Work Text:
“oh my god minho stop!”
he won’t, he’s relentless. he’s wasting perfectly good popcorn by pelting it at jonghyun whose only protection against the onslaught is an afghan jinki knit. the loops are uneven throughout & half the kernels are getting through, about a quarter catching on the yarn.
he’s giggling through it, his boyfriend’s hearty laughter warming his heart. they need this, both of them. especially minho.
twenty minutes ago they were both on the sofa, minho’s head resting on his boyfriend’s thigh as jonghyun ran his fingers through his hair. it was too short, the texture was all wrong, more tangible evidence that nothing was right.
“he’s going to die,” minho had said, tears streaming, & jonghyun could only nod because it’s true. beyond the inevitable demise of every human life on the planet, at any given moment someone is going to die. usually it’s jonghyun who gets caught up in these thoughts. jonghyun should be the one crying & minho the one comforting. the reversal of their roles is unnatural.
taemin dying is unnatural.
he wishes he had jinki’s wit. a bad pun would be great right now, something to tease minho out of heavy truth he’s blanketed in. an idea pops into his head, a bad one. he doesn’t have anything better so he does the only thing he can think of.
he belches.
to his credit minho takes a moment before sitting up & staring at jonghyun like he’s confused as to what exactly jonghyun is. he hated to do it, not his style at all, but, desperate times.
“what. was. that.” jonghyun watches his face nervously, hoping his little joke works.
“a toast to taemin?” the longest three seconds of his life pass before minho’s laughing so hard he falls off the sofa, curling up on the floor with his hands at his waist. jonghyun laughs a little too because his boyfriend’s smile is infectious. minho’s laughing a little too hard which breaks his heart a bit but it’s better than tears.
“why have i never thought of that? it’s perfect.” he rolls up into a seated position with his legs crossed, wrists hanging over his knees. “thanks.” he kneels up to kiss jonghyun on the lips, lingering a little, before standing up & walking into the kitchen. “i’m going to make some popcorn,” he calls from the cupboard, “do you want some?”
“yeah, sounds good.”
“cheddar or butter?” jonghyun responds with cheddar because minho seems to like it the most.
it’s a fight over the popcorn that leads to them to the war they’re currently engaged in. one too many moments of one absently taking the bowl from the other, the other putting their hand down only to discover an absence where the popcorn should be. finally, minho had had enough & grabbed the bowl back, clutching it in his arms & turning his back to jonghyun.
“my precious,” he had growled. jonghyun watched the man he loved act like a child over a bowl of microwaved popcorn of dubious quality & decided that if immaturity was the game then he was going to play. and win.
he grabbed a kernel & threw it at minho’s nose.
by now the bowl is nearly empty & jonghyun’s stomach hurts from laughter. he hears the clatter as it’s placed on the table & suddenly minho’s hands are lifting the afghan from his body & slipping his head inside so they’re face-to-face.
“hi.” he has an obnoxious grin on his face & jonghyun kisses the nose he’d earlier assaulted.
“hi.” it’s a soft moment, at odds with the way their evening began. there’s so much sadness in the world already, more to come as their friend’s death grows near. but there’s also good & he wants to celebrate it, to remember it, to hold it in his arms & press his lips to it. he pulls minho close & kisses him languidly, just enough to keep him tethered to the moment but not enough to move him any farther.
he squeals into minho’s mouth when the other starts tickling his ribs.