Work Text:
There are moments in life when everything slows down, when everything feels like it’s freezing in time. The snowflakes stop falling, they just hang in the air. The kids' laughter turns into an echo that doesn’t really reach your ears and the wind is no longer rustling the trees.
This is one of those moments in Seungmin’s life.
He’s been walking alongside Chan, their gloved hands intertwined between them, listening to some story about a particularly challenging - Chan’s nice words, not Seungmin’s - coworker and revelling in his side profile. The perfectly straight big nose, those beautiful plump lips. The way they move when Chan speaks. The dimples appearing from time to time, as if they’re playing peekaboo. What a beautiful sight, Seungmin thinks.
The problem of staring at your boyfriend so intently instead of looking at where you’re going, though, is that you don’t see where you put your feet - which is usually quite the risk to take, but more so in the winter.
There’s a frozen puddle and Seungmin plants his left foot right on it. His body moves as if it were a surface with a reasonable friction coefficient and the next second he’s flying and the world around him is stopping.
The unexpected weightlessness makes his stomach churn as he braces for impact. He manages to glance at Chan, who has turned their hand-holding into an iron grip in a futile attempt to spare Seungmin from the inevitable hit, his face contorted into a mix of shock and worry - and maybe a tiny bit of amusement that Seungmin does not appreciate right now.
The snowflakes are suspended midair, the kids’ laughter has disappeared, etcetera, etcetera, and Seungmin kinda hates it all.
As suddenly as the world stopped, it resumes its unforgiving rhythm and Seungmin hits the ground with a blunt force that shocks the air out of his lungs.
Before he can even assess the aftermath of his fall, there’s a sudden yelp above him. When he turns his head up to see where it’s coming from, he finds Chan’s face rushing towards him at a concerning speed. There’s still shock and worry in his features, but suspicious enough, there’s no trace of amusement. Seungmin wants to smirk at that detail, but he has a boyfriend falling on top of him to deal with.
“Mpf,” he says, eloquently, when their bodies collide.
“Mpf indeed.” Chan immediately bursts into giggles on Seungmin’s ear, which Seungmin finds endearing despite all his efforts not to. “You okay?” He asks, withdrawing just enough to look at Seungmin’s face. Seungmin sees Chan’s hand going for the classic wellness -check-cheek-holding but wisely refrains from doing so since his gloves are now filthy with stepped-on snow. Instead, he dusts them off against his coat and stares at Seungmin, waiting for the report.
“I think everything’s fine if you forgo my dignity.” Seungmin groans. His pants are wet, and so are his gloves. “You?”
Seungmin regrets - not really, but he has an image to maintain - asking the minute Chan’s lips stretch into a cheeky smirk. Oh, here he comes.
There’s a hand on Seungmin’s hip before his silly boyfriend says, “Well, I have a cute boy right under me. I think I’m faring pretty well.”
A traitorous blush creeps up Seungmin’s neck, taking over his cheeks and even his ears. It betrays everything he’s always stood for, and he despises it - or pretends to.
“You’re too silly, hyung,” he whines, urging him to stand up so he can get off the freezing ground.
He feels a bit silly himself, still getting flustered by Chan’s boyish pick-up lines after all this time.
“But you love me,” Chan says in a mocking singsong as he sways his body childishly.
“Of course I do,” Seungmin deadpans, and that always succeeds at bringing Chan down to Earth. “Come here, silly hyung,” he adds, wrapping his arms around Chan’s neck and kissing him tenderly. “Let’s go home and get rid of these dirty clothes,” he adds with a sly smile that makes a traitorous blush creep up Chan’s neck, cheeks and ears. What a beautiful sight, Seungmin thinks.