Work Text:
February 14th was the worst day to be working at the front desk. Every other delivery was some romantic crap for another girl in the office. Flowers, chocolate boxes, and this one was a comically large teddy bear which was frankly just embarrassing. Seungmin scowled as he signed to accept it, before briefly having a tangled argument with its stupidly oversized limbs until he could wrestle the bloody thing into submission behind the desk. He checked the extension number for the recipient and dialed it with a scowl. This was quite comprehensively not what he was paid for. He slumped in his seat, his brows furrowed as he surveyed the sea of flowers and other tat in front of him, waiting for owners to come and claim them. Stupid Valentine’s Day. Stupid romance.
It wasn’t even as if he was single. He and Minho had been together nearly ten years now - long enough to settle into habits instead of passion. They were comfortable together. Safe. Reliable. Maybe too reliable. Seungmin couldn’t remember the last time Minho had kissed him like he meant it or bought him anything just because. But that was normal after this long together, wasn’t it?
“Hi! I’m Bora, you called about a delivery for me?” The girl standing at the desk was flushed with excitement as she looked at the array of gifts on and around the desk, clearly trying to guess which ornate bouquet was for her. Seungmin resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and hunted through them, to find a hatbox arrangement of red roses, reading the tag to make sure that they were for the right person.
“To my snookie-pie Bora, from your cuddle bun xxx”
Seungmin handed the arrangement over before the card could do him any further mental damage.
“Oh wow!” She turned to her friend “Look what he sent me! He’s so romantic!” The girls swooned at each other, and left, giggling as they did so. Seungmin watched them go. By the lifts, one of the junior accountants paused beside his boyfriend from IT, straightening the man's crooked tie before they walked out of the building together. The whole interaction lasted maybe three seconds.
Seungmin looked back down at his keyboard and typed much harder than necessary. He sent a message to Hyunjin, his friend in Marketing, suggesting – no, insisting – that they meet at coffee break time. Hyunjin sent back a thumbs up emoji, and Seungmin reluctantly stood again to hand over another bouquet to a blushing office worker.
Hyunjin laughed as he sipped at his coffee.
“Bet you’re glad you don’t have hay fever!”
Seungmin frowned midway through his lengthy diatribe about the flowers taking over his desk.
“You laugh, but it’s like a bloody florists out there. I was starting to think I’d find a lost botanist in one of the larger arrangements.”
Hyunjin laughed again and took another sip of his coffee. Seungmin gasped as he caught sight of something new and shiny glinting on Hyunjin’s ring finger.
“Oh god. Not you, too.”
Hyunjin flinched slightly, blushing as he did so.
“Ah, you saw that. Yeah, Changbin got us matching couple rings for Valentine’s Day. He’s so romantic!”
Seungmin exhaled softly.
“Ach, I’m sorry I’m being such a grump. It’s sweet really - you two are always so sweet! I just hate all this artificial romance shit. Minho isn’t interested in it, so we’ve never really bothered, but it’s getting on my nerves today for some reason.”
Hyunjin tilted his head to one side and regarded Seungmin carefully.
“But you’re interested in it, aren’t you?”
Seungmin shrugged.
“I mean, a card wouldn’t go amiss. But we’ve been together forever now, I guess it’s a bit much to expect him to change and be all sentimental at this stage!”
Seungmin thought about Minho. This morning, he had handed Seungmin a cup of coffee at breakfast without even looking at him, focusing instead on the newspaper in front of him. Then he’d shoved his lunch into his bag as Seungmin was getting ready to leave the house, without saying a word. Was Seungmin expecting too much? Or was he falling for the commercial nonsense filling the shops at this time of year?
Hyunjin pursed his mouth slightly.
“It’s not too much to want to feel wanted, Seung. I mean, Changbin wasn’t convinced that we needed couple rings, but he knew I wanted them, so…” he trailed off.
Seungmin sighed, again, something he was beginning to make a habit of. “I know, you’re probably right. But I don’t want him to think I’m needy, do I?”
“Seriously, talk to him. Only you can tell him how you feel!”
On his way back from the café, Seungmin found himself stopping outside the card shop next to their building. He stared through the window for a moment. It was ridiculous - they'd never exchanged Valentine's cards before. Minho would probably roll his eyes so hard he'd sprain something.
Still.
Five minutes later, Seungmin emerged with a card tucked guiltily into his pocket. He told himself it was only because Hyunjin had got into his head.
Back at his desk, Seungmin dropped back into his chair and spotted a small tub with his plastic lunch box sitting at the top of his bag under the desk. He picked it up, opening it curiously. There was no note. No ribbon, no heart-shaped nonsense.
Just a peeled tangerine in neat little segments. He stared at it for a moment before snorting quietly to himself. Of course. Around him, the front desk looked like a florist’s had exploded - roses, chocolates, teddy bears the size of actual children - and Minho had given him citrus fruit in Tupperware.
Typical.
Seungmin ate one segment absently as he worked through another delivery notification. No pith. Minho always peeled away every last bit of the white stringy stuff because Seungmin hated the texture. By lunchtime, the tub was empty.
Another bouquet was delivered. He glanced at the tag, saw Hyunjin’s name, and nearly rolled his eyes right back inside his skull. He mentally pinched himself, getting frustrated with one of his closest friends in the world was not productive! He rubbed his hands over his face and decided – tonight, he needed to talk to Minho. Properly.
In the kitchen, Minho was leaning over the hob, a pot of something bubbling away when Seungmin got home.
“Oh, you look busy! Are you making something nice?” he said, stepping over the cat to give Minho a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Just kimchi jjigae, nothing exciting. How was your day? Do you want to watch that new drama this evening? I’ve put a bottle of white in the fridge.”
Seungmin smiled despite himself. Kimchi jjigae was his favourite, and Minho only usually made it when Seungmin had had a rough day. And he did rather fancy an evening curled up on the sofa with a glass of wine, and a new show to watch. He scooped up the cat for a cuddle and leaned against the kitchen counter.
“That sounds like a great plan. How was your day?”
“Not bad, we finished that project before the deadline, so I logged off early to cook for us. Thought it would be nice. Anyway, anything happen at work today? Any new scandals?”
“Well, it is Valentine’s Day, so…”
“Oh, mountains of overpriced weeds and chocolate then? How tedious.” Minho scoffed and continued to stir the jjigae.
“Actually, about that…” Seungmin wasn’t sure that this was quite the right time to get into this, but the words leapt from him unconsciously.
“Yes?” Minho turned now, looking at him with raised eyebrows.
“Why don’t you ever give me a card?”
Minho’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline at this.
“We’ve literally never bothered with them before – why now?”
“Ah, I don’t know. Maybe it’s silly. But I wonder whether you love me sometimes. You never say it!” Seungmin was aware that he sounded like a petulant child, but he couldn’t help himself.
“What?!” Minho’s jaw dropped, eyes wide open now.
Minho stared at him.
“You think I don’t love you?”
Seungmin instantly regretted saying it out loud. “I didn’t mean-”
“I make your coffee every morning because you’re miserable without it. I peel your tangerines because you hate the stringy bits. I learned how to make kimchi jjigae properly, the way your mum made it, even though I don’t even like it that much.”
Seungmin opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Minho looked genuinely stricken now, like the thought had never occurred to him before.
“I know I’m not good at… all this Valentine’s stuff,” he said, gesturing vaguely with the wooden spoon. “But I thought you knew.”
“I’m sorry. Forget it. Forget I said anything.” Seungmin put the cat down and turned to leave the room, but Minho got to him before he could, grabbing at his wrist.
“No, you don’t get to say something like that and just walk away! How could you even think such a thing?” Seungmin looked up and was horrified to see tears forming in Minho’s eyes. He had never seen Minho cry before and felt sick thinking that his words had caused these tears. He could feel tears forming in his own eyes, too.
“Oh god, I’m sorry Minho. I guess it was seeing all the cards and flowers at work today. And then Hyunjin. You know Changbin got them couple rings?” Seungmin pulled his hand away from Minho and scrubbed at his eyes. He could feel a headache beginning to form.
“Oh sweetheart.” Minho stepped closer and hugged Seungmin to him. “Do you want us to wear rings? We can get rings.” Seungmin buried his head into Minho’s neck and breathed deeply, inhaling his familiar scent.
“And I did actually buy a card this year,” Minho muttered eventually into his hair.
Seungmin lifted his head and blinked. “You did?”
Minho reached over to open the kitchen drawer, visibly annoyed with himself, and pulled out a crumpled envelope.
“I hated every word in it,” he said. “They all sounded fake.”
Seungmin reached for the card, but Minho caught his wrist.
"Before you read that."
"What?"
Minho kissed him.
Not the absent-minded peck they exchanged while making tea, not the quick hello at the end of a workday. It was the kind of kiss that made Seungmin forget what he'd been about to say. Which didn’t stop him from speaking.
"I love you, you know."
Minho snorted.
"I should hope so."
"No, I mean it."
Minho's expression softened.
"I know."
They stood together in the kitchen while the food bubbled away on the hob. Eventually Minho cleared his throat.
"It's probably burning."
Seungmin laughed and swiped at his eyes. "Probably."
Minho reluctantly released him and lifted the lid. Steam billowed up into his face.
"Definitely burning."
"It smells fine."
Seungmin picked up the abandoned card from the worktop while Minho fussed over the pot. The front featured two bears holding balloons and looked like it had been designed by someone who had never met a real human being.
"You bought this?"
"I know."
"It's awful."
"I know."
Seungmin opened it. Inside, the three printed lines had been crossed out in black pen.
"Did you censor a Valentine's card?"
"It was saying things like 'my soulmate' and 'destiny'."
"And that was unacceptable?"
"It sounded like a hostage note."
Seungmin laughed so hard he nearly dropped it. By the time they sat down to eat, the knot that had sat in his chest all day had finally loosened. Minho poured them each a glass of wine and nudged Seungmin's foot under the table.
"Still annoyed about the flowers?" he asked.
"A bit."
"Good. You're much more entertaining when you're grumpy."
Seungmin threw some grains of rice at him. Later, curled together on the sofa beneath a blanket, Seungmin fell asleep halfway through the second episode of the drama. When he woke sometime after midnight, Minho was guiding him towards bed.
"Come on," Minho murmured. "You're boiling."
"I'm fine."
"You've said that every time you've ever been ill."
Seungmin grumbled but allowed himself to be shepherded down the hallway.
The following day, Seungmin woke with a head full of phlegm and a high temperature. He tried to get out of bed, but collapsed back onto the mattress, dizzy, when he stood up.
“You are absolutely not going to work like this.” Minho observed. “Go back to sleep.”
Seungmin wanted to protest, but the world was spinning around him. As Minho disappeared into the kitchen, Seungmin vaguely remembered the card still sitting in the pocket of yesterday's coat. He'd completely forgotten about it. The thought drifted away again almost immediately as exhaustion pulled him back under.
He woke sometime in the late afternoon, feverish and damp beneath the duvet, his throat aching raw. For a moment he just lay there, staring blearily at the ceiling while the flat hummed softly around him. A pan clattered in the kitchen, the washing machine spun. Minho, moving through the day.
Then Seungmin noticed the bowl on the bedside table.
A tangerine, peeled and separated into neat little segments.
His chest tightened unexpectedly. Even when he was sick and half-delirious, Minho had remembered. No pith. No stringy bits. Ready for him whenever he woke up.
Seungmin pressed the heel of his hand hard against his eyes. Beside the bowl sat a folded card; Seungmin hadn't noticed it before. Inside, there were the three lines crossed out. Beneath them, in cramped handwriting, he'd written:
Still you. Always you.
Seungmin laughed despite the ache in his throat.
From the kitchen came the sound of something boiling over, and
"Oh, for fuck's sake," Minho muttered.
Seungmin smiled.