Archive of Our Own

To cut it short, Han Jisung absolutely hates winter.

He despises it.

He loathes it.

With winter, came snow, and with snow, came very, very uncomfortable feelings. First of all, it’s cold and the wind makes his body shiver. Second, he has to wear three layers of everything to even sustain a regular body temperature. Thirdly, snow melts. If you get snow in your boots, it’s game over for you, and don’t get him started on snow getting in your hoodie. That was just a chilling feeling that literally sent shivers down your spine.

Lastly, everything was just dull. There were no flowers, greenery, warmth, sun, or colour. It was all just white, gray, and that sloshy gross colour snow looked like when it was dirty.

But no matter, Jisung didn’t even need to leave his house and encounter the cold. His job as a producer let him work from home and stay indoors in the comfort of his own house, nice and warm.

Currently, he was bundled up in his favourite soft blue blanket that had yellow stars printed on it. It was about six in the afternoon, and having finished his tracks early, he decided to treat himself with a kdrama and snack marathon in the living room. Now all he was missing was Minho, his lovely boyfriend who was supposed to be home soon.

While watching his show and munching on some potato chips, he turned around and glanced at their backyard door, seeing a flurry of white snow falling onto the ground. He shivered and grimaced. Winter was horrible. ‘I’m so glad I’m not out there.’ He thought.

Then, he heard the door open and close. Like an excited puppy, Jisung paused the tv to run to the foyer to greet his boyfriend.

“Minho hyung, hi! You’re finally home.” He hugs the older boy before taking the plastic bag he was holding. Seeing the bag, Jisung pouted while Minho took off his jacket, “Hyung! You went grocery shopping? How could you do that in weather like this?” He asks, worried.

Minho hangs up his scarf and hat while removing his boots, “It really isn’t that bad outside, Sungie. Besides, I thought you would like some snacks after working so hard.”

Jisung pouts even more, “But hyung, I’m worried you might freeze into a popsicle out there! Have you seen the snowfall?”

Minho laughs and kisses Jisung’s forehead. He then rubs his cold hands soothingly on the younger’s arms, “Yes, baby, I’ve seen the snowfall. I was outside literally three minutes ago.”

Jisung feels how cold Minho’s hands are through the fabric of his sweater and frowns. Swiftly, he took the older man’s hand and led him to the living room to sit down. Once seated, he takes his blanket and places it around his boyfriend snugly, “There you go. Warmed by yours truly.” He smiles.

Enamoured by the blonde boy’s actions, Minho smiles and opens his blanket covered arms, “I think I need to be warmed up some more.” He grins mischievously.

This causes the younger to roll his eyes fondly and settle onto Minho’s lap, facing him. He nuzzles near Minho’s neck, softly blowing warm air on his skin.

The elder plants a kiss on Jisung's head before smelling his lavender scented shampoo, “This is a lot better. You’re so warm, Jisungie~” He pulls Jisung closer to himself, taking Jisung’s body heat as his own.

The blonde hums, “I missed you today, Lino. How was work?” He asks, curious about Minho’s day. Minho was a very talented and sought after dance choreographer. Due to his rising popularity, he was always being asked to stay at work later for extra technique sessions.

The dancer starts to play with the hair on Jisung’s nape, “It was alright. Same old, same old. My 4:00 class finally got the moves down for the Holiday recital, though. But I don’t know how to tell them I’m deciding on changing the chorus choreography… Beomgyu’s going to kill me.” He chuckles.

Jisung laughs, “Yup, that kid is definitely going to kill you.” He sits up and places his hands on Minho’s shoulders, “I miss visiting your dance studio. It’s winter and I get clingier whenever you’re away.”

Minho puts his hands underneath Jisung’s shirt and touches his back, earning a shout from the younger, “Ah! Your hands are still cold, hyung!”

Minho apologizes, but keeps his hands there, soaking up the warmth, “But why don’t you visit, sweetheart? You know you’re free to drop by anytime. Plus, my students miss you.”

Jisung pouts and wiggles like a child, “Hyungg. You know I hate stepping outside in the winter. It’s cold and icky and slippery.”

The brunette laughs and holds Jisung’s chin with one hand, “You’re such a baby, Ji. Winter’s not all bad, you know? There isn’t some big abominable snowman going to eat you alive.”

The blonde shakes his head, “But it is that bad, Lino! Why freeze out there when I can be in here, nice and toasty? I’ve gone through many and they’ve all been terrible!”

Minho sighs and holds Jisung’s waist, “Because you’ll miss the beauty that winter has to offer. Sure, it can be cold and wet, but on nice days, it can be pretty nice, you know.”

Jisung huffs, “Yeah, right. Like winter isn’t just snow blocking roads and making things difficult for everyone. The only good thing about winter is that it has Christmas and New Years.”

The older boy laughs at him and presses his forehead against his, “You sure are a stubborn one, aren’t you Han Jisung?” The blonde pecks his lips once, “I’m dating you, so I have to be.”

At this, Minho places his cold hands on his waist, causing the younger to jolt from the shock, “Hyung! I’m not a heat pack, you know.”

Minho looks at him smugly, “But you are pretty hot, sweetheart.” He winks. Jisung looks at him seductively and bites his lip, leaning close and looking into his eyes, “Yeah? You think I’m hot, baby?” The brunette hums and rubs the younger’s hip bones, “Yeah.”

Suddenly, Jisung stands up and walks to the kitchen, “That’s because I stay at home and not get cold outside!”

Minho groans and stands up, catching Jisung in his arms from behind, “Very funny, kitty. Just for that, I’m making you go outside. You’re going to stop being so stubborn.”

Jisung’s tried to wriggle away, “What? No, hyung, I am not stepping foot outside in the snow! You can’t make me!”

“Oh but, sweetheart, I can~ We’re both off next week and I happen to know a great way to spend it.”

Jisung pouts and turns around to give puppy dog eyes to his boyfriend, “Babeee. Please don’t throw me in the snowww. I’ll do anythinggg.”

Minho smirks, “Don’t worry, baby, hyung won’t throw you in the snow.” Jisung sighs in relief. “I’ll just take you to the mountains and make you go outside. I know a place.” Minho continues.

Jisung pales and stomps his foot, “Nope. Mountains? Outside? Please, Lee Minho, don’t make me laugh, ha ha haaa! There’s no way you're making me do that.”

———-

“I can’t believe you made me do this!”

A week later, Jisung is in a big puffy jacket inside the car. They were up at six in the morning to drive to a nice ski resort near the mountains. Jisung had been adamant on not going, but obviously Minho was not one to lose, so it took a long night of cheesecake and cuddling until he got Jisung to crack and agree to go.

Now, he was wrapped in layers of clothing pouting at his boyfriend who was driving the car. Minho chuckles and momentarily pats Jisung’s thigh in comfort, “I’m sorry, baby, but after this, you’ll thank me.”

The blonde grumbles and sinks down in his seat, his bum sore from the long drive, “Will I? Because right now I am not very happy with you. You’re so mean to me.” He says like a whiny five year old.

Minho rolls his eyes and smirks, “That’s not what you were saying last night, Hannie. I seem to recall you saying I was pretty good to you. You know, when you were under me, begging for-“

“Enough!” Jisung screams, hiding in his jacket hood, “You’re nasty, Lino.”

“Yup.” Minho simply says, returning his focus on the road.

After a few minutes, Minho recognizes a bear statue, meaning they were close by to the cabin he had rented for the both of them. They really had chosen the perfect day to come. Even though it was winter, the sun today was shining brightly and reflecting on the snow like white glitter.

“You still grumbling, grumpy? Look outside, the snow is pretty.”

Jisung turns his head to stare at the snow and snow covered trees glistening in the sun, “So? It’s just some cold white stuff. It is pretty sparkly though… but I’m sleepy. I woke up so early.”

Minho takes Jisung’s hand and kisses it for a second, “Don’t worry, Ji. We’re almost there, I promise. Then you can sleep in our bedroom.”

Minho, unsurprisingly, just receives a soft whine from Jisung, who sleepily looked outside the window. His squirrel was being quite bratty, but that was to be expected, considering he had dragged him out of bed at the butt crack of dawn to go to a place he didn’t even want to go to.

For the remaining time, Minho just turned up the volume of the car stereo to make Jisung think of something else. He had a whole four day vacation planned for them. He wanted to help Jisung get over his fear of winter by showing him how to have fun. After the idea came to him, he was quick to book a quaint ski resort near the mountains. He had gone there his senior year of college with friends and enjoyed it, so he wanted to bring his boyfriend there with him.

—————

After parking the car, Minho turned to his right and poked Jisung’s side, “Babe? Baby? Are you sleeping?”

No answer.

With a sigh, he shakes Jisung’s body gently, “Jisungie~wake up, we’re here. I’m sure you would want to sleep in a comfy bed instead of this car seat.”

At that, Jisung opens his eyes, squinting at the light. He grumbles once again and gets the cue to get out of the car. Minho exits as well, opening the trunk. Jisung wobbles over, shivering in the early morning chill. Minho chuckled as he grabbed a couple of their bags. His boyfriend looked like a sleepy old lady.

Jisung, who was still hazy from sleep, mindlessly grabbed a few bags as well, walking autonomously to the front door of their cabin.

It was a large two story wooden cabin with two bedrooms, a kitchen, a hot tub, a firepit, a balcony, and two bathrooms. If they would be staying for four whole days, Minho wanted to pick the best place to stay. Walking inside, it was wooden, cozy, and like a typical ski resort cabin. Thankfully, the cabin renter had been kind enough to turn the fireplace on to warm up the house before they got there.

“Whoa, Sungie, look at the living room. It looks good for cuddling, don’t you think?”

Jisung, who was still tired, tries to smile, “Mhmm. Looks good. But where is the bedroom, hyung?”

Minho laughs and leads the blonde up the stairs, “This way, baby.”

As soon as they enter the spacious room, Jisung sees wooden furniture, a tv, and a king sized, four poster canopy bed. Immediately, he drops his bags on the ground and runs towards it. He gets in the soft, beige duvet and snuggles inside until only his hair and eyes are peeking out.

Minho laughs fondly and puts their bags to the side. They could always fix that stuff later. He walks to the side of the bed and gets in beside the smaller. Jisung immediately rolled over to lay on Minho’s chest, “This bed is nice, you’re forgiven, hyung...” He hums.

The elder chuckles and wraps his arms around Jisung, rubbing his back, “Oh no, what would I have done if I rented us a place with a crappy bed?”

“Well you certainly wouldn’t get any kisses, I’ll tell you that.”

The brunette snorts, “Such a brat, baby. Go to sleep.” Jisung only nods and closes his eyes, scooting closer to the elder, “Good night. Wait no, good morning? Whatever, I’m going to sleep now…” He mumbles.

Minho leans down and pecks Jisung’s lips twice before closing his own eyes. It was something they often did before bed. With that, he brings the covers higher on themselves and drifts into dreamland, wondering how on earth he was going to get his boyfriend in the snow.

Hopefully it wasn’t going to be harder than what he actually planned to do this week.

————

Jisung awakens and feels for a warm body next to him. He sits up and sees Minho still sleeping beside him. He was breathing calmly and snoring lightly. Deciding to leave him to rest a little longer, Jisung quietly leaves the bed, not before adjusting the blankets around Minho.

He tiptoes to their belongings, looking for their bag of groceries. Once he picks up the red and black bag, he tiptoes down the stairs to the kitchen. Feeling refreshed after his nap, he looks around the house in awe. His boyfriend really did pick a nice place. The stone fireplace was warming up the space, there was a comfy living room with red couches in front of a large television. There were also wooden framed paintings all over the place, giving it a homey feel.

As he places their food in the fridge, he wonders if he could convince his older boyfriend to just stay inside and cuddle the whole time.

He starts cooking a small meal; bulgogi with rice, Minho’s favourite. It took him a little while to figure out the stove, but eventually, he finished cooking and it looked good.

Once he turned off the stove, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist, “You’re in trouble, Jisungie.”

Jisung chuckles and places their food on two plates with rice, “And why is that, my love?”

Minho hooks his chin on Jisung’s shoulder, “You know how much I hate waking up without you next to me.” Jisung puts the pan down and turns around, seeing Minho pouting. His hair was sticking up in all kinds of directions, “Sorry, honey. Just thought you’d be hungry when you woke up. I made your favourite~”

Minho looked at the plates and inhaled the delicious aroma, “Wow, it smells delicious.” He hugs Jisung excitedly, “Let’s get married.”

Jisung laughs and hits Minho’s arm playfully. They’ve talked about marriage before, but Jisung knew he was just joking. Sneaking out of Minho’s arms, he brings their plates to the dining table.

They sit down in front of each other, Minho having grabbed some forks from their grocery bag. Minho takes a bite of his food and hums happily, “Babe, this is so good! You should be a chef!”

Jisung smiles, “Thank you hyung~”

As Jisung eats his meal, he smirks mentally at his boyfriend. He had made his favourite dish for a reason. He had also given Minho a larger portion since he knows how sleepy and lazy he gets after eating a big meal. He was hoping with this plan, his boyfriend would be too tired to fulfill his plan of going outside.

“It’s a good thing we took that nap, babe. I have so much energy now. Maybe we can start with snowman building! I think this snow is perfect. Then after, we can go snowshoeing or something!”

Jisung’s smile falls from his face. Damn, that wasn’t what he was expecting.

—————

“Oh Minhoo~” Jisung calls from the bed. If his first plan didn’t work, he could always seduce his boyfriend into staying in bed with him. It’s not like it never worked before.

Minho comes out from the bathroom and looks at his boyfriend. The blonde was splayed out salaciously on the beige sheets, biting his lip and checking him out. The sleeves of his sweater had fallen, showing off his golden skin.

Of course Minho was tempted, but he wasn’t clueless. His little boyfriend was just trying to get them to stay inside. Well two could play that game.

He walks over to the bed and crawls over to his boyfriend, “Oh my, does my kitty want something?” He coos. Jisung nods and pulls him on top of him, “Yeah. I want you, hyung. Kiss me?”

“Yeah? You want your hyung? Want me to kiss you?” He teased further, laughing on the inside knowing that the younger had thought he had succeeded.

Jisung nods eagerly, offering his lips to the older male and arching his back to get as close as possible. Minho bites his lip and leans in until they’re a breath away. When Jisung closes his eyes, Minho takes the opportunity to quickly sit up and carry Jisung bridal style before he could even open his eyes.

He carries him to the bathroom to put on a jacket and gloves. “Babe! What are you doing? Put me down this instant! Let’s go back to bed!”

Minho shakes his head and puts him down, fixing a brown and yellow scarf around the younger’s neck. “No can do, blondie. We have snowmen to build and a lovely walk in the snow to get to.”

Jisung pouts and runs a hand through his body, “Come on, Lino~ don’t you want some of this?”

The older boy laughs and makes Jisung put on his jacket, “You know I do, but I like to leave dessert for last.” He winks, zipping up Jisung’s jacket all the way. Then, he places gloves on Jisung’s hands and fuzzy socks on his feet. Lastly, he puts a black hat on his head.

Afterwards, he puts on his own winter gear and drags Jisung to the foyer to put on their boots.

“Wait!” Jisung shouts as Minho is about to open the door. Minho stops and turns around, facing the blonde. “What is it, snowflake?”

Jisung stutters and tries to think of an excuse to delay the icky cold, “I-um.” He starts. He should’ve made a list. Or prepared a 50 slide PowerPoint presentation on ‘Why Jisungs Should Not Go Outside If They Don’t Want To.’

“Jisungie, you know I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think you would enjoy it. Do you trust me? I want to have fun with you.”

JIsung sighs and leans against Minho, “Fine. I trust you… Let’s go outside.”

With a smile, Minho brings them outside and locks the door. He takes Jisung’s gloved hand in his and walks a couple feet to the front yard. On the ground was the perfect type of snow to roll into a snowman. Minho puts a bag of snowman materials on a rock nearby.

“Okay, babe. Have you ever made a snowman before?” Minho asks, picking up a clump of slightly wet snow. Jisung tilts his head and kicks at the snow, “I mean, maybe once when I was little. My brother never let me do anything, though.”

The brunette smiles, “Well, it’s really fun babe. Just watch me.” He puts his now round clump of snow onto the ground and rolls it, accumulating more snow in the process, “Just roll some snow on the ground like this.”

Jisung nods and copies Minho’s snow rolling process until he has a medium sized shaped clump, “Like this?”

Minho looks over to see a weird and lumpy looking blob of snow, “Um… maybe try shaping it more like a sphere? You’re doing great though, sweetheart.”

Despite the smile of appreciation he gave to his boyfriend, Jisung was not doing great.

The wind was cold on his sensitive cheeks, his hands were a little cold, and his back was itchy without a way to scratch it through all this clothing. However, he had to stay strong and not be such a brat when his boyfriend was trying to make him enjoy himself.

Once he had a better ball of snow, he lifted it up and walked over to Minho’s larger ball of snow, “I know this part. I just put it on, right?” He asks.

Minho nods and makes way for the blonde, who neatly placed the snow ball together. Afterwards, Minho makes the smallest ball and puts it right at the top, finishing off the snowman’s body. He then brings over the bag filled with a carrot, some sticks he found outside, buttons, an extra scarf, and a hat.

They decorate the snowman together, laughing and giggling as they did. No matter what they were doing, they always had fun together. So even if Jisung was out and about in the season he hated the most, he couldn’t say he had a bad time, since he was with the man he loved the most.

“And finally, the carrot nose. Do you want to put it on? Or me?” Minho asks. The blonde shakes his head, “You can put it on, hyung.”

Minho takes the carrot and shoves it in the centre of the snowman’s face. “Ooh, that must’ve hurt.” Jisung says, wincing for the inanimate figure. Minho laughs and pats the snowman’s face, “It’s alright, his face is numb from the cold. I don’t think he felt it.”

Jisung laughs and playfully hits Minho’s arm, “Yeah, you must be right.”

Minho gets behind Jisung and hugs him from behind, rocking them gently from left to right, “So, my little spitfire. How was being outside and making your first snowman?”

Jisung places his gloved hands over Minho’s, “Well, I still don’t love winter, but I guess it wasn’t that bad… I actually kind of liked it… just a little, though!”

Minho smiles brightly and turns Jisung around to face him, “We’re making progress.”

A chilling wind passed by them and Jisung shivered and whimpered. Minho noticed this and decided that it was enough for the day. He also wanted to take a nice walk with Jisung, but that could wait until tomorrow.

“Let’s get you inside, love.”

Jisung nods and lets himself be led inside the house and to their bedroom. The two strip themselves of their winter clothes and dry their things above the heater. “I feel like I’m thawing.” JIsung comments, helping Minho remove his hat.

The elder nods in agreement, “Me too.”

After they changed into comfy clothes, they went downstairs to the living room and sat together on one of the sofas. Jisung brought a warm blanket from upstairs to snuggle into.

When Jisung laid sideways on the couch, Minho got on top of him, laying between his legs, head on his chest. They felt the warmth on their skin from the fireplace and relaxed. It was silent except for their breathing and the crackling sounds of the fire.

Jisung brought his hands up to run his fingers through his boyfriend’s soft brown hair. He felt like he was in paradise. All he needed was warmth, Minho, and the yummy food in their fridge. “You know, hyung, this kind of reminds me of that time you had a big fever and couldn’t stop clinging onto me.”

Minho groans, face still buried on his boyfriend’s chest, “Oh, when I was still stupid and broke your heart?”

Jisung smacks Minho’s back, “Hey! You weren’t stupid, you just didn’t know how you felt about me… we’ve been over this, love. I was just pointing out how you couldn’t stop laying on me…”

Minho uses his arms to hover over Jisung’s face. Slowly, he leans down and places a gentle kiss on Jisung’s lips. “I love you.” He whispers.

Jisung smiles widely and returns the kiss, “I love you too, Lino.”

Although their relationship could rival any perfect hallmark rom com movie, it had started off pretty rocky. It was the age old tale of a boy having a crush on his straight best friend and roommate who would never love him back. Jisung knew he could never have Minho, so he tried to get over him, as painful as it was. It wasn’t good to dwell on something you couldn’t reach. It was like trying to reach something from the top shelf in a grocery store. Except there was no ladder. And the store was on fire.

To get over his hopeless feelings, Jisung started to go out more and go on dates. He had never dated before, since he’d always saved his heart for a certain brown haired dancer. It’s not like he was never asked, though. Jisung was handsome and talented. Of course he would be asked out by equally handsome boys on a date.

Like that cute rapper Mark, or that cute Yeonjun guy from his drama class, or his cute gym instructor, Juyeon. It was mostly just movie dates, picnics, concerts, and cute cafes. Jisung enjoyed his time having fun and dating around, but he never really attached himself to any of them. After all, nobody was like the cat loving, passionate, charitable, sparkly eyed boy he had already fallen in love with.

He just wanted to yell at his heart to stop the parts that keep falling in love with Lee Minho. Maybe then, he could look at other men and stop seeing Minho’s face on them. Maybe then, he wouldn’t hurt so much when Minho would gush over pretty girls and tell him every detail. Maybe then, he could be a good best friend and support whatever relationships the older would have instead of faking a smile and a ‘Congratulations, I’m so happy for you. That you found someone to love.’

So in the meantime, he had to take a less easy path that he admits wasn’t the most effective nor efficient. The path that basically said ‘Distance yourself from the boy you love and date other boys, then hope your heart gets fooled and falls in love with someone else instead. Yay! Easy peasy, right?’

Not the best plan, but it was a plan, nonetheless.

When Minho found out that Jisung started dating, he couldn’t help but feel a painful sensation in his chest. He just told himself it was because Jisung wasn’t hugging, cuddling, or hanging out with him as much anymore. Jisung still talked to him normally, but something had changed. He didn’t like it one bit.

He wanted their movie nights that turned into cuddle marathons back. He missed waking up next to Jisung and teasing him until he made them breakfast. He missed baking together when they had nothing better to do. Why wasn’t he doing any of that with him anymore? All he wanted was to come home after class to see Jisung waiting for him on the couch with a soft smile and ‘Welcome home, I put your favourite movie on. Now hurry up, I want cuddles.’

It always made him feel warm and cozy, like he could throw all stress and fatigue out the window to spend time with his best friend. It was all smiles and tummies sore from laughing. But now, Minho wonders where Jisung’s smile had gone. He hadn’t seen it in some time. At least not directed to him.

Minho did have a girl that he was trying to pursue, but when Jisung started to grow away from him, he couldn't even think about her. He was too busy focusing on who Jisung was with and who was holding him. Who was this Mark? Or Chanhee? Or Jaemin? Who were they and where did they live? What were their intentions with his best friend? He gritted his teeth when he thought about them. Were they even worthy to date Jisung? What if they kissed him? What if they learned all the things that Minho knew about him? Like how he liked to bake when it rained. Or how he always opened the windows in the morning to hear birds chirping. Or how happy Jisung was when he had cheesecake and his favourite movie on.

If someone knew as much as he did, Jisung wouldn’t need him anymore. There would be someone else that knew all about him. Maybe even more. They’ll get to know how to hold hands with him, go on dates with him, kiss him. They’ll get to know Jisung better than anyone else, and Minho would just watch from the sidelines, experiencing things second hand when it had always been him who was first.

The worrying had turned into a fever. When JIsung had come home from a date one night, the elder had caught him and attached himself to the younger in desperation. Jisung had been shocked at how affectionate Minho had been. Afterwards, the older had brought them to his bedroom and laid down on top of him, not letting him go, even to breathe.

That night, in a feverish haze, Minho had expressed his feelings of longing, emptiness, and jealousy over Jisung being with someone who wasn’t him. He had even told Jisung to just be with him, instead, since he couldn’t handle him being with someone else. It was like his fever dug out the thoughts and feelings he kept hidden deep inside his soul. Things that non feverish Minho would never admit out loud. Those thoughts shouldn’t stay out in the light.

Jisung had been happy then, even hopeful. He had thought that Minho was feeling this way because he liked him. ‘Was he jealous that he was dating other people? Did he really want to be with him?’ He thought.

However, it was only just the fever talking. When Minho had recovered, Jisung confronted him about the things he said and even confessed to Minho that he loved him. At this, Minho harshly refused his words, saying that it was only the fever and that he didn’t like boys, especially his best friend. He just simply wanted Jisung home more and be more like how he was before. He didn’t like him that way. He liked girls and only girls. Jisung was just his best friend. They didn’t need to be together like that.

Minho had broken Jisung’s heart that day, causing him to pack his bags and stay at Chan’s house. The older boy didn’t even stop him from leaving. That’s what hurt Jisung the most.

The next day, Minho had processed what he had done. He had lost Jisung, his best friend, his pillar, the boy who cared so much for him. He had said such insensitive things and rejected him harshly. Now he felt like a glass shard was lodged in his chest. What had he done?

For two weeks, he wallowed in his guilt and a feeling he couldn’t describe. He felt as though his guardian angel was face palming and trying to tell him he had lost something more than a friendship. ‘They were soulmates’ Minho had reasoned, but that wasn’t it. There was a reason why this hurt more than losing your best friend.

What was it?

Every time he looked into their empty apartment, he just imagined memories of Jisung romping around and teasing him. Lonely nights became every night and when Minho would look beside him on the bed, he would imagine Jisung next to him, smiling a heart shaped smile. But every time he tried to reach out, the illusion vanished, leaving only cold and wrinkled bed sheets. Was it longing or insanity?

Why was he imagining Jisung everywhere? Why was he dying without his touch? Why did his chest hurt every time he thought of him? Why was he so regretful?

Jisung had blocked his number and their friends wouldn’t tell Minho anything about him. He wanted to apologize for hurting him and tell him how much he missed having him around. How much he missed his touch. How much he missed his smile that told him everything was going to be alright.

Soon, his friends became worried since Minho hadn’t been eating or sleeping properly. One day, Changbin had enough and even came over to talk some sense into him. It was from his words that Minho learned something that he should’ve realized earlier. That he was in love with his best friend.

Companionship equals bonding.

Concern equals care.

Uncertainty equals jealousy.

Longing equals realization.

Pain equals the feeling of losing someone you love.

Sometimes, your heart thinks before your brain does.

Minho had run out of his apartment, got in his car, and drove to Chan’s house to beg Jisung for forgiveness. All these feelings he was having- all the jealousy was because he loved Jisung. Maybe he was so scared of these feelings that he buried them down where he couldn’t even recognize it. But he had lived through a fear much worse. He broke Jisung’s heart and lost him.

Now, Jisung was far from him, and he doesn’t know if he could ever get him back.

He knocked on Chan’s door until the elder took pity on him and let him see Jisung. A pang of pain hit his chest when he had finally seen Jisung after so long. However, instead of being met with his warm smile, he saw an emotionless face that looked at him like he was a stranger.

Of course, Jisung couldn’t blame Minho for rejecting him. You can’t force people to love you back. He just needed time for himself to mend his broken heart.

Now, harsh rejection, he could forgive, but what he couldn’t, was Minho looking at him and telling him he was sorry and that he loved him.

For the first time, Jisung had raised his voice at Minho. He had told him to take back his words and leave, because he didn’t really love him. He was just lonely and guilty, but Jisung couldn’t handle being a bed warmer when the other didn’t have anybody to hold at night. He couldn’t be ‘just friends’ anymore, especially not after what happened. He had bared his heart out for Minho to see, but the latter had just looked at it like it was a monster.

Minho understood, but his heart couldn’t leave Jisung.

So every day after that, he dropped presents for Jisung at Chan’s door and begged to see Jisung as much as possible. Even Chan had taken pity on the boy and helped him out after seeing how hard Minho was trying.

Then, a little over a month later, Minho had cornered the boy and spilled his own heart out to him, the decrepit little thing it was.

The elder had melted against him, and having pity, Jisung listened to him and held him close for the first time in forever.

Jisung decided that night and told Minho that he forgave him, but they would only be friends. He would move back into their apartment, but things would only go back to how it was before, except no close contact. Of course, Minho longed for something more, but as long as Jisung didn’t look at him like he was a stranger that bumped into his shoulder on the street, he would take it.

However, Jisung’s plan didn’t work out well for his heart. Minho, being the person he was, didn’t stop wooing Jisung. Of course, he gave him his space, but damn it, Jisung just didn’t know how not to love Lee Minho. So months after Minho’s groveling and ‘I Love Yous’, Jisung had finally cracked and said it back one night at dinner.

Minho was caught off guard and smiled wider than he had in a long time. Jisung had just smirked and pulled on Minho’s shirt to kiss him. He had truly forgiven him months ago, but he needed to see for himself about how Minho really felt.

In the end, it turned out the one who broke his heart was the one who ended up mending it.

——————-

The next morning, Minho woke up first. He was startled for a moment as it didn’t look like their bedroom, but then he realized that they were on vacation.

He looks down and smiles when he sees Jisung still fast asleep on his arm. His hair was messy and his neck was littered with love bites, reminding Minho of their activities the previous night. He bets when his boyfriend woke up, he would groan and complain about his lower back or something.

Carefully, he reaches over to the bedside table to grab his phone. It was about ten in the morning and Minho wanted to take Jisung ice skating today. He checked the weather app and saw that the sun would be out. It was also going to be pretty warm; the perfect day to go out in the winter.

“Mmh… my back hurts.”

Minho puts his phone down when he hears Jisung grumbling. He pulls the younger close and rubs his back soothingly, “Sorry, baby... Want breakfast?” He presses feather like kisses on Jisung’s crown.

Jisung nods and hugs the elder, “Yeah… you gonna carry me downstairs? I don’t think my legs are working.” He asks lazily, making grabby hands at Minho.

The brunette picks him up like a baby, “Of course.” He starts walking towards the kitchen with Jisung’s arms and legs wrapped around him like a koala.

When they arrive, Minho carefully places Jisung on the counter near the stove. He also gives him a bottle of water while he gets the things ready. Minho finds eggs, bacon, and some fresh berries in the fridge.

Jisung swings his uncovered legs while eating a bowl of strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries. After Minho puts the bacon and eggs on two pans, he steps over to stand in between Jisung’s legs. Jisung puts a strawberry in the older’s mouth when he opens it. It was sweet and reminded him of the summer.

He reaches in the bowl and eats a couple blackberries. Then, Jisung taps his shoulder and Minho looks up to see him grinning with a strawberry in his mouth. It was a large one and Jisung had it caught between his teeth for Minho to take a bite.

With a chuckle, Minho leaned in and bit half of the strawberry. Jisung proceeded to eat the other half happily. It was kind of bizarre and a little Lady and the Tramp-esque, but nobody was around to judge. It was just them in their own world, doing whatever they want.

After the older boy finished the berry, he caught the younger off guard by kissing him lovingly. “So sweet.” He whispers when he leans back.

Jisung wraps his legs around Minho’s torso, pulling him closer, “Me or the fruit, hyung?”

Minho holds the side of Jisung’s face and squishes his cheek, “The fruit.”

“Hyung! So rude!” He kicks Minho off him, crossing his arms. Minho laughs and flips the bacon and eggs, “You’re so easy to tease, Hannie.”

Once he lowers the heat on the pans, he returns back to his previous spot between Jisung’s legs. The younger was just wearing an oversized sweater and boxer shorts so his legs were exposed. Minho thought he was the most beautiful like this. The sun beams were creeping in from the house’s sunroof, hitting the younger’s skin and illuminating him as if he were magic. Like he was made of stars, candy, and everything sweet in the world.

Minho put his hands on Jisung’s thighs and noses at his neck, “You’re going to hate me even more when I remind you we’re going out in an hour.”

Jisung sighs, “Oh yeah… what are we going to do now?” His hands were gripping the edge of the counter and he was still swinging his legs.

Minho reaches over to turn off the stove, “Skating. It’s a lovely day out, babe. There’s no way you’ll hate it.” The younger bites his lip, “I haven’t been skating since high school, Min. Plus, I don’t own any skates, and I don’t think there’s any rentals around here.”

Minho smirks and steps back to plate their breakfast, “You underestimating me? I got our skates in the trunk, sweetheart. Fresh from the skate shop.”

Jisung grins, “Of course you did, Boy Scout. You think of everything. That’s kind of hot.”

The elder laughs and grabs their plates, “I am hot, babe. Now come on, let’s eat before we go.”

—————-

“Whoaa! Hyung, help!” Jisung yells, frantically grabbing onto Minho as soon as they step onto the ice. It was freshly gone over with a zamboni machine, so it was extra slippery.. It was a big rink filled with people of all ages. Jisung was jealous of the little kids who could skate way better than him and do tricks.

The older boy laughs, “I’ve got you, babe. I won’t let go, it’s okay.”

Jisung felt like Bambi on ice. His mind was just trying to scramble how to ice skate. Minho slowly skates backwards, helping Jisung steady his feet. “I thought you knew how to skate?”

Jisung skates forward shakily, “I do, but my body isn’t remembering. Just give me a second.” He looks down at his feet and looks determined as he uses the blade to move forward. It was a lot harder than it looked. “My feet already hurt, hyungg.” He whines, gripping Minho’s arms tightly.

Minho looks behind him to see if they’d bump into anybody, “Did I tie them too tight?” Jisung shakes his head, “No, it’s just hard to keep myself up.”

Minho skates a bit further back to hold Jisung’s hands, “Come on, Jisungie~ We’ve only been on for five minutes and you’re doing great, see?”

Jisung looks down and sees that his feet are skating. He was a bit shaky, but he was doing it. “Minho hyung! I’m so talented! Look at me!”

The elder boy laughs and moves backwards, faster, “I’m looking, Ji. Ready to let go?”

Jisung shakes his head, “Umm, just hold my hands a little bit longer. I’m getting the hang of this!” He sticks his tongue out in concentration.

“Hey look at that big kid! He still needs to hold onto his friend!”

Jisung looks to his left and sees two little boys laughing at him. “Hey! It’s never too late to learn new things!” He shouts at them. He felt like an old man telling kids to get off his lawn.

“Don’t mind them, snowflake. They’re just kids.”

Jisung pouts at his boyfriend, not realizing he let go and was now skating by himself, “But Lino, they were making fun of me!”

Minho laughs, “Well, they don’t have anything to make fun of anymore, Hannie. You’re skating on your own.”

Jisung looks at his feet and then his hands that weren’t holding Minho’s anymore, “Oh, sh-!” He is shocked with himself and almost falls back until Minho pulls him forward. Jisung takes a breath of relief. Those kids would’ve made fun of him for falling on his bum.

Afterwards, Minho finally skates forward with Jisung’s hand in his. They glide through the ice rink in a circle. The cold air was chilling their faces, but they focused more on the fun they were having.

After a while, Minho squeezed Jisung’s hand, “Isn’t this romantic, baby? I mean, if you exclude the kids yelling and shoving each other. And also that loud guy who keeps yelling about potato famines.”

Jisung giggles and squeezes his hand back, “It is romantic, hyung. The sun is out and it’s not snowing. Is this what you meant when winter wasn’t evil?”

Minho smiles, “Yup, this is what I meant. Of course there’s still nasty snow storms, but when it’s like this, you don’t need to be afraid to go out and visit my studio.” Jisung nods and sighs happily, “Okay, I’ll try. Maybe being out here isn’t so bad...”

“If you’re with me?”

Jisung laughs, “If I’m with you.”

—————

“Oh, thank goodness! My legs hurt from wearing these!” Jisung says as he takes off the ice skates. Minho nods, “Same. We skated for a really long time. Here, put them in the bag.” Minho says, letting Jisung put his skates in their sports bag before closing it. “Okay, let’s head back, babe. It’s still early though.”

Jisung nods and starts to walk with his boyfriend. Then, he sees a familiar head of blonde hair in the distance. After that, he also hears a familiar airy laugh. Felix? Hyunjin?

“Hyung! Look, it's Felix and Hyunjin! Over there!”

Minho turns to where Jisung was pointing and sees their friends near the ski slope. “Oh, they arrived earlier than I thought they would.” He says nonchalantly.

Jisung looks at him in surprise, “You knew they were coming?”

Minho chuckles, “I invited them, baby. Backup in case I couldn’t get you out of the cabin.”

Jisung smiles widely and grabs Minho’s hand, rubbing towards the two. “Lix!” Jisung yells when he’s a couple feet from him.

When Felix turns around, he sees Jisung and is immediately tackled down into the fluffy snow. “Ahh! Jisungiee! My twin, I missed you!”

Jisung helps him up and brings himself, Felix, and Hyunjin in a group hug, “I missed you two so much! It’s already been more than a month since we hung out!”

Hyunjin smiles and looks at Jisung, “So did you get it yet?” He asks, causing Felix to elbow him in the ribs, “Ow! What?! Oh...”

Suddenly, Minho barges in, “U-um yes, he got… he got that going outside isn’t that scary, right, babe?”

Jisung is puzzled at Minho’s odd behaviour, but nods, “Yup! It’s actually not too bad. I’ve been outside for two days now.”

Felix playfully punches his shoulder, “See? I told you! You were just like Changbin hyung, and look where he is now.” He points high above them.

Jisung gasps, “He’s in heaven?” Felix smacks him, “No! The ski slope, dummy. He’s up there with Chan hyung!”

Jisung laughs and then squints his eyes, trying to find his hyungs. Hyunjin tugs him and Minho towards a smaller slope, “Come toboggan with us! Seungmin and Jeongin are already up there waiting for us to get back.”

When they got up to the top, Jeongin and Seungmin were sitting on the benches with the toboggans. “Took you long enough. Oh look, and you’ve brought guests.”

Minho laughs and moves to hug his friend, “Nice to see you too, Seungminnie.”

Meanwhile, Jisung attacked the youngest with mother-like smooches, “Innie~ my little baby why don’t you visit me anymore~ do you not love me anymore?”

Jeongin laughs and tries to push the older blonde away, “Hyung! You know I’m busy with work. And I visited you last week!”

Jisung stops his suffocating and leans back, “Oh, yeah, I forgot.” He fixes Jeongin’s hat and scarf. Even though he was just a couple months younger, he loved to baby him like a real little brother.

“Let’s race down the hill in teams and whoever loses, buys the drinks for the party tomorrow!” Hyunjin says, picking up the sleds. Jisung was confused. He knew nothing about a party. But who was he to question a good time?

Felix grabs Jisung’s arm, “Jisungie! Be my partner!” Jisung nods and grabs their sled. Meanwhile, Seungmin partnered up with Minho and Hyunjin partnered up with Jeongin.

Once they were decided, they set their sleds down near the edge. “Okay, I’m counting down! Three! Two! One! Go!”

Quickly, Felix and Jisung started to slide down the hill. They all laughed and shouted, trying to get to the bottom the fastest. “Lix! We need to get faster!” Jisung leaned forward to try to go faster, but the two other teams were still in front of them. He yelled at Felix to lean forward too, but maybe he didn’t hear him. Did he want to lose?

They ended up reaching the bottom last.

“Looks like you’re buying for tomorrow, hyungs.” Jeongin laughs, wiping the snow off of himself. The two blondes groan at their defeat, sinking to the ground.

“Why are those two in the snow? Lix, baby, what are you doing?” A familiar, gravelly voice says.

Jisung looks up, “Changbin hyung! Channie hyung! Hi!”

Chan chuckles and helps the two blondes up, “What are you two doing?” He asks. Felix pouts, “Jisung and I lost the race and have to buy drinks for the party tomorrow.”

Chan thinks for a moment then raises his eyebrows, “Ah yes! The party! The party in which we will drink and have fun. Yup! Just a regular old party!”

Felix smacks a hand over his face at Chan’s words. Jisung looks at him confused, “What’s wrong, Lix? You okay?”

The freckled boy waves him off, “N-no I just- I’m just disappointed we lost, hehe…”

“Well, sorry to cut in, but I think it’s time for me and chipmunk to head to our cabin. We went skating earlier and I’m pretty tired. But we’ll see you at the party tomorrow right? 5:00? Okay, great, bye!”

All of the boys try not to laugh and simply just nod, smiling. Jisung is confused as he is dragged away by his boyfriend. Maybe the cold was just boggling their minds.

———-

“Ahh, this is nice.” Jisung comments, sipping his hot cocoa.

He leaned against Minho’s chest in front of the crackling fireplace. They were seated on the carpet with one large blanket around the both of them. Minho had finished his cup of hot chocolate already and was wrapping his arms around the younger’s small waist, “It is nice, isn’t it. Finally warm after being out all day.”

Jisung hums, “It was nice though. I really liked skating. Plus, I was really happy seeing everybody earlier. How’d you get them all to come here? They’re even busier than us.”

Minho pauses before answering, pressing a short kiss on Jisung’s neck, “Well, you know. I thought they could use a little break from work and meet us here.”

Jisung nods, “Really? Just like that?”

Minho looks up at the warm fire, “Yup. Just like that.” And just like that, Jisung finished his hot cocoa and placed it on a table nearby. Basking in the warm glow of the fireplace, he puts his hands over Minho’s and starts to play with them.

When his fingers brushed over his palms, he heard Minho wince slightly. “Baby? Are you okay?” He asks, concerned.

Minho just shakes his head, “It’s fine. Just got a little rope burn from the sled handle earlier.” Jisung looks down at Minho’s hands, slightly red and irritated, “Aw, Minho hyung… we need to put ointment on this before bed. Were you not wearing gloves?”

Minho shakes his head again, “They got wet from the snow.” Jisung nods and mumbled a small ‘You should’ve told me earlier’ before yawning, “You wanna lay down in bed? I want to get some cuddles in before dealing with a bunch of drunk boys tomorrow.” He giggles. Minho stretches his back and nods, standing up with Jisung.

“I’ll meet you in bed, hyung. I’ll just get some aloe gel from the fridge.” Jisung says, gently pushing Minho to the direction of the stairs.

When Jisung found the tube of aloe in the fridge, he thanked his past self for packing it on their trip. It was like he knew something like this would happen.

Afterwards, he headed up to their bedroom and saw Minho laying down on the bed. They had changed into their pyjamas and showered earlier when they came home to be ready for cuddling.

He climbed onto the bed and straddled Minho, who was on his phone. “Hands, please.” He says, putting a hand out in front of Minho.

At the request, Minho finished texting and put his phone on the nightstand. He puts his irritated hands up, palms facing the younger. Jisung then opens the cap and applies the gel on Minho’s hands with his index finger. Once he was finished, he put the tube on the nightstand beside Minho’s phone.

Afterwards, he takes Minho’s wrists and pushes them down until his hands are on the pillow near his head, palms up. Then, Jisung leans down and kisses Minho sweetly, “Thanks for bringing me here, Min. I’m having a wonderful time.” He whispers.

The brunette smiles and kisses the younger boy’s flushed cheeks, “No need to thank me, baby boy. I’m just glad you’re having fun.”

Jisung smiles softly and looks down at the elder. He was such a fool for him. Wherever Minho went, he was sure he would follow him to the ends of the earth. If he was lost, Minho’s eyes would be lanterns that lead him home, safe and sound. He just loved being in love with him.

The blonde placed his hands on Minho’s chest and kissed him again, slowly and filled with affection. He could taste the sweetness of Minho’s soft lips as they pressed together in gentle harmony.

When he felt Minho’s arms move, he leaned away, seeing Minho’s hands about to touch his back, “No touching, hyung. You have gel on your hands.” He laughs.

Minho groans and pouts, putting his hands back down, “Seriously? I can’t touch? Even a little bit?”

The blonde shakes his head and places his sweater paw covered hands on Minho’s cheeks, “Nope. But I can touch you.”

He leads them into another lip lock, Jisung pressing their bodies together as close as possible. Oxygen? They knew no such thing. They just took whatever breath they could grab. They didn’t want to stop until they were gasping for air.

“No touching.” Jisung scolded every time Minho’s hands would come close to him. Minho would swear underneath his breath every time, not being able to put his hands on his boyfriend.

After a while, Jisung wrapped his arms around Minho’s neck, pulling him as close as humanly possible. The elder groaned when Jisung moved down and started to place love bites on his lower collarbone. He would’ve placed them higher, but they were having guests tomorrow.

When he was satisfied, he went back up and kissed Minho for the nth time that night, “I love you so much, you drive me crazy.” He whispers.

Minho wraps his arms around Jisung tightly, “I love you too, baby.” He whispers before kissing Jisung deeply.

Jisung smiles into the kiss and closes his eyes, happily filled with thoughts of happiness and love. Jisung felt like a blooming flower in spring being caressed by the sun. He wanted to wear their love like a blanket and never let it go.

Then, a couple minutes later, he notices something. “Hyung. Your hands are on my back.”

Minho nods, “Uh huh.”

“And you had ointment on your hands.”

Minho nods again, “Yup.”

Jisung freezes, “Now the gel is on my back.”

“Right again, blondie.”

Jisung sighs and sits up, “I’ll get the aloe.”

—————

The next morning, Jisung woke up with a shiver. He shifts a little and pulls the blanket higher on himself.

“Mm… Minho.” He mumbles, trying to reach out his arms to feel for the older man. When he doesn’t feel him, he opens his eyes. Minho wasn’t in the bed. Groaning, he sits up and rubs his eyes. Minho wasn’t around the room either.

“Min? Babe?” He calls out. Maybe he was just in the bathroom. No answer.

Jisung stepped out of bed and went to the bathroom. He washed up and brushed his teeth before putting on a warmer sweater. While walking down the stairs he heard music playing and smelled something delicious.

When he walked past the living room, he saw Minho dancing to the music while making breakfast. He was shaking his hips and singing quietly to the music. Jisung giggled and tiptoed closer, concealing his presence.

“Ahhh! Geez, Jisung, you scared me!” Minho almost drops the plates he was holding when he turned around and saw the blonde.

Jisung laughs and watches Minho put their plates on the dining table, “Sorry, hyung. You’re up early.”

“Yeah, I was um, feeling a bit jittery.” He replies. Jisung walks over to where he was standing, “Are you alright? Drink too much coffee?” The older boy shook his head and led Jisung to sit on the other side of the table, “I didn’t drink any coffee, but don’t worry about it, Ji. It’s nothing. Let’s eat some breakfast.”

Jisung nods and looks down at his plate. Minho had prepared a beautiful dish of omelette bites, mini croissants, sausage pieces, cucumber slices, and a side of kiwis. “Wow, babe, I feel like I’m eating at a five star hotel. It looks really nice!” He compliments, taking a bite of sausage.

Minho smiles at him, “Thanks, Hannie. I thought I would make something special today. I even drizzled a little sauce and put parsley to make it look super fancy.”

The food was delicious and Jisung did a little food dance, “It’s really tasty, hyung. What made you wake up and decide to make such fancy stuff?” He eats a kiwi and wiggles his hips at how sweet it was.

Minho put his head in his hands looking at Jisung eating and wiggling around happily. The younger’s mouth was stuffed with food, making his cheeks puff up cutely. Minho sighed fondly and smiled like a lovesick teenager, “Um… nothing, really. Maybe I just wanted to feel like a professional chef today.” He laughs.

In reality, he wanted to make their whole day special. The party later wasn’t even a party at all. Sure they would party afterwards, but the real reason Minho brought Jisung and their friends out here was so he could propose.

He had bought the ring a month ago, but he was always too jittery to even think about proposing. He wanted it to be something special, not just at a fancy restaurant or in front of a random crowd. They had always appreciated little things and private gatherings, so Minho thought it would be perfect to prepare a trip to the mountains with the help of his friends.

Now that the day was finally here, he couldn’t help that jittery feeling, but now it wasn’t out of fear. The slight shaking of his hands and soul were because he was excited. Excited to put a ring on Jisung’s finger and call him his fiancé.

“You’re staring, Lino~” Jisung giggles brightly, watching Minho practically drooling. Minho shakes his head and snaps out of his thoughts, “Uh s-sorry…” He laughs nervously.

Jisung laughs and puts his hand over the table on top of Minho’s, “Babe, why are you acting like you’re not allowed to stare? This is all for you anyways.” He shoots the elder glamour shot poses and cute faces, poking his squishy cheeks.

Minho smiles and chuckles at Jisung’s silly behaviour. He wanted to marry the hell out of him. “You done with your plate, babe? I got a way for us to pass the time til the party.” He asks standing up with his own plate.

Jisung nods and gives Minho his plate to put in the sink, “Thank you~ and what did you have in mind? Gonna throw me in the snow for real, this time?” He grins cheekily. Minho puts his hands on his hips and lifts an eyebrow, “Nope. I might throw you in the water, though. But I’m feeling like a nice guy today.”

Jisung follows Minho up the stairs with a confused face, “You can’t throw me in the bathtub, babe. This place only has showers.” He points out.

Minho smirks and leads them into their room. He looks through their luggage and throws a pair of white swimming trunks to his boyfriend, “It does have a nice big hot tub, though.”

Jisung opens his mouth in surprise, “Really? Yay!” He jumps up and down. He really could use a dip in a hot tub. Minho smiles as they change into their swim trunks. His little squirrel was wiggling around excitedly. I guess if you kept being forced to go outside by your boyfriend you’d look forward to a little extra warmth.

Once ready, Minho leads them to the smaller bedroom. Outside was a concealed balcony with an open wall. It had a great view of the mountains and resort. When Jisung follows Minho to the balcony, he giggles as he sees that his boyfriend had prepared a bottle of wine with two wine glasses beside the hot tub.

“Really, bunny? Wine? It’s like ten in the morning.” He laughs, hitting Minho’s uncovered chest. The older boy chuckled and led Jisung closer to the tub that he had gotten up and running a while ago, “Just sparkling wine, Ji. Thought it would be a little more romantic if we had some props.” Leave it to Minho to think of something like that.

Jisung grinned and put his legs in the water, “Oooh… that’s real nice.” Wanting more, he let his whole body sink into the tub, “Come on, hot stuff. It feels amazing.”

The older boy obeyed and hopped in, humming as the warm water heated up his skin. They were practically outside in the cold, but the tub was so hot and steamy that it was a satisfying sensation.

They sat at opposite sides, facing each other. Jisung sighed softly, sinking down until he was up to his neck. “We should get a hot tub at our place, babe. But I’d get all wrinkly because I’d be in it all the time.”

The older boy nodded, playing with the water, “We should totally get one. And a fireplace like the one downstairs.” Jisung eagerly nods. He would sure use his next paycheck to save up for those. Lifting his hand, he takes a sip from his wine glass with sparkling grape juice. It was bordering sickeningly sweet, but he kind of liked it. It tasted a lot better than wine, anyway.

After a while, Minho beckons him over with a finger, looking at Jisung a little flirtatiously, “Come here, baby~ you’re so far away.” He demands as if they weren’t five feet apart with their feet touching.

“Clingy~” Jisung sing-songed playfully, sitting on Minho’s lap, chest to back. Minho wrapped his arms around Jisung’s waist and moved them to the side facing the view.

From there, they saw the snowy mountains and people skiing and snowboarding down high slopes. It felt like living in a computer screen background. It was such a picturesque setting and Jisung wanted to imprint the memory into his mind forever.

“You know...” Minho starts, “I think I first fell in love with you in the snow.”

Jisung shifted to look at him for a second before playing with the elder’s fingers, “In the snow? When was that, my love?”

Minho held him tighter and placed a soft kiss on his nape, “I know it took Changbin smacking some sense into me for me to really realize how I truly felt about you, but… I remember it clearly. When my heart started to beat for you.”

Jisung smiled and looked down at the water bashfully, “Tell me when.”

“It was when we were eighteen. When I was auditioning for college… you know, one of my first proper choreographies.”

Jisung nodded.

Minho cleared his voice and continued, “And I was so scared. More scared than I’ve ever been in my life. I was thinking, if I didn’t get into that school, I would feel like a failure… but you were there with me, outside the building. And it was snowing. You were wearing your favourite white jacket and your hair was blue… you looked like an angel surrounded by snowflakes. I think that’s why I like to call you that...”

His voice started to grow quieter, remembering the moment vividly in his mind, “I was so scared… but you held my hand. You held my hand and told me how great I was and how there was no way they wouldn’t take me. That you’d be proud even if I didn’t make it. My fears just disappeared in that moment. I felt like I could do anything. You smiled at me and I felt my soul light up like a flame, but it didn’t hurt at all. It still feels like that every time I’m with you.”

Jisung didn’t know he was tearing up until he blinked, causing a little droplet to fall down his cheeks. He remembers that day as well. He had never seen Minho so afraid before.

He shifts his body to the left and Minho holds him. “I… I don’t know exactly when I knew I was in love with you…” He lifts a hand and draws shapes on Minho’s torso, remembering the past.

He continues, “It was more like one of those perspective pieces you see at museums and art shows... The ones where it just looks like scattered pieces until you find the right perspective and see a face or a picture.”

Minho rubs his thumb over Jisung’s hip, listening intently.

“For me, you invaded my mind in little pieces. Just tiny scattered memories floating around me, like your smile, your wit, all of your charms. It surrounded me and I didn’t know what to do with it. It was like I was just standing there wondering why I kept thinking about you rescuing cats, dancing in dim lighting, or smiling at me. I didn’t understand it.

Then, you cried in front of me for the first time when you got too overwhelmed with yourself. Of all the years we were friends, you never let me see you cry. That day, it gave me the last puzzle piece to add to the ones already floating around me. And suddenly, when I finally stepped back and looked at the right angle, I saw that I loved you. That I loved you more than a best friend should. That I wanted you so bad.”

Their eyes were both shiny with tears. No, they weren’t of sadness, but of love. A love that came a long way. A love that would still continue to grow and prosper.

They pressed their foreheads together, closing their eyes. They didn’t speak, because they both understood each other in a way nobody but them could.

If you believed in myths, you would probably see their red string of fate tying them together like a spider’s web.

If you believed in fairy tales, this would be the happily ever after that never really ends.

—————

“Gotta go, Minho hyung! Felix is downstairs, love you, bye!” Jisung shouts as he scurries down the stairs quickly. He hears Minho shout an “Okay, babe! Be safe!” From their bedroom.

When he opens the door, he greets his friend, whose nose was a little red from the cold, “Aw, Lix… how long have you been waiting out here? I’m sorry…”

Felix panics and waves his hands, “No! I just got out of the car, I promise. My face is just sensitive to the cold.”

Jisung hugs him and they walk towards the car, “If you say so, Lixie… you ready to blow our paychecks to get some drinks?” He asks as they buckle in their seatbelts.

“Hell yeah. Feels like college all over again.” He laughs, starting the car and driving towards the liquor store.

-

Meanwhile, Minho was at home, frantically texting his friends. Felix was already out doing his part, so he needed the rest to get to their cabin and start the preparations while they were out.

LMH: Guys, the coast is clear. Jilix is out of the building

BC: We’ll be over in five. Do you need anything else before we come over?

HHJ: Yeah, hyung. Innie and I can pick something up if you want. We already got all the other stuff

KSM: Oops, Changbin hyung and I are already outside…

LMH: It’s alright, guys. But I’ll still be needing the rose bouquets, so can you please bring those over right now? Please don’t forget the plan. Sorry, I’m just kind of stressing out. Also, give me a second, I’m coming to open the door

YJN: Don’t stress out, hyung! Why’re you so scared?

LMH: What is he says no? What will I do?

BC: Min, calm down… this is supposed to be a happy day. You’re going to propose to Jisungie and I just know he’s going to say yes. 100%

YJN: I agree with Chan hyung. So try to calm down and think about the ’yes’ rather than the highly unlikely ’no’

LMH: You guys are right. It’ll all go according to plan. Thanks for doing this for me, you guys. I know I asked a lot, especially since you’re all so busy.

HHJ: This? It’s nothing, hyung. Why wouldn’t we want to help you ask the love of your life to marry you? You’re our friends and we want you to be happy

LMH: Thank you. At times like this, you’re not the heathens I thought you were

YJN: Oooh was that a slice of affection?

LMH: No.

HHJ: It definitely was! We’ll be there soon

———

“Umm… Felix, I think you just passed by the liquor store.” Jisung points to the plaza they just passed by.

Felix just continues to drive forward, unbothered, “Oh, that old place? No, we’re going to a better one. It’s further away, but there’s better stuff there. Plus, it’s bigger.”

There actually wasn’t anything wrong with the store they just passed by, but Felix needed to bring them as far from the cabin as possible.

His part of a plan was simple:
Make sure they lost the sled race
Distract Jisung and bring him far from the cabin
Buy some gummy bears for later (this one was for him).

So if he had to drive further for a couple of six packs, vodka, and rum, it was for the greater good.

When they got out of the car and entered the store, Felix realized that it was a little smaller than the one they had first passed. The freckled male just looked at his friend and hoped he wouldn’t notice.

“How about these? They look pretty good.” Jisung asks, holding a six pack of beers. The two of them weren’t used to buying drinks. It was usually Changbin or Chan’s job to get them.

Felix nodded and pointed to the cart he was holding, “Yup, grab two, bub.”

Felix quickly checked his phone to check the time. They’ve been at the store for about twenty minutes already, filling up their cart with alcohol and aesthetic bottles. Felix was lucky it wasn’t actually his own money he was going to pay with. Since it was Minho’s idea to do this, he gave Felix the money after throwing the race the previous day. Felix just told the older boy it was okay, but when Minho held a wad of cash in front of his face, what was he going to do? Say no?

He could buy a lot of cheese fries with those.

———-

“Minho hyung! Calm down, dammit! And your buttons are uneven!” Changbin shouts, holding onto Minho’s arms. The brunette was practically hyperventilating and fidgeting non-stop.

Chan comes over and helps the nervous boy fix the buttons of his white button up shirt. He was dressed in black slacks and shiny black shoes as well.

“I need to sit down for a second.” He says, making his way to sit down on a chair. Seungmin walked up to him and started fanning him with a folded piece of paper. “Crack open a window or something, hyung is sweating up a storm.”

The boys were all at Minho and Jisung’s cabin helping him get ready and prepare the first floor for the proposal. It took three cars (plus a delivery truck) to bring all the balloons and flowers needed for it.

Jisung loved rom coms and everything cheesy and romantic, and since Minho loved Jisung, he learned to like it too. He wanted to propose like those movie protagonists and have that ‘wow how romantic’ moment. He knew he didn’t need to, but he had his own flair for the dramatic.

He bit his lip and pulled out the blue velvet ring box, holding it in his hands tightly. It was really happening today.

“Hyung, follow me.”

Minho looked up to see Changbin gesturing for him to leave the room with him. He figured Minho could use a little quiet and a pep talk.” Minho stood up and followed the black haired man into the spare guest room. Changbin sits him down on the bed, standing in front of him. “Hyung.” He starts, causing Minho to look at him, “I’ve been where you are right now. I was so scared and nervous that something wrong would happen. That Felix would say no or say that he didn’t want to get married.”

He sighs and sits down next to his best friend, “But he said yes and grabbed the ring from my fingers.” He chuckles.

Minho laughs as well, “Yeah, I remember… you didn’t even get to finish the question.”

Changbin played with the silver band on his ring finger, “I was so terrified, but it was one of the greatest decisions I’ve ever made in my life. Nothing really changes, hyung… but it’s just a feeling. When I see Felix’s ring on him, I feel like I’m with him all the time. Just a little piece of me is wrapped around him at all times… so straighten up your posture, hyung. You’ve got a proposal to do.”

Minho looks up and smiles at his friend, “Why is it always you that smacks some sense in me, Bin?” Changbin smirks and pulls Minho up from the bed, “Cause you’re an idiot who sucks at feelings.”

Minho playfully punches his arm, “Shut up, Changbin, I do not.”

Changbin shakes his head playfully and pushes him back to the room with the other boys, “I guess not anymore.”

—————

“Look at this one, Sungie! How do I look?”

Jisung laughs at his friend who was wearing a red wig and huge sunglasses, “You look hot, Lix. You should totally wear that to the party later.” He looks at his phone, seeing 4:43, “Speaking of the party, we should be heading back soon. I bet the others are already on the way there.”

After buying the drinks for the party, Felix drove them to a party store nearby. He had gotten a text from Hyunjin saying they needed a little more time, so he was trying his best to keep them from going home just yet.

Felix panics and stutters, “Um, b-but Jisung! We’ve only checked a quarter of the store. Don’t you want to check the rest? We can check the costumes or even find stuff to bring to the party!”

Jisung didn’t want to be late, but he did want to check out the cool things in the store some more. He supposes they could be fashionably late, right?

“Okay! Let’s check out the spooky stuff! Maybe we can prank Hyunjin or something!”

Felix smiled at him, hiding his sigh of relief. Well, if things went wrong, he could always glue Jisung to the car seat so he wouldn’t go in the cabin.

Or he could bring him to a restaurant with good cheesecake.

Yeah, that would work. Except they would never leave.

————

“How do I look? Do I look okay? Am I still sweaty?” Minho asks Chan and Seungmin, who were his stylists for the day.

“Don’t make me say it, hyung. I’ll throw up.” Seungmin says, making a barfing motion at the mere concept of complimenting his hyung.

Chan laughs and takes the styling clips out of Minho’s hair, “So he’s saying you look great, Min. And you do. Especially your hair. You’re welcome.”

Minho chuckles and kicks Chan in the leg, “Thank you hyung. And thank you, demon that only compliments me when he’s drunk.”

Seungmin looks at him offended, “I do not! You must’ve heard wrong. I would never compliment you.” He huffs.

“Actually, I have a video.”

The three boys look at the door to the new voice in the room. “Innie! Delete that!” Seungmin shouts, running to the youngest. The foxy male shook his head, “Nope! You looked cute in it, Seungminnie hyung.”

Seungmin stopped trying to attack him and blushed, “R-really? I did? Well if that’s the case, you can keep it...” He smiles like a happy puppy, hugging Jeongin and rubbing his face on Jeongin’s cheeks.

“Hello my son. Is downstairs ready?” Chan asks, smiling expectantly at the youngest.

Jeongin nods, “Yup! Everything is up and accounted for. It actually looks pretty awesome. But if I have to see one more picture of Minho hyung and Jisungie hyung doing cheesy stuff, I’m going to pass out.”

Chan puts an arm over Minho’s shoulder, patting his arm encouragingly, “Ready to get the party started, Minho?”

The brunette shivered slightly, hearing that question. Was he ready?

He feels the ring box in his pocket and all of a sudden, the image of a blue haired boy smiling and holding his hand popped into his head. Then, the image changed into a blonde boy who was a little older, who still had the same smile and the same hold on his hands.

He straightens his back, now confident.

“I’m ready.”

—————

Jisung laughs with Felix as they pull up to the ski resort. They had a lot of fun together today and laughed so hard their stomachs hurt. He had missed his birthday twin and got to spend a lot of time with him after a whole month.

“Okay, Jisungie~ are you ready?”

“For what, Lix?”

Felix smiles fondly at him, “For the party.”

Jisung tilted his head, “Yeah, I suppose so. After all, it’s just a regular party, right? Well, if Hyunjin doesn’t get super drunk and start stripping again.”

Felix laughs at the memory, “Okay then, let’s get inside.” He turns off the car. Right before Jisung leaves the car though, Felix reaches into the glove compartment and gives him a single white rose with a white ribbon tied on its stem.

They get out of the car and Jisung smiles, smelling the flower, “Mm, thank you Lix. It’s so pretty.”

Felix walks him to the door and knocks four times. It was a code telling the boys that they were at the door, ready to go. The freckled boy looks at his friend, “It’s not from me.” He winks.

Jisung looks confused, “Then who is it from?”

“You’ll see.”

Just like that, Felix opens the wooden door, revealing the house.

Jisung steps into the foyer with his mouth open in shock. It was so beautiful.

The lights were slightly dimmed, letting Jisung see the white fairy lights strung all over the place. He takes another step and smiles widely when he sees everything. There were so many things going on.

On the ground were white rose petals and a path of small lit lanterns leading into the living room.

Floating around him were white paper lanterns and balloons. The balloons made a theme of blue, white, and silver, making it feel like a winter wonderland.

“Lix… what is all this?” He turns around and asks his friend, who was smirking at him.

The freckled boy gently pushed him forwards, “Go find out, Jisungie. I’ll be right behind you.”

Jisung turned back around and started walking slowly through the entrance and hallway. Upon closer inspection, he sees that the balloon ribbons were attached to photographs. They were hanging at the bottom of the strings, floating around like little memories.

They were pictures of him and Minho over the years. He smiles and grabs a blue balloon that was attached to a picture of Minho and Jisung in high school. He chuckles at the embarrassing pictures of them posing in front of their school with some friends.

Afterwards, he picks another balloon with a picture of him and Minho on one of their first official dates. It was at a cat cafe and they were smiling with brown and white cats on their laps.

As he continues to walk, he keeps smiling at all the photographs and balloons. There must’ve been about a hundred balloons and photographs. He wanted to stop and look at them all one by one, but he was also curious as to what this was all about. Where was everybody? But wait. What was this music? It sounded familiar.

He walks further into the house, being led by the path of lanterns and white rose petals on the wooden floor. Then when he finally turned the corner to the living room, he froze.

Minho was standing in front of the fireplace looking so handsome, Jisung’s cheeks started to heat up against his will. Chan, Changbin, Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Jeongin were standing on his sides, a few feet away, smiling and gesturing towards Minho.

He wordlessly walks closer, following the path of flowers. He looks around him and is in awe of all the snowflake decorations hanging from the ceiling. It looked like a beautiful flurry, but the snowflakes were the size of his palm. It was then that he realized that his songs’ instrumentals were playing in the background faintly. It helped make the atmosphere more magical with their mellow and colourful feelings.

He sees Minho smile fondly at him as he walks closer. Jisung takes a deep breath as he walks a couple more feet.

When he finally stood in front of Minho, he smiled, “Hi, hyung.” He greets quietly.

Minho smiles so hard his eyes looked like moon crescents, “Hi, Jisungie. Do you like what we’ve done with the place?” He asks.

Jisung nods eagerly, “I love it! How did you do all this? It’s so beautiful I can’t stop looking!” He giggles, poking one of the hanging snowflakes, making it sway left and right.

Minho takes a step forward, “I hoped you’d like it. Or my proposal wouldn’t be as great.”

Jisung hummed in understanding , “Well, I guess so- WAIT, WHAT?!” He shouts, jaw dropping and looking eagerly at Minho for an explanation. “Wh- wha- wait-oh- no what? I- oh my g- I’m gonna pass out-“

Minho laughs and grabs his arm before he falls backwards. Jisung is silent, shock still rattling his brain. Did he really hear that right, or did he hallucinate it? Was all of this real? Naw.

But no, he’s pretty sure it was. Yes, it was definitely real. Oh my g-

“Jisungie~” Minho calls, smiling a smile so fond Jisung could melt into an ocean. His smile was blinding and all Jisung could do was get lost in Minho’s sparkling eyes.

Meanwhile, Minho’s heart was beating out of his chest, but no longer from fear.

He looked directly at Jisung, whose eyes seemed to be glazed over adorably. His smile couldn’t fall off of his face.

Jisung was surrounded by snowflakes just like that day, many years ago. That day he fell in love with him. The memory was overlapping with the present and Minho didn’t know if it was possible to love someone more than this. He had a solution for that though. He would always make more room for more love. He’s ready to do it.

“Hannie… look at me, baby.” He says, stepping right in front of Jisung, looking into those big, round eyes he could stare at all day.

Jisung snaps out of his thoughts and looks at Minho, breath hitching as he gets closer.

Minho clicks his tongue, “Look what you’ve made me do, Jisung. Before I loved you, I hated romance. It was just: find a person, like them a little, and marry them before you’re old and wrinkly. Before I loved you, I’d rather get punched in the ribs than watch dramas or romantic comedies. Before I loved you, I never knew love could feel so good- that it could feel so warm…”

Jisung’s eyes turned misty and he held Minho’s hand, “M-Minho hyung… are you…” he whispers, looking at Minho with questioning eyes.

Minho just smiled at him and continued, speaking in a playful blaming tone, “But when I realized I loved you, you turned my life upside down. I started liking rom coms because I watched them with you. I started loving ‘cheesy’ because it made you laugh. Because of you, I got used to stocking my fridge with cakes and berries. Because of you, I learned how to share blankets and pillows. Because of you, I learned how to compromise. I learned how to apologize despite my pride. Because of you, I learned that just one person could change your life.

You were my best friend and still are. You were my soulmate and you still are. You were my boyfriend, but that, I want to change…”

Jisung clasps his hands together and he tries his hardest not to cry when Minho gets down on one knee, but he fails when he feels wet tears of joy fall down his cheeks.

He couldn’t believe what was happening. His mind was processing everything that happened. Why Minho brought him here, why he was being extra romantic, why he even brought their friends here, why Felix kept making him go to random stores instead of heading straight home.

He felt like the leading man of a feel good holiday movie meant for kids or moms. Here he was, surrounded by beautiful shining snowflakes, white rose petals, lanterns, balloons, photographs, and the man he loved more than anything. And that man was on bended knee, pulling a blue ring box out of his pocket.

“Han Jisung. That speech left me as breathless as you do, so I’ll just get on with it.

Will you marry me?”

Jisung hops onto Minho and tackles him on the ground. Minho almost drops the ring and lands on his back with a grunt.

“Yes! Minho hyung, yes I will absolutely marry you! I love you so much!” Jisung falls onto his side, laying on the flower petals.

Minho faces him, laughing joyfully. His friends were right. There really wasn’t anything to worry about, after all. Everything went perfectly, but he just needed to do one more thing.

He takes Jisung’s left hand and places the silver band on his ring finger. In the centre was a diamond that glistened in the light.

“Wooo! Congratulations!”

“You guys finally did it!”

“Let’s party!”

Their friends all surround them and throw rose petals in celebration. Chan and Jeongin pop confetti cannons, laughing as the streamers were getting caught in everyone’s hair.

The newly engaged couple smiled until their cheeks hurt before sharing a long and loving kiss in front of everyone.

“Ew! We had to sit through your whole lovey dovey speech, hyung! You guys can do that after we leave!” Seungmin comments, blasting a confetti cannon at them.

Jisung laughed and backed away from his now fiancé to hug Seungmin, who hugged him back tightly. Soon, the others all joined and created a warm group hug.

After a few seconds, Hyunjin started to get squished and gasped out, “Okay! Enough hugging! Let’s get wasted!”

————

“Felix, honey. What are you doing?” Changbin asks his husband, who was currently tying balloons onto his arms and legs, obviously drunk.

Felix slurred and looked at Changbin, “I’m tying balloons on you, Binnie~ to see if you can fly~” he says with a bright smile as if what he was doing was totally normal. He was only drunk, but he was acting like he was high off of something Changbin didn’t even know.

Changbin just smiled at him, endeared with how cute he was, stumbling and clumsily tying the balloon ribbons, “Oh, okay, baby. Keep trying. I think it’s working.”

“Really? Okay, I’ll get some more. Stay right there!” The younger said, as if Changbin could get off the couch with at least twelve balloons attached to his limbs.

Meanwhile, Minho was being hugged by Seungmin, who also had a little too much to drink. The boy was with Minho on the sofa, hugging his arm and rubbing his face on it, “Minho hyunggg~ I know I hate you but I actually like totally...I like don’t hate you for real! You’re actually a really nice hyung that helps me a lot, but I like to fight you because it’s funny! And I’m really happy you’re happy and I want you and Jisung to be happy forever and ever and everrr~ oh, my head hurts. Whoa I think I just spoke a lot.”

Minho laughed and patted Seungmin on the head. He also sneakily told Chan to take away Seungmin’s drink cup since he seemed like he'd already had enough.

Just as he expected, the maknae line was drunk. It was always a thing at their get-togethers
that the maknae line would play drinking games. Usually, Felix would sit out in favour of eating cookies and candy at the snack table, but he wanted to join in on the fun today.

To go with the drinks, Chan, Hyunjin, and Minho had ordered food for all of them after losing a game of rock, paper, scissors.

After they ate chicken, pizza, barbecue, and pasta, the drinking started. It had been a long time since they all got together like this, so they all wanted to get at least a little tipsy.

Unfortunately, Chan and Changbin volunteered to be the designated drivers for the evening, letting the younger ones have a little fun.
They didn’t mind it though. It was kind of funny taking care of five drunk crazies clumsily going about their business.

Of course, Minho had offered for them all to just sleep over. They had a spacious cabin and a guest room, but they all denied, saying something along the lines of, “Yeah, no thanks. You guys just got engaged and I know what happens the night after that happens. I don’t want to wake up and hear gross noises coming from your bedroom.” To which Minho didn’t even try to deny.

Meanwhile, Minho decided that he would only get a little tipsy just in case the drinkers did something extra crazy. This cabin was rented, after all.

“Yes! Drink it up, loser! Learn to bounce the ball better!” Jisung taunts Hyunjin after getting a shot in his beer bong cup.

Hyunjin drank the bitter mixture of rum and coke before taunting the younger male back, “Oh yeah? Well you should shoot the ball better! Watch this!” He throws the ping pong ball, landing it in one of Jisung’s red solo cups. “Now you drink it up, loser!”

Jeongin sighs and stands in between them, near the middle of the table. Hyunjin and Jisung were very close friends and were nice and cuddly with each other. However, they were both bossy drunks and whenever they did drink, they would revert back to their high school selves when they hated each other’s guts. “Stop fighting, you two. Or it’s time out!” He says, threatening them like a couple of kindergarten kids.

The two immediately shut their mouths and calmed down, not wanting to be punished with something as severe as a time out. In their mushy, drunk minds, it made sense.

On the other side of the table, Seungmin, who finally peeled himself off of Minho, was watching the beer pong game go down while eating popcorn. They were the kinds of drunks that hogged the snack table. Seungmin was also the type of drunk to express his affections to people he usually didn’t.

“Chan hyung! Can you come take this shot for me? My mind is not very amazing right now.” Jisung calls his hyung from over at the food table. Dusting off his hands, Chan came over and took the ping pong ball, aiming it at Hyunjin’s cups.

None of the stubborn boys wanted to admit defeat, so they still continued the game despite feeling pretty drunk already. Jisung could hardly focus on his targets so he had to call for backup.

“Wooo! Great job Chan hyung!” Jisung happily hugs the eldest, squishing him. “No problem, Sungie.” He laughs.

Hyunjin narrowed his eyes at the squirrel-like boy while drinking his shot, bitterly. If Jisung could get a backup player, he could too. “Minho hyung! Can you play for me?”

Minho jogs over and takes the ping pong ball from Hyunjin.

“Come on, hot stuff! Give it your best shot!” Jisung taunts, wiggling and making moves to distract Minho from making the shot. The brunette tried to ignore the blonde’s actions, but couldn’t help but let out a laugh before bouncing the ball on the table, making it land directly in the centre cup.

“Dammit! You suck!” Jisung shouts as he picks up the cup and drinks from it. After he takes the shot, he pouts hard. Felix, in his ever so lovely happy drunkenness, stuffed a red gummy bear in between Jisung’s lips, causing the other to angrily chew on it.

When he finds out it’s delicious, he steps out from his spot and stands beside Felix, starting to stuff his face with gummy bears together. “Channie hyung! Please get this one in!” He pleads with the older, who pulled up the sleeves of his sweater for maximum accuracy. “Don’t worry, bro. I got this.”

Everyone was silent as Chan bounced the ball on the table and missed the cups. They both had only two cups left and the tension was getting higher by the second.

“Haha! Minho hyungggg! You got this! Control that little white ball with your minddd~I’m speaking it into existence now. It’ll go in!” He rubs Minho’s shoulders clumsily as the older boy prepares to sabotage his fiance. After all, a game was a game.

When he throws the ball, it hits the corner of the cup, but ends up going in, causing Jisung to groan, taking the dreaded red cup.

However, as he brought it to his lips, he heard Hyunjin lean on the table and bump into it, “Crap, I’m really drunk~” He says, before closing his eyes and passing out.

Jeongin and Seungmin ran to catch him before he fell, each taking one of Hyunjin’s arms. They sighed as they brought him to lay on the couch. They checked up on him and Jeongin went to the kitchen to get a wet cloth.

“Yes! I won! I won! I-“

Chan acts fast and catches Jisung as he passes out and falls backwards.

“Dammit, those two would rather pass out than let the other win. Stupid weiners. They’re lucky I wasn’t playing, because Binnie Binnie Changbinnie never loses at beer pong.” Changbin comments from the couch, attached to about sixteen balloons. They could barely even see him. If they didn’t know he was there, they would’ve just thought a balloon cloud was speaking to them.

Then Chan, the ever responsible dad-friend he was, sighed and gathered their attention, “Alright, kids. It’s getting late and two people have already passed out. Start grabbing your stuff and get into your designated cars. Felix and Seungmin, you’re with Changbin. Hyunjin and Jeongin are with me. Now someone, help me carry Hyunjin to the car. Also, someone please get some scissors for Changbin.”

————

Minho puts a couple solo cups and dirty tissues in a garbage bag before putting it in the trash. He was so grateful for Chan, Changbin, and Jeongin for helping him clean everything up. The only thing that remained was the dozens of balloons floating around. Felix had drunkenly insisted on bringing home some balloons. Of course, Changbin and Seungmin couldn’t resist his pleading eyes, so they unfortunately had to ride with six full sized balloons cramped inside the car with them.

Once he was finished, he walked over to the couch, where Jisung was laying with a fur blanket on him.

He leaned down and fixed a hair from Jisung’s face. Then he slightly startled when Jisung woke up and started to sleepily grumble. Wanting to bring his fiancé upstairs, he starts to put his arms under the smaller, carrying him like a drunk princess.

Carefully, he carries him to their bedroom, careful not to hit his head on the doorframe. Something he had done once and made sure he would never do again.

As soon as they entered the room, the now conscious male got down from Minho’s arms and ran to the bed, flopping onto the sheets.

Minho laughed, seeing Jisung’s small form splayed out on the big bed. He had other plans for tonight, but he guesses that could wait for another time. He needed to take care of his fiancé right now before he fell out of bed.

He walks toward the boy and poked his back, “Hey, baby… we gotta go brush our teeth… wake up~”

Jisung turned over and scurried away, “Um. Sorry, I have a boyfr- wait no. I have a fiancé so please do not touch me, sir.” He says, sternly.

Minho sighed and turned on the lights, letting Jisung see his face properly. When Jisung realizes who it was, a dopey smile shows up on his face, “Oh, hi honey! Where did everybody go? Why are- why are we in our room?” He asks, tilting his head in a way Minho found most endearing.

Minho chuckles and picks him up like a baby, “The party’s over, sweetheart. Everyone went home. And we gotta get to the bathroom and get ready for bed.”

Jisung uses his fists to hit Minho’s back like a baby, “Nooo! I wanna sleep! I don’t wanna wash up! I wanna cuddle, Minho!” He whines petulantly, dropping honorifics.

Minho just smacked his bum and opened the bathroom door, ignoring his fiancés whines. Jisung was such a bossy drunk. He was an absolute whiny baby.

“Minhoo. If you don’t put me down this instant I will be super duper totally upset!”

Minho ignores him and places him on the bathroom counter beside the sink, “There. I put you down, snowflake. I know you’re not going to brush your teeth so I’ll have to do it for you.”

Jisung whined again but opened his mouth when Minho put his toothbrush and toothpaste in front of him. He rolled his eyes and avoided Minho’s eyes while the elder brushed his teeth thoroughly.

Afterwards, Minho gave him a cup of water to rinse his mouth while he brushed his own teeth. Then after that, Jisung swung his legs on the counter and drunkenly almost fell forward if it weren’t for Minho catching him.

With a chuckle, Minho picked up his fiancé and walked back to their bed, gently placing him down.

However, when Minho expected him to just lie down and sleep, the blonde got up and started jumping on the bed, dancing and singing a song loudly.

“Jisung, get down and go to sleep. It’s three in the morning.” Minho scolded, reaching out to grab the suddenly rambunctious male.

“No, Minho, I want to party~ come onn~”

Minho had no time to react as Jisung was running out of their room and down the stairs. Minho rolled his eyes and went to follow him.

“Babe! No standing on tables!” Minho scolds, running to Jisung and bringing him down to the ground. The younger boy pouted and tried to squirm away, “You’re no fun, dude.”

Minho looked at him offended, “Did you just ‘dude’ me? I am your fiancé.”

“Finance? Ugh I hated that class in college.” He drowsily slumps down, making Minho catch him in his arms. He was so going to be hungover in the morning. Realizing Jisung had stopped wanting to become a tabletop dancer, he walked them both to a nearby couch.

He wanted to lay them down together, but Jisung wanted to sit on his lap like a baby. Minho, the ever so whipped man he was, held Jisung sideways on his lap. After he got comfortable, he reached out and put a blue blanket over them.

Jisung was just looking up at nothing, probably feeling the world spin. Minho laughed and pinched his nose, causing the blonde to snap back to reality.

“You’re really drunk, baby.” Minho chuckles, patting Jisung’s head. The blonde groans and snuggles into Minho’s chest, “Minho~my stomach hurts. Do something.” He demands.

No honorifics and a blunt demand. If Minho didn’t love him so much, he would’ve been thrown out the window, or left to freeze in the middle of a snow storm. Cruel, yes, but a suitable punishment he would say.

Minho sighs and puts a hand on Jisung's stomach, rubbing it in soothing circles, “Yes, your highness. I live only to serve you.” He says, like a loyal servant.

This elicits a happy giggle from Jisung, who closed his eyes in relaxation, “That’s right. You do…” He adjusted his position and shifted more into Minho.

The brunette pinched his tummy, “Don’t you dare throw up on me, Han Jisung, I’ll throw you off this couch.”

Jisung smiles smugly, closing his eyes and enjoying the tummy rubs, “You won’t.” He says confidently.

Unfortunately, he was right. But Minho couldn’t let him get away with that. “Who says I wouldn’t?”

Jisung only hummed and raised his left hand, showing off the sparkly silver band on his ring finger, “This.” He chuckles.

Minho sighed deeply, leaning his head back against the couch before looking back at Jisung with narrowed eyes, “You’re a brat. I hope you know that. You’re gonna give me arthritis.”

“You sure talk a lot, Minho. I just want to sleep, but you made me chase you down here. Now you keep chit chatting. It’s like four Minho, geez.” He slurs, still drunk and starting to snooze.

His breathing slows down and Minho just holds him, watching him fall asleep. When he knew the younger was sleeping, he picked up the boy’s hand and looked at the engagement ring. He smiled and looked down at this bundle in his arms with rosy cheeks.

“What will I do with you?”

————

The next morning, Minho woke up on the couch with a sore neck and a cramped back. He opened his eyes and sat up. He probably slept in a bad position last night.

“No, hyung, I’m still on vacation remember? Jaebum hyung didn’t tell you? Yeah, I took the week off. Yup! Was that all? Okay, hyung see you next week, bye.”

Minho hears Jisung on the phone nearby. He stands up and walks over to him. He stepped over to the smaller, hugging him from behind. “Good morning, my spitfire.” He kisses his cheek.

Jisung smiled and swayed them left and right. He had a blanket over his shoulders and was watching the snow fall from the window, “Good morning, Minho hyungie~ how’d you sleep? Sorry I left. Jackson hyung called me and asked why I didn’t show up for four days...”

“It’s okay, Ji. And honestly, my back has seen better days.”

Jisung turns his head to kiss Minho’s cheek, “Don't worry, Lino. I’ll give you a back rub after breakfast. I mean, lunch.” The taller nods thankfully and looks out the window where the snow was falling.

It was always nice just watching the snowfall while you were warm and toasty inside.

Jisung brought a hand up to swipe a hair out of his eyes when he saw the ring on his finger. He smiled at it, “So yesterday really did happen, huh?”

Minho looked down and realized what Jisung was talking about. He chuckled, nuzzling into the blonde’s neck, “Yup. Sadly I’m stuck with you forever.”

Jisung laughs and pretends to elbow the brunette, “More like luckily for you, I’m gonna love you like this forever.”

Minho smirks and hugs his waist tighter, “Promise?”

Jisung nods and giggles, “Yup.”

“You hungover?”

Jisung nods, “Yup. Very.”

“Need some aspirin?”

Jisung nods once more, “Yup. That would be nice, yes.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back.”

——

A few days ago, Han Jisung couldn’t stand winter or anything to do with it. But recently, he learned that with the cold, came hot cocoa, ice skating, snowman building, and even sparkly engagement rings.

So now, Jisung wasn’t afraid to look out the windows to see the snow falling like angel dust from the heavens. Because if he looked closer, he could see his and Minho’s reflections on the glass, smiling and happily in love.

‘Nothing’s really that bad.’ Jisung thought.

‘Not if I’m with you.’