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“Okay so what am I doing here, exactly?” Robin asked, fingering through a row of enamel pins hanging on the wall next to her. She plucked a pin off of the rack and examined the white and gold sailor moon-esque scepter then looked over to Steve. He was too busy, in his own world, to really care about the antics Rob might or might not get up to.
“Buying Eds the new Twice album.” Steve replied as he scanned the rows and rows and fucking rows of music created by South Korean kpop groups. He had no clue what the fuck he was looking for. He ran a hand through his hair and leaned in closer to examine the album titles and group names.
“Reiterating: Why am I here?” She stressed, walking up next to Steve and nudging him in the arm with her elbow.
He snapped up straight, causing her to jump back the smallest bit, “Because, Robbie, I am a coward.” He stated, plain and simple, looking right in her eyes.
She laughed, and slid her arm through the one he had resting on his hip. What a mother hen , she had thought to herself, “You are whipped, dingus.”
Steve rolled his eyes, but by no means argued with her statement. Rather, he continued to pursue the aisle he was in, seeing names like The Boyz and TXT before he felt more lost than ever. Robin suggested he ask for help from the person at the front desk, and although Steve was a big boy (an adult if you will),he reiterated to her that he was a coward. Asking for help was a little nerve wracking when it came to something you were 78% unfamiliar with. Other than knowing their top, like, twenty songs on Spotify and the girls’ names, Steve had nothing to go on. It’s been almost a year since Eddie first told Steve how much this group meant to him. Hell, they came on tour to a few cities in America and Steve was definitely more upset than Eddie was when none of the dates were within driving distance of their college.
Rather than sympathy, Steve just got a hard eye roll in response to his response, which ended up with Rob at the front desk of the store, asking about ‘ the newest release ’ from a group named ‘ uh.. Twice? Is it Two or Twice, Steve? ’.
Somehow, unlike his original plan to have this go without smoothly, Steve ended up leaving the random comic store forty minutes out of town embarrassed as all hell with some random Twice album tucked under his arm and Robin cackling at him. The drive back into town consisted of Robin being forced to listen to the new album ( It’s called a mini-album, love. Like an EP but in kpop terms) on the drive back into town. Robin complained less than he thought she would, whether that was from knowing how important this was to Eddie and in turn Steve, or if she genuinely enjoyed it. Regardless, it was a nice drive home and Steve was more than excited to give Eddie his surprise.
He dropped Rob off, with a promise of a study session the following evening. She sloppily pressed a kiss to her middle and pointer finger before leaning through the passenger window and pressing her wet fingers to Steve’s right cheek. He smacked her hand out of the way before the spit could do too much damage, but he wouldn’t actually complain, because it only reminded him that he and Robin were more like brother and sister than anything else. Truly his other half.
Anyway, Eddie’s car was parked in front of his apartment building when Steve pulled up, not expecting his boyfriend to be off work so early from the mechanic shop he worked at. Weekdays were tough for him to work late, with classes and all, so it was Saturdays that Eddie would find himself stuck under the hood of a car long after the sun went down. Steve smiled when he was able to park his car behind Eddie’s, like they were together. Lame, sure, but cute to Steve’s brain which had been properly stuck in the honeymoon phase for months.
Eddie must have heard him near the door, because the moment Steve walked into the cool third floor apartment, he was met with Eddie calling out a ‘I’ll be right out baby!’.
Steve decided to make himself comfortable and throw some random ‘top 5 scariest things caught on camera’ from youtube while he waited for Eddie to come out of his room. The album was still tucked under his arm, pressed firmly into his left side to keep it hidden from Eddie as long as he could. He couldn’t help his leg from bouncing. Other than Eddie’s birthday back in December, this was Steve’s first real kpop purchase for his boyfriend. Yes, he had a tiny fear that Eddie had already bought one online without his knowledge. He is well aware that Eddie would appreciate it regardless if he had already preordered it online, but Steve had a strong suspicion that was not the case this time around. Eddie had been pretty vocal about the new music, but had not, at all, mentioned already buying it. He did keep going on about some renewed contract and constantly sang ‘after all this time, we’re still together!’ when he was cooking or cleaning. That kinda gave Steve a big hint that this new cd might be something Eddie would really appreciate.
And speaking of the devil, Eddie then sauntered out of his bedroom, sweatpants hanging low on his hips and no shirt in sight. Steve whistled because, duh, his boyfriend is hot as fuck. He let his eyes rake up from Eddie’s feet, covered in an old pair of slippers, up to his arms, toned from years of playing guitar.
“Hi baby.” He smiled, finally meeting Eddie’s eyes with a heated gaze.
“Well, someone is excited.” Eddie laughed and flopped down on the couch next to Steve, throwing his legs into the other man's lap.
“You could say that.” Steve laughed, slipping the plastic bag out from under his arm and setting it on top of the legs that covered his own. “Here,” he looked over to the right, fixing his eyes deeper on his boyfriend's face and slid the bag further up his lap.
Eddie’s eyes scanned the store name printed on the bag, was well aware what it meant. Steve had only been to that store once, with Eddie, like four months ago. The grin split Eddie’s face in half almost painfully.
“I once, again, ask you..” he reached over and grabbed the bag by its handles, pulling it closer to him, “What the fuck is this?” Eddie used one hand to reach out and grab the back of Steve’s neck, awkwardly, to pull him in for a quick kiss.
“If this is what I think it is, I might cry.”
“Oh god, please do not cry.” Steve breathed out quietly, definitely to himself.
Eddie heard and laughed then pulled his legs towards himself so he could shimmy impossibly closer to Steve on the couch. He slid the plastic sealed box out of the bag and immediately looked back at his boyfriend, smile absolutely blinding.
“Gone.” Steve said, randomly, as Eddie was going through the book filled with photos of pretty girls in just as pretty outfits.
Eddie looked at Steve, confused for a second, and put the booklet down on his lap, “Huh?”
Steve laughed quietly and ruffled his boyfriend's hair, which was met with an annoyed grunt. Eddie hated when Steve fucked with his hair when he had it in a bun. “My favorite song from this cd. Gone. I think it’s the last song, or something.”
Eddie looked at him like Steve had a second head growing out of his neck, but like.. In a sexy way. Like Eddie’s eyes were filled with happiness and something headier.
“Okay. This is so absolutely lame of me, but I’m so turned on right now, you don’t even know.” Steve burst out cackling and slid closer to his boyfriend, who continued on with his rambling, “If the next thing out of your mouth is anything remotely DnD related I might explode.”
Steve pulled Eddie closer to him and kissed the side of his face, albeit sloppier than he would normally do. “I just knew you were excited about this so..”
“Fucking A.. I love you. You’re a sap. God, how did I end up with an ex-jock turned total sap?” Eddie asked, laughing as he pressed a kiss quickly to Steve’s lips.
Steve dramatically threw this thumb and forefinger under his chin, like he was some Sherlock Holmes or some shit, “Not sure.” He smirked down at Eddie, “You tell me how I fell for some major kpop stan moonlighting as a metalhead.”
Eddie grabbed at Steve’s sides so hard, he had tears streaming down his face from tortured laughter. Eddie didn’t think anything could ever fucking top this feeling.