Jisung taped one end of it before getting frustrated. “Were you decorating?”
Jisung scowls at where the lights are still half-tangled on the floor where he threw them after they tripped him. “Trying to, but it turns out decorating can be a lot more stressful when it’s just you doing it. I was going to hang out with Minho tonight since Seungmin was out with Felix, but Minho had a change of schedule—” He stops as a realization hits him, turning to look at Changbin. “Minho didn’t have another shift at work to pick up, did he? He called it off because he realized you’d be getting home when we were hanging out and wanted me to be free for you, right?”
Changbin smiles sheepishly at him. “Sorry for ruining your best friend plans? In my defense, Minho was the one who wanted to call it off for us when he realized I’d be getting in right around the time you were supposed to hang out. I told him it was fine but he insisted.”
“Oh.” Jisung blinks. “That bastard is so soft sometimes, I swear— okay, we’ll have to make that up to him sometime.”
“We will,” he agrees, his hands once again sliding under Jisung’s sweater and finding the skin of his lower back, making Jisung jump a solid foot in the air.
“God, how are you not warmed up yet?” Jisung exclaims, batting his hand away.
Changbin whines in response. “Because I was so cold, Jisung! I was freezing the whole ride over here!”
“That doesn’t mean you get to stick your freezing cold hands on me,” Jisung grumbles before shooting a look at where his mug is still sitting on the table— still empty. “I had hot chocolate earlier. Maybe if someone called ahead instead of making this a secret, I would’ve had some ready for him when he got here.”
“Oh! Let me make you some,” Changbin says instantly, the whiney voice he had just moments before dropping away entirely only to be replaced by eagerness. He jumps to his feet without waiting for an answer, already on his way to raid the kitchen with the empty mug in hand. Jisung momentarily aches as he watches him go, wanting nothing more than to remain glued to his boyfriend’s side for the rest of his life after going so long without him here.
But Changbin is here. He’s here and he’s making hot chocolate— with a touch of cinnamon, just like Jisung likes it— and he’s not going anywhere for a while. That’s enough for right now.
Jisung can’t help but grin as he watches Changbin, reaching up to touch his own face. His cheeks hurt, warm to the touch. God, he hasn’t smiled this hard in a while.
He lets himself sink into the couch as Changbin makes them cocoa in the kitchen, arms wrapping around himself in a half-hug as he smiles like a dope. He missed this so bad, the casual reassurance that Changbin is only half a room away instead of oceans.
When he finally comes back over, Changbin hands Jisung a mug and sets his own on the table in front of him. When Jisung makes a move to sip from it, Changbin’s hand rests on top of Jisung’s as he gives him a stern look.
“You’re going to burn your tongue,” Changbin tells him.
Jisung pouts. “I miss your hot chocolate though.”
“You can wait,” Changbin says, shaking his head. “I put an ice cube in because I knew you were going to be impatient.”
Jisung immediately brightens up. “You know me too well.”
“I do,” Changbin agrees.
With that, Changbin wraps his arm around Jisung and pulls him until they’re leaning against each other. There’s not much to do until his cocoa cools off but Jisung doesn’t mind, not when Changbin is next to him.
“Hey,” Changbin says after a while, suddenly leaning down to pick one of the giant bows off the floor that Jisung was going to stick on the wall before he got frustrated and interrupted.
Jisung raises an eyebrow at him, blowing on the hot mug in his hands. “What?”
He watches as Changbin peels off the paper on the back of it before suddenly sticking it on his forehead, a dopey grin spreading across his face. “I’m your early present this year!”
God, Jisung is so hopelessly in love with him.
“You’re such an idiot,” he says, and he knows Changbin can hear how utterly fond he is in his voice.
“But I’m your idiot!” Changbin sings in that lovely raspy tone that drives Jisung crazy. “And you’re mine! It’s what makes us work. We’re just two idiots together.”
Together, Jisung thinks fondly, setting the mug down on the table in front of them. It’s still too hot to drink right now, so why not put his mouth to use somewhere else? Reaching up, he curls his fingers into the fabric of Changbin’s hoodie and pulls at him, Changbin going willingly as he’s tugged into a kiss.
This is right, Jisung thinks as Changbin slides an arm around his waist and brings him even closer. This is where they’re meant to be. This is home.
“If you’re my present, that means I get to unwrap you, right?” Jisung asks when he pulls back, and Changbin laughs so hard that all Jisung can think to do is kiss him silly again.