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“Sunghoon,” Jay suddenly asks from far behind him and his voice takes Sunghoon out of a trance he didn’t even realize he was in. “What are you doing?”
It takes exactly five whole seconds for Sunghoon to comprehend he is currently standing in front of a Tiffany & Co.’s glass window of solitaire rings on a selling display before he immediately feels part of his soul unexpectedly leave his body.
What exactly was he doing?
Sunghoon moves his eyes away from the Setting Engagement Ring with a Pavé Diamond Band in Platinum description he had been subconsciously reading and shakes his head lightly as if that would make his brain work properly again, trying to snap out of whatever peculiar thought just went through his head just now without him even noticing.
He places his hands on his dark blue jeans back pockets to make sure he didn’t get his wallet out with the intention of doing something crazy as well and lets out a breath of relief as he feels his things are still there untouched. No impulsive purchases were made, Sunghoon concludes.
Jay, who is now standing right next to Sunghoon with a vanilla ice cream cone in his hands, raises an eyebrow at the other and watches as Sunghoon swallows back dryly at the intimidating sight of his best friend cornering him like this.
“Nothing,” Sunghoon’s voice breaks embarrassingly as he replies. “I was just waiting for you.”
Sunghoon automatically looks back over his shoulder to the kiosk Jay had been waiting in line to get his gelato; there are still a lot of people crowding the place to buy the same thing so Sunghoon assumes that can perfectly explain why he had left to stand somewhere less packed.
“Here?” Jay curiously strikes again, Sunghoon inevitably rolls his eyes. “Why?”
He should have seen it coming. Because, honestly, Sunghoon is a master of having terrible timing for everything in the world.
“Yeah,” He answers, scratching the back of his head. Sunghoon is no longer paying much attention to the rings in front of him. “Just— just because. Too many people down there.” He eloquently lies.
“Seriously?” The other asks again, in a tone Sunghoon could recognize as awfully teasing.
“I was just looking, Jay,” Sunghoon says with a sigh, the last thing he wants is to have a conversation with Jay on the myriad of reasons that could possibly explain why he was checking out the engagement rings at their local jewelry shop at the mall. This shouldn’t be happening at all, in all honesty, they simply came to get lunch together and go back to work, that is all there is to it. “Like, literally.”
“Right,” Jay studies Sunghoon’s demeanor as he speaks. “Just looking,” He takes a lick of his melting ice cream and snaps his tongue at Sunghoon suggestively. Jay pauses for a moment too long and stares at the models in the window they’re both standing by. “At wedding rings?”
“Uh, yeah, I guess,” Sunghoon offers helplessly. “It’s a cool new collection.”
Sunghoon actually has no idea if it’s a new collection or not, he just wishes this would end before he humiliates himself any further. Jay, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have gotten his share of interest in the subject yet.
“Sure,” He bites back a smirk and Sunghoon can clearly make out the intentions behind Jay's expressions. “Is buying any of those in your New Year’s resolution list?”
Sunghoon doesn’t answer.
Fairly, he doesn’t do it because he hadn’t even thought about that. Sunghoon wasn’t very sure of how he ended up here in the first place.
For some unknown reason, after leaving Jay at the line for his dessert he just caught himself staring at the diamonds arranged by the first window in front of the store. Even though Sunghoon is fully aware that he gazed slowly at every single one of them he can’t explain why his eyes stopped exactly upon one of the heart-shaped sparkling rocks sitting lonely on the silver section of their blue tiffany background display.
Sunghoon’s mind, as clear as day, just went straight to Sunoo.
He wasn’t sure why, but it happened.
Sunghoon just can’t help but think how Sunoo has nice, soft, tender small hands that fit perfectly in Sunghoon’s and stupidly he just registered that he has never seen his boyfriend wear a ring that fit him well before. One that would feel as if it was made just for him. Like one of the gorgeous ones face to face with Sunghoon right now.
Maybe Sunoo should have one.
Sunoo likes shiny things and he absolutely adores getting gifts from Sunghoon so this whole situation wasn’t exactly as far-fetched to happen as he would like to believe to spite Jay. To mask the hint of fear behind his crystal thoughts, Sunghoon comes to the conclusion that, even unconsciously, he is a good and considerate significant other who just knows how much Sunoo would like to receive a surprise diamond ring.
Yeah, that is probably it.
Except they are all engagement rings.
But no, by all means, Sunghoon is not proposing.
Not yet, at least.
“Dude, please,” He bumps his shoulder against Jay’s one and prepares himself to leave. “I’m not— that’s 30 million won, are you insane?”
His friend laughs condescendly at Sunghoon as they start to walk further away from the store. He knows for sure that he will never be able to live this down any time soon because that’s just how things are with Jay. Plus, this was all sort of his fault. There’s no way all the diamond rings there were that appealing to Sunghoon’s eyes for him to stand there longer than 10 minutes aimlessly analyzing which one of them would fit Sunoo’s finger best.
Regardless of his denial, he still felt like he should know— what was the heart-shaped ring’s name again? Sunghoon didn’t want to forget.
“That’s your response? That the rings are too expensive?” Jay giggles into his cold treat and Sunghoon just pretends he doesn’t hear it, for his own sake. “Not the fact that you were checking out engagement rings at Tiffany's on a random Tuesday afternoon?”
Sunghoon feels a shiver down his spine as his friend picks on his life choices.
What was he thinking?
“Look, I’m really not buying. I was just looking,” He says as they step out of the mall through its automatic door at the front entrance. Sunghoon feels the January breeze cut through his overcoat and mentally thanks Sunoo for reminding him of wearing another layer of clothes this morning before he left the apartment— he just hopes that Sunoo is also warmly dressed, he gets cold way too easily. “They were, uh, nice to look at.”
“Sunoo would think so, too,” Jay hums rhythmically and receives a burning look from Sunghoon next to him. He immediately snorts. “Stop being an ass, there’s nothing wrong with being in love,” He picks on Sunghoon for his moody response, he’s not sure why he’s this worked up, anyway. Sunghoon stares at his feet, waiting for Jay to finish his trail of thought. “He would say yes, Sunghoon. You know that, don’t you?”
“I’m not proposing, Jay,” He retorts with a sigh, his mind fortunately doesn’t stop to overthink his friend’s statement. “Really.”
He’s not certain how but he sounds pretty convicted about it. His voice doesn’t tremble and his throat doesn’t go dry throughout his line. However, Sunghoon lied, his mind did take its moment to overthink.
Surprisingly, not in a bad way.
Sunghoon’s brain goes numb thinking that someday he might be able to spend the rest of his life with Sunoo next to him as they wake up together every day and take each other’s side to everything they do. It doesn’t scare him, though, because he realizes that all of that are things that they mostly already do. Sunghoon thinks of how whiny and cuddly Sunoo gets in the morning and how he refuses to untangle himself from Sunghoon’s body knowing very well the two of them both have loads of work to do soon. He pictures them finally adopting the puppy Sunoo has been begging him to get for ages but always backing down at the last minute because they seem to be too busy to take on this kind of responsibility— Sunghoon ponders and he just knows Sunoo would pick a weird name to their pet but he knows he would go along with it no matter what.
Sunghoon thinks about so much in so little time and, at the end, he supposes a life like this could never be anything but perfect, actually. He laughs to himself imagining how Sunoo would react if Sunghoon actually proposed to him.
He would say yes, Sunghoon. You know that, don’t you?
He probably would, Sunghoon muses and gets reminded of how good it is to be in love with Sunoo.
“I’m just saying,” Jay finishes and starts biting his cone, Sunghoon notices he’s already almost done with his treat. “He would say yes.”
“I don’t think we’re ready for that,” He bites down on his lower lip, but not too hard. “I just— isn’t it too early to think about marriage?”
“Dude, you two moved in together in less than a year of dating,” Jay laughs and it sounds genuine. “I would honestly not be surprised if you guys got engaged now, seriously,” He fastens his pace a bit, they’re late for work. Their one hour long lunch break was over faster than they realized today. “I still remember when Sunoo moved out of the dorms and Jungwon kept thinking he would come back because he would hate living with you but he never did.”
“Jungwon gave me such a hard time when Sunoo and I started dating,” Sunghoon scoffs at the memories, he had never met such protective friends as the ones Sunoo had. “Do you remember the dirty looks he would give me? And for what?”
Sunghoon remembers picking Sunoo up at his and Jungwon’s shared place for dates and spotting the younger boy behind the door, with both his arms crossed over his chest, staring intensely at Sunghoon as he would - try to - greet and compliment Sunoo as soon as the older laid his eyes on him. Sunoo would tell him not to pay much mind to it but there was absolutely no way Sunghoon could avoid the threatening energy Jungwon could transmit towards him through a single glare.
It did take a while but Jungwon did warm up to him eventually.
“Leave him alone,” Jay pinches the side of Sunghoon’s arm slightly. He is just as protective as the others, Sunghoon recalls. “It’s just ‘cause you were Sunoo’s first boyfriend and everything back then,” He explains. A small grin makes way to Sunghoon’s face as he recollects the first time he actually saw Sunoo, walking around their university campus with a charming smile on his face— Sunghoon had spilled his whole venti sized iced coffee on Jay’s white hoodie that day for not paying enough attention to where he was going, distracted by Sunoo’s blinding aura. “Plus you were sort of obsessed with him in the beginning.”
“What?” Sunghoon raises his voice incredulously. “I was not.”
He earns a mocking look from Jay as if he had stated something absurd just now. His friend clears his throat and claps both his hands together soundlessly, readjusting his posture and Sunghoon knows what’s coming his way. He still has every right to defend himself, though.
“Are you kidding me?” He asks with snickering at Sunghoon’s uncomfortable posture. “May I remind you of that one time you kept vehemently refusing to go to our camping trip during our second year but suddenly agreed to it right away when you heard Sunoo say ‘it sounded fun’?” Jay finishes and Sunghoon groans, he most definitely does not need to be reminded of this. Jay continues talking, anyway. “Or when you kept sulking around like a baby because you thought he had a boyfriend when he was just making a group project with Niki?” That was probably the worst one, Sunghoon cringes to himself while listening to his friend's embarrassing words. “Oh! And when—”
“Okay! Alright! That’s enough,” He cuts Jay off mid-sentence because Sunghoon doesn’t think he can handle hearing any more of this without disintegrating into dust in the middle of the street. “I get it! I was a loser but he did end up agreeing to go out with me at some point so I’m doing pretty fine. Thank you very much.”
“Don’t get so cocky,” Jay warns him lightheartedly. “It took you, like, two months to finally ask him out, you coward.”
“Ugh, whatever,” Sunghoon tries not to sound too defeated. He couldn’t care much, at this point. He knows he’s going home to Sunoo at the end of the day and that is enough to make things better in any shape or form. “Anyway, I’m really not proposing right now.”
“I’d support you, anyway, dude,” Jay shoots him a knowing look. He’s a good friend. “So, don’t try to pick a ring all by yourself. I’ll help you.”
Sunghoon snickers warmly at the offer. He has no doubt that Jay would actually help him in that field if needed and that puts him at ease— maybe he wasn’t so out of it earlier, after all.
“Alright,” He rests a hand on Jay’s shoulder as they stop walking for a minute to reassure his advice was of help. “Will do. Thank you, man.”
Throughout the rest of their way back, the two of them walk in silence and Sunghoon takes the moment to finally text Sunoo back since he left for work a few hours ago. ‘have you eaten?’ He asks and patiently waits for a response, knowing it won’t take much longer to come; Sunoo spends a lot of time on his phone.
Most of the day goes by smoothly and Sunghoon doesn’t tell Jay about it, but later at the office - in a moment of clarity - he ends up searching (by its exact correct name) the Heart-shaped Diamond Engagement Ring in Platinum he had clearly seen by the window earlier after lunch and anxiously bites a piece of the skin off his pinky finger while mentally debating which internal organ he would have to sell to afford placing one of those diamonds in Sunoo’s delicate left hand.
“Babe?” Sunghoon calls as soon as he closes the door after him. He takes off his pair of Nike white shoes and throws his keys at the round porcelain bowl resting at their entrance table. Sunoo had personally shaped and painted it in a light shade of green at one of the pottery classes he attended last year and the item had proudly stayed with them since then. “I’m home.”
Over the few seconds he words out his presence, Sunghoon starts frowning at the lack of response and immediately peeks at the corridor next to their living room to spot their bedroom lights on, he sees the clarity coming through the thin gap of the door that Sunoo had probably left open by accident.
He gets a water bottle from the fridge and realizes they should probably go grocery shopping soon— the tupperwares full of food that Sunoo’s mom had made for them the last time she came over to Seoul were mostly empty and once it all was actually done they would probably end up having instant ramen for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Like their early college years, they had yet to develop better healthy eating habits. Sunghoon closes the heavy refrigerator door and grabs a cup from the top shelf in the kitchen. If Sunoo is awake, he should be thirsty as well.
Once he reaches their small bedroom by the end of the corridor Sunghoon finally gets to see Sunoo’s tiny figure taking up space in the corner of their king sized bed. The younger is wrapped around a mess made of their white sheets and his head is far from being against one of his pillows. His right cheek is pressed on the mattress as his lips are settled in a pout during the peaceful sleep Sunoo seems to be in.
Sunghoon carefully walks over to him, approaching Sunoo as silently as he can and takes off his silver wristwatch to leave it at their bedside table, it makes little noise and even if it were louder it wouldn’t be much of a big deal— Sunoo is a heavy sleeper.
Sunghoon takes his time to lie down next to him and drowns into the warmth Sunoo radiates the moment he raises his arm to wrap it around his boyfriend’s waist. He fits his head on the empty space over Sunoo’s shoulder and comfortably rubs his nose against the younger’s neck. Sunoo smells like the peach body wash he recently bought online and just a tad like Sunghoon’s everyday cologne— Sunghoon realizes the shirt Sunoo is wearing to bed is actually his, explaining the mixture of scents.
It doesn’t take much for Sunoo to start stirring in his sleep, it’s still early so Sunghoon doesn’t feel much guilt for disturbing his nap. Sunoo probably hasn’t even eaten dinner yet.
He turns over to Sunghoon as his eyes remain closed and places his head under the older’s chin. Sunghoon feels Sunoo’s hot breath hitting against his chest as he finally comes awake.
“I know you’re not sleeping,” Sunghoon says with a smile on the corner of his mouth. He runs his hand softly over Sunoo’s hair strands. “Are you tired?”
“Hm,” Sunoo hums positively over his torso and tightens his grip around Sunghoon’s frame. He tangles their bare feet together by the edge of the bed.
“What time did you get home from work?” He asks, purposefully initiating a conversation Sunoo would have to use words to answer.
Sunghoon fails because Sunoo just hums stubbornly again and shakes his head in disapproval. He feels Sunoo’s forehead going left and right over his chest.
“Come on, baby,” Sunghoon rubs his fingers over Sunoo’s neck. “It’s only six-thirty, we can’t sleep now.”
“But, I wanna,” Sunoo murmurs slowly. “Hm, I’m tired, hyung.”
Sunoo clings harder onto Sunghoon’s body as he complains about having been woken up mid-sleep. As much as Sunghoon knows how hard Sunoo has been working he can’t let his boyfriend go to bed with an empty stomach, and as he had already thought of, he’s pretty sure Sunoo didn’t have enough time to eat today. He never does.
“Let’s eat something first,” Sunghoon brings Sunoo up by the hip and makes sure they’re face to face at last. Sunoo opens his eyes gently. “Did you have lunch between your classes today?”
Sunoo’s eyes turn into crescent moons as he giggles in Sunghoon’s direction. The younger one raises his hand to touch Sunghoon’s cheek, lightly tracing the lines of his face as if it’s his first time seeing him all over again.
“If you consider half a muffin from Heesung hyung’s lunch order and a cup of coffee from the school’s vending machine ‘lunch’ then, yes, I did,” Sunoo jokes and brings his face closer to Sunghoon’s, rubbing their noses together. “Missed you.”
“Missed you, too, baby,” Sunghoon pecks his lips with care, but doesn’t get distracted from their topic. “But, come on, that’s not lunch. I’ll cook us something.”
Sunoo grins victoriously and calmly raises his upper body from the mattress. Sunghoon watches as the younger stretches his arms up and tries twisting his torso a little for better relief. He crosses his legs and stares at Sunghoon, he pleads with his eyes as he waits for the other to move, Sunoo raises an eyebrow at Sunghoon. He earns an honest laugh from the older one.
“What?” Sunghoon teases him.
“You said you’d cook,” Sunoo pouts, his rosé lips still a little swollen from his sleep. “Like, now, right?”
Sunghoon beams with laughter and lightly presses his lips against Sunoo’s one more time before standing up and running a hand through his messy hair. He’s ready to turn around and head back to the kitchen to start on their kimchi jjigae for the night when he feels one of Sunoo’s hands grab the hem of his button up shirt— Sunghoon didn’t change after getting home so he’s still in his work clothes, the tailored pants are starting to bother him.
“Carry me?” Sunoo says once Sunghoon looks down at him in the bed. He raises his arms towards his boyfriend’s figure and waits for Sunghoon to oblige. “Please?”
“To the kitchen?” He asks moving closer to the edge of their bed. Sunoo spirits lift up immediately. “Really, babe? It’s a 10 second walk from here.”
“Please, hyung,” His boyfriend complains and Sunghoon is not as tough as he likes to be perceived because that’s quite enough to convince him. “My legs are dead.”
Sunghoon was most definitely not going to say no because he can barely resist Sunoo’s pleading eyes but he always puts up a fight to childishly push Sunoo’s buttons. Sunghoon leans over the mattress and lets Sunoo circle his arms around his neck as he jumps over Sunghoon’s body, wrapping both of his legs around his waist. Sunghoon groans dramatically as Sunoo’s weight is pressed upon him and receives a pinch on the shoulder from the younger.
“I’m not that heavy,” Sunoo says as he continues to adjust himself on Sunghoon’s torso. “Stop being dramatic.”
“You know, I think I can finally end my gym membership,” Sunghoon says thoughtfully with a hint of seriousness in his voice. “Carrying you around every day is already enough work.”
Sunghoon can’t actually see Sunoo’s face as he makes his way down the hallway and turns left to find the kitchen, but he is just sure his boyfriend rolled his eyes at the joke. He knows Sunoo too well.
“Yeah, babe, keep skipping leg day!” Sunoo teases him. “It’s been working out great for you.”
“Oh, shut up,” Sunghoon squeezes Sunoo’s thigh, feeling his smooth skin under his touch. “I’ll drop you right here”
“Nah,” He breathes down Sunghoon’s nape. Sunoo’s smiling, he knows. “You won’t.”
Sunghoon smiles, too.
Once they reach the kitchen, he leaves Sunoo sitting by the island counter and, uncommonly, the younger doesn’t voice out a single complaint about how cold the marble top is tonight. He crosses his legs and somehow makes himself look even smaller, he smiles at Sunghoon and tilts his head to the side.
“I’m so glad you can cook, hyung,” Sunoo admits. “I wouldn’t last a day without you.”
Sunghoon thinks he wouldn’t either, for many other reasons.
“I’ve always known you’re just with me because I make great fried rice,” Sunghoon jokes and moves to gather whatever is left of ingredients in their fridge. “We gotta go grocery shopping, like, tomorrow or we’ll starve to death, Sunoo.”
“You’re so dramatic,” Sunoo scoffs at him and tries to sneak a peek at their fridge. “What about my mom’s food?”
“Dude, we ate all of it,” Sunghoon deadpans and grabs the only full tupperware from the refrigerator in his hands, he lifts it up to Sunoo’s face. “We still have some quail eggs, though. These are so good.”
“We can go tomorrow if you want,” He suggests as Sunghoon finishes getting everything he needs to make dinner. “I’m teaching in the morning but the kids have this field trip in the afternoon and Heesung hyung is going with them instead of me, so I’m free.”
“You sure your children won’t miss their favorite teacher there?” Sunghoon asks with a grin, Sunoo treats his students as if they are his actual kids and he has always been endeared by that. It’s adorable, actually. “Last time I picked you up there you said they called Heesung ‘Mr. Scary Pants’ or something.”
“They’ll be fine,” Sunoo giggles. “I always go to these things and you know it. Heesung hyung has to experience the fear of almost losing one of his kindergarteners at an aquarium at least once in his life.”
“Sure, then, we can go,” Sunghoon agrees, it has been so long since Sunoo had time off, if not on the weekends. “I’ll take the day off from work to spend time with you, too. Jay won’t mind.”
Sunghoon raises up his sleeves and grabs the knife in the first drawer under where Sunoo is sitting down, he starts cutting the tofu pieces evenly and tells Sunoo to start boiling the water for him. He does as he’s told but comes back to sit on the counter anyway.
“So,” Sunoo starts curiously. “How’s the house plan coming along? Did you finish the blueprint?”
He asks about it with a hint of hope in his eyes and Sunghoon can’t help but feel bad because only now he remembers he didn’t even touch their project today, given the fact that he was distracted by something completely different. He takes a glance at Sunoo’s hand and his stomach feels funny as he’s reminded of why that was the case.
“I didn’t work on it today,” Sunghoon replies sincerely. “But it’s almost done, last time I added the sidelight we talked about. I forgot to show you.”
“Does it look good, at least?” Sunoo mumbles and takes a bite of kimchi from the jar Sunghoon took from the fridge. “You never like my suggestions, you’re such a jerk.”
Sunghoon laughs and puts down the knife over the kitchen table. Sunghoon admits it, Sunoo is right about that. But it’s not really his fault, he just can be a real prick regarding projects. Jay says that absolutely no one was as perfeccionist as Sunghoon when they were in Architecture school, he wouldn’t even let Jay see his works.
He sighs and looks at Sunoo’s face, pressing his thumb against the younger’s pout.
“Stop that,” He says. “It looks good, babe. We should keep it there.”
“Really?” Sunoo asks, stunned. His eyes sparkling again. “Okay, that’s a first,” He wholeheartedly mocks Sunghoon with a smile on his face. “I’m glad, though, hyung. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll actually build that.”
Sunghoon beams.
When Sunoo actually started to doodle a house plan on the edge of Sunghoon’s sketchbook around a month ago he didn’t expect him to actually start developing in his office the patterns Sunoo had been casually drawing at home. Sunghoon was speechless for a moment because Sunoo had never been that big of a fan of working on Sunghoon’s layouts with him— and Sunoo had clearly told him why, Sunghoon just wouldn’t take much into consideration and start project after project impulsively while refusing to listen to anything he recommended (God, he really is a jerk).
And then, through Sunoo, this whole house showed up.
But, the thing is, Sunghoon wasn’t sure if the house was theirs in the beginning. So much went through his head when they started talking about it and creating something bigger together that Sunghoon admits he was probably a little too dense to read the situation— dense to the point of thinking Sunoo was just feeling creative for some reason and decided to let the artsy side in him shine for once.
He was wrong, though. Fortunately, there was much more to it.
“It’s just nice to daydream like this, isn’t it?” Sunoo had said when they were lying in bed together, with Sunghoon’s laptop in front of them, screening the outline Sunghoon had digitally made from Sunoo’s sketch. “I love our apartment but it would be so nice to have a house one day.”
Needless to say, Sunghoon agreed. Of course he did, he had honestly never felt more passionate about a simple blueprint in his entire life.
It wasn’t some rich client’s commissioned project from the office.
It was his and Sunoo’s home. It was their house.
Not many days later, on a random friday afternoon, Jay did find his papers laying around his desk and, being as nosy as he is, bombarded Sunghoon with questions about it.
“We didn’t get anything like this the past week,” Jay had analyzed the layout curiously. Sunghoon shouldn’t have left it there. “Who is this for?”
He had no choice but to tell him the truth because Sunghoon knew Jay would find out about it one way or another. His friend did tease him about it immeasurably for the longest time but confessed that it was nice that they were planning ahead something like this together— and also mentioned Jungwon wanting to move in with him soon, too. Sunghoon was genuinely happy for him.
Sunoo beams as well.
Sunghoon moves away from where he was preparing the food and settles in front of Sunoo. The younger one looks straight at him from the counter and for the first time they’re both the same height due to the circumstances. Sunghoon runs both his hands on Sunoo’s exposed thighs and fits himself between his legs.
“We’ll get there,” Sunghoon says, finally answering the younger. He moves his right hand to Sunoo’s cheek. “We’ll build our house with a big garden just like you want it and I’ll make sure to include your name on the blueprint, don’t worry about it.”
Sunoo smiles fondly at him and Sunghoon swears his boyfriend’s eyes get watery in just a second. He doesn’t have much time to think about it because Sunoo immediately leans forward to press their lips together. While they kiss, Sunoo wraps his legs around Sunghoon’s middle again and brings him closer by force as if he’s greedy for more. Sunoo’s mouth feels as inviting as ever and he doesn’t want to stop, Sunoo doesn’t seem to want it either.
“You know I love kissing you, but,” Sunghoon laughs against his mouth, he grabs Sunoo’s face with both of his hands leaving a last peck on his lips. “We can’t let the apartment burn down. Our dream house isn’t actually real yet.”
“I’m not hungry anymore,” Sunoo lies. “Turn that off, let’s keep making out. This is much better.”
Sunghoon smiles but pinches Sunoo’s cheek and detaches himself from his boyfriend’s body after much complaining the other makes sure to do.
“We’re gonna eat first because I refuse to let you sleep without having proper food,” Sunghoon says as he goes back to his duties. “Your stomach is growling, by the way. You’re a terrible liar.”
Sunoo groans at him but doesn’t stop Sunghoon from going back to the oven. However, he does glue onto the older's apron, following Sunghoon’s every step around the kitchen, and refuses to let go until they’re both sitting by the living room ground table to eat together.
“Come wash your face,” Sunoo calls him from their bedroom’s bathroom. He’s standing in front of the mirror with a pink Hello Kitty headband on his head as he spreads, what Sunghoon assumes to be, cleanser on his face. “You can’t sleep like that.”
Sunghoon is not really in the mood to feel the freezing cold running water from their bathroom sink numb his cheeks to death right now if he’s being honest. But he knows that Sunoo will nag at him for the rest of his life if he doesn’t follow perfectly the skincare routine his boyfriend had meticulously prepared for him.
He changed into sweat pants and a hoodie after showering and made Sunoo put on some pants as well because he didn’t care how good Sunoo looked walking around the house with only his shirt on more than he cared about his health— they’re at the peak of the winter weather, for God’s sake, he doesn’t know how Sunoo was even handling being like that before.
“The water is cold, Sunoo,” Sunghoon whines into his pillow that still smells like Sunoo’s peach body wash even if he didn’t sleep on it today. “I’m gonna freeze.”
“Just come here,” Sunoo demands and turns around, walking into the room again. “It’ll be one second you won’t even feel it.”
Sunghoon mutters a complaint under his breath but stands up regardless of his wishes of not going through with this. He supports his weight by the door’s framework and watches Sunoo as he washes off the cleanser from his face. When he looks up again Sunoo’s pale face glows in a shade of pink that the cold water caused. Sunoo looks at Sunghoon behind him through the mirror before proceeding to dry his face with his pink towel— that, yes, matches his headband.
“Sit here, hyung,” He points at the toilet seat that’s down at the moment. “I’ll do it for you.”
Sunghoon doesn’t say a single word and just sits down lazily, waiting for Sunoo to do whatever he wants on his face. Sunoo also makes him wear the spare headband they have under the sink to make sure his bangs won’t bother Sunoo during the whole process.
When Sunoo’s fingers touch Sunghoon’s chin, raising his head up towards him, he closes his slowly eyes and lets Sunoo apply whatever it is that he has on his hands from his T-zone to the rest of his face. His hands are soft and run delicately against Sunghoon’s skin.
“You have such great skin for someone who doesn’t take care of it,” Sunoo says and Sunghoon takes it with a grain of salt. “It makes me angry.”
“I can’t help being perfect, babe,” He says with a cocky smirk painted on his lips. “You know that.”
“You can’t help being annoying, Park Sunghoon,” Sunoo massages his temples with care despite his slightly aggressive words. “Okay, wash it off now.”
Sunghoon stands up and does as he’s told, the water is more bearable than he had imagined. On the other hand, he spills it all over the sink because, as Sunoo has said to him countless times, Sunghoon is a child with a poor sense of space.
“You always make a mess, hyung,” Sunoo dries out the counter with another towel he had with him and hands his pink one over to Sunghoon. “Dry your face and I’ll put some moisturizer on you. I’ll let you go, then, promise.”
Sunghoon can’t help but swoon over how caring Sunoo is with him. Sometimes, he thinks that, despite being the older one in this relationship, he’s more pampered than anything.
“You see, Sunoo, I’ve got great skin because you’re the one who takes care of it,” Sunghoon drops the towel on the counter and grabs Sunoo’s hand before he stills the younger in one place and steals a short kiss from him. Sunoo rolls his eyes but Sunghoon sees right through him. “So thank you, baby.”
“Don’t try that on me,” Sunoo narrows his eyes, earning a confused look from Sunghoon. “I know you didn’t put on sunscreen this morning.”
Sunghoon stills for a moment and snorts at Sunoo’s comment, the other laughs just as passionately as him. It feels comfortable and familiar.
“Let’s go to bed,” Sunghoon says once Sunoo is done moisturizing his face. His fingertips were cold so he holds both of Sunoo’s hands on his, he clasps them together hoping it’ll warm them up. “You were basically sleepwalking earlier.”
“You can go lie down,” Sunoo turns back to his and begins to organize his bag that is open upon the counter. “I’ll just clean up here.”
Sunghoon hums in agreement but doesn’t lie in bed as Sunoo told him to. Sunoo finishes up with his own skin stuff pretty quickly— Sunghoon knows because he had been watching from where he was sitting at the edge of their bed. He placed another blanket over it after getting it from where it was gathering dust inside the cabinet, just to make sure Sunoo will be warm throughout the night.
Sunoo walks back into the room as he turns off the bathroom led lights with one hand. His bangs cover most of his forehead now that he took off his headband and the tip of his nose shines because of the effect his favorite toner has on his skin.
Sunghoon doesn’t think he can get used to this.
When they first moved in together it was bliss. Seeing Sunoo everywhere he went made Sunghoon feel like he was actually doing something right with his life for once because he never felt deserving of being able to look at how majestic his boyfriend looked whenever he came out of the shower on a summer day or kiss him goodbye every time he went out for work in the morning.
When they were together he felt lighter, nothing was rushed or unnecessarily fast paced— it was perfect, honestly. There were traces of Sunoo all over the place and, even if he wasn’t actually home at the time Sunghoon would see them, every single one of his signs made Sunghoon warm inside.
He remembers the first time he had seen the drawing that one of Sunoo’s kids had given to him in class hanging on their refrigerator’s door. The piece of paper was glued up through a magnet pin in the shape of a penguin Sunoo had gotten from Daiso on the last time they went there together— he was convinced the tiny animal looked exactly like Sunghoon and spent 10 thousand won on something Sunghoon was sure he would never use.
He was wrong, though.
The drawing had two tiny stick figures who stood upon the greenest flowery field he had ever seen before. Its thin hands were overlapped and Sunghoon was content knowing that the kid made it obvious to realize they were holding hands. He smiled so hard it made his cheeks hurt.
Once Sunoo was home from work, with blue paint on his left cheek and a bag full of different papers hanging out almost falling down to the ground, the first thing Sunghoon did was ask about their new fridge accessory.
“Naeunie made it for me, isn’t it cute?” Sunoo answered and giggled warmly. “She saw you at school when you brought my lunch over the other day and said she wants her future husband to make her bento boxes too. Kids are so smart these days.”
Sunghoon swallowed a lump on his throat and almost thought of framing the piece of pure art Sunoo had brought home for them but refrained himself from doing so because he knew he was overreacting for some reason. It was just a drawing.
There was so much Sunghoon didn’t think he deserved.
And seeing Sunoo this vulnerable and gorgeous every day just felt like a privilege he wished nobody else could ever get. Sunoo smiles at him fondly and his heart skips a beat as if it’s they’re first time together all over again.
Sunoo belonged with him.
“Why are you so spaced out, hyung?” He asks. Sunoo stands in front of him by the bed and runs his hands through Sunghoon’s silky hair. It’s comforting and Sunghoon realizes this is his life.
Sunoo is his.
“It’s nothing,” Sunghoon smiles, bringing Sunoo closer to him. Sunoo takes the opportunity to sit on Sunghoon’s lap over the bed. “I love you. You know that, don’t you?”
“Of course I do,” Sunoo gazes at him and presses their noses together. Sunghoon instinctively closes his eyes. “I love you, too. So much.”
Sunghoon sighs before closing the short distance between the two of them.
He loves kissing Sunoo.
Every other kiss he’s ever had before is put to shame every time Sunoo is pressed against him this tight. His lips are plump and they slide over Sunghoon’s with such ease that it feels like no other match could be this perfect. They just fit together well, nothing could compare.
Sunghoon is desperate, though. He never wants this moment to end so he needs to feel Sunoo even closer, harder. Sunghoon runs his tongue over Sunoo’s bottom lip and he opens his mouth so smoothly that Sunghoon just can’t understand why Sunoo is so fucking good to him. He pushes Sunoo’s shirt (his shirt, for that matter) up and rubs both of his hands on Sunoo’s back. He knows his hands are cold on his boyfriend’s skin but Sunoo still feels boiling hot.
He deservedly earns a whimper from Sunoo as soon as he feels Sunghoon’s touch and that just makes him feel even more wrecked. He switches their positions as single handedly turns Sunoo’s body over, pressing him down the mattress.
Sunghoon disconnects their lips for the first time after this whole time and hears Sunoo gasp loudly, his lips are glowing like gloss and swollen red because of the pressure Sunghoon had been adding to it for the minutes. Sunghoon gazes all over him in awe with how unreal Sunoo seems to be before running his hands down to his ribs and pressing his lips against the younger’s neck. Sunoo moans desperately and Sunghoon is sure he has reached heaven.
“You’re so good to me,” Sunghoon confesses over Sunoo’s skin. “You’re all mine,” Sunoo’s breathe trembles under him and he can feel it so well because of how close they are. “I love you.”
“Hyung,” Sunoo whines. “Please.”
“I love you,” Sunghoon raises his eyes up to Sunoo’s. He cups his cheek with one hand. “All of you.”
Sunoo swallows before kissing Sunghoon one more time. It’s soft and he’s radiating warmth.
“I’m yours, hyung,” He pleads. “All yours.”
Sunghoon wakes up earlier than he thought he would after last night. His toes are freezing because he forgot to put socks on before going to sleep and he’s a little too tall to fit the bed frame properly, even though it’s pretty big and, also, his arm is extremely numb from handling the weight of Sunoo’s head pressed against it all night.
On the other hand, Sunghoon discovers that getting the extra blanket was actually a great idea. Sunoo surprisingly didn’t hog it from him throughout the night and for that Sunghoon erased the possibility of him coming down with hypothermia first thing in the morning.
He looks past Sunoo’s head to their bedside table to check the time— he supposes it’s not even 7 AM at the moment because none of his alarms went off yet. He’s right, actually, the digital clock only shows 6:47 AM at the screen and Sunghoon is grateful he woke up in time to text Jay noticing him of his absence at work for the day.
He doesn’t do it immediately, though.
Sunoo’s head is still resting on his arm as he sleeps peacefully with his lips slightly parted. Sunghoon moves his bangs away from his eyes and Sunoo unconsciously scrunches his nose with the touch but doesn’t come awake. Their legs are tangled underneath the two blankets keeping them warm and Sunghoon can’t find a better feeling than this.
He gazes down at Sunghoon and tries to memorize every single one of his delicate facial features to make sure he will never forget about it. He notices how perfect Sunoo’s nose looks even from this angle and how long his eyelashes are— they touch the skin of his cheek with such ease it just doesn’t seem realistic.
Sunghoon doesn’t want to memorize it.
He wants to have Sunoo here forever. Lying down next to him, effortlessly looking like the most beautiful creature he has ever seen in his life. If Sunghoon has this now, he can’t let it go.
Sunghoon gulps at the realization and tries to fight the overwhelming feeling growing inside of him as he slowly takes in how ethereal Sunoo is like this.
“Hyung,” Sunoo suddenly says with his eyes closed, his voice is small and low pitched due to the sleeping. Sunghoon hadn’t even realised he woke up. “Go back to sleep.”
“I will,” Sunghoon assures him. “I’ll just let Jay know I’m not coming in today, yeah?” Sunoo whines at the explanation. “I’ll be back in two minutes.”
“Promise?” Sunoo questions expectantly and he’s barely awake.
“I promise, baby,” Sunghoon moves his arm away from Sunoo’s head and stretches his arms before getting out of bed. “Just a second.”
Sunghoon looks everywhere in the bedroom for his slippers before going outside to call Jay, he doesn’t want Sunoo to wake up again. He picks up his phone from the table where he and Sunoo ate dinner the night before and stares at his lockscreen for a bit too long not wanting to type his password any time soon— it’s a picture of Sunoo from their last Christmas trip, he’s standing in perfect posture in his ice skates at the rink they went to together back in his hometown. Sunoo has a bright smile on his face. He was looking at Sunghoon back then.
Sunghoon shakes his head and goes back to his senses, dialing Jay’s number as fast as he can.
“Hello?” Jay picks up after one ring. His voice is rough but Sunghoon knows he didn’t wake him up.
“Hey, dude,” Sunghoon greets him. “It’s me.”
“Hi, man,” His friend yawns on the line. “What’s up? You never call me this early.”
“I’m sorry, Jay, I actually just need a small favor,” Sunghoon starts. “I’m gonna need to take the day off today. Can you take care of our stuff alone?” Sunghoon asks, even though he already knows the answer. “Sunoo is getting out of work earlier than usual so we’re gonna do some stuff we’ve been meaning to do for a while this afternoon now that he has time.”
“Sure, dude,” Jay tells him. “Don’t worry about it. Is everything okay with him?”
“Yeah, no, everything is alright,” Sunghoon rapidly replies. “We’re actually just going grocery shopping and I’ll try to take him out to dinner later or something.”
“Okay, then. No problem, man,” Jay says again and Sunghoon is grateful once again. “It’s fine, we’re not too busy.”
“Thank you so much, dude,” Sunghoon exhales. “I owe you one.”
“Nah,” He hears the noise start to get more intense at the other end of the call, Jay must be leaving already. “It’s nothing. Call me if you need anything.”
“Yeah, of course,” Sunghoon says. “I’ll talk to you later.”
When they end their rather short call Sunghoon throws his phone in his hoodie’s front pocket and walks back to his and Sunoo’s bedroom so he can at least take a nap before dropping Sunoo at work— since he’s home he might as well just do it.
Once he reaches the door, he finds Sunoo curled up on his side of the bed just like he had found him after coming home yesterday evening. Sunoo hugs Sunghoon’s pillow forcefully and Sunghoon smiles at the scene, glad his phone call noises didn’t bother his sleep.
Sunghoon goes back to the living room and subconsciously dials Jay’s number again.
“Yo?” His friend greets him, clearly confused. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, sorry, man. I just,” Sunghoon trails off. “I actually need another favor from you.”
“Okay?” His explanation doesn’t seem to enlighten Jay enough. “What do you need?”
Sunghoon is sure.
There’s nothing better than this.
“I don’t want to pick a ring all by myself,” Sunghoon declares. “You said you’d help me, so.”
Sunghoon guesses he wasn’t just looking.