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“Hey, that’s you, Kyungsoo!”
Said man lazily lifts his eyes away from the romance novel he was reading on his iPad to look over at his boyfriend beside him who’s pointing towards to the television. On the screen is a rerunning of some drama Kyungsoo and Chanyeol have watched a thousand times, but the scene in which Chanyeol is paused at, pointing at with his out stretched finger, is what really grabs Kyungsoo’s attention. The female lead, the typical less-than-well-off-helpless young lady, stands in a high tech kitchen, presumably cooking a meal for the male lead -- who’s leaning against the adjacent counter, watching the woman cook with a cocksure smirk of his perfectly handsome face.
Chanyeol, for all his charming innocence, doesn’t seem to notice Kyungsoo’s brows pinching in or the sharp narrowing of his usually wide eyes.
In a eerily calm voice Kyungsoo softly croaks, “What do you mean ‘that’s me’?”
Still oblivious to the irritation growing in his boyfriend, Chanyeol chuckles and says, “This girl, she’s making her super handsome and cool boyfriend dinner -- just like you do! Like, you’re my little domestic fairy and I’m the chic city dude who gets to eat your bomb-ass cooking.” While still smiling, Chanyeol looks away from the television set and sees the dark expression on his ‘domestic fairy’s’ face. “Uh… Kyungsoo?”
Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath in an attempt to save of his composure, Kyungsoo shuts off his iPad and walks away from the couch both him and Chanyeol were sitting on. Without anything but a slight shake of his head, Kyungsoo walks out of the room -- as far away from Chanyeol as he can get in their 700 square foot apartment, that is.
Aghast and a bit confused, Chanyeol watches the other man leave the room, wondering what had gotten him so upset.
It’s not an unusual occurrence that Chanyeol pisses Kyungsoo off. Chanyeol was just born with an amazing talent to say whatever comes to mind without filter, and it just so happens to be that most of things that float through Chanyeol’s mind are, admittedly, stupid. Having Kyungsoo walk away, punch him in the shoulder, or make him sleep on the couch are common happenings after Chanyeol makes, what he believes to be, a joke.
“Maybe Kyungsoo just wasn’t born with a sense of humor…” Chanyeol mutters under his breath.
Unluckily for him, Chanyeol’s version of a quiet whisper is more like the normal speaking volume of most people. The comment carries into the bedroom, where Kyungsoo escaped to in hopes of not ending up on Dateline for murdering his boyfriend. Having reached the last straw of his patience with the man he’s supposed to love, Kyungsoo stomps out of their bedroom with his hands on his hips, glaring daggers into Chanyeol.
“Wasn’t born with a sense of humor? Really? You think I have no sense of humor, Chanyeol? You just think you’re so fucking funny, huh? I must be crazy for not falling over laughing at all your fucking jokes!”
“What? No! I mean,” Chanyeol quickly shakes his head, holding up his hands in defense. “Kyungsoo, come on, you know what I meant.”
“Do I?” Kyungsoo retorts. “I mean, after all, I am just a ‘domestic fairy’, right?” The last part of the statement was said with air quotes as Kyungsoo’s voice raised in volume.
“Hey, I meant that as a compliment! You love cooking and I was just saying that the couple looked like us!”
Chanyeol’s defense falls on deaf ears as Kyungsoo closes his eyes and brings his fingers up to massage his temples. “You’re so-- no. You know what, Chanyeol, fine. I don’t want to do this right now.”
Kyungsoo’s shoulders slump down as though he’s trying to forcefully make himself relax. He leaves Chanyeol, who’s still sitting in a semi state of shock on the couch, and walks into the kitchen. Hopefully cooking will take his mind off his boyfriend’s idiotic comments.
(Kyungsoo refuses to acknowledge the fact that he’s giving Chanyeol’s claim credibility by actually cooking him dinner just as the female actress had.)
Chanyeol, who never knows when to back off or what the concept of personal space is, follows Kyungsoo into the kitchen. Just as the male lead, he leans against the small counter in their own kitchen watching Kyungsoo’s back as he preps for cooking.
Even though their fight was started by Chanyeol’s stupid comment over domestic tasks such as cooking, Chanyeol can’t help the growing smile on his face as he watches Kyungsoo. His place really is in the kitchen, but not in a cult of domesticity sort of way; anyone with eyes could see that Kyungsoo just looked so happy and free as he cooked. It was something that he really loved to do; cooking was as important to Kyungsoo as music was to Chanyeol. It was a way to express himself.
Chanyeol knew that -- he knew how much food and cooking meant to Kyungsoo. He never meant to anger Kyungsoo by insinuating that his only place was in the kitchen, cooking for Chanyeol. In an inept and thoughtless way, the comment was meant to be complementary to Kyungsoo and his love of cooking. Chanyeol hadn’t meant to hurt the man at all.
With a sigh, Chanyeol pushes himself off the counter and slowly walks toward Kyungsoo, careful not to do or say anything stupid again because of the knife in his hand. “Kyungsoo…” He places a gentle, comforting hand on Kyungsoo’s lower back, hoping that the action doesn’t scare him off.
Chanyeol isn’t met with any kind of a response, negative or positive, so he thinks it safe to step closer to the other man, warping his large hand around Kyungsoo’s small waist.
“Kyungsoo, I’m sorry. Really.”
Silence. The only movement is from the motion of Kyungsoo cutting carrots.
“Look, I know what I said was stupid, but I didn’t mean it like that, okay?”
Finally, Kyungsoo sets down his knife and wipes his hands off on a nearby towel. He turns around, looking straight at Chanyeol’s chest, and makes no attempt to lift his eyes to meet Chanyeol’s. Chanyeol, at Kyungsoo’s relent, places both hands onto Kyungsoo’s shoulders and pulls the man closer to his chest -- into a warm, all-consuming hug.
“No, I know, it’s just… You know how I don’t like to be called small or cute or anything… I don’t know…” Kyungsoo sighs and snuggles deeper into the comfort of Chanyeol’s chest. “I guess I just felt like you were saying I was girly and weak, or something…” Kyungsoo buries his face into the crook of the other man’s neck to hide his flushed, embarrassed cheeks.
Chanyeol tightens his hold around Kyungsoo. He leans down to place his lips at the shell of his ear and softly laughs. “You were mad because I basically said you’re the woman in this relationship?”
Trying not to laugh, Kyungsoo’s digs his nails into Chanyeol’s back through his shirt. “Shut up, oh my god. You’re an idiot.”
Chanyeol laughs again and places a sweet kiss behind Kyungsoo’s ear. “Yeah, but I’m your idiot.”
Kyungsoo hums in response and steps on his toes, kissing Chanyeol’s neck. One after another he leaves a trail of kisses up Chanyeol’s neck, all the way to his ear. He nips gently at the lobe before whispering lowly, “Let’s see who the real woman in this relationship is, yeah?”