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Look, Baek Cheon tries his best, okay? He really does!
However, his best is never enough to control the whirlwind that is Cheong Myeong - he can't even dare to dream of it. Instead, he gets swept along with Cheong Myeong's whims and ideas. Sure, his ideas - no matter how ludicrous, out of this world, and stressful they are - are for the betterment of the sect! Right! The betterment of the sect..
"Jo Geoll! Don't you dare put your cup down! Yoon Jong-sahyung! Give him more!"
This.. This isn't it, is it?
With a thud, Tang So-so slumps down on the table, drooling and eyes closed heavily. She's muttering something only Iseol-samae can understand. Though Baek Cheon has no idea how she could understand the blabber, he sees the woman nod with a fond hum. Iseol uses her hand to scoop So-so's head off the table and moves it against her shoulders. So-so immediately melts into the touch.
Baek Cheon hides his smile as he raises his barely-filled cup, the hot feel of alcohol graces his curled lips.
Pink-red eyes flit to his direction and he straightens his back in an instant - ah, damn, he developed that habit due to all the hellish training he endured, he had to keep his back straight lest Cheong Myeong, that devil, increase the weight he's balancing, or he lengthens the time of his training, or he nags at him 'till his ears bleed.
Cheong Myeong smiles lopsidedly at that little movement of Baek Cheon, obviously amused and obviously aware of the reason why his dear Sasuk developed such a quirk.
Damn it , Baek Cheon curses inwardly. Damn it all.
Not only because Cheong Myeong clearly noticed, but because Cheong Myeong.. He.. You know, he looks different when he's smiling like that. Like he doesn't bear the weight of the world like he usually does. Like he's not planning to rain hellish training on all of them. Like the blooming flowers of Mount Hua - eternally ethereal.
He smiles, and Baek Cheon is reminded of the prettiest sights he's ever seen in his life.
(He thinks; that smile is one of the prettiest sights in his life. And then, he chokes on the very little alcohol he sipped on)
He notes to himself: stop staring at Cheong Myeong smiling. Why? Because he feels like the beautiful flowers of Mount Hua are fluttering all around his gut, it makes him feel lightheaded. And it's not because of the alcohol.
Damn it.
🌸
"Sa- hic -suk! You cheater, drink mo- hic- re!"
Baek Cheon sighs, his sanity chipped away by alcohol and the very inebriated Cheong Myeong who found his way next to him and is pestering him right now.
Everyone else passed out, sprawled haphazardly on the floor. Jo Geol's face is flat on the floor with Yoon Jong's legs over his back (Baek Cheon wonders, can Jo Geol even breathe? Guess they'd find out tomorrow morning) So-so's clinging onto Iseol's arm - always together and never apart - as Iseol uses her other arm to keep her face covered.
They've been like that for an hour now. That means, Cheong Myeong has been downing liquor bottles on his own, for an hour now.
Baek Cheon should be alarmed - wait, no, he is alarmed, but his body's too warm to actually move and put an effort on stopping Cheong Myeong, and his brain has this pleasant kind of buzz that kills his usually responsible side.
So, he settles with:
"You should slow down, you drink too much."
Cheong Myeong glances at him with lidded eyes, all flushed. His cheeks are a hazy pink, and sure, those cheeks lost most of the pinchable fat that they had when Baek Cheon first met him but that doesn't mean that those pretty pink cheeks are not pinchable right now - ah what was he thinking of again?
"If Sasuk's that worried then he should help me finish these bottles down," Cheong Myeong, whilst keeping his gaze on Baek Cheon's face, tilts his head and exposes his neck with a smile, "Drink with me, Sasuk."
"You know, you're like a devil."
"I heard worse." Cheong Myeong laughs, sounding too good for his sanity really, as he inches closer to Baek Cheon. Baek Cheon tries to scoot away, for a pretty pink Cheong Myeong and a very drunk and unrestrained Baek Cheon is a bad idea . It's bad for his mental health, okay?
Keyword: he tries .
Result: he fails.
Maybe he can blame it on the whims of his drinks tomorrow morning, maybe not.
Cheong Myeong holds one bottle with one hand while the other raises an empty cup - Cheong Myeong 's empty cup - closer and closer to Baek Cheon's lips, their knees are touching now and Baek Cheon feels too hot in his already half-dishevelled robes. He blames the alcohol. The sound of said alcohol splashing messily and loudly seems to echo inside his head as Cheong Myeong refuses to take his pink-hued gaze off of Baek Cheon.
It really is too hot. Because of the alcohol, of course.
Cheong Myeong leans close, close enough that his thigh is brushing against Baek Cheon's knee, the cup almost touching his lips.
"Drink, sasuk."
And drink he does. From the cup Cheong Myeong was using all night long, which is being held up by Cheong Myeong himself, as Cheong Myeong is almost sprawled all over his lap.
He might be going crazy.
Again. Blame the whims of the alcohol for this - the way his heart seems to be close to bursting, the way his face feels hot, the way he feels hot, the way he wants to grasp Cheong Myeong's wrist and pull him -
"It's really unfair that sasuk was born with such a pretty face." Cheong Myeong says as he pulls away the cup - ah, he didn't even realize that he already drank. He still feels too thirsty. What did Cheong Myeong say again? "Your face is prettier than your brother's. Ah, it's prettier than most women's. How truly unfair."
"What." Baek Cheon croaks, he can see how pink Cheong Myeong's eyes are and his brain is mush. "But you're prettier."
It's true. It's so damn true. The truth haunts him even in his sleep, leaves him all bothered because every time he closes his eyes, he thinks of those pink-hued eyes looking over him. He thinks of Cheong Myeong and the first thought that comes to mind is how beautiful he is. Beautiful as the flowers he so longed to make bloom.
"Hm?" The culprit for making him a damn mess hums from where he is sprawled all over his lap!!! Cheong Myeong looks at him, the flicker of amusement is in his eyes waiting for a spark. It's dangerous, really. "Sasuk thinks I'm pretty?"
And then Cheong Myeong decides to fully straddle Baek Cheon.
"Ah?" Baek Cheon asks, stupidly, drunk but not too drunk to not realize what's happening. "Cheong Myeong, move, you're too-"
"I'll move, after you tell me what I want to hear." Cheong Myeong's voice rings as loud as Baek Cheon's heartbeat inside his head, as he struggles to find a place to hold on to so that he can move this… this temptress , away from where he feels the hottest. But then his hands find their way into holding Cheong Myeong's slim little waist - why does he fit so well in my hold? - and Cheong Myeong laughs.
"How daring, Sasuk. You're more daring than when we are training with swords, hm?" Cheong Myeong leans, to the point where their breaths mix, smelling of the sweet-smelling wine they've been drinking for hours now.
And Baek Cheon is still losing his grip on reality. What he's not losing though is his grip on Cheong Myeong's waist.
"I'm trying to move you, Cheong Myeong, look, can you move?"
"Hm. Sure."
And Cheong Myeong moves closer.
"Not like tha- ah! "
With this, both of them let out little gasps as their burning bodies touch each other.
"Cheong.."
"Tell me what you were saying earlier."
What was he saying again? Baek Cheon struggles to remember, his thoughts all too consumed by, you know, Cheong Myeong's crotch against his. But he regains his wits, if just to gain back a fragment of his sanity to make Cheong Myeong move.
"I said, you are very pretty. Prettier than me." He starts, head turned away in hopes that his hair and the lowlights can hide the blush that is surely colouring his face at that very moment. He feels Cheong Myeong gaze on him, burning as always, "You, you are like the flower of Mount Hua. You're beautiful, breathtakingly so."
Baek Cheon is still turned away as he finishes his little speech, but what follows is Cheong Myeong's uncharacteristic silence, so, slowly, he finds himself seeking out the pink-hued gaze in wonder.
And that very gaze is still on him.
He doesn't look away this time, even as a smile curls on Cheong Myeong's lips, all too alluring - how beautiful.
"Look at you, can't even keep up with me when it comes to the sword, but now you're flirting with me, better than anything I could've come up with? Hm?" Cheong Myeong grins at him, and yes, Baek Cheon feels his heart skip a few damn beats.
Ah, but, damn it all, since all this has already started, might as well say everything he wants to say, right?
"I'm like a flower?" he asks, tilting his head a little in a way so cute that Baek Cheon's heart is gonna burst out of his chest.
Baek Cheon nods.
"The prettiest flower you've ever seen?"
He nods again.
"Do you want to make this flower bloom?"
He nods again - and then stops, "How?"
Cheong Myeong laughs, as if he finds it cute. And then he grabs Baek Cheon by his collar and finally pulls him closer with both hands. They collide against each other, their lips finding one another in a hot frenzy. He tastes so sweet, he tastes like everything Baek Cheon craved all his life, he tastes like alcohol, and he tastes like freedom.
He is the one who changed their lives for the better. He's the reason why Baek Cheon feels his happiest, he's the reason why he is so damn in love.
They kiss like they've been starved for a lifetime, until Cheong Myeong pulls back, and Baek Cheon finds himself pulling the other again to close the distance between them.
Cheong Myeong laughs, and Baek Cheon is in love.
This cannot be blamed on alcohol anymore.
"Kiss me good, alright?" Cheong Myeong, that minx, leaves butterfly kisses up Baek Cheon's jaw, snapping his barely-remaining restraint.
"Make this flower bloom."
🌸
Yoon Jong wakes, leg and back and everything else feeling sore. Groaning, he rouses from where he's sprawled.
Jo Geol's here, although Yoon Jong only realizes now that he had his leg draped all over his friend - oops, that's why it was sore. Iseol and So-so are also rousing from their sleep, with So-so groaning like he did and Iseol being silent, as always.
"Hey, Jo Geol, wake up," Poking their still-sleeping friend, Yoon Jong tries to look for their Sasuk, and their youngest disciple.
Now, Sasuk may be out and about, settling payments and maybe getting ready for them to go back to the sect. Cheong Myeong however,.. There's just no way that that brat would volunteer to get their things ready, especially after drinking god knows how much last night.
"Where's Sasuk?" Jo Geol asks sleepily, still rubbing his eyes open.
"No idea."
And then the one who they're looking for walks in, slowly, like he's hiding something. But that can't be, right?
"Oh, Sasuk!"
Said Sasuk jumps in surprise, face still flushed and obviously spooked.
"Did something happen..?"
"No..? Ah. No! Of course not!" He refutes, quite obviously, painfully obvious. Yoon Jong meets Iseol's knowing gaze.
Something happened.
He wonders, did Cheong Myeong make trouble again? But why is it that Sasuk is refusing to tell them?
And think of the devil and he shall come! Cheong Myeong slams the door open, humming a happy tune and sending their Sasuk a look that Yoon Jong can't particularly decipher.
"Ah, you're all awake! Good, good! I'm hungry! Very hungry! I was very tired last night so I'm famished. Let's have breakfast already." The little devil exclaims, grinning wide and obviously not hungover.
And Sasuk is a sputtering mess.
Hm? What?
Yoon Jong is very confused.
🌸
They're on their way home, with most of them walking, well, except for Cheong Myeong who found himself a cart that Jo Geol is currently pulling along because, according to Cheong Myeong - his back hurts really bad.
And Sasuk doesn't even raise a complaint, or say that it's a ridiculous request. No, the two just stared at each other - with Cheong Myeong having this lopsided smirk and Sasuk red-faced.
Yoon Jong inches closer to their Sasuk who is very much determined to not look at Cheong Myeong's way. Something happened, he knows, maybe it was such a big trouble that Baek Cheon can't even bear to look at their youngest right now.
Maybe that's why he hasn't seen those bruises? Marks? On Cheong Myeong's neck.
"Sasuk," Yoon Jong calls, very politely because he sees that Baek Cheon is already troubled, "Do you have some soothing ointment or anything of that sort?"
Like the good senior that he is, Baek Cheon is already at full attention, "Why? I have one, yes. Did someone get hurt?" His brows are already scrunching together with worry. Yoon Jong feels lucky to have such a caring sasuk.
Ah, but this is about Cheong Myeong, he wonders if their Sasuk would huff in annoyance if he hears that it's the troublemaker of theirs that needs the ointment. It's not like Cheong Myeong won't heal as well, but Yoon Jong still worries. He really should bring his own ointment next time.
"Well, it's Cheong Myeong?" Yoon Jong glances at their youngest who's currently sprawled on the cart, sleeping away, "I don't know if you've seen, but he's got these marks on his necks that might've been insect bites. Actually, looking at it now again, they kind of look like bite… marks.. "
Oh.
What.
Yoon Jong's head whips to the direction of their Sasuk. Their Sasuk who cannot look him in the eye, all blushing up to the tips of his ears. Their kind, considerate Sasuk who cannot look at Cheong Myeong without turning into a blushing, sputtering mess. Their Sasuk who was left awake with Cheong Myeong last night and were conveniently together with Cheong Myeong in another room when they woke up this morning.
Yoon Jong is not stupid, but he still needs to ask.
"Sasuk, why are you red."
"..."
"Sasuk look me in the eye and tell me you did not sleep with Cheong Myeong last night."
"..."
"Sasuk!"
Yoon Jong swears he hears Cheong Myeong chuckle, but he's too preoccupied with their mess of a Sasuk to actually pay attention to it.
🌸
Bonus:
"Cheong Myeong."
"Oh, Iseol-samae? What's the matter?"
"Ointment. For your neck."
"Ah, so you've noticed."
"You weren't exactly hiding them. Those kiss marks."
Cheong Myeong laughs, "Why would I hide them? Sasuk blushes beautifully whenever he sees."
"Listen up! To prevent any accidents, we're all sleeping together! Cheong Myeong you sleep beside me, got it?!" Yoon Jong looks like he's losing his mind. How adorable, Cheong Myeong thinks, did he really think that would stop him?
He meets Baek Cheon's gaze by accident, and chuckles as the man looks away immediately.
Maybe they should drink more often.
🌸
end.