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They lay in bed together, as they often did these days, enjoying a cozy silence. Minho felt relaxed and sleepy, petting the dogs, while Key scrolled through his phone with determination in his eyes.
“What are you shopping for?” Minho asked.
Kibum looked over, brow furrowed.
“I know how you look when you’re shopping,” Minho said, throwing his arms into the air. “I’m not shaming you, Jagiyah.”
“Rings,” Kibum replied, turning his phone to reveal a gallery of rings? Were those wedding bands?
Minho needed a moment to recover before recalling the SHINee rings idea. He could not stop the chuckle that came out. Kibum looked back at him knowingly, a faint smile on his lips.
It wasn’t that Minho hadn’t exactly ever thought about things like that before, but the current state of their career made coming out less than ideal.
Everything was uncertain after Taemin and Jinki left SM while they stayed. Things would probably go on as they had, but they needed time for everything to settle and to assure fans SHINee would continue. Then, maybe fulfill some contractual obligations, and one day say, “fuck it” and stop hiding.
While they had talked a lot about coming out or going public with their relationship, they had never touched on the topic of marriage before. It had been less than three years since they got together. Who would propose so soon? Other people in their 30s, probably, Minho thought. Many of his friends had, people who could legally get married.
Comme Des hopping off his lap and onto the floor brought him back to the present. Minho took the chance to gently lead the dogs out of the room. The dogs weren’t happy but were used to sleeping in the living room sometimes.
Minho returned with a beer and sat on the bed. He couldn’t help but contemplate if he should talk to Kibum about that moment just before. Would it scare him Kibum? On the other hand, he seemed amused by Minho’s confusion earlier.
He took another sip, just for encouragement, and fiddled with the label on the bottle. “Jagiya, um, do you want to talk?”
“Nope.”
“Okay,” Minho said, feeling a bit disappointed but also relieved. He didn’t know what he would have said anyway. Just as he was about to chug the whole bottle in hopes of stopping his mind from spiralling, Kibum suddenly climbed into his lap, took a sip of his beer, and placed it on the side table.
“I see you took the dogs out. Did you have any plans, or…” Kibum trailed off. “We can’t let a moment without the kids go to waste, honey,” he said, imitating a housewife.
Minho laughed and then kissed him. Kibum seemed a bit rushed, starting to take Minho's t-shirt off, he let Kibum take the lead.
The next morning, after a late breakfast, Kibum handed Minho the phone and said, “You wanted to choose the rings, wasn’t that the deal?”
“Me?”
“You know that’s what we said. I came up with the idea, Taemin kept pushing it, your turn. What do you think about these?”
Minho looked at the rings on the screen. “Chanel.”
“Chanel also has Chanel No. 5. I think it’s fitting, yes?”
“I thought you might like that,” Key chuckled. “So, are you happy with these?”
Minho nodded.
“You’re easy to please.” Kibum replied and walked off to finally do his skincare routine.
—
“No, why did you go without me, Kibum-ah?”
“You weren’t needed,” Kibum replied nonchalantly.
“Huh?”
“Don’t worry, you’ll get one too,” Kibum said, holding up a ring box. “Still one of us, not abandoning you.”
“What? No, who paid? You did not make Jinki pay? I have to pay.”
Kibum moved closer, he hesitated, frowning slightly in that adorable way he does when trying not to be too sincere. “All of you are my family, and I... I want you to know you’re my family... in a different way. Will you accept this from me now?”
Minho looked dumbstruck for a moment, his mouth half-open. He recalled Kibum’s odd behavior over the past few nights—how he distracted Minho from the topic while making sure he liked the rings. He remembered Kibum’s smile when Minho was confused about ring shopping that night.
“You sneaky bastard,” Minho said with a teasing grin, stepping closer to Kibum. “You had me worried for a moment.”
“Ugh, would you just take the ring, Minho?” Kibum retorted. “You’ve bought me so many things. Can’t I buy you just one thing?”
“Don’t you usually have to be on one knee for that?” Minho teased. “And who asks like that—so harsh, Kim Kibum?”
“Minhoooo,” Kibum whined, giving him a pleading look “can you just accept it.”
Minho could see Kibum was reaching the limit of his patience for nice gestures, so he decided to end the mock argument to put him out of his misery.
Moving closer with a playful grin, Minho said, “Ugh, fine, Yes.”