Work Text:
“Are you really sure you’re not busy?” Pete asked, one of his eyebrows raised at his boyfriend who was currently pretending to look at the cooking oils displayed along the shelves in front of them.
“I told you, stop worrying about it already,” Vegas replied to reassure him. “Plus, I need a break every now and then. I stayed up until four in the morning last time.”
Pete frowned as they headed over to the sauces section. He had been worried about Vegas for the past few days. Of course, he blamed his workaholic lover for that. The guy never rested until someone else told him to.
“You should’ve just stayed at home and rested then. You need sleep.”
“I wanted to help you. Can’t I do that as your boyfriend?” Pete narrowed his eyes at the grin that appeared in Vegas’ face. The man suddenly picked up a random bottle of something and placed it inside the pushcart he was holding.
Pete glanced at it, sighing before putting the bottle back to the shelf.
“Vegas, this is fish sauce. You have to look at the label. I don’t think you can really help me with this.”
“Huh? Wait, didn’t you say we needed fish sauce?”
“No, we don’t. We still have, like, two bottles at home. And I said we needed soy sauce, not this. There’s a difference.”
“Oh,” Vegas simply replied. He didn’t really care either way, he was never a good cook after all. “I still don’t get why you like doing this. We can have someone else do this, you know.”
“I just got used to it, I guess. Whenever the maids were busy back in the major clan, I would sometimes buy groceries for the house, too. And it’s a little relaxing.”
They continued walking, their pace slow. Pete was so focused on looking at the products that were displayed and checking the labels of each object he was putting inside the pushcart. Vegas did nothing except push the basket and fondly watched Pete. His eyes were on him, but Pete was too busy with whatever he was doing that he didn’t even notice that Vegas was staring at him the whole time.
He missed this—spending time with his lover. Although he still had an appreciation for his work, being with Pete was just so different. Vegas just felt calmer and lighter whenever Pete was around. Which was why even though he should be helping the man beside him, Pete was the only thing occupying his mind. The current Pete who was busy grabbing last-minute items before they could check out and pay for the groceries later.
“Pete, I love you,” Vegas murmured before he could even stop himself.
Suddenly, Pete froze for a moment. He turned to his side and glanced suspiciously at Vegas who slightly tilted his head, grinning once again.
“Are you okay?” Pete asked after putting down the items he was holding inside the basket. He even mockingly placed his palm on Vegas’ forehead, implying that he was trying to see if he had a fever or something.
Vegas let out a throaty laugh. He wrapped his fingers around Pete’s wrist and slightly lowered it. “What? I can’t say that to my boyfriend now?”
This guy has been mentioning the word boyfriend too much recently, Pete noticed.
“Stop being weird. We’re in public,” Pete replied but he didn’t move his hand away from Vegas’ hold.
Even though they were in public as Pete said, there was no one in the same aisle as they were, and the grocery market wasn’t that crowded because it was a weekday.
Vegas moved his hand from Pete’s wrist to his palm and interlocked their fingers together. Pete raised a brow at him for the umpteenth time that day. However, Pete relaxed as well when Vegas suddenly moved closer, lowered his head, and pressed his forehead against Pete’s shoulder. He did this without letting go of Pete’s hand. He was doing it again, Vegas’ favorite habit of leaning against his shoulder.
Pete couldn’t fight the smile that appeared on his face anymore. He raised his head to see if anyone was looking and when he checked that there was no one around, he lifted his free hand and gently patted Vegas’ hair. As soon as he did that, he felt Vegas inhale softly on his shoulder which made him shiver slightly for a moment. And he knew it wasn’t because of the cool, conditioned air inside the grocery market.
“Aren’t you going to reply to what I said?” Vegas whispered, his breath touching Pete’s shoulder. Pete moved his free hand from his head to the back of Vegas’ shoulders and caressed it against the shirt he was wearing.
“I love you, too,” Pete whispered back. He instantly felt that his ears were already getting red.
Vegas finally raised his head when he heard what Pete said and quickly enveloped him in a tight hug. Pete laughed before distancing himself again away from him but still, without letting go of his hand.
“Okay, okay, that’s enough. We have to pay for this now,” he said, pointing at the basket filled with grocery products.
Pete was about to move the pushcart when Vegas stopped him again, looking at him with a playful gaze. “Kiss me first or I’m not paying for this.”
“Then don’t. I brought my wallet, you know,” Pete retorted, smirking in reply.
Suddenly, Vegas let go of their interlocked fingers and moved so fast to grab Pete’s wallet from his jean’s pocket. Pete tried to block his hand, but Vegas was faster. He raised his two fingers with the wallet being held in-between them and smirked challengingly at his boyfriend.
Pete sighed exasperatedly but he couldn’t stop smiling. “Are you kidding me? Give it back, Vegas.”
“I said, kiss me first.”
“What are you? Twelve? You’re a grown man.”
“So a grown man isn’t allowed to receive a kiss?”
“Why the hell are you so clingy today?” Pete asked, genuinely curious.
But he knew the answer. It was because they haven’t been spending much time with each other recently because of their work so Vegas obviously missed Pete a lot.
Vegas scoffed as if he said something ridiculous. He tilted his face to show off his cheek. “At least kiss me here. And also, I am not clingy.”
“Yes, you are,” was the last thing Pete said before he stepped closer and swiftly held Vegas’ face in his hands. Vegas could barely react properly when Pete’s lips met his. Pete felt Vegas smile as their lips moved in unison.
The kiss was quite short but tasteful. Pete realized it’s been a few days since the last time they kissed like that. Vegas thought Pete would only kiss him in the cheek, but he would never complain if Pete would always kiss him like this.
“Why did you stop?” Vegas asked.
Pete suddenly pulled away and added more distance between them. He finally moved the pushcart and began walking away as fast as he could. Vegas was confused so he turned around and that’s when he saw a little child pass by the aisle who were glancing at them with wide eyes. The poor child must’ve seen the two make out with one another in the middle of a public space.
Vegas caught up with Pete whose ears were even redder now because of embarrassment. He groaned quietly and said, “Argh, Vegas, this is all your fault!”
“What? I didn’t do anything. You were the one who kissed me,” Vegas retaliated, smirking at Pete who was hurrying over to the cashier.
“Shut up and hurry. I want to eat something.”
“I’m hungry, too,” Vegas remarked, but he said it in a low voice as if he was telling him that yes, he was hungry, but in another way. A way that only the two of them could understand.
The reddening of Pete’s ears got worse and he playfully hit Vegas’ shoulder before going straight to the cashier.
Well, Vegas better be ready later then, because Pete was hungry in the same way, too.