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There are a ton of things Jaemin wouldn’t do. Things like recklessly driving off cliffs, swimming into oceans where he knows are deadly, swirling currents, and skydiving without an instructor. Na Jaemin wouldn’t do any of those. He is a thrill seeker, but there are safe ways to have fun. One of them stares him in the eyes now as he crawls over, eyes glinting.
“So,” Jaemin drawls. He watches as Donghyuck’s jaw clenches and unclenches, and a spark of interest flickers to life briefly before it’s gone again. But to his credit, he doesn’t bat an eye. Brave boy.
“Where were we last night?”
Donghyuck smiles, but it’s barely one; the corners of his lips curl sideways and his eyes hold a determined kind of mirth in them. Jaemin knows that look; it’s the one the omega always wears when he’s feeling competitive.
“I believe I won at Mario Kart. Sixteen times.”
Jaemin’s eyebrows shoot up, and he clears his throat. “And after that?”
“After that, someone decided to pretended to be tired and dragged me into bed,” Donghyuck’s having fun now, smirk replaced by a teasing grin that lights up his features, eyelashes framing his downturned puppy eyes prettily. It almost makes Jaemin’s resolve crumble.
Almost.
If it weren’t for the sultry, woody scent that Jaemin can smell a little stronger on the omega now, he’d give in completely, maybe tickle his lover a bit, pull him in for a quick kiss and a tummy rub.
“You’re leaving bits out,” Jaemin murmurs. Belatedly, he realises that his hands have moved of their own accord, one thumb sliding under the hem of Donghyuck’s—Jaemin’s—shirt to caress the smooth, yet slightly taut expanse of skin while the other hand rests on the small of his back. The omega just hums, his eyes remaining fixed on Jaemin’s with the same steely look but both of them know that moving away is the last thing Donghyuck would do now.
It feels right, everything feels right, and Jaemin can run a hand over the tanned waist he has his arms around—but he doesn’t. He waits for Donghyuck to wrap his arm around his bicep and scoff.
“Which bit? The bit where you called Jeno to complain that I wouldn’t kiss you?”
“You’re such a brat,” Jaemin growls, and Donghyuck visibly shudders at that before regaining his composure, haughty grin now marred by a flushed, red complexion.
“Oh yeah? I can do worse.”
“You won’t beat me.”
Jaemin doesn’t go for the kill. He presses a sweet, sweet kiss to the underside of Donghyuck’s jaw, feels under his fingers as even after all this time, Donghyuck tenses under the touch of his lips before releasing a quiet breath. He presses another kiss right beside it, slow like the sunrise and careful like he’s a painter and Donghyuck is his canvas.
“Don’t tease.”
“Am I?”
Jaemin presses harder now, lips and teeth scraping against Donghyuck’s jugular, his pulse. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he registers Donghyuck’s fingers bunching up the back of his shirt, and everything is too warm.
Warm like a summer day without a breeze, just like Donghyuck is.
Perhaps Donghyuck found his way into Jaemin’s arms, or Jaemin had pulled him closer without noticing, but either way, summer melds against the sunrise like a crimson morning and Jaemin finds himself hopelessly entangled in the tapestry that he calls his covenant.
Kiss after kiss after kiss falls on Donghyuck’s neck, some reverent, others rushed in the haste of mapping out the entirety of the heaven’s constellations on his tanned skin. Somewhere along the way, he forgets his purpose and then Donghyuck is his air and he needs to breathe.
When their lips meet, summer erupts into monsoon, their tongues dancing around each other’s like a tropical rainfall, sweet and heavy, and then all at once too intense. The older boy’s fingers tangle into Jaemin’s hair, tugging when he gives a lick and smoothing down the strands when the blond haired boy returns to sucking at his lower lip.
And Donghyuck smells delectable, irresistible; Jaemin has to pull away, bury his face into his lover’s neck and inhale deeply, as if he can claim Donghyuck’s soul by breathing him in.
Maybe he can.
Donghyuck refuses to give in at first, but a nudge of his lover’s nose against his cheek is enough to quell the fire in his eyes, and he tilts his head back with only a little complaint. Jaemin doesn’t do silly things, but Donghyuck smells like raging canyons and thick forests, and he can’t help but dive in thoughtlessly.
Except, Donghyuck is his very, very safe place. There’s a hand warm on Jaemin’s back, a silent promise that is simultaneously reassuring and enticing. And so Jaemin closes his lips around the juncture between Donghyuck’s neck and shoulder, claiming again the promise they’d made to each other so many years ago.
“You,” Donghyuck whispers, head tilting even further back now as Jaemin presses him closer, chest against chest, heart beating against heart. “You’re going so slow.”
“The absolute worst,” Jaemin agrees, tongue laving soothingly over the spot he’d sucked a blossoming bruise into, but then he looks up and his brain short circuits because Donghyuck’s eyes are glowing a golden yellow and so, so trusting.
“You’re worth any amount of time,” Jaemin reminds him gently, and any remnant of Donghyuck’s defiant demeanour evaporates just like that. Because years upon years of insecurities that culminated in crescendos and worked their way into his heart before he’d met Na Jaemin suddenly crashed onto the shore before nullifying and desisting.
Donghyuck’s eyes shine a brighter gold.
There are times Donghyuck waits and waits for Jaemin, and there are times when Jaemin says hurtful things. In the worst of those times, the souring of his scent is enough to keep Jaemin away, but he always comes back. And Donghyuck knows that there are times when Jaemin waits and waits for him, and there are times when Donghyuck ignores his lover in favour of other priorities, other people. In those times, Jaemin’s scent turns as bitter as the black coffee he drinks in the mornings, and Donghyuck can only ignore the guilt for so long before he finds himself back in the arms of the one he’s pledged to love for life.
There are times when Donghyuck gets shy, a hint of a dimple showing when Jaemin laughs along. There are times when Jaemin goes quiet, and Donghyuck looks over only to find the alpha staring straight at him with that indecipherable expression he was once apprehensive of, but now knows conceals an inexplicable fondness and affection. In those times, he is transported into the past and reminded of why he chose Jaemin as his mate.
There are times when Donghyuck gets demanding, but Jaemin appeases him with a simple kiss and the promise of a date. There are times when Jaemin comes home nearly scentless, face furious and jaw set, and Donghyuck makes the younger lay down in his lap until he drifts off to sleep. In those times, he knows why he will never choose another.
So challenge Jaemin as he will, Donghyuck knows there will not be another in this life, and maybe even the next and all the rest, that he is capable of submitting to. There will not be another who gazes at him like this, eyes simmering with adoration and irises coloured a dark maroon, almost black.
“Maybe I don’t mind letting you win sometimes,” Donghyuck mumbles. Jaemin simply smiles and shifts, pulling the brunette onto his lap and planting another kiss on his lips, this time simple and chaste.
“Yeah?”
Donghyuck’s fingers ghost over Jaemin’s cheeks, slightly rosy from breathlessness and wonder. “Can you believe we’re here because I got jealous of how pretty you are?”
The younger laughs, breaths fanning over Donghyuck’s face as he leans in to claim yet another kiss. Donghyuck can’t find it in himself to protest no matter how touchy Jaemin gets, so he simply runs the pad of his thumb over his lover’s impossibly long eyelashes, lips pursed and eyes earnest.
“I’m lucky to have you,” Jaemin confesses, but the words are slow, like he’s struggling to get them out. And Donghyuck does understand, knows how hard it is for the alpha to say words like these when the world is silent, and it’s just Jaemin, Donghyuck, and their sincere hearts laid out bare. “It’s hard to find someone who understands me like you.”