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It was Saturday and Sunghoon knew that he was allowed to stay in bed a little longer, winter had come early and it was really wonderful to be able to stay in the warmth of the sheets for a while. But he had woken up a little chilly, even though the heater was working at full blast. He groped around the opposite side of the bed, her eyes still closed, missing her boyfriend's body. The way he was, he didn't doubt that Heeseung was in his workout clothes, using the treadmill, after all it was too cold to run in the park. In fact, it was a little strange that it was so cold like that.
Opening only one eye, the boy wrapped himself in the thick comforter, leaving only his face out, and slowly got out of bed, still yawning quite sleepily.
Through the gap in the curtain that covered the large window, he could see how bright it was outside, which was unusual. Even though the sun was already high, they were in the middle of winter, so the days were always darker.
Until a thought crossed his mind. Could it be that finally...?
With faster steps, he reached the heavy lead-colored curtains and opened them, almost going blind with the scene he saw.
Everything was white, so clear that he barely had words to describe it. It was the first snow! The first that had fallen with enough intensity to settle on any surface it touched.
Unable to contain himself, he let an excited shriek escape his throat. He ran back to the bed, put on his slippers, and soon he was jumping up the stairs, still wrapped in the comforter, even though he knew that if his boyfriend saw this he would spank him.
Ever since he was a child, Park Sunghoon had been completely enchanted by snow: he remembered playing with his neighbors for hours and hours when school was suspended for a few days. For him, those were the best days, he didn't yet understand the nuisances that snow could cause, and for the children it was just a moment of fun, where snowballs flew in all directions.
He missed the countryside, the old house he lived in with his parents, how they helped him build the snowmen in front of the house, and he was proud to have the biggest snowman on the street. Those were good memories. Later he would call them, and in this way he would satisfy his homesickness.
When he got to the living room, he realized that there was no sign of her boyfriend. Maybe he had left.
They had been living in that house for eight months and things were finally getting right. They had saved up their savings and managed to finance the house, and although it was not that big, it was enough for both of them.
After four years of dating, they decided to take that important step in their relationship, and even though at first the adjustment was a little difficult, they felt they were where they were supposed to be.
"Heeseung-hyung? Are you home?" He turned down the hall to the kitchen and finally felt his chest warm up the way it always did when he saw his boyfriend. "I found you!"
The kitchen was large, with a set of glass windows that overlooked a small backyard. They had chosen to have a house because they planned to raise a dog and a cat, maybe two dogs, so nothing better than for the critters to have a place where they could run around and play a little.
Heeseung was leaning against the sink countertop, his hands busy with two mugs of something that was hot, as Sunghoon could see the smoke coming out of it. From the sweet smell, he could bet it was hot chocolate with two marshmallows, just the way the bigger guy knew he liked it.
"I was getting worried, I thought my kitty wouldn't wake up anymore." Heeseung said, with his typical charming smile as usual.
Sunghoon could remember when they first met in college. He remembered the anger he felt every time he met the big guy in the hallway, that overbearing smile would drive him crazy. Even more so when the other one didn't show him the least bit of respect, even though he was the president of the student council. At that time, the nickname "kitten" was always a way to tease him; now his cheeks flushed whenever he heard that word, because his boyfriend always made a point of calling him that during intimate moments.
He approached him slowly, carefully holding the mug that was held out to him, smiling when he realized that he had been right about the content. Taking a sip, he felt the warmth of the hot chocolate spread in his throat.
"Thanks, hyung. I thought you had gone off and left me alone." He let a small beak form on his lips as he took a few more sips.
Smiling, Heeseung left his mug on the counter and reached out his hands wrapping his boyfriend's thin waist with his arms. He thought it was the cutest thing about Sunghoon wrapped up in that comforter, wearing light blue pajamas and slippers. He had no idea how a twenty-four-year-old man could be so cute, but Park was standing in front of her to show her that it was possible. Of course he was the only one who saw that side of her boyfriend, and he couldn't be happier about it.
He left a lingering seal on her full lips, spreading a few more kisses around her pretty face. "I was going to wake you up, but you were sleeping so soundly I felt sorry for you. You saw it didn't you, the snow covered everything. We'll have to stay home."
They had planned the day before that they would go out skating and maybe watch a movie at the movies, but it would be a huge hassle to try to go out in the snow at that height, not to mention it wasn't safe at all.
"Okay... then we can do this. But you know what we're going to have to do, right?" Sunghoon flashed the best smile he could, which let his drawn eyes almost hide and the dimple in his cheek show. It was certainly the kind of smile Heeseung loved the most.
"I know I do, but only if one person promises me that they will bundle up properly this time." Heeseung lightly pinched the other boy's nose, eliciting a grumble from him. "Last year you were in bed for four days, you have to take better care of yourself, otherwise no deal."
After a very theatrical roll of his eyes, Sunghoon left the mug in the sink as well, slipping his arms around his boyfriend's neck, his body relaxing further into the other.
"It's okay, Lee Heeseung. I'll do anything you say. You can even dress me in twenty coats and five gloves and I won't complain."
Before Heeseung could retort by saying that it wouldn't be twenty coats, but only ten, Sunghoon had already brought his lips closer to his own, beginning a series of crisp kisses, which passed over his cheeks and down to his neck. It was all very soft, as was her boyfriend's way of giving her affection.
The older man's hands caressed lightly under her pajamas, feeling the soft, warm skin.
"Hmm... so affectionate, Hoonie. You're trying to please me, aren't you?" Heeseung tilted his neck a little more, making more room for the kisses he was receiving.
Laughing, Sunghoon let out a light slap on the other's shoulder, disengaging himself from his arms.
"Stop being silly. Now let's get dressed properly. I want to do an even bigger one this year!" The blond man walked away towards the corridor, humming softly some unidentifiable tune.
With a resigned sigh, Heeseung finished his hot chocolate - which was already cold by then - and headed to his room to bundle up for the incredible mission of building a snowman.
...
After a few minutes, they were both in front of the house, with the beautiful view of the whole neighborhood covered with snow. They lived in a residential area and despite their fear of being unwelcome, because they were a gay couple and had no intention of hiding it, they had the best neighbors they could want.
Sunghoon took a deep breath of the icy air, smiling. He got his boyfriend to wear himself just a sweatshirt along with the thickest sweater he could find in the closet, gloves, scarf and a cap. Sometimes it seemed that her boyfriend could be more overprotective than her mother, and that was quite a lot.
She bent down a little and taking off one of the gloves, picked up a handful of snow, feeling the texture. His fingers turned red almost immediately.
Watching his boyfriend carefully, Heeseung had a fond smile on his face, feeling like the luckiest man in the universe to be there at that moment. Even though he didn't like the season very much, it was in the winter that they had started dating, on a date at an ice rink. He still remembered how Sunghoon looked like an angel, gliding lightly over the ice. Every moment with the other was important to her, so she would always have her eyes on him.
Deciding that her big child had been messing in the snow without a glove for quite some time, she called him over to start the production of the snowman. The carrot, which would serve as the nose, the buttons that would be the eyes, and the red scarf were in his hands, and he just wanted to get under the covers with Sunghoon and enjoy that day together as quickly as possible.
"Hoonie, look what you promised. No spending too much time out here." He tried to use the most serious tone of voice he had so as not to give any room for others' appeals.
With a grin from ear to ear, Sunghoon turned to him, putting on his glove. "Okay, okay. Let's get started."
Since this was the third snowman they had built together, they had the practice and the right way to start. They gathered the snow that was least stuck together, arranging it to make the base, which would be the largest ball. The only difficulty was that soon the gloves would get wet, so they had to stop a little so that their fingers wouldn't get so cold.
About thirty minutes later, the base was formed, and it was really bigger than the one from the previous year.
"Wow, hyung! It's bigger than last year's." As they were crouched down and close together, Sunghoon leaned over and sealed the oblivious lips quickly. "I sure couldn't do it without you here."
That sentence was so full of meaning that for a moment Heeseung felt his heart skip a beat, returning to beating faster. Half unresponsive, he just smiled, feeling even his face warm at that. Of course it was only the construction of a snowman, but he knew that this sentence was not only about that. They had faced enough hardships over the years and they both promised each other that they would be there for each other.
A few more minutes and the second snowball was made, a little smaller so that it could serve as a trunk for the doll. With effort, they were able to stack it on top of the other, with only the smaller ball, which would be the head, missing. The puppet was almost ready.
By this time, some children from the neighborhood had joined them, making everything even more fun.
Sunghoon seemed to have more fun than the children themselves, running after them in that awkward way when he was surprised by a snowball. Heeseung just laughed, while he took some pictures and recorded some videos with his cell phone to show his boyfriend how silly he was. Whenever I saw him around children, I couldn't stop my mind from picturing him as a father. And he wanted to form a bigger family with his boyfriend. He hadn't yet had the courage to seriously bring it up, but he knew they would have plenty of time to plan it; after all, children were the biggest responsibility they could ever have in their lives.
An hour later, the snowman was finally ready, the size of Sunghoon, which was no small thing. The children gave him a cap and found twigs for arms. His smile was made with red buttons, and he was quite nice, even.
The children jumped around him, trying to decide what name they would give him.
"Sunghoon-hyung, can we come and play with him sometimes?" One of them asked, because they would have to go home, it was starting to get even colder and they didn't want to get scolded by their parents.
"Of course you can, come whenever you want! I hope he'll be strong and stay with us for a long time."
With several "Bye, Sunghoon-hyung and Heeseung-hyung," the children left, leaving only the couple outside.
"Aaah, I'm so tired, baby." Sunghoon propped himself a little on the other, feeling a pair of arms wrap around his waist. "I just want to take a hot bath."
Agreeing, Heeseung wouldn't let the chance to tease his boyfriend go. "Then let's go, I have to get my kitty pretty warm." Receiving a slap in response, he laughed satisfied.
It was with relief that they entered the house, feeling the warm air and the smaller one shivered a bit due to the cold, ironically he was the most affected by it. With quick steps, they reached the bathroom and so that it wouldn't take even longer to warm up properly, they decided to take a shower together.
When they felt that the cold was finally gone and the shower stall was filled with steam, they dried themselves and put on only long-sleeved shirts and shorts.
Having spent the entire morning struggling with only a hot chocolate in their stomachs, they were both quite hungry, and rushed to the kitchen.
"Hmm... I guess restaurants don't deliver today, hyung, and we're too tired to cook. Is it okay to eat what's left over from dinner yesterday?" Sunghoon had his face inside the refrigerator, hunting for what was left over from the stew they had eaten last night.
"That's fine. And since today is a special day, because I want it to be, I declare we can eat in bed watching a movie, what do you think?" Heeseung winked at his boyfriend, knowing that one of the rules was 'No food in bed, Lee Heeseung!' He couldn't even count the number of times he had heard that anymore.
"What I think is that you're too spiky." With a few pots in his hands, Sunghoon lightly bumped the other's body, "But since you said today is a special day, and since I think so too, we can eat in bed, but only today, you hear? Now hand me some plates to warm up the food."
Obedient as always, Heeseung helped in the preparation of the meal, carrying a tray with the dishes while the smaller one carried two glasses with juice. He just hoped that no accidents would happen, otherwise his boyfriend would buy a new bed. Right, new sheets would be good enough.
Leaving the dishes on the dresser near the bed, Heeseung turned on the TV. "Okay, what movie do you want to watch?"
"I think you know, hyung. The usual." Sunghoon was sitting on his usual side, his back resting on the backrest of the bed, the tray in between his legs just waiting for his boyfriend to start eating.
Choosing the movie that couldn't be missed in winter, Heeseung sat on the bed, thanking them for their meal and soon alternating their attention between lunch and Frozen.
Already halfway through the movie, both having finished eating, Sunghoon was between his boyfriend's legs, his head resting firmly on his broad chest. Being there was so good, so warm and cozy that he couldn't stop smiling.
As if it were just any comment, decided to take a chance on a subject that had been on her mind for quite some time.
"You know, I was so happy when the children came to help us. One day I want to make snowmen with our kids too..." Held her breath a little at the end of her sentence, waiting for the reaction her boyfriend would have. He felt like laughing a little when he felt the other's arms trembling slightly.
"W... what?" Heeseung pulled away from her a little, just so he could look at her face. "Children? You want to have real children?"
"Well... not now, later on... we still have so much to organize and... I thought about it." - Sunghoon felt a little nervous, they had commented about it before, whether they liked children or wanted to be parents one day, but only at the beginning of their courtship, they didn't know yet what to expect from their relationship. "If you don't want to, I'll understand and-
"Of course I want to, Hoonie! As many kids as you want!" Heeseung's cheeks and ears were red, a gleam in his eyes that few times had Sunghoon seen. "How do you want to? Adopt?"
With a laugh, Sunghoon stroked his boyfriend's hair, trying to calm him down. "Breathe, baby. I said it would be later. We still can't afford to raise and maintain a child, okay?" She left a soft kiss on his lips. "I am more than happy to know that you want too. But like I said, if you didn't want it now or ever, we would talk and get along like always."
Heeseung pulled him into a kiss, longer and full of feeling.
With the movie completely forgotten, they lay facing each other, their lips still together, sealing promises that didn't need to be said.
"I love you, Sunghoon." Heeseung whispered, his hands caressing the older man's back, feeling the skin creep against his hands. He was always going to be quite sensitive there.
"I love you, oppa." Smiling, left another kiss on his full lips.
Heeseung seemed to be unresponsive once again that day. "Oppa? Repeat."
"Oppa... Heeseung oppa..." Sunghoon knew he was teasing too much, but it was priceless the look of astonishment his boyfriend made before joining in on the joke.
Heeseung smiled wide, the smile that was characteristic of when he was on edge.
"Look there, Elsa's going to start singing. Your favorite part, Hoonie."
Sunghoon moved even closer, slipping one of his legs over his boyfriend's waist.
"I think I've sung a lot with her, oppa. She can do it on her own this time." Reaching for the remote that was next to him, he turned off the TV, dropping it somewhere. "I guess you can start calling me kitten."
Disbelieving how bold Sunghoon could be when he wanted to tease him, Heeseung thirstily attacked the soft lips, forgetting his tiredness from before.
Perhaps, after he started dating Sunghoon, winter became his favorite season, the warmest, as long as his sun, his Sunghoon, was in his arms.